Son’s dreams, Camaro given new life at Colby car show

Dozens of vehicles lined the streets of downtown Colby during the Cheese Days car show on Saturday afternoon, the warm sunlight of a perfect Wisconsin summer afternoon shining brightly off well polished hoods and glittering chrome.

There was plenty to offer for anyone with an interest in motorized transport, both old and new, but there was one car in particular that meant a little more for Tony Stuttgen. A first generation Chevy Camaro SS, black as midnight with striking white stripes, sat lined up next to its modern counterpart as the show spilled out onto Clark Street, a return home for the ‘60s pony car and a wish fulfilled as well.

The Camaro had once sat in the Stuttgens’ shed for years before Tony’s son, Nick, finally decided to buy it, intending to restore the vehicle back to its heyday state of the late 1960s. Unfortunately, he would not get to see the Camaro returned to its former glory as he unexpectedly passed away in 2013.

So the vehicle once again sat in Tony’s shed for nearly a decade, a project half finished. It wasn’t until 2022 when Nick’s dream to have the vehicle restored was given new life.

Bill Eckert, hailing from Medford and a Camaro enthusiast himself, had happened by the Cheese Days event and met Tony after talking to another friend about the Chevrolets. The conversation quickly turned to Nick’s Camaro.

“He says ‘You’re a Camaro guy, right?’ and I said yeah and then he says, ‘Well, I’ve got one for you,’” Eckert recalls. “And then he started telling me about it, and we went down and looked at it.”

While the state of the vehicle was a bit rough (Tony remembers Nick working on it in a number of different locations, leading to the disappearance of some of the smaller parts), the bones were good.

Nick had largely finished in the frame and some of the paneling, and the transmission and motor were still intact. However, the motor was not in great shape after sitting in the shed for some time, and with many of the other parts in bad condition or missing all together, Eckert would have his work cut out for him to get it in working condition.

“He told me he wasn’t sure what was there or what wasn’t there,” Eckert said. “There was a lot of little stuff missing and a lot of stuff that I replaced.”

Still, he was intrigued by the prospect, and soon a deal was struck.

“I thought he was a bit of a basketcase when he bought it,” Tony said with a laugh. “But he did a hell of a job with it.”

The Chevy is now nearly unrecognizable when compared to its state in Tony’s shed. After setting the project aside for a year, Eckert got to work and, after a few months, had the vehicle in a drivable state. He very nearly had it ready to go to show at the Cheese Days show last year, but could not quite get it there in time. The car did debut in Medford a week later, however, and Tony was able to see it last summer in its near-finished state, complete with the black-with-white-stripes paint job that Nick had always envisioned for the vehicle.

As part of their deal, Eckert wanted to paint the Camaro how Nick would have wanted it to look.

“I asked him what his son wanted to paint it and he said ‘black with white stripes,’” Eckert recalls. “And I said when I get it done and drivable, I told him we could bring it down here and he could put his name on it or whatever he wanted to do.”

Three years later, the almost fully restored Camaro found its spot in the Cheese Days car show. Besides needing a new headliner, it arrived in an all-but finished state, and the significance of the moment was not lost on the two men.

“Tony was a little choked up when I called him and said we were bringing it down,” Eckert said.

“Every time I tried to talk to (my wife) Debbie about it, it was that way,” Tony said. “It’s tough. Can’t forget Nick, he was the family comedian.”

A glance to the Camaro and a slight nod. No other words needed to be said.

Later, as he spoke about the car to other motor enthusiasts who happened by, his words seemed to convey Tony’s thoughts, however.

“It’s a work of art,” Tony said simply.