Its not easy for a used-car business to stand out from competitors along East Sprague Avenue, where in some areas vehicle-crammed lots seem to stretch on indefinitely like a sea of metal.


Shawn LeFavour, though, has used his knowledge and longtime love of automobiles, his skill at detailing work, and his interest in specialty cars to create a dealership that beckons passers-by with nostalgic appeal.


He owns LeFavours Showroom Cars, at 1511 E. Sprague. The 3-year-old dealership, which he operates mostly by himself, strives to offer a mix of classic cars, muscle cars, street rods, and some pickups and motorcycles. He says he also, out of financial necessity, carries some less expensive, more everyday-type cars that tend to sell quickly and help provide a steady cash flow.


Ive been a car nut, I think, since Day One. When youre around it your whole life, I guess youre just part of it, says LeFavour, 42, whose father, Barney, has worked in auto sales here since the early 1960s. Its a sickness, I think, more than anything, he adds jokingly.


He says the cars he sells range in asking price mostly from around $1,000 to $10,000. During a recent tour of his showroom, a number of vehicles were listed at well outside that range, though, including a stunning red AC Cobra sports carthere on consignmentpriced at $92,500.


More typical of his inventory were a bright yellow 1964 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 with a 394 Rocket engine, priced at $8,950, and a red 1968 Buick GS 400, priced at $14,950. Toward the lower end of the price range, but still looking as though they had been painstakingly detailed, were a white 1978 Cadillac Seville at $2,950 and a blue 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier convertible at $5,950.


Almost as interesting as the mix of cars LeFavour carries, however, is the inviting 1950s- and 60s-style feel in the showroom of the 6,000-square-foot building that houses the dealership.


Reproductions of kids classic push-pedal race cars and tractors line an indoor window ledge that stretches the length of the dealerships storefront on both sides of the main entrance. The showroom walls are decorated liberally with antique-style signs touting various auto, gasoline, and tire brands, as well as with old posters of pop icons such as Elvis Presley, James Dean, and the Beatles, and car-club calendars. Other automotive-themed furnishings, scattered here and there, add to the ambience.


A row of die-cast miniature vehicles even extends along the front of the desk in LeFavours nearby office, which also is decorated with an array of car posters.


LeFavour says he recalls becoming captivated by cars at an early age when his father was working as a salesman at the former Buchanan Chevrolet dealership here. It was exciting, he says, to see the neat stuff his father always had.


Shortly after graduating from North Central High School in 1979, he went to work for an import auto-sales business, at 3721 N. Division, that his father had bought. Along with buying and selling, We restored some old cars in the back room there. We always had a project torn apart, LeFavour says.


He says his father later bought a hubcap-sales business that became a sideline to the dealership, and LeFavour typically would spend a couple of days a week selling wheel covers to car lots, repair shops, and other customers throughout the Inland Northwest from an old van.


Wanting to try his hand at something else, he got out of the car business for a few years in the early 1990s, and worked for a commercial landscaping and irrigation company owned by a neighbor.


That job took him out of town a lot, though, he says, and by then he had two daughters, Mackenzie and Samanthanow 13 and 10whom he wanted to spend more time with, so he returned to the car business. He worked as a car salesman before opening LeFavours Showroom Cars in March 2000. Recently, he bought the building that houses his dealership from longtime local auto-industry veteran Don Rohrer.


LeFavour says that trying to keep sales strong during a slow economy is a challenge, but nevertheless, he continues to enjoy what he does.


You just meet lots of neat people. Car people are neat people, he says.


LeFavour says he acquires the cars he sells from wholesale dealers and just knowing people, as well as from Becker Buick-GMC Inc., where his father works now in sales. He also takes in some cars on consignment, typically for a 10 percent cut of the sale price. Experience, he says, has taught him what to look for when buying cars.


Most of the time I can just look at it and know if a car is a dog, LeFavour says. Its like theyve got a personality. If they look like theyve got their tongues hanging out, you pass.


He does all the detailing work himself in a large work area behind the showroom, but says he has a nearby service shop do most of any engine, transmission, and brake work that might be needed before the cars are sold.


Of the detailing work, which involves cleaning the cars meticulously, LeFavour says, I disassemble the things. Its the only way to do it right. Most of the time, they come out looking like new.


LeFavour says his young daughters enjoy coming to the dealership and doing various chores, whichmuch to his pleasurehas helped to give it the comforting feel of a family enterprise.