JEWELRY STORE OWNER DRIVEN TO COLLECT CLASSIC CARS arry Zilbert has always had a love for cars, especially the classics. In a way, his affinity for automobiles is what helped him launch a jewelry business that’s still revving after 26 years. It began when Zilbert sold his well-loved, white-and-red 1974 Corvette Roadster to buy inventory and open Cleveland Jewelry Exchange inside Carl’s supermarket in Bedford. The supermarket eventually closed and Zilbert moved his business across the street. Zilbert is still buying, designing and selling fine jewelry, a vocation that has allowed him to fulfill his lifelong devotion to the collection and restoration of classic cars. “Lifelong” is not an exaggeration, at least according to the Beachwood-born businessman. “There are pictures of me as an infant at car shows,” he says, since his father also collected classic cars. After being in business for two years, Zilbert found another 1974 Corvette Roadster to replace the one he sold. He then bought a red-and-black 1928 Buick Roadster – a true beauty – from a family friend. Zilbert drives his vehicles daily, weather permitting, and is a member of local car clubs. He can also be spotted with his wife, Lise, and daughter, Zoe, tooting his ahhooga horn as he cruises around Beachwood. The hippie-looking shop owner, buys his vehicles in restorable condition, taking between two to three years to refurbish them with help from his mechanically-inclined friends. You may have seen him in one of his many television commercials and may recognize his tagline, “Don’t Mail It Away, I’ll Pay You Today!” Zilbert always has his eyes open to add to his collection. “I look for style, beauty and uniqueness,” he said. “A good-old fashioned muscle car with some spine-vibrating horsepower has L its merits as well.” “I’m old school,” he adds. “It’s great when you turn the key and the car starts to shake.” Transforming a four-wheeled find into a road-ready racer is a joy in and of itself, Zilbert maintains. “You’re taking something from nothing, and recasting it into something beautiful,” he says, “It’s like taking broken scrap gold and loose diamonds to create an amazing masterpiece.” He showed us his latest love, his 1928 Buick Model 115 rumble-seat Roadster, one of approximately 4,500 built. It was an upper-middle class car that sold new for $1,180, and there are probably less than 200 remaining. “I’m the third owner of this vehicle, which was intended to be a summer-only car,” Zilbert said. “There is no heater and are no roll-up windows. Instead, it has side-curtains. It also has a golf-club door with original wood-shafted clubs, a feature on most ‘better’ Roadsters. The car was for top-down fun only and was the sports car of the day.” “This is restored back to original, although I picked the color,” 8 Beachwood Buzz n September 2014