It started with a 1954 Ford that Jerry Smith restored in the early 1960s. Now, more than 50 years later, that enthusiasm for vintage autos from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s—a passion he shares with wife June—is showcased at Memory Lane Classic Cars, only minutes from The Landing at Reynolds, where they have had a home since 1998.
With 138 restored gems in the collection—including a 1953 Buick Skylark worth $600,000—the Smiths are carrying on a special connection with automobiles that each inherited from their fathers, who were always tinkering on cars.
Jerry was driving a car by age 12 on dirt roads in Stone Mountain, Georgia. “My father put 2-by-4s on the pedals so I could reach them and my mother made me a pillow to sit on so I could see through the steering wheel,” Jerry recalls. Growing up in Atlanta, June would hand her father tools. “I was 4 or 5 years old and sometimes my little hand would fit into places where he couldn’t reach, so I was able to help him, too.”
Now their cars are helping the community, through the Lake Oconee Elks Lodge 2849, which operates Memory Lane Classic Cars. The entire $5.00 admission fee (kids under 12 are free) goes to charities in Greene and Putnam counties.
“With all the cars and the memorabilia we have,” June says, “it really is a trip down memory lane.”
