STORY BY KELLEN OLSHEFSKI • PHOTOS BY JASON BRANT F or the late Walter Hawk, it was a hobby and hard work that not only allowed him to pursue a career of his choosing, but to delve into the collector car hobby as well. A lover of cars for as long as his widow, Martha, can remember, Walter leaned into his passion for weaponry and built up a lucrative and successful firearms supply business while also building up a great group of collector cars. Walter passed in 2020, and Martha has decided that it’s finally time for his automotive treasures to move along to a new home, one that will appreciate them just as much as Walter did. This January 14, a selection of Walter’s finest Mopars—ones he poured both his time and care into—will join the auction lineup at the world’s largest collector car auction in Kissimmee. About a month after Walter and Martha Hawk got married in June 1969, Walter opened a little gun shop out of their one-car garage as a hobby, something “to keep him out of trouble,” Martha said. Just a couple years later, Walter left his job at Magnavox to pursue his endeavor full time, at first under the name The Shooting Shop. As his budding business continued to grow, the pair eventually closed down the retail side of the business, built a warehouse and shifted to a mail-order business model. That decision took the venture to a worldwide level over the course of the next 26 years, with the Hawks ultimately deciding to sell the company, now called Mid South Shooters Supply, in 1995. “He was a hard, hard worker,” Martha said. “Anybody you run into will tell you that he worked so hard just to make it go.” In fact, the effort Walter put into Mid South Shooters Supply was so profound that the business continues on to this day in Clarksville, Tennessee, under its new ownership. After selling the business, the Hawks had more time to pursue their hobbies. While Walter’s passion for the firearms supply industry was unquestionable, Martha said he had always had a love for cars as well, and his success as a business owner opened up the opportunity for the Hawks to explore the automotive scene further. Martha said Walter had done a little drag racing locally over the years and had always wanted to dig in deeper, and as their business pursuits paved the way, Walter and Martha soon built up a nice little collection. “He just always liked cars,” she said. “We would go on weekends. He would get some kind of newspaper, see what was for sale, and then we’d go and look at cars. He enjoyed NASCAR, racing and just any kind of car. MECUM.COM // 71
