Volume 1, Catalog Series #12

Dave Stewart’s 1964 Buick Skylark

“Betty” was purchased for $600 when Dave was 15. We won’t mention how long ago that was but Dave, Staff Product Designer at Hinge Health, and veteran of Amazon, Nike, Intel, and Portland’s agency and startup scene, has been driving her ever since. The Skylark was purchased from someone who owned a sawmill and was spending her days hauling wood around. It was going to be a “bridge” purchase to fix up to buy something else.  

Dave spent a week cleaning sawdust and wood chips out of it. He changed the oil, did the brakes, replaced the tires and he then became the guy with the car who drove everyone everywhere. And drive it her did. To the prom, to his honeymoon, bringing his kids home from the hospital, and more than a couple of roadtrips from Portland to California.

Oh, and about the name. Gendering things are problematic nowadays, but the name Betty came about naturally. When his kids were young, they used to beg for stories about “Betty Buick.” Betty, a name chosen primarily for its alliteration with Buick, would get a phone call from the President or NASA or Dale Earnhardt and have to go and save the day on a secret mission or driving on the moon or winning the Daytona 500. There were dozens of stories and they were great for getting kids in the mood to go to bed. 

Whether it’s a secret mission, late night drags, or Dave and Betty’s newest adventure, autocross, Betty endears and endures, inspiring Dave and his children every mile of the way.