“Because it’s a rare car.” That is how Walter “Wally” Bommer summed up his reason for buying a 1935 Dodge DU Rumble Seat Convertible 24 years ago. “A friend of mine who owns a classic car dealership in Pittsburgh told me about it,” he said. The person who owned it had passed away after beginning a restoration. Wally took the plunge, buying the car and continuing the project.
“I finished restoring it 22 years ago,” he added. “The body style is totally original. The mechanical parts were not really a problem and I had all of the body part.”
Dodge made only 950 of the DU convertibles which new cost $770. “I’ve never seen another one before this,” said Wally. In fact, he added, that he’s only ever seen one other advertised. “And I don’t know what kind of shape it was in.”
Wally isn’t a stranger to classic cars. Besides this beautiful Dodge, he owns four others, including a 1934 Plymouth P Coupe five window, a 1963 Ford Galaxy, a 1964 Chrysler New Yorker that has 31,000 original miles, and a 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury that has 44,000 original miles.
With these low mileages on the cars you would think that Wally keeps his vehicles garaged most of the time. But that isn’t the case.
“I drive them all. For me that’s the fun of it,” he said. He estimates that he puts about 1000 miles per year on the Dodge.
“I belong to a couple car clubs and I like to go to the functions,” he explained. “That’s what I enjoy doing the most.”
This car drives very well, according to Wally. “It drives nice. I can do 55-60 on the highway with no problem,” he said, adding that he figures he gets about 15-16 miles per gallon driving around town.
On a warm day in June he parked it long enough to show it off at the 35thAnnual Ault Park Concours d’Elegance. And everyone in attendance was glad he did. Because, as Wally said before, it’s a rare car.
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