Ken and Lori Reed’s collection includes five Rivieras, two Thunderbirds, one Corvette and a 1934 Chevrolet.
By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
This building located across the street from Ken and Lori Reed’s home includes living space, work areas and garage space for their collection of nine cars. Shown outside the building are their 1965 Buick Riviera, 1962 Ford Thunderbird and 1935 Chevrolet.
“We were living in West Des Moines and owned a building where our car collection was stored,” Ken Reed says. “We knew if we were ever going to move to Lake Panorama fulltime, we’d want to have a place for our cars.”
The couple moved to Lake Panorama in the summer of 2023. That August, they broke ground on the building across the street that now houses their collection of nine cars.
On the upper level, 1,400 square feet of living space includes two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, dining and living areas, and an office. One feature of the living area is a window that provides a view of the cars in the garage below.
Lori and Ken Reed stand with the 1934 Chevrolet Master Sedan that Ken’s brother restored. The back doors are hinged from the back. This was how doors on horse-drawn carriages were made, and the technique carried over to early cars. These were called suicide doors because of the danger of the doors opening unexpectedly and passengers falling into traffic.
“We use this extra living space a lot, hosting family and friends,” Ken says. “It gives them privacy, and it gives us peace. Lori also has her office here.”
This summer, the couple sold their West Des Moines home and building that housed their cars and moved fulltime to Lake Panorama. The move coincided with Ken Reed starting to transition toward retirement.
Reed is a surgical oncology specialist and completed 50 years as a surgeon on July 1 of this year. After medical school, he spent 28 years in the Army as a surgeon, retiring from there in 2002. He has been in Des Moines since 1986 when he took a position with Des Moines University as chairman of surgery. He served as dean of the medical school from 2003 to 2012.
Reed worked at Mercy Hospital for 25 years, then Broadlawns Hospital the past 14 years. On July 1, he moved to parttime status at Broadlawns. He now works two days a week with clinics on Tuesday and surgeries on Wednesday.
Ken Reed shows the engine of his favorite car in the collection. The 1965 Buick Riviera was stored in a barn in Minnesota from 1980 until Reed bought it in 2016. It took two years for the car to be restored to its present condition.
It also means more time for Ken and Lori to enjoy their car collection. The collection includes five Rivieras, two Thunderbirds, one Corvette and a 1934 Chevrolet.
Of those nine, the first car purchased was a white 1964 Riviera, which Reed bought in 2013. He says his interest in Rivieras started when he was 21 years old.
“I’m from Texas. In 1968, I was married with two small children. I had finished college and applied for medical school,” he says. “My wife and I were driving in Dallas one very hot day, in a car that didn’t have air conditioning. We drove by a dealership, and I saw a Riviera. We got into that car, turned on the air conditioner and just sat there. I bought the car.”
Lori Reed takes the wheel of the couple’s 1962 Ford Thunderbird Sport Roadster. What looks like a two-seater car is actually a four-seater when the panel behind the front seats is lifted.
“That car got eight miles to the gallon,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to drive it with all our other expenses and had to trade it in.”
The Buick Riviera was first introduced in 1963. Besides the white 1964 Riviera, the Reeds now own a 1965 in maroon, 1967 in black, 1968 in red and a 1972 Riviera in gray with red interior. Of those five cars, the 1965 is Ken’s favorite.
“This was a barn find,” he says. “The owner lived in Minnesota and had the car stored in his barn since 1980. I bought it from him in 2016 and trailered it home. I have a good friend in Houston who is a Riviera guy. He did a frame-off restoration for me.”
A frame-off restoration involves completely disassembling the vehicle, separating the body from the frame and meticulously restoring each individual component to like-new condition. The restoration took two years.
A collection of car license plates hangs on the back wall of the Reed garage. The oldest plate is dated 1911. The collection includes plates from each year between then and 1973.
The 1965 Riviera is a Gran Sport model.
“This is the most desired Riviera for collectors,” Reed says. “Only 4,000 of these were made, so they are hard to find. The engine is a 425 cubic inch V8, 360 horsepower with dual carburetors and a positraction rear axle. These cars weren’t considered hot rods, but they were built to go fast. These are called a gentleman’s muscle car.”
Lori Reed’s favorite is the couple’s 1962 Ford Thunderbird Sport Roadster.
“It’s a lot of fun to drive,” she says.
The Thunderbird features a red exterior and black interior. At first glance, it’s a two-seater. A hard-shell cover can be removed to reveal two back seats. For this model, Ford incorporated an automatic system that opens the trunk and brings forward a canvas top to cover the convertible.
The second Thunderbird in the collection was manufactured in 2002.
“It’s probably the most fun car to drive that we own,” Ken says. “These two-seater convertibles have V-8 engines. These were called ‘baby birds’ and manufactured from 2002 through 2005. Only 25,000 were made.”
The couple has had their 2014 Chevrolet Corvette for five years. This C-7 Corvette was the 11th off the assembly line in 2014.
“The first owner was a famous car dealer named Rick Hendrick, sponsor of multiple NASCAR drivers, including Jeff Gordon,” Reed says. “He bought my car initially and then was able to buy VIN #1 of that year, so he sold VIN #11 to me. It had 2,000 miles on it when I purchased it. The odometer now is at 5,000 miles.”
As with all the other cars in the collection, Ken Reed says this one is fun to drive.
“It’s fun, and it’s fast,” he says. “These cars can go zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. That’s fast.”
The 1935 Chevrolet Master Sedan was restored by Ken’s brother.
“He’s a car guy,” Ken says. “He’s done a lot of exterior restorations but always had someone else do the interior. He decided to learn to do interior restoration on this one. He also added some extras, like air conditioning and a stereo.”
Because this early car model didn’t have a trunk, small trailers to pull behind were introduced. Once the car was done, Ken’s brother also found and restored one of those trailers to match the car.
Reed says he doesn’t have the expertise or the equipment to restore cars.
“I’ve learned it’s best to buy someone else’s restoration. Car restorations always end up costing more than you think, and take longer than you think,” he says.
Asked if there is another vintage vehicle in their future, both Ken and Lori say they would like to have a Chevy truck from the years 1955 to 1957.
“But, right now, the garage is full,” Ken says. “We’d have to sell something to make room for a truck. It’s something we talk about.”
For everyday driving, the Reeds own a Chevy Tahoe and a Chevy Impala. But, when it’s time to have some fun, they pull out one of the nine cars in their collection for a spin.