Collector has plenty to drive

The original advertisements for one car promised 100 miles per gallon.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NEW SPRINGFIELD -- When Don Manning cruises down the road, he turns a lot of heads.
He says it's because of the mini and micro mini cars he drives. Under the definitions of the Micro-Mini Car Club of which Manning is a member, cars with 1,000 cubic centimeters or less are micro-minis and those with more than 1,000 cubic centimeters are minis. The cubic centimeter measurement deals with the displacement of the engine, he said.
Manning, who retired from GM Lordstown in 1993, started collecting and restoring cars in earnest since shortly before his retirement.
With all of the time and energy he puts into them, they're almost like his children.
"When I talk about them, I say this one was born in 1982, instead of it was built in 1982," he said.
Three-wheeler
Among his collection is a 1982 Freeway, a micro-mini, with three wheels.
"They called it a Freeway, but it should have been called a sidewalk because I don't think you would drive on a freeway in it," Manning joked.
The car can reach 55 mph, but it's a little shaky.
HM Vehicles of Minnesota made about 700 Freeways from 1979 to 1982.
"The HM was for high mileage," Manning said. "An advertisement for it said that if you didn't get 100 miles per gallon, you'd get your money back, but that was only if you went 40 mph."
With the price of gas so high, Manning has been driving the little car on short trips around town.
He buys his pieces from other collectors and some parts from eBay.
"I don't sell anything hardly at all," Manning said. "I just collect."
A sampling
He keeps the cars in storage away from his home, taking them out periodically to work on them or take them on the road.
Manning bought his 1958 BMW Isetta from another collector in Butler, Ohio. The bright green 13-horsepower, four-speed features one door that opens across the front of the car.
"I take it to shows where it's next to $20,000 street rods, and it gets second place," Manning said. "They're unique."
His 1961 Metropolitan convertible, made in England, is considered a mini.
He's been working on a 1962 King Midget for about two years. The car was built in Athens, Ohio, from 1947 to the late 1960s, and he's restoring it for his wife to drive.
"Hopefully, next summer I'll have it ready," Manning said.
With such unusual and older cars, mechanical problems can be difficult. If something goes wrong, Manning relies on chat rooms to try to diagnose the problem and often buys the parts to fix it on eBay. Even the tires -- the Freeway boasts 12-inch tires -- are hard to find.
Manning's oldest car and his first buy is a 1930 Model A Ford. He bought it about 35 years ago and has worked on it bit by bit since.
"I think you have to have hobbies," he said. "I have more projects than I can probably finish."