at Russell Rassbach Heritage Museum

Seven vintage cars representing a lifetime of dreaming, more than 20 years of searching, and at least a half-million dollars' investment will be displayed for the first time at the Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie.

Cars in the exhibit, The Golden Era of American Auto Design: the Doane Collection, are from the private collection of Dunn County agribusiness leader Russell Doane.

The oldest car in the collection is also the rarest: a 1942 Buick convertible, one of only two believed remaining in the world. The other cars span the 1940s and 1950s, ending with two 1960 models. Mr. Doane selected the cars in the collection because he believes they represent the golden era of the automotive industry in America.

"In the '30s, the Depression years, people were looking for transportation and there wasn't as much emphasis on styling," Mr. Doane said. "The late '40s and '50s were truly the renaissance of automobile styling. There was a lot of profit in the industry then and they were changing style much, much more often. The sky was the limit."

During the golden era, new cars were introduced with considerable fanfare. Mr. Doane, his father, and his grandfather all enjoyed tracking the new models and styles. "The cars I've collected, with one exception, are cars that I would have done anything if I could have had them new," Mr. Doane said. "I had always wanted to begin collecting cars. When we reached the point where we were making enough money, that's where some of it went."

But not just any vintage cars. Mr. Doane links each car to a turning point either in the history of the United States or the automobile manufacturing industry. The two, he says, are linked, and the 1942 Buick demonstrates that connection better than any other.

"The 1942 Buick Roadmaster convertible was built just before Christmas in 1941," Mr. Doane said. "There were no cars built between January of '42 and late '45. One of the great stories with World War II is how rapidly American industry moved from manufacturing consumer goods to manufacturing for the war effort. By January of 1942 literally the whole automobile manufacturing process had been stopped and they were ripping out the machinery that made cars and they were gearing up to make war materials. We were trying to furnish our allies in the war effort."

Consumer goods were hard to come by during the war years. People focused on the war effort were frugal in their personal lives. After the war, people had money to spend and a desire to buy.

"The list price for a new '42 Buick was about $1,700, but at the end of World War II, everybody wanted a new car. They didn't want a 1942 car; they wanted a new car," Mr. Doane said. "So, many of those 1941 and 1942 cars wound up going to the crusher. There was a low production of cars in 1942 because of the war, but still those cars didn't have a high survival rate."

Mr. Doane said he always admired the car's "drop-dead gorgeous design." The dashboard is exceptionally ornate and the exterior features the fender styling that automobile designers employed for many years after the war.

"This car was designed to get people's attention, to get their eye," Mr. Doane said.

Other cars in the exhibit represent changes in automotive design or American culture:

• The 1949 Buick Roadmaster was the first of the two-door hardtops and the first year that Buick used the sweep spear trim design that later became one of the manufacturer's identifying styling features. Only about 2,500 of the models were manufactured.

• The 1950 Lincoln Cosmoplitan Capri represents the manufacturer's attempt to catch up with a transition in automobile design. Consumers were moving from convertibles to hardtop cars. Other manufacturers found a way to have the hardtop without a solid post between the front and back seats. Ford did not have a body that could support the hardtop without the post. The 1950 Lincoln is a "pseudo hardtop."

• The 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II was designed to draw people into the showroom.
  
  "These cars sold for $11,000 when a Fleetwood Cadillac sold for $5,000. People probably wouldn't buy the car, but if you could get them into the showroom to see it they'd buy something else," Mr. Doane said.
  
  Buyers could bring in a color sample and have the car custom painted to match. The interiors were also custom designed. The model on exhibit is one of two that was made with all black leather interior.

• The two 1960 cars are in original condition; they have not been restored. They show the dramatic change in automobile design from the 1940s and 1950s. To Mr. Doane, they represent the end of an era. One is one of the largest cars Buick ever built — the Electra 225. The other is a Cadillac Fleetwood with 9,000 actual miles.
  
  "That car is a creampuff. It's really something," said Bob Lorkowski, owner of L'CARS Automotive Specialties in Cameron, Wis. L'CARS has restored the other cars in the collection.
  
  "Sometimes the car is in such good shape you just don't mess with them; you don't touch them," he said. "That's the quality of that 1960 Cadillac."

• Next to all the glamorous cars, a black 1952 Buick Super in the collection looks like a country cousin. The story here is not of glamour but of romance.
  
  "The '52 Buick is a duplicate of the car that I had when Nancy and I were married. It was my first new car. We drove it until 1955," Mr. Doane said. "It doesn't have the level of trim that some of the others have; it was more of a family car. You could load the whole shebang in the back seat and off you'd go."

Today, the focus in car design is on fuel efficiency, safety, and cost-conscious production. The Golden Era of Automotive Design exhibit recalls a time when cars held a different role in American culture and the buying public enjoyed the ceremony of unveiling the extravagant new models each year.

"I could never even dream of having one of these cars to drive in those days, but I very much remember when they came out," Mr. Doane said. "Automobiles have always been a joy to me."