When Don Baxter sold his Speed Shop business north of Lawrence 30 years ago, he intended to spend his time restoring classic cars.

He did, but he also found himself buying up old Ford car parts and selling them. As a result, Baxter and his two sons, Bob and Tim, launched a mail-order operation that they’ve managed from a garage. They’ve had to expand that garage several times.

The Baxters deal exclusively with auto parts for 1930s-, ’40s- and ’50s-model Fords.

“One thing just led to another” was how Don Baxter explained the evolution of the Baxter Auto Parts business.

Speedometers, dashboard gauges, hubcaps, radiators, headlights and virtually any Ford car part from those decades can be found on row after row after row of shelves. In a back room, there are shelves of carburetors the Baxters have rebuilt or made per customer request. On the floors are flathead motors, some rebuilt or waiting to be rebuilt.

Most of the customers are either restoring old Fords or are turning them into roadsters.

Don Baxter works on a piece of trim for a 1940s model Ford in a building he's owned for years. Baxter and his sons sell Ford auto parts from the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

The Baxters deal with special-interest customers who locate them through sales on eBay and in auto parts ad publications. They don’t use mainstream advertising, publicize their location or even have a listed telephone number.

But business is good.

“We can’t keep up,” Don Baxter said. “We ship stuff to Australia, New Zealand, anywhere in the world. The hard part is just finding enough parts.”

The older the cars, the harder it becomes to find parts for them, the Baxters said. Especially popular – and rare – are parts for 1932 Fords.

“You just can’t get enough of that stuff,” Don Baxter said. “The ’32 Ford was always real popular for hot-rodding. It was the first of the V-8s.”

It also is Baxter’s favorite car. He’s restored a few in his lifetime. Fords were always his favorite.

Centers for steering wheels are cleaned and stored in the Baxters' shop. The family sells their wares online and through specialty publications.

“People who are my age are rebuilding the cars because they think about the cars they wanted when they were kids,” Don Baxter said.

The Baxters used to travel to western Kansas to search for parts in old auto garages.

“At one time, every small town had a Ford garage,” Bob Baxter said. “They would close and leave and everything would remain there. So if you could find the old building or someone who owned the building, you could usually find parts.”

Those abandoned Ford garages are long gone now, and the parts have either been picked up by collectors or they are sitting in some unsuspecting owner’s building. The Baxters also get their parts from other collectors who have lost interest or have died, they said.

The Baxters also found that there is quite a hunt by collectors seeking old Ford garage banners and signs.

Tim and Bob Baxter, who sell Ford car parts with their father, finish work on a flat-head motor for a customer to pick up.

“We didn’t know what they were worth at first, so we put them on eBay,” Bob Baxter said. “They’d sell for $500, $600.”

The Baxters, who for several years traveled the country participating in drag races, also still find time occasionally to restore a few of their own classic cars. Some they have purchased and then sold over the years.

Searching for old cars and parts has led to some unusual and mysterious finds.

For years, the Baxters had tried to buy a 1946 Mercury that was parked behind a Topeka gas station. It had been there for at least 30 years, ever since its owner took it in for repairs and then failed to return for it. The station owner had been reluctant to sell the car for fear the owner might return. The Baxters finally were able to buy it a couple of years ago.

When they got the car to Lawrence, they opened the trunk and found it full of German World War II helmets and bayonets. They also found a wooden trunk chained in place. Inside the trunk was old American currency as well as envelopes of foreign money. The Baxters still have the “treasure trunk” and its contents.

“The car had been sitting there for years and nobody had opened it up,” Bob Baxter said.