At 98, Boca's 'Professor' Art Polacheck Still Has Stories to Tell

For nearly a century, Art Polacheck has been a fixture in Boca Raton, a World War II veteran, entrepreneur, and volunteer whose knowledge of classic cars earned him the nickname "The Professor" from his friend David Dweck. Born in Chicago in 1928, Polacheck was tinkering with electronics by age 15, running his own amateur radio station.

That early confidence led him to enlist in the Army Signal Corps at 17, a year before he would have been drafted. After his discharge in 1948, he used the GI Bill to attend the University of Miami, studying economics and laying the groundwork for a 66-year career as an entrepreneur.

Polacheck’s businesses included a medical supply company and ownership of the Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum. But it was his first collector car, a 1931 Ford Model A Roadster, that sparked a lifelong passion. He drove that Model A from Chicago to Miami with a college friend, a two-and-a-half-day trip at 50 mph that became one of his favorite memories.

Over the decades, he owned hundreds of cars and became a beloved presence at the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, where he displayed a different vehicle nearly every year for 17 years. "It’s really a people show," he says.

At 98, Polacheck still recalls intricate details about automotive history, who designed a model, what engine it used, how it evolved. But his life is defined by more than cars. He volunteered for 17 years at Boca Helping Hands, preparing food for those in need, and has been a Rotary Club member for nearly two decades.

, on an Honor Flight, the only World War II veteran among 70 participants. Back home, a classic car parade through his senior living community celebrated his 98th birthday while raising funds for Boca Helping Hands. Polacheck says his greatest achievements aren’t awards or businesses, they’re his children and the relationships he’s built.

"My family came first," he says. For Boca Raton, Art Polacheck is proof that a life of service, curiosity, and kindness leaves a legacy measured in people, not possessions.