Wally Arnold was a tried and true car guy that was loved by many. He might not be somebody that you knew, but you’ve probably used some of his products. While he has a long history in the automotive arena, before he retired he was part owner of Eagle One that manufactures car care products. 

He loved everything automotive from the cars, to memorabilia, to hanging out at car shows. Unfortunately, Wally passed away over a year ago. But with his lifetime of automotive passion, he accrued quite a collection of cars and memorabilia. Currently his son Mike Arnold is going through everything and selling it off, bit by bit. We caught up with Mike and part of his fathers collection. 

We asked Arnold about his father and what his history was. “Wally’s Dad, my grandfather, had a gas station back in Ohio. It was a Shell station actually. My Dad would always be there and go with him when he went to tow cars and things like that,” said Arnold. “When my grandfather moved to California, he owned a wrecking yard that my Dad worked at as well,” continued Arnold. By the time Wally was in his late teens, he went to work for Cal Customs, who designed oil pans and valve covers. Eventually he become President of the company, before starting Eagle One with two other gentlemen. 

Wally continued to grow Eagle One as President until Valvoline bought the company in 1998. Even after that he continued to work for Eagle One, working trade shows and car shows all over the country. 

Stepping into his personal 5,500 sq. ft. shop in Southern California was really impressive. “This is only about half of everything that was in this building when he passed. There use to be tons of porcelain and neon signs everywhere,” continued Arnold. The shop was still packed with tools and memorabilia, where you could spend a few hours really going over everything. 

“He liked to collect porcelain signs and gas station memorabilia. He really loved Chevelles and Bel Airs, but he really had a lot of different cars,” said Arnold. The shop itself was really his hobby hang out area. He would come down, wrench a little bit and hang out with his buddies. 

Walking around his shop we can’t even imagine how packed it used to be. Even now with over half his collection sold off, all the shelves were packed with parts and memorabilia. We started at one end of the shop and worked our way towards the other, hitting the second floor in the middle. The East side of the building held a table with tons of antiques and pieces of the automotive past. The West end held a stock of parts on shelves that touched the ceiling. 

In the middle there was several lifts, with a few cars still on them. We saw two drag cars, a 1957 Bel Air and a 1965 Chevelle wagon. There was also an Impala and a rare GMC Cyclone. Sitting off the to the side, with the frame restored, was a 1965 Chevelle two door wagon. Next to the wagon was more than a half a dozen motors on the engine stand, in various stages of completion. 

The back wall of the shop held every tool known to man from drill presses, to welders, to grinders. There was usually duplicates of every tool as well, so if one broke or you couldn’t find it, grab another and keep making progress. 

Check out the gallery below for a small glimpse at all the cool auto memorabilia in the Wally Arnold collection.