Car collector Denny Bower grew up around muscle cars and continues to collect them today.

When Bower was young, he used to spend time watching his older brother work on cars and he said that’s where his interest in them started.

“I was exposed to it at an early age, kind of leaning over his shoulder and spending time with him as he was tinkering on them and so on,” Bower said.

As a senior in high school, he put together his first car, a 1969 Firebird. While he no longer has that car, his interest in cars hasn’t gone away.

Bower currently owns four collector cars, each one special.

Bower’s favorite car — as well as the one he’s owned the longest — is a 1968 Chevy II Nova. He’s owned it for over 40 years and said he hopes it never leaves the family. While he’s done some improvements on it, Bower said he still sees it as the same car he bought from a little old lady down the road.

His next car is a 1967 Marino Blue Camaro, which Bower purchased five or six years ago from Virginia. He said his wife drives this car most of the time, so he considers it hers. Like his other cars, Bower has made some improvements to this car over the years.

The newest model Bower owns is a 2016 ZO6 Corvette, which was purchased a couple of years ago. Bower said he considers this car his Sunday cruiser car as it’s a convertible that he and his wife like to take on drives when the weather is nice.

“I don’t know if you’d call it a muscle car but it’s a fun car, runs very well. It’s very comfortable. It gets halfway decent mileage and it’s a good car to just takeout and drive,” he said.

The newest car in his collection is a 1969 Camaro. Bower retired from 10 years of school bus driving in December and said he wanted something to keep him busy.

“We literally just got it on the road a couple of weeks ago so we’re still sorting the bugs out of it, but it’s drive-able at least and it’s a handful, it’s probably the most interesting car to drive of all of them as far as how it’s built and what it’s capable of,” he said.

While he isn’t planning on getting any more cars this summer, Bower said sometimes he just finds cars that he thinks would be worth his time and investment. If that happens, he won’t let the opportunity pass by.

Bower and his wife often take some of their cars to local shows. They tend to stick around the Bowling Green area, occasionally going to Findlay but never farther, as he doesn’t like driving the cars long distances. He said they also don’t go if the weather is bad as he doesn’t let the cars get wet. At home, he keeps the cars in an insulated barn to protect them from the weather.

While at shows, Bower gets to show off his cars while also seeing and enjoying what other people have. He said while he thinks his cars are good, sometimes he goes to car shows and sees other cars that amaze him.

It may not be for everyone, but Bower said he really enjoys working on the cars and going to shows. He said he highly recommends it to anyone who enjoys cars and even those who don’t enjoy collecting them, he recommends they go out to shows.

“It’s something for me to do. I grew up around them. I’ve always been around them,” he said. “Sometimes I get frustrated and upset and wonder why I’m doing what I’m doing but then once you get an issue sorted out and you get behind the wheel and you’re driving around and somebody gives you a thumbs up or a wave or asks you a question or whatever, it kind of makes it all worthwhile.”