VINTAGE WHEELS: CONNECTIONS TO PAST GIVE CAPE MAN HIS LOVE FOR ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILES

One of his current projects is a 1932 Indian Motoplane race bike.

The hood ornament gleams on this 1937 Cadillac Convertible that Joe James father had bought new.

When Joe James of Cape Girardeau played saxophone with the Bill French Orchestra at the Casa Loma Ballroom in St. Louis several years back, he could feel the ghosts of all the great dance bands who had performed there: Glen Miller, Harry James, the Dorseys.

James feels something similar nowadays when climbing into his 1937 Ed Arter Blue Sabre Special and speeding around the half-mile dirt track in Davenport, Iowa, where the car was first raced and near to where it was built.

"Old No. 27 finally made it back to the track where it won the 1951 Mississippi Valley Racing Championship," he recalls.

"The track is the same type A. J. Foyt used to race on before he became a legend at the Indy Brickyard. I could feel the presence of all the great drivers who started their careers on that track."

James' father first exposed him to dirt track racing when James was a teen-ager growing up in Cape Girardeau in the late 40s and early 50s. Racing's popularity in Cape was at its peak, and almost every Saturday night, James accompanied his father to the track at Arena Park. It's a memory he recalls with fondness.

In fact, his first restoration was a '37 Cadillac convertible -- his father's old car which James restored after his father's death.

His connection to the past keep James committed to his hobby of collecting and restoring antique cars and motorcycles. In addition to his sprint car, James has restored the Cadillac, a 1929 Model A Ford Roadster, three '61 Chrysler 300s -- known as the "executive hot rod" -- the grandfather of the muscle cars, a '62 Corvette, and two Indian motorcycles, vintages 1933 and '41.

The Cadillac was a grueling task. Many of the original parts had deteriorated over time and had to be remade by hand.

The car, which took James three years to restore, was manufactured the same year he was born.

"We're the same age," he admits, "but it can't restore me the same way I can restore it."

With the help of Roger Gibson of Kelso, James then located the perfect vehicle for his next project --a 1962 Corvette, like the one used in the old Route 66 television series. Gibson assisted James as mentor for the restoration.

"Roger offered me his vast knowledge to help me get my mean machine back to specs," James acknowledges.

The collaboration was highly successful. James won the coveted Duntov Award, which recognizes achievement in restoring and preserving Corvettes. Only 171 individuals had won the award as of 1991, the year James won. In 1993, promoters invited James to display the Corvette at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.

Most every vehicle in his collection has received national awards, including a 1997 Master Restoration Award for his most recent project, the 1929 Model A Roadster. The award was presented in Dayton, Ohio.

Though it has its rewards, the restoration does not come easy. It requires arduous research: locating and procuring authentic parts; reconstructing other parts when the originals are unavailable; searching out mentors for their expertise: and developing a thorough understanding of the standards by which restoration work is judged.

And always it requires many hours, days, and months of hard work.

One of James' '61 Chrysler 300s had survived the volcanic eruptions of Mount St. Helens in the early 80s, but was left covered in ash. Still, James persisted. He bought it, brought it back to Cape, and began work on it.

The result was the only known, fully restored cinnamon-colored Chrysler 300, winner of several "Best of Show" awards, and the topic of a feature article in Chrysler Car Enthusiast magazine.

Fortunately, James has help beyond the mentors who advise him and guide him with the work. As owner of James Glass and Auto Body, he often employs the talents of his paint and body specialists in the restoration process.

And, of course, it requires a willingness to spend not just time and effort, but money. James once paid $300 for a set of authentic Model A Roadster tire stems. The original price for the entire truck in 1927 was only $400.

Another time, as he worked restoring his sprint car, James purchased an entire dump truck just to secure a few of its parts.

Though the time, effort and expense is great, James believes it is worth it to be able to restore the cars to their authentic condition. It is then that he feels the connection to the past.

Still, the connection doesn't always lead to the winner's circle.

The sprint car that had won the 1951 Mississippi Valley Championship was not so successful when James got behind the wheel in Davenport.

"I raced her five times in five exhibition races and came in dead last all five times," James confesses.

"Some of the other drivers were kidding me about the car, but I told them it wasn't the car. It was the driver."