South Dakota family auctioning off late father's vintage, tricked-out vehicles for charity
If there's one thing Gary VanderPol loved, it was helping people, but he also loved his cars.
VanderPol, a native of Harrison, South Dakota, spent his life building, refurbishing and collecting old vintage and tricked-out cars and motorcycles. When he wasn't working or building passion projects or even flying his own planes, he used his life to serve others, family members say.
The VanderPol family has always been involved in mission work. When Gary VanderPol's son, Tom, was killed in a plane crash in Guatemala in 1998, the family founded the Tom VanderPol Memorial Fund.
Before his death at the age of 81 in November 2020, Gary VanderPol wrote in his will that he wanted to use his unique collection to continue bringing good to others. Now, his family is selling over 30 of his vehicles at an auction on May 14, and all proceeds will go to the Memorial Fund.
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“Anything he did, he did in a big way,” Gary's daughter-in-law, Nancy VanderPol, said. “His vision wasn’t small, and he just had such a big presence.”
From dream to reality
Pat VanderPol, Gary's widow, said that even as a boy, Gary liked to work with his hands, making model planes and other things. The family farm wasn’t big enough for all the boys, so he went into the heavy construction business.
The job left him a lot of time to think and dream of things in his head, his son, Steve VanderPol, said.
“I think that’s why he liked construction, too,” Steve said. “He liked to be able to see a finished product from an idea.”
In 1964, Gary built his first motorcycle trike. Steve still remembers the day he rode on his father’s lap when he took the tricked-out bike for its first drive. Gary created his first hot rod shortly after that.
Pat fondly remembers all the trips she and her husband took together. Gary would find a part somewhere in the country, either by looking at car and airplane magazines or making dozens of phone calls, and the two would hop in the car and go get it, sometimes at the drop of a hat.
“Our time together was special, and we had a lot of adventures together,” Pat said.
Those adventures also included car and motorcycle shows, such as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
As an aviation lover, Gary VanderPol also took pilot lessons and soloed his own flights. He bought his first plane, a Cessna 182, in 1972. He had also rebuilt a Piper J-3 Cub plane in the basement of the farmhouse.
His sons followed in his footsteps in that way and eventually got their pilot’s licenses. Once, the boys all flew to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for an air show, and they would also promote mission aviation at the shows they went to.
A collection to match his personality
Gary VanderPol worked on his special projects during the winter months when he wasn’t doing construction. He didn’t draw out his designs — the original ideas were almost completely in his head other than when he was welding and would occasionally sketch out what he needed.
“He had an engineering mind, but he was an artist in his own right,” Steve’s wife and Gary’s daughter-in-law, Nancy VanderPol, said.
Sometimes he took inspiration from other things, such as the time Steve was Christmas shopping for his children and found a Hot Wheels BMW Isetta Drag car he knew his father would love.
“Too bad we didn’t get a picture of him because he was really excited when he saw it,” Pat VanderPol said, laughing. “He was beaming.”
Years later, Gary saw in a museum the real drag car that the Hot Wheels one was modeled after, and that made him excited, too.
Steve said his dad liked the attention to be on his creations rather than on him, which is why he didn’t take many pictures of himself. It’s also the reason why he added lights, horns and a double axel to the red pickup truck he used to drive around his creations when he went to shows.
Pat's favorite creation of her husband’s is the 1960 motorcycle trike that has fins from a 1960s Cadillac. There’s also the Freedom Fighter, which was built using the front canopy of an airplane that he got in New Mexico.
Gary loved talking to people about how he built his cars and motorcycles, and he loved giving them rides in all of them, including in his plane. He even built a giant swing and refurbished a small tank in the backyard for his grandchildren to play in.
“The uniqueness of the collection is a reflection of his personality,” Steve said. “He just got a kick out of seeing everybody’s reaction.”
The family laughed when they remembered the reactions Pat and Gary VanderPol received after driving around and getting out the little yellow Isetta he fixed up.
“It was so comical when he’d go in there,” Steve VanderPol said, since he was so big in comparison.
Gary VanderPol also had a sign in one of his airplanes that read "One second from eternity."
“He had a sense of humor that way, too,” said Steve, as another way his father spread the gospel.
Gary spent life doing missionary work
Mission work was another thing close to Gary VanderPol’s heart, his family said. As a family, the VanderPols made missionary work a part of their lives.
The Bible League was one of the groups they got involved with. The ministry took Gary VanderPol to places like Israel, China, and the Philippines in the late 80s and 1990s. Part of the goal was to spread the gospel and the other part was to serve the communities he traveled to.
They built schools in the Philippines, Guatemala and India as well as a home for mothers in India, and the family was also involved with the Shoebox Ministry where they filled boxes with necessities and sent them to those in need across the globe.
The children he’d met in those places were also a huge part of Gary's life.
Pat described her husband as fun-loving when it came to his love for children. She recalled once when she took their grandchildren to the zoo and they said it would have been more fun with Grandpa, to which she laughed.
“He had a real knack for kids. … They all felt so comfortable around him,” she said, something apparent from all the mission memorabilia. The children in those mission photos would crowd around him, smiling, and they’d hand-make gifts for him as a thank you, calling him “Uncle Gary.”
The idea of mission really became the sole focus for Gary after his son, Tom, was killed in a plane crash on a mission in Guatemala while flying for the Mercy Wings.
After the crash, the family set up a memorial fund in Tom’s honor, and the memorial fund helps support the missions. Gary also built a model plane for Shayla, Tom’s daughter, after the memorial. Shayla was also named after the city Xela in Guatemala, where she was born.
Steve VanderPol said the family really had to trust God after that, and now when they look back, they can see some good that came from the hurt.
“We still don’t have answers to the ‘why’ question,'” said Steve, “but even in the tragedy, that’s been the heart of Dad and Mom.”
Steve said his father was inspired by his favorite movie, “Schindler's List,” to sell his collection so that he could further help others, and Pat calls it a “win-win.” Gary got to enjoy building things he loved while in life and he was able to use it to the benefit of others after death.
Selling the cars now at the auction is like the end of an era, the family said, but they’re glad it’s been some time since Gary VanderPol’s passing and that his legacy can live on in this way.
“He would be very happy to see it,” said Pat VanderPol.
If you go
Date: May 14
Time: 9:30 a.m.
What's for sale: Vintage and custom cars and motorcycles plus farm equipment such as antique tractors.
In person: VanderPol family farm at 27406 277th Ave, Harrison, SD, 57344
Online: at VanDerBrink Auctions
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Family auctioning off South Dakota man's vintage vehicles for charity
