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About Troxel's

John Troxel was born a car guy. He has loved cars & trucks since he was a small child growing up in Keytesville, Missouri. He soaked up everything related to cars from the time he could read. Cars & Parts, Hemming’s Motor News, Hot Rod, Hi Performance Cars, Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, Road & Track, Drag Racing USA, Car & Driver. He bought all the new magazines at Prather’s Rexall Drug Store as soon as they hit the shelf every month. Mr. Prather even allowed him to “charge” them in the winter months when his lawn mowing business was out of commission!  As he grew, he looked for any opportunity to be involved with or around cars. His Dad, Leslie Troxel, would always welcome help in cleaning up the family car or truck, a job John still enjoys today. When he was in the sixth grade he started working in the summers and evenings at Howard’s Garage. Jerry & Estill Howard ran a local garage and worked on everything from out board motors to combines. During this time, John was exposed to many different vehicles, and picked up many skills that only seasoned mechanics could teach. It was here, that John was first exposed to Parts Books, and learned how to use them. John worked at Howard’s Garage and ran his own car detailing business until his junior year in High School. At that time, he was hired to detail cars, run the grease rack and do anything Myron Jackson asked, at Jackson Motors, Salisbury, Missouri. Here at the Ford dealership of Myron Jackson, John was really exposed more to the true car hobby. Myron gave John some chrome valve covers off of a blown up 390 that John promptly sold. He was hooked. Time moved on, John got married, had kids, and cars were in the background for a few years. After taking a job in Columbia, Missouri, running a bread route, John got his first collector car, a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. The ownership of this car led to attending swap meets; swap meets led to buying out old dealer’s inventories. It was during this time that John really became interested in factory literature. It was somewhat difficult to obtain, but, John found it anywhere he could. Old collectors, old dealers, auctions, swap meets. Flea markets, etc.. John bought and sold literature as a side line at select swap meets and in Hobby Publications like Hemming’s Motor News, Old Cars Weekly, Mopar Collectors Guide and more. In 1998 a new venue was introduced to John that changed the old car hobby, eBay! John started selling on eBay in 1998 and promptly sold everything he had! Since that time John has traveled many miles to acquire inventory. In 2014 John bought eleven semi-trailer loads of prime inventory from Framingham Mass. And brought it back to Missouri. That brings us up to today. John loves old literature as much today as the first time he acquired a box full from the attic of an old dealership in northern Missouri!