Saul and Taffy Hoffman both grew up in Pennsylvania, Saul in Philadelphia and Taffy in Reading.  Saul showed very early, at about 4 years of age, that he was destined

to grow up to be a car nut. It was at that point in his development, according to his mother, that he could name all the cars on the road. Of course it wasn’t until he was in college that he got his first car, a 1947 Ford.

Saul went through the Philadelphia school system and entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BS degree in Chemical Engineering. While attending the university he met Taffy in 1953. Taffy was attending nursing school at that time. She graduated then as an RN and later, in 1978, received her BS in nursing at Kent State.

They were married in 1957, and had their first child before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, where their other four children were born. After living in Cleveland for 16 years, Saul was transferred to California for 4 years to manage a company. 1974 saw them moving back to Cleveland. By 1978 Saul had decided to quit the corporate world and moved the family back to California. They had tasted the California lifestyle and wanted more.

In 1979 Saul formed a company with an associate that recycled hazardous chemical wastes. For instance in the case of Leslie Salt, Leslie had to pay to have the Bittern, a by-product of processing salt, dumped in the ocean. Saul’s chemical background led him to show that this by-product could be successfully used to treat dusty logging roads by cutting the daily watering to once a week. It was a win win for everyone. He spent his last 10 working years, on his own, doing creative venturing with a Canadian company that mined Magnesium .

Saul made a conscious decision to collect old cars. His first was a 64 Studebaker Wagoneer that his kids used while going to college. In 1979 he got more serious and purchased a 47 Chrysler, which he just sold last year. It was in 1981 that he drove the Chrysler up to the Lake Tahoe WPC Club Convention. That was where he met some CHVA people and got his introduction to our group. He and Taffy have been CHVA members since 1982.

They were living in Cupertino with no place for a car collection. The solution in 1988 was to buy their current home in Ben Lomond, where Saul immediately built a 6-car garage.

Doing restoration on cars is not something Saul wants to do. His philosophy is to buy cars that are in good shape and then make small improvements to them. He credits his friends in CHVA with teaching him a lot about old cars. On the subject of other cars he would have liked to own, he is pretty satisfied with his collection, however, if a certain 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible should cross his path he would be sorely temped. He says that basically his favorite car is the one he is driving at the time.

Both Saul and Taffy are very involved with the Red Cross Disaster work on the local and national level. They can be found volunteering wherever the need might be. Saul still enjoys a good game of tennis, and they both enjoy bicycling cross-country for 30 miles or so. They are joining other CHVA members who have visited Europe by taking a Belgium barge bike tour in August. Taffy is the golfer in the family, and that gives her something more to do during their annual 2-month winter stay in Palm Desert. As a result of touring with CHVA, Taffy now has an extensive collection of dolls. Fortunately they have 6 grandchildren living in Northern California so that makes for easy visiting.

Saul has belonged to many clubs over the years and he still belongs to the WPC Club, Northern Chrysler Club, also both the National and Northern California Buick Clubs as well as the CHVA Redwood Region. He says that it goes without saying that the CHVA group is the most fun. They both enjoy the people and the camaraderie of our group.

Published in AAN July-August, 2005