It's a classic case of nostalgia for Brian Swanson

Classic Cars of Florida is a little like a museum, but you can drive the exhibits off the lot.

EVAN WILLIAMS / FLORIDA WEEKLY Brian Swanson. The small dealership in South Fort Myers is filled with the curves of bygone decades: Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Corvettes, BMWs, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes. One recent afternoon, music from the British Invasion filled the showroom, which is just big enough for a couple of 1970s Corvette convertibles.

"I've got a little 1954 MG in the back," owner Brian Swanson said. "… The ultimate goal here is to sell, but we try to make it fun. That's why we play '60s and '70s music all the time."

Sales have been down locally because of the economy. In fact, Mr. Swanson said, more people are bringing in classic cars to sell rather than coming in to buy them. So he's focusing on his parts and service department, which works on any make or model.

Overseas sales, on the other hand, have picked up because the Classic Cars Web site, www.ccofl.com, is set up so visitors can translate it into most major languages. Mr. Swanson has had classic American cars such as Mustangs and Dodge Vipers shipped to Germany, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Canada and Brazil. A shipping company picks the cars up off his lot and handles the rest. "It's a smooth process," he said. "American cars are popular over there."

Here at home, Mr. Swanson said, his classic cars appeal to all ages, but especially to retirees who remember the vehicles when they were first produced. One of the oldest models on the lot is a 1935 Chevy with a flashy new orange paint job. When Mr. Swanson drove it to Perkins for breakfast last week, it caught the interest of an older man who remembered it clearly from years past.

"They couldn't afford it then," Mr. Swanson said.

Now they might take another look at the car they coveted in high school, even though some have gone up in value. For example, a 1956 Ford T-Bird would have cost about $3,000 new. Today it is worth about $50,000 and climbing, Mr. Swanson said.

Of course, that depends on it being in good condition.

Johan Santana, a pitcher for the New York Mets, spotted the T-Bird when he paid a recent visit to the dealership, said Mr. Swanson: "His eyes got real big and he said 'I'll be back next week…' I'll tell you what, he was a nice guy, very low key, very polite. And he's not that big, but a hell of a pitcher."

Another reason to buy that old classic?

"No computers to go wrong," he said. "And it's an eye catcher."

Mr. Swanson, 60, came to Classic Cars 10 years ago and bought out the old owner four years ago. It's the smallest dealership he has run, with only four full-time employees and two part-time bookkeepers. Most customers deal directly with Mr. Swanson. "You go to the big dealerships, they never see the owner," he said.

He grew up in Manchester, N.H., the middle child in a family of six boys and five girls. His mother, who just celebrated her 87th birthday, still lives there.

His first job was sweeping the floors at a Toyota dealership where his older brother worked. He kept at it and ended up with a job as a mechanic, and then tried his hand at sales.

"And the rest is history," he said.

By the time he was 35 years old, he owned a thriving Subaru dealership near his hometown. Mr. Swanson set a sales record there in 1985; his team sold 100 new Subarus in July alone. "Nobody had ever done it," he said. "I got a big plaque. I was in their magazine and won a trip to Hong Kong."

He eventually bought another Subaru dealership in New Hampshire.

For more than two decades, Mr. Swanson and his family had vacationed in Southwest Florida. "I used to come here every winter and play golf," he said. "It was getting harder and harder to go back."

In 1997, he sold the Subaru dealerships and bought a home in Gateway Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers. He lives there now with his wife Fran, who's with Re/Max Realty Group, and two children, Sara and Kerry, who are in high school. His first child, Jennifer, lives in New Hampshire.

At Classic Cars, Mr. Swanson has opened the store on Sundays in hopes of getting some extra business. "When you're steering the ship, you have to be here," he said.