Inside his 2 garages in Chesterfield County, customers from across the nation trust Frank Badalson with their deserving investments.
Badalson brings back vehicles, something he states fuels his inner drive.
“Right now I am living my dream and working on good old American Muscle Cars,” he said.
But there is one unique vehicle in his garage that he never believed he would get.
“This is a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air,” he said.
The car is a notorious piece of American history connected to the assassination of then USA president, John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Some state the prized ownership looks better fit for a junk backyard, but that does not matter to Badalson.
“You might state it is in poor condition,” he told. “Windows are broken. It doesn’t run.”
Regardless of the visual flaws, Badalson said he sees nothing but appeal in the Chevy Bel Air. That and a long history going back to one of the most notorious minutes in American history.
In the weeks leading up to the President’s death the battered station wagon brought Oswald’s strange duffel bugs.
Badalson, a previous Chesterfield County police officer, is also a highly appreciated JFK assassination specialist.
That’s why he said he jumped at the possibility spending more than $10,000 to own among the last automobiles connected to that eventful day in November of 1963.
Not long after the assassination Ruth Paine sold her Bel Air to her next door next-door neighbor.
Reports state the automobile held tension for her after Kennedy’s assassination.
The vehicle weakened after sitting more than 50 years. That is till it went on the auction block during last year.
Although Badalson jumped at the opportunity to get his hands on the historic automobile, not everybody holds it in such high regard.