Gasoline Alley Classics, a manufacturer of gameroom, garage and automobile decor, will open a shop next weekend near Route 66 in downtown Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, followed by Gasoline Alley’s grand opening at 10 a.m. Saturday during the city’s annual Route 66 Blowout automobile show.
The location at 24 N. Main St, one block north of the highway, in a former Ford Model T plant and dealership will be Gasoline Alley’s first retail site. It will participate in Travel Oklahoma’s Route 66 Passport program.
According to a news release:
“I’ve always wanted to be on Route 66,” said “Chief Everything Officer” Michael Jones, a car enthusiast since high school. “We’ve traveled Route 66 in both directions in our classic cars. I have not seen anything like this in terms of game room, garage, and man cave décor or high-end collectibles on Route 66.”
Jones, 60, tinkered with automobilia in his garage for years, until he made a pair of street rod strollers for his then-infant sons in 1994. When those strollers were featured in Street Rodder magazine, Gasoline Alley Classics Inc. officially began. In 2006, Jones left a career in food sales to start a wholesale operation with his uncle in an industrial park, buying out a friend’s signage business in the process. In 2015, Jones and his family bought the 1917 Sapulpa Motor Co. Ford Model T assembly plant and dealership. He has worked on its restoration ever since.
“I like the bright and shiny, but I’m also the rusty and crusty guy,” said Jones, who owns a rusty 1940 Ford pickup and a crusty 1954 Dodge milk truck. Jones’ passion for patina extends to his registered trademarks, including the slogan “In Rust We Trust,” Lady Luck, and Fat Boys Speed Shop. His product line includes oil cans, miniature gas pumps, parking meters, drive-in speakers, custom lighting, men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, gifts, and souvenirs. He even sold 6,000 replica oil cans with T-shirts sealed inside to Hobby Lobby.
The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
(Courtesy image of the Gasoline Alley Classics shop that soon will open in downtown Sapulpa, Oklahoma)