Joe Bortz

Joe Bortz has made a life long hobby from his passion for cars. Cars are not transportation to Joe, they are literally moving objects of art. From the flow of the fender to the aerodynamics of the design, everything about a car is viewed from an art lover’s vantage point with Joe.

From the time that Joe was 9 years old collecting new car brochures from every dealer within bicycling distance to his ultimate treat of the Chicago Auto show from the age of about 12 to 20– never did it occur to him that he could actually touch one or sit in one of these beautiful cars. Now after over 30 years of admiring and dreaming about these cars he has amassed one of the largest private collections of dream cars.

Subject ID: 82258

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Joe Bortz has made a life long hobby from his passion for cars. Cars are not transportation to Joe, they are literally moving objects of art. From the flow of the fender to the aerodynamics of the design, everything about a car is viewed from an art lover’s vantage point with Joe.

From the time that Joe was 9 years old collecting new car brochures from every dealer within bicycling distance to his ultimate treat of the Chicago Auto show from the age of about 12 to 20– never did it occur to him that he could actually touch one or sit in one of these beautiful cars. Now after over 30 years of admiring and dreaming about these cars he has amassed one of the largest private collections of dream cars.

Not only has he become a collector of some of the most original works of automotive art he literally has saved many prototype cars from the “kiss of death”. The fact that many of the concept cars were produced for ideas only, the manufacturers didn’t want anyone to have these cars after they had been shown because of liability risks. So all of these cars were scheduled to be destroyed.

As you can imagine, it was like telling an artist that when we’re done showing your statue here, we’re going to smash it. These designers would go to the front office and cry. Now and
then, they managed to save one and they would be told, “Well, here, I’m giving you the car, but I don’t ever want to hear about it again.”

Through sheer persistence and a driving desire to find these cars that had managed to escape the crusher, Joe and his son, Marc, managed to find 24 of these special one-only cars.

Each car that Joe has acquired has been a
treasure hunt with it’s own unique history and story. It is interesting
to note the comaraderie among car enthusiasts who have been kind enough
to share their information on the different cars.

The collection has been featured in many museums and car shows with tremendous response from the public. The cars just seem to generate more and more interest with every article, t.v. show and car show that they appear.

 

Subject ID: 82258

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