Our profile this time is of two Sacramento natives who have lived there a lifetime. Carl and Judy Dahl were both born and raised in Sacramento. They attended grammar and middle schools on opposite sides of town, but they

both attended the same High School, which of course is the most important. Carl was a few of years ahead of Judy and they met and dated. Carl graduated in 1961 and when Judy graduated they got married in 1964, and had one daughter who is married and lives three miles away in Sacramento.

Carl went to work for Western Electric and spent 20 years with them installing equipment for customers. He decided that this was not the job he wanted for the rest of his working life so he quit. He has since been self-employed. He first got into house building and remodeling which he liked because he was his own boss. After 4 to 5 years Carl decided that this was not what he really wanted to do. He had always had a bent for old cars so restoring and modifying cars became his next occupation.

Carl really found his stride with the cars. He and Judy had bought an older house with a large backyard, so Carl built a large 3-car garage for his workshop. In addition to building special cars both modified and restored, he began to buy old new stock and used parts. They would drive around and visit long established car dealerships and parts houses to buy up their old inventory.

It didn’t take long for Carl to get a good reputation for the quality of his work. He has had a number of first place ribbons, 5 for his own cars and a number for cars he built for customers. He didn’t do everything himself. He had a good friend who did the body-work and painting, and another friend handled the upholstery. Carl focused on the mechanical modifications. In addition to the car work he also had a sideline business selling car parts. Originally they started by writing ads in Hemmings magazine, but with the advent of E-bay the parts business has now become a main source of income. It is a team effort with Judy handling all of the computer work and Carl acquiring, preparing and pricing the parts.

Over time Carl and Judy have had a series of cars, usually one at a time because of limited parking space. Buick vehicles have predominated over the years both as collector and driver cars. They have sold the last project car, the ’37 Buick 40 2 Dr Sedan. It was 90% complete with beautiful red paint, big Chevy engine, and late model accessories. Its replacement is a new Dodge Magnum, but they still have the ’64 Buick Riviera.

Not all have been restoration projects, as a number of Resto-rods have found their origin in Carl’s shop. After more than 20 years of working on the cars he is not taking on any more projects, and just focuses on the parts business.

When Judy is not working over a hot computer selling parts on E-bay, she makes quilts and does Tole painting. She also has her 8-year old grandson living 3 miles away so she is able to get her grandmother fix on a regular basis.

When asked about her favorite car club she doesn’t hesitate to name the Redwood Region of CHVA. They have belonged to other clubs over the years, but CHVA stands out as the most friendly and fun of the bunch. The fact that she has been a Redwood Region board member for the past 5 years may have something to do with her enthusiasm.

Published in AAN November-December, 2007