The Missing Heiress' Classy Car Comes Home to Chicago After 23 Years
28 November 2000
The Missing Heiress' Classy Car Comes Home to Chicago After 23 Years
VOLO, Ill., Nov. 28 She disappeared mysteriously in 1977.
And has remained a mystery to this very day. On a frosty February day
twenty-three years ago, she left the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,
apparently planning to stop over at her fashionable Glenview mansion before
flying to Fort Lauderdale. Somewhere between Minnesota and Florida, she
disappeared.
Helen Vorhees Brach.
She had met her late husband, Frank Brach, co-founder of the Brach candy
empire, in the Indian Creek Country Club in Miami, Florida in 1951. She ... a
39 year old hat check girl, he ... a multi-millionaire, 61 year old corporate
tycoon.
After he passed away in 1970, Helen lived quietly in Glenview, becoming
something of a mystery to friends and acquaintances. By all accounts, she was
kind and generous, a good companion. She was accepted by some as personable
and interesting. But to others in this lofty circle, she was treated as dead
common. She was, perhaps understandably, becoming quite the recluse.
Helen Brach loved animals. Her dogs, like their owner, lacked a proper
pedigree. They came from the animal shelter. Horses may have been her
downfall. She became associated with the rancid underbelly of the horsey set.
Men who flattered, then fleeced with beautiful, but flawed, horses at
enormously inflated prices. It is reported that she harbored a growing but
dangerous resentment. She'd had enough.
There's another side to Helen Brach. Unionport, Ohio. Her hometown. She
felt comfortable there. Home again. Her net worth of some 20 million
dollars, her social standing on Chicago's North Shore, none of that mattered
here. This is where she had grown up poor during the Great Depression. The
people of Unionport ... these were her people.
Oh, yes. What about the car?
Back in Glenview, she owned three cars, among them a Rolls Royce.
Another, a Cadillac, was kept in Florida. And she had a chauffeur.
But she wanted a car in Ohio. One she could drive herself. In 1973, the
Ford Motor Company built a special Lincoln Continental Mark IV to her
specifications. And it was quite a confection. Delicious as a BonBon.
Creamy pink on the outside, inside as white as coconut. An expression of joy,
and perhaps, amusement at how remarkable her life had become.
The car was kept in Unionport for her to use during her frequent trips
home. In 1977, she disappeared. However, the car, driven just 9000 miles,
was cared for, even licensed, over the years, awaiting her homecoming.
The Volo Auto Museum has returned this fabulous Lincoln Mark IV to
Illinois for the first time in at least 23 years. It will be unveiled on
December 16th in Museum #1.
The Volo "Famous Cars" Collection includes celebrity cars, movie and
television cars ... cars made famous by their owners or circumstance. Cars
like the retro Batmobile, from the 1966 TV series starring Adam West. And the
"General Lee" -- formerly owned by John Schneider -- "Bo Duke" in the TV hit,
The Dukes of Hazzard. Others include the 1969 Buick LeSabre that co-starred
with Bette Davis and Jimmy Stewart in the 1982 movie Right of Way -- and
Natalie Wood's beautiful 1963 Buick Riviera. For sports fans, there's Michael
Jordan's 93 Corvette ZR1 LT5 and Scottie Pippen's '88 Porsche 930 Turbo
Cabrio. And if you like your sports on the wild side, Volo has Steve Kinser's
Winged Sprint Car, built by the Kinser racing team. It's a perfect copy of
the original and WOW ... it's street legal. Finally, the rod & kustom fans'
favorite, the famous "Boothill Express" -- the only Kustom ever exhibited by
the New York Museum of Modern Art.
The Volo Auto Museum is unique. It is the largest auto museum in North
America, in which all the cars are for sale. Some 250 collectible cars in
all. Muscle cars, Nifty 50's, Sports Cars, Sunday Cruisers -- and vintage
cars from Model A's to the great Classics of the 30's. It's truly a Concours,
d'Elegance in four showrooms. Located in Volo, Illinois, some 50 miles
northwest of Chicago, near the intersection of highways 12 and 120, the Volo,
Auto Museum and Antique Malls are open 7 days a week -- 10 to 5. Except
Christmas day, Easter and Thanksgiving. And the Volo experience can be viewed
on-line 24 hours a day at volcars.com.