Todd McMahon

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Red Lewis has been able to squeeze about 50 vehicles in the two showrooms of his new auto museum in downtown Green Bay.

He cleared space for two rarely seen cars at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center this week, moving a few of his vintage vehicles to another part of the building or outside.

The museum's popular 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 Gull Wing Coupe, 1929 Ford Model A Sport Coupe and 1917 Milburn are taking a backseat this weekend to a seemingly brand-new 1963 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe and a sleek, powerful 2008 Bentley Continental GT.

They will be on display Saturday only, during regular gallery hours, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., as a prelude to the sold-out Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation fundraiser at the gallery on Sunday.

The fundraiser will be the first public event at the gallery, which opened Jan. 2.

Sunday's proceeds will benefit the foundation, which has awarded about 700 college scholarships to students in Northeastern Wisconsin, across the United States and in other countries. The foundation was started in the early 1990s to honor the memory of De Pere teenager Brian LaViolette.

Lewis is hopeful of a big turnout Saturday. He will donate the day's admission revenue to the LaViolette foundation.

“Red has been really kind for this,” said Doug LaViolette, Brian’s father and president of the foundation.

The wide-bodied black Bentley, which is named after the modern-day Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” and the old-school Chevy that has been driven only 11.5 miles won’t be hard to miss. They are standing side-by-side in the middle of the main showroom.

“I tell you what, there’s none like that, at all, anywhere,” Lewis said as he took a long look at the pristine red-and-white Impala.

Gary Leidich, a retired executive from Painesville, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, figures he hasn’t driven the car more than a few hundred feet since he bought it at auction for $97,500 more than two years ago. Assembled at the General Motors plant in Janesville with a sticker price of $3,254.70, the roomy two-day, hardtop car had been sitting about 50 years at a Pierce, Neb., dealership.

“We had a lot of cleanup to do, but there’s no touch-up paint, there’s no body work,” said Leidich, an auto collector. “Everything you see, the tires, it’s all original. The plastic was still on the seats. So, the car had not even been dealer prepped. It is a new car, and we have to keep telling ourselves that.”

The much-newer Bentley has been driven close to 20,000 miles, but the car has the distinction of being the first by the English manufacturer designed to travel at 200-plus mph.

The car is owned by the Nueske family in Wittenberg and features a Wisconsin vanity license plate with the letters “DARK NGT,” short for “The Dark Knight” movie, which was released in 2008.

Ray Bosveld, a family caretaker for the imposing car, said Bob Nueske bought the Bentley about five years ago after it was redesigned in California. Bob Nueske died a year ago after running the family-owned Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats in Wittenberg with his brother,

Nueske and Doug LaViolette were longtime friends, thus a connection to bring the Bentley to Green Bay this weekend.

LaViolette befriended Leidich last summer at the annual Iola Car Show and Swap Meet. An invitation was later extended for Leidich to bring the Impala to Green Bay.

LaViolette said Brian, his only son, was looking forward to having a driver’s license. He drowned in Door County just a few months short of his 16th birthday.

“He had dreams of getting a Jeep,” LaViolette said. “He had a brochure for a 1993 Jeep in his dresser that we found.”

Though the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation fundraiser Sunday with only 165 guests in the dining area of the gallery is a sellout, LaViolette said individuals won’t be turned away should they show up for the event, which runs 3-6:30 p.m. Tickets are $250.

The “Keys to Your Heart” event on Valentine’s Day has more than 20 auction items, including a one-of-a-kind golf cart signed by Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and a trip for four to California to see comedian Jay Leno’s classic car collection.

The event also includes a raffle for a chance to take home one of Lewis’ gallery cars, including the DeLorean, for a weekend.

Go to www.briansjourney.com/pages/keys for more information.

tmcmaho2@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ToddMcMahon23

If you go

What: Two rare cars, a 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS with only 11 miles and a 2008 Bentley Continental GT that is named for the Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” will be on display during regular gallery hours.

When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Automobile Gallery & Event Center, 400 S. Adams St., Green Bay.

Prices: $10 adults; $8 seniors 62 and older, children 7-17, students with ID, and veterans; free for active military. A one-day family pass is $32. Proceeds from the event will go to the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation.