Minnesota man buys vintage 'Woodie Wagon' that once belonged to iconic actress Bette Davis
Jul. 24—GLYNDON, Minn. — An iconic movie star has been gone for more than 35 years, but a piece of her life will live on with a Glyndon couple.
A 1940 Buick "Woodie Wagon" that once belonged to Hollywood actress Bette Davis now belongs to Gary Myhre and his wife, Kari.
Myhre, 73, a retired insurance adjuster, already owns multiple "woodie," or wood-bodied vehicles, that he's restored over the years, but this one is special, for obvious reasons.
Famous for many roles, Davis won Oscars for "Dangerous" and
"Jezebel"
in the 1930s, and was nominated eight more times, including for
"All About Eve"
and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"
Davis was known for her versatile acting style and unique eyes. In 1981, about eight years before her death, her name became known to younger audiences through the hit song
"Bette Davis Eyes"
by Kim Carnes.
While restoring Davis' old vehicle might seem an impossible amount of work, Myhre sees promise.
"It looks like, you know, a rough car but it's gonna turn out really nice," he said during an interview at the couple's property, dedicated to all things "woodie."
Myhre came across this vehicle the way he often does, with a heads-up from a friend or a search on the internet.
People commented online about how rare the car was, and that it would be impossible to find the expertise for restoration.
"Some of them said, 'You'll never find anyone to do the wood. Those guys are all dead,' and I thought, 'Well, one of 'em ain't,'" Myhre joked.
Others said any potential buyer would be financially "upside down" from the start.
For those reasons, there was minimal activity on the car. Myhre put in a bid for what he was willing to pay and got it.
He picked up the car earlier this month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a bank had possession of it.
Asked whether he'd reveal the purchase price, Myhre said, "I'd better not. Everybody will think I'm crazy. Everybody will know I'm crazy."
Myhre bought the Bette Davis Buick sight unseen and told a neighbor he was picking it up in Oklahoma.
The next day, halfway to Tulsa, he got a call from his wife, who said the neighbor insisted the Bette Davis car was actually in a museum space at a Bulgari jewelry store in Italy.
Myhre called his contact at the bank, who quickly reassured him that he had, in fact, purchased the Bette Davis car and that it has all the documentation for proof.
Turns out the car in Italy was owned by Warner Bros., the movie studio Davis worked for, but it wasn't the one she drove.
Myhre said the car he bought was last owned by an investment company employee who got caught in a Ponzi scheme and ended up doing prison time.
The man's entire vehicle collection was repossessed, but the bank didn't know about the Bette Davis car at first because it was being worked on in a restoration shop.
When the shop alerted the bank to the car's existence, the bank took ownership. Once the bank finally got a title for it, the car was listed for sale.
Myhre received the best of all surprises when he returned home to Glyndon with the car.
He popped the hood to see a new engine, new wiring harness and other restoration had already been done.
The car Myhre owns is number 486 of the 500 or so made.
Documents show it was originally registered to Gary Merrill, actor and husband of Bette Davis, but she drove it. Still in place are wood blocks stacked under the bench seat so Davis could see over the hood. A "Hollywood" decal remains at the bottom of the windshield.
Davis is shown driving the car in a scene from "Now, Voyager," another movie for which she was Oscar-nominated.
Myhre and his wife watched the black and white film and noticed the car was dark colored, not light blue as it is now.
But there was more proof: the plate on the firewall of the car states its original color was maroon.
"There's no doubt in my mind, it's her car," he said.
Records indicate Davis traded in the vehicle in 1950, after which time it went through a handful of owners and the failed investor before landing with Myhre in Glyndon.
There are few Buick Woodie Wagons still in existence, Myhre said.
Of those roughly 500 made, he has a copy of a registry compiled more than 25 years ago that indicated only about a dozen of the vehicles remained.
Surfers bought woodie wagons not because they were "neat," Myhre said, but because they were cheap and could haul surfboards and a lot of friends.
Owners were supposed to sand and varnish the wood on the vehicle every six months, but people didn't bother and that's why the car didn't survive.
"You couldn't give a woodie away back in the '50s and '60s," he said.
The wood on the sides of the Bette Davis car is northern ash and the inset panels are made of mahogany.
Much of it is in decent condition and mainly needs restoration, he said, though he will have to rebuild some pieces that have rotted out.
Myhre will also restore the wood grain dashboard, which was painted white somewhere along the way.
He said he'll seek the expertise of others for replacing glass, upholstery, and paint, which will be returned to its original maroon.
Cars then had locked gas caps, the key for which was still in the glove box, along with interesting memorabilia.
A placard reflected the gas rationing happening due to World War II, reading "Save tires, drive under 35. Share your car, check air pressure weekly," and lastly, "Is this trip really necessary?"
Myhre was first introduced to a woodie-style vehicle while attending college in Minot, North Dakota, in the mid '70s.
The local school district was selling off a fleet of old cars and Myhre landed a '48 Chevrolet Woodie.
People often ask if his dad was into cars and the answer is no.
"In fact, when I brought that Woodie home ... my parents made me park across the street. I couldn't park in front of their house," he said.
Myhre bought a small bandsaw and used it during school to fix all of the rotted wood on the vehicle.
It seemed every Chevrolet Woodie of that vintage developed rot in the corner posts.
Myhre saw a business opportunity, turning out piles of corner posts in his shop. He put an ad in the National Woodie Club publication, hoping they'd sell.
"Sold all 80 of them," he said.
Between customer jobs and working on his own cars, Myhre figures he's restored up to 40 Woodie vehicles.
When potential customers ask now, he mostly declines because he still has too much on his plate.
He does have restorations promised to two customers, but only because they're in Minnesota and he'll likely be able to see the very final, finished products.
But before he can even get to restoring the Bette Davis car, Myhre wants to fix up one more in storage: a 1932 Auburn Boattail Speedster.
"There's still something fun about driving an old car," he said.