Smitten by love, Steven Centlivre Jr. will sell part of his huge collection of tiny replica cars Saturday during Iola’s annual citywide garage sale.
“I hope to sell enough to buy this special girl a wedding ring,” said Centlivre, 36.
She lives in California, where he was born and raised, and romance has flourished even though they’re separated by 1,500 miles.
He will join 60 to 70 other opportunistic Iolans for the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce event. His sale will be at 804 N. Washington Ave., where he lives with his father, Steven Sr.
By the time he has finished setting up tables for the sale, they will be covered with about 500 detailed toy cars made by Hot Wheels, Match Box and Johnny Lightning.
Prices will be reasonable, Centlivre said, ranging from 50 cents “for kids’ cars, the ones that sold for 97 cents several years ago in stores,” to $5 for collectible models. Some are duplicates from his collection. Others — such as muscle cars and motorcycles — no longer pique his interest.
Selling so many models would decimate many collections.
Not Centlivre’s. “I probably have 2,000, maybe more than that,” he said.
AS A TEEN, Centlivre pursued his auto dreams by frequenting car shows. That’s when he first happened onto the tiny replicas.
“I had a ’64 Volkswagen then,” Centlivre said, “and at my first car show I saw all these Hot Wheels and other little cars that guys who owned the real thing were collecting. Some had been collecting for decades and what they had was amazing.”
He started buying Hot Wheels and also developed an interest in Match Box models, as well as other replicas.
His hobby grew quickly and he joined other aficionados scouting out store shelves and seizing opportunities when special limited editions were offered. Such unveilings draw a crowd of collectors, all eager to be first in line.
As with any hobby, Centlivre eventually refined his — mainly to Volkswagen replicas, although he occasionally was fascinated by special issues, some limited to 10,000 or fewer.
CENTLIVRE and his father were raised in California and found their way to Iola — father a few years ahead of his son — because of family ties.
Steven Sr. said several family members lived in the area and, after working as a law enforcement officer and firefighter in southern California for many years, he decided the slower-paced life suited him.
“I got tired of hearing gunshots in the middle of the night,” he said.
Steven Jr. lived in Nevada for 10 years before coming to Iola in October 2008, to escape some personal problems and also “to help out Pop. You know, he’s not as young as he used to be.”
The younger Centlivre has done volunteer work locally — he built the new counter that visitors to the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce office see — and has helped out with janitorial work at Allen County Courthouse.
Does he plan to stay in Iola?
“You know, a small town grows on you,” he said. “I like the folks here.”
He also has a project in waiting on the patio, a version of the VW No. 53, “Herbie” of film fame.
“I got it from a guy in Hollywood who worked in the movies and one of these days I’d like to get it all fixed up,” he said.
First, though, he intends to work on that band of gold to complete a relationship that’s foremost on his mind.
