Clark Tippen and Jacob Frankfort of Green Eye Auto Sales

"I don't care if people buy our cars or not," says Clark Tippen of Green Eye Auto Sales. "I want them to burn a biofuel. We offer cars that are compatible." An Elmira High School grad, Tippen got into buying and selling cars when he was a "soul-searching surfer" in Hawaii. "I bought my first Mercedes diesel in '96," he recalls. Returning to Oregon in '00, Tippen met finish carpenter and fellow parent Jacob Frankfort at the Eugene Waldorf School. They became friends and went into business together, as carpenters and also selling cars, mostly Mercedes diesels. "The carpentry side got smaller as this side got bigger," says Frankfort, and last year the pair opened the Green Eye Auto Sales lot at 295 River Road. "We did our last cabinet job a year ago." In addition to cars, Green Eye offers diesel conversion kits, the Brazilian-made Full Flex computer that allows gas engines to burn E85 (85% ethanol) fuel, and workshops on home-brewed biodiesel. Learn more about Green Eye at the Good Earth Show, January 26-28 at the Lane County Fairgounds, or online at greeneyeautos.com.

happening people photograph and story by Paul Neevel Eugene Weekly / 18 January 2007