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Restoring Dodges keeps retired 3M’er busy

The son of a Ford dealership owner in Lakota, N.D., Alan Solberg became interested in motor vehicles at a young age.

“I tinkered with cars since I was a kid,” Solberg explained. “We could drive a motor vehicle at age 14, 13 if you lived on a farm. My grandfather on my mother’s side owned Dodges, which is what I drove when I was learning to drive.”

After military service during the Vietnam era, Solberg worked for 3M in Wahpeton, N.D. for a decade before moving to New Ulm to work in the 3M computer department.

Retiring 18 months ago, Solberg began looking for Dodges to restore. Visiting family three years ago, he found a 1965 Dodge Coronet highway patrol car in Colorado Springs, Colo. which he later bought and had hauled to New Ulm.

With lots of painting and mechanical help from his son Darin of Wahpeton, N.D., Solberg restored the car completely. “It has factory air conditioning, but no power steering or brakes,” Solberg explained. “The floor was gone (rusted), but you can buy a new one and weld it into the vehicle. It’s the only year Dodges had a split bumper.”

Solberg located a 1970 Dodge Coronet 440 at a Webster, S.D. junkyard and bought it. Restoration work included the original plum color purple paint job, he added.

Perhaps his most unique car is a 1933 Dodge rumble seat coupe with two exterior spare tires on the fenders, rumble seat steps, dual air horns, and a 1954 Dodge hemi engine.

“It’s a two-year project I plan to have done next summer,” Solberg added. “I usually can find parts on E-bay or Craig’s list. Sometimes they are costly, sometimes they are not.”

Alan said he’s received a good amount of vehicle restoration advice from other people in New Ulm who have the same interest. “There are lots of people in town and around here with old cars. Some people don’t get them out as much as others. I feel like, if you have them, drive them. My wife Laurie and I enjoy driving the Coronets at the same time.”

They plan to attend Mopars in the Park, an annual two-day event at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington. The couple plans to take part in the New Ulm Autofest June 28, along with Dave’s Place Car & Bike Nights in Lafayette and roll ins in Henderson and Mankato.

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