Behind Benson Automotive’s Fiat store is a nondescript building one might miss if it didn’t have the words “Benson Automotive Memory Lane” spread across the building’s facade.
Jim Benson, a longtime car dealer in Greer and owner of Benson Automotive, has scores of bikes, antique pedal cars, pictures, dealership signs and, of course, cars — mostly from the 1950s — on display. The museum, 415 W. Wade Hampton Blvd., Greer, has been around since 2005 and is only open by appointment.
A fitting collection
Proud chrome passenger cars take up most floor space. It’s a fitting collection that was started when Benson bought an old car hauler in the 1950s, culminating today with his own chain of dealerships in Greer.
The first classic Benson owned — a 1936 Chrysler convertible he bought in 1966 for $350 — remains in his collection. The vehicle has been restored twice.
“Most of the cars I bought in the ’60s and ’70s, I sold,” Benson said. “Most of these cars have been here quite a while.”
Inside the museum, he built a showroom for four 1954 Plymouths — each restored with painstaking detail. The display showcased the vehicles Plymouth offered — a convertible, a sedan, a wagon and a sport coupe.
Interesting finds
His collection also includes a 1972 Stutz Blackhawk. The Stutz had design cues similar to 1930s vehicles like a Mercedes 500K or a Deusenberg, with floating headlamps, chrome exhaust pipes coming out of the fenders and a yawning chrome grille. Entertainers like Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Liberace and Elton John were fans.
Then there are vehicles famous for testing various technologies, like his 1959 Ford Skyliner convertible. The coupe featured a hardtop that could fold into the trunk. It has 16 motors requiring three miles of wires running the convertible top.
“They had a lot of problems,” Benson said. “But it was a knockout when it came out.”
Of course, the collection of wheeled vehicles doesn’t stop with cars. Around the museum are a number of motorcycles and motorized bicycles that were part of Benson’s upbringing.
“I bought a Whizzer motorbike in ’48 for $195, and I carried a paper route,” he said.
The Whizzer was a bicycle with a 2½-horsepower gas engine attached — giving Benson an added boost as he cycled down the streets, tossing newspapers toward front stoops, the soft thrum of the engine filling the predawn air.
Career in cars
It wasn’t long after that paper route that Benson’s career in cars began. At the age of 17, he bought a car-hauling truck and would take trips north to pick up cars for other dealers. He occasionally bought cars he would repair and resell.
The first car he sold was in 1956, and it was a 1951 Chevy he bought for $275. He calculated side expenses to be $40 and sold it for $355, netting $40. He soon became interested in dealing cars on his own.
He sold the car hauler and would take the train to Philadelphia where bought his own cars. He opened his first used-car dealership in 1956 on Poinsett Street in Greer.
Chrysler came knocking in 1964, offering the then-27-year-old Benson a crack at a franchise. A year later, he relocated to Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greer, where he sold 300 cars that year.
Fifty-eight years later, Benson now sells Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Kia, and Fiat and Alfa Romeo vehicles.
John Montgomery, studio manager at Benson Alfa Romeo, helps with tours and the upkeep at the museum.
“I’ve really tried to be educated on all the cars, but I try to make it interesting,” Montgomery said. “Because sometimes we have people who come in here that aren’t car enthusiasts. But they may be enthusiasts of Americana or history.”
Want to go?
The museum is open via appointment. Admission is free. Appointments can be made online.
What’s on display?
Of the more notable vehicles at the museum:
- 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Bonneville with a factory 347-cubic-inch fuel-injected V-8.
- 1957 Dodge Custom Royale, which had an in-dash hi-fi 45 rpm record player.
- 1954 Buick Skylark, one of 836, which used a 322-cubic-inch Fireball V-8.
- 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury powered by a 395 Hemi Golden Commando V-8.
- 1960 Chrysler 300F convertible once owned by actor Tim Allen.
- 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible — first year for the Eldorado.
- 1936 Chrysler Airstream — bought for $350. It was the first classic car Benson bought.
- 1955 Chrysler 300C — it was the first mass-produced 300-horsepower car.
- 1972 Stutz Blackhawk — Built in Italy and took 1,500 hours to build.
- 1955 Seeburg jukebox — similar to one used in the TV series “Happy Days.”
