A love for tinkering with mechanical things led Dwight "Dider" Jones of Summit Township to restore three cars, from left, a 1928 Chevy touring car, 1955 Ford T-Bird and 1948 Buick convertible. He posed with the cars at his home on Oct. 4.

SUMMIT TOWNSHIP—Dwight Jones, a 73-year-old township resident, remembers when he bought a 1928 Chrysler Sedan for $150 when he was 18 years old.

Jones said grew up on a farm and always enjoyed working with his hands.

"I always enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things as I grew up," he said. "So cars came naturally to me."

As Jones became older, collecting and restoring classic cars became a labor of love.

He owns a 1928 Chevrolet touring car, a 1948 Buick convertible and a 1955 Ford T-Bird.

According to the National Automobile Dealers Association price guide, these three cars have a combined average retail value of $76,000.

When Jones bought his 1948 Buick Convertible for $2,500, he had to buy three other parts cars along with the convertible. He's had the car for 24 years, and spent nearly two-thirds of the time he had it restoring it.

He found the T-Bird for sale in a newspaper ad that said it required a lot of work.

The restoration process for his three classic cars has been a challenge, he said.

His friend Steve Coburn helps him with a lot of the paint work.

"It's not easy finding the parts because they aren't very common," Jones said. "Some of the things I had to have manufactured."

After he finished restoring the cars, Jones began taking them to parades, car shows and rest homes.

The response he gets for all of his hard work varies by the audience.

"For older people, it brings back a lot of good memories," Jones said.

"For young people, some people think it's cool while others just pass it off. A lot of young kids are involved with muscle cars."