Today, vintage and rare automobiles are drawing attention to that section of downtown Altoona.

“Originally, Green Avenue from 1920-1950s was all car dealerships,” Leonard S. Fiore Jr. said. “Then in the 1950s, when all the dealerships started moving out to the valley, it became a produce area until the ’70s.”

Fiore is bringing auto enthusiasts back downtown with his collection of rare and restored vehicles.

Located on Green Avenue and Ninth Street in the former Penn-Overland Co. building built in 1920 is Lenny’s Classic Cars Collection.

A 1950 Jaguar XK120 Roadster is one of Fiore’s many classics cars on display at Lenny’s Classic Cars Collection at Green Avenue and Ninth Street. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Lee Hite of The Hite Company in Altoona has been there three times.

“It’s unbelievable what he has — vintage cars and all kinds of cars,” Hite said. “It’s a community treasure. I took my board (of directors) there. Lenny took us on a tour, and they loved it.”

The building housed Faith Vending Inc. and various other companies on the upper floors before Fiore bought it in 2012 to turn it into his museum.

Fiore has more than 50 cars with about 20 in the showroom. His collection is made up mainly of Jaguar, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Thunderbird and Triumph models from various eras.

Since opening in 2014, Fiore has led tours for groups such as the Altoona Rotary Club, and those who have seen the display have come away impressed.

Leonard S. Fiore Jr. stands behind the bar of his authentic English pub at Lenny’s Classic Cars Collection in downtown Altoona. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“When I bought the building, it was a little bit bigger than I originally intended, but it turned out pretty nice,” Fiore said.

Elevator key

One of the reasons he chose the location was the car elevator that was in working condition.

This elevator helps them transport the cars to where they need to be in the four floors of the building.

The first floor is the showroom, the second houses the repair shop, parts room and painting booth and the third and fourth floors serve as storage areas.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / A view of the showroom at Lenny's Classic Cars Collection.

When he began making the building into his own space, he moved the front door from Ninth Street to its original location on Green Avenue.

Fiore kept the intricate plaster work that was original to the building and added to it to give the room a more grand appearance.

He also removed some walls on the first floor, so when walking in the front door, there is an unobstructed view to the back.

‘Shaken, not stirred’

Another new addition to the inside of the building is the authentic English pub called “Shaken Not Stirred” named for the line from James Bond movies.

Leonard S. Fiore Jr. stands with his 1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Park Ward swept tail limousine. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The pub made by an Irish pub maker in Argentina also has a replica of The Jewel Brunswick pool table from the 1890s and windows that look out into the showroom.

“Lenny’s attention to detail and originality are pretty special,” Hite said.

From inside the pub, the cars and two murals can be seen.

One mural depicts the casino at Monte Carlo and the other is a big house in a country setting created by local artist Mike Allison.

Both paintings feature his cars and people such as those who work on the building, family and movie stars.

A photograph of Leonard S. Fiore Jr. and his wife, Frankie, is on display among his many automotive awards. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“It came out really great, and it was a wonderful experience,” Allison said. “Lenny was fun to work for.”

View from above

Fiore created his office on the second floor with a balcony that overlooks the showroom.

What really got him enthused about the cars was the restoration part.

“I’m 76 years old. I enjoy driving cars but not as much as I did when I was younger,” he said. “The research part is a lot of fun for me.”

When the cars arrive at the shop, they are in bad shape, but Fiore and his crew of master mechanics take everything apart and put back the way it came from the factory.

“If you see what we started with many of the cars and what we end with, you wouldn’t believe it,” he said.

They place importance on the accuracy because that is the only way they can compete at the concourses that are held by individual marques.

They have not gone to one in three years due to the pandemic, but they typically had gone to six to nine shows a year in places such as Indianapolis, Connecticut, West Virginia and Philadelphia.

Fiore is pretty well known at the shows especially with the English cars and he has been featured in a number of magazines.

Out of all the cars he owns, seven are North American champions, with many of them being repeat winners.

Fiore grew up in Altoona in the 1960s, and Oct. 1 was a special day when all the car dealers would reveal their new models.

“They would have a big day where all the car dealers would show all their new cars for that year,” Fiore said. “As a kid, we would go to all the dealerships and look at the brand new cars.”

Two of his uncles owned the Hudson and Lincoln-

Mercury dealerships in town so he knew his way around cars since he was young.

“Back in those days there were no foreign cars in the town because there were no dealerships then,” Fiore said.

However, he found out there was a Jaguar dealership in Hollidaysburg for a couple of years.

There is a car that came from that same dealership in his collection that never left Altoona.

“He loves to talk about the cars,” Hite said. “He knows all the history of each one. You can tell he just enjoys it so much.”

Foreign cars

After Fiore graduated Bishop Guilfoyle High School in 1964, he went to University of Pittsburgh, where he was first introduced to the foreign car dealerships.

“They had all the European cars that we had never seen before, and they were brand new for us,” he said.

Fiore remembers walking into the Jaguar dealership and seeing the 1965 XKE, which ended up being the first car in his collection many years later.

“I said to myself, that is the prettiest car ever made and I still think it is — I said to some I’m going to try getting one of those,” he said.

In 1978, he bought the 1965 XKE from someone who lived near Bellwood.

“It was in really bad shape, but I thought it was great when I bought it,” Fiore said.

He paid $4,200 for it and that was the official start of his collection of cars today.

Fiore drove the 1965 XKE from 1978 until 2006 when it was restored.

It is now a 100-point car worth about $250,000, he said.

Throughout the years, Fiore added the other cars in his collection as he found them. Some are on the fourth floor of his building waiting to be restored.

Behind the scenes

In 2006, he hired Wayne Farabaugh of Altoona to help him with restoring cars, and Farabaugh has been working with Fiore ever since.

“I do everything — I do engine rebuilds, transmission, wiring, body work, painting, and pretty much everything,” Farabaugh said.

While he was working on a Rolls Royce, he said how long it takes for him to restore a car depends on how bad it is, but usually it takes about eight months to a year.

Fiore said they learn together but said Farabaugh knows more about Rolls Royce, Bentleys, Aston Martin and Jaguars than anyone in the area.

“It’s definitely a big learning process,” Farabaugh said. “I wouldn’t know as much as I do if it wasn’t for Lenny pushing me on doing things.”

Farabaugh said he enjoys his job because he gets to work on a nice variety of cars and enjoys trying to make them as perfect as possible.

Dan Turnbaugh of Altoona also does mechanical work and a little bit of everything at the restoration shop.

He is also the truck driver when they take all the cars to competitions.

“I’ve been around cars for over 40 years, and I have been floating around here with Lenny for about six years,” he said.

What he enjoys about his job, it is a different challenge every time and he never does the same thing twice.

“It is very unique, it is one of a kind — most people don’t even know that it is here,” he said about the museum. “It is a fun place to be, you see stuff here you’ll never see anywhere else.”

Aston the cat is a full-time resident of the building who works in the pest control department.

Her job is to keep rodents and other critters away from the vehicles.

People can visit the classic car collection by appointment.

There is no charge, but they ask for donations to the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society, Fiore said.

“We raise a lot of money for the humane society,” Fiore said. “It has worked out well for us and them.”

Mirror staff writer Cati Keith is at 814-946-7535.