NEARLY 40 VEHICLES FROM A COLLECTION OF MOSTLY LOW-MILEAGE AND ORIGINAL CLASSIC FAVORITES HEADS FOR KISSIMMEE Story by Chelsey Hinsenkamp Photos by Carol Duckworth, David Newhardt and Daniel Hatchett A t just 5 years of age, Tom Martin of Bloomington, Indiana, was the family car expert, calling out all of the makes and models his young sponge of a mind had managed to memorize. With each flashy auto he’d witness cruising along the roads, his youthful heart would skip a beat and make a little extra room for the ones he loved the most. It was a love exclusive to Martin, not one shared with his father, grandfather or uncle as is common for many of today’s collectors, but even without footsteps in which to follow, Martin ultimately paved his own path into the automotive world one sure-footed step after another. Today, Martin has both a successful business and a stunning private collection to show as the fruits of his passionate dedication to automotive endeavors, and he’ll soon offer a large selection of his classic and collector vehicles at auction this January, giving other enthusiasts a chance to claim a piece as their own. Martin has long been a believer in working hard to play hard and never hoped or expected to get anything without applied effort. He devoted himself to achieving good grades in school and set out at university to earn a degree in chemistry. While Martin excelled in his studies, it occurred to him in his senior year at the University of Indianapolis that he wanted to pursue a career in a different field. After “flip-flopping” around for some time on how to proceed, Martin found a way to graduate university a semester early by convincing a professor to teach one of his required courses during the summer months. Soon after graduation, Martin more or less abandoned his hard-earned education to pursue his passion for cars, but the changeover was no walk in the park. He managed to secure a partnership with respected and established individuals of the Bloomington automotive market, taking stake in several companies, which included auto dealerships and a realty company, but that responsibility required massive amounts of time and commitment, with 90-hour workweeks a common occurrence in the early years. Today, Martin is the president of Community Ford in Bloomington and continues to own and operate multiple businesses, but as busy as he’s been with his career and providing for his family, he’s always found time for play as well. For Martin, that play was initially focused in the realm of Road Art. “I started out actually with memorabilia that I used in the dealerships, like gas pumps and signs and antiques of that sort,” he explained of his collecting. “And then that kind of grew into: I had so much of it, I had to build a building to put it in. So, then after I had that building full of that, I thought, well, let’s do some cars.” MECUM.COM // 45
