Jim Simpson’s Cool Old Stuff
Photos/Story: Mike Slade, Yep! That Mike Slade.
Jim Simpson is one of the best known residents of Williamston, South Carolina. Jim has lived in this town which is one of those small South Carolina, towns that sits off the beaten path about ten miles southwest of Greenville, South Carolina. Jim is also the owner of the local ACE hardware store that sits on the main drag in the middle of Williamston.
Jim is a late comer to the car collection scene. He was in his late fifties when he bought his first car. Actually it was for his son Mike which was a senior in high school. It was a 70 Mustang 302. The rest is history. Jim has owned 24 cars since then. So in 2010 Jim decided he needed a place to keep his growing collection. So he decided to remodel the small building that sits across from his hardware store. This building was the original building that housed his hardware store that was built in 1952 by his father. After the remodel was complete Jim spent many weekends going to car and truck shows, and swap meets to find all the signs, gas pumps and automotive memorabilla that sit around the big show room. Besides the big show room Jim, has an office that sits off one side of the show room, where he conducts his car business and keeps all his car books, magazine and photos. Directly behind the show room is a long room which is the maintenance shop. This shop has a car lift and lots of tools that would be the envy of any gear head . At this time Jim, has seven cars in his collection which consist of a 49 Mercury, a 64 convertible GTO, a 69 Mach I, Mustang, a 67, Ford Fairlane, a convertible 57 Chevy, a 65, Chevy C-10 pickup truck and a 69, BOSSD 429 Mustang. Jim doesn’t know if he will add to his collection, only time will tell.
