After Richard Johnson retired as print editor for Crain Communications’ Automotive News, he used his automobile creds to work on a play about the history of the Ford Motor Company after World War II.

He met with Jeff Daniels, founder and artistic director of Chelsea's Purple Rose Theatre, about staging his play. Daniels told Johnson his play about Lee Iacocca at Ford was too big and asked him, “What do you know?” Johnson replied, “I’ve been writing about the automotive industry for 35 years. I know cars.”

Johnson understood Daniels' suggestion and began again with a different car story. It wasn’t a story about auto executives, hotshot designers, or top-drawer new-car dealerships. 

The result is The Classic King, Johnson’s beautifully detailed comedy-drama set in a used-car shop. It's at The Purple Rose Theatre through March 15.

“I watched [Johnson] get under the hood and lose himself in this brand new fictional world,” Daniels wrote in The Classic King playbill. “Scenes, characters, and dialogue poured out of him, all heading toward a story he didn't know he had in him.”

Starlight Classic Cars buys vintage vehicles: Cadillacs, Lincolns, European sports cars, and other luxury rides. Customers can see themselves riding something like that. But the cars at the Starlight haven't been repaired, buyers are leery, and engines fail.

Mike, the owner, is clear-eyed, steady, and worried. He likes having his own business, he likes selling cars, but the pressure is building

Chance is a recent addition to the sales force. He’s been to jail and is on probation. He’s got a snappy selling style and an eye for the ladies. He also has a quick temper.

Jerry is the guy—and you know that guy. His dad was a used car salesman, and he taught his son to be one, too. He knows all the lingo. He has a rapid patter, and he thinks he has a gift for knowing what each potential buyer is looking for. But his personal life is a mess. He’s separated from his wife, the cars haven’t been moving, and the usual good humor of the dealership has become strained.

One day, Mike brings in a new salesman, Braden, who left a much more successful dealership. He’s young, hard-working, and a real draw for young women looking for a handsome car. He seems to be a good guy with an up-to-date style.

Director Daniels gathered an outstanding cast and staged the play with a series of different moods. The opening is a swift exchange of lights on, lights off as the salesmen wrangle with potential buyers. Throughout The Classic King, each salesman does a comedic take on TV automobile commercials, but Daniels also slows the play down for some serious drama.

Rico Bruce Wade plays Mike, who is the steady hand. Wade brings an upright dignity to the role of the owner. He also conjures a wistful quiet when he thinks about his own love of selling cars.

Dez Walker plays Chance, a probationary trying to hang on to his new job. He inhabits the tough guy who is really trying to keep things together, and the actor is good at shifting from funny guy to angry man.

Owen Squire Smith plays Braden, the energetic man with a book load of leads for old cars. Smith captures the many different sides of a young man on the move.

Ryan Carlson plays Jerry, who is at the center of Johnson's play. Carlson goes through so many different moods, from a snappy salesman like his old man to an angry worker with his job on the line, and he's emotionally scarred by a painful separation that colors everything else. Jerry slowly takes center stage as the play moves along, and Carlson gets that shift perfectly.

The Purple Rose often has some awe-inspiring sets, and the one for The Classic King is amazing. Set designer Bard Bauer has created a perfect used car salesroom. It has Michigan plates on the wall, pictures of the salespeople, an office for the owner, and a restroom, all against a nice light-wood paneling.

I hope Richard Johnson has some more ideas for the stage. He’s created a thought-provoking play that balances drama with humor. As Johnson says, he knows cars, and he knows the people, and he understands the complex decisions people have to make.

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit.   

The Purple Rose production of "The Classic King" was sold out, but it was extended for an extra week to March 15. To get on the wait list, call 734-433-7673 or visit purplerosetheatre.org.