Cars We Love & Who We Are
More than the polished parts and hard to find pieces, the special interest vehicles people collect embody the character of each owner. “Cars We Love & Who We Are” profiles individual special interest vehicles and the proud owner committed to its preservation.
Conversations with People We Value
Talking with skilled professionals who support our passion for collectible automobiles.
Roads We Remember
Some roads discovered far from home reward us with a once in a lifetime driving experience. Others are old friends revisited to elevate our spirits and celebrate the joy of life behind the wheel.
In Search of the 7th Royale Series – All the Episodes Here
Conversations With People We Value #10
In 2017 I had written a piece for Hemmings.com that celebrated the half century of experiences associated with owning the same 1961 Corvette. It had generated a large number of thoughtful responses. However, none packed the impact of one that would come three years later.
A classic Corvette and a soldier’s old letters connect to a kid brother’s memories
In late July of this year I got an email from friend and Hemmings editor Mark McCourt. He alerted me to a comment that had just been posted to my three-year old story about the 1961 Corvette I had owned since 1967. Normal practice does not have an editor alert a writer about a posted comment.
Reading the comment took my breath away. It’s author was the “kid brother” of a dear friend who had passed away some years ago. The post stated:
“Mr. Hall, my name is John O’Brien. My late brother Maury O’Brien, one of your good friends, used to tell us that you meticulously cared for this car. I’m a car guy and it makes me feel good knowing that a car like that is still being driven and not just a trailer queen! I’d love to see it in person sometime. Feel free to contact me anytime. My cell # is (— ——). Your kind words and funny stories @ Maury’s funeral were very helpful during a difficult time! God bless you and your family!
Maury O’Brien and I had attended high school together. He possessed a wry sense of humor, great athleticism and a gifted eye as a photographer. Our mutual interest in all things photographic would seal our long friendship.
My Corvette made all our road trips a better adventure. With the top down and Wonderbar tube radio doing its best, we made countless trips to the Jersey Shore. On a slow day, we would target anyplace offering a good excuse to run some film through our Nikons.
Maury passed away in 2007 leaving behind a legion of friends and relatives who mourned his passing and celebrated his life. They still do.
John was Maury’s youngest brother, eleven years his junior. When John answered my phone call his voice carried a strong memory of his brother. We talked. We laughed. By the end of the call it was agreed that I would drive my Corvette to his house, certainly […]
Conversations With People We Value #9
A shout out to all of the past members of my pandemic interrupted “Collectible automobiles as a passion” class who donned masks and gathered at Paul’s Motors in Hawthorne, New Jersey last Thursday. An eclectic collection of superior classic automobiles together with a stack of pizzas made for a great night and reminded all, how much we miss getting together. And now on to this week’s story.
Elaine and I take great pleasure in avoiding major interstates when travelling through unfamiliar territory. The rewards of the “road not taken” memorialized by poet Robert Frost have been reinforced time and again in our travels. A few years ago seeking a back way to Charlotte, North Carolina put us on a wonderful well paved two-lane that meandered through rolling farmland and woods. While the road merits inclusion in “Roads We Remember,” the man we met at the end of the road makes this story a “Conversation With People We Value.”
American Pickers meets Hunger Games on a country road
A p
icturesque ribbon of highway, Route 742 weaved through the rural Piedmont region of North Carolina. My personal directional instincts fortified by happenstance, hope and blind luck (We don’t need no stinkin’ GPS) had once again struck pay dirt.
Route 742 would be transporting us on a picturesque and untroubled journey to my favorite destination, “somewhere else.” Encouraged by Elaine’s child-like delight in the joys of being hopelessly lost, we reveled in this open expanse of rural America dotted with healthy farms and infrequent villages that populated this handsome country road.
The striking pristine cleanliness and order of one small community we passed through piqued our interest. We were later told that a local son who had gone off to make his fortune had done just that. The story went that with gratitude for his upbringing he returned to invest in revitalizing his home town. Whether true or not, I had chosen to believe.
Slowing to the end of this idyllic blue highway and poised to leave behind this land of lovely hamlets, an amazing sight entered our view. Before our wondering eyes should appear (Yes, I know, I stole the line but it just fit so well) what could only be described as the land of Oz for pickers and […]
Cars We Love & Who We Are #10
Trusting in the public’s ability to practice proper Covid-19 guidance, the September Park Ridge Car Show soldiered on refusing to be a victim of pandemic panic. As a rare oasis of socialized car culture in the pandemic desert, the show’s magnetic draw surprised no one. With sunshine, blue skies and great cars, people desperately seeking relief from cabin fever flocked to an event that drew three times as many show cars as the previous year.
Always on the prowl for unusual stories, I moved through an eclectic array of beautiful and interesting examples of foreign and domestic vehicles from years past. While these exceptional automobiles more than merited my full attention, a most unusual site across the lot owned my focus. Show cars for the most part enjoyed the loving caresses of dusting brushes, microfiber cloths and detailing spray. Not so the object of my attention. This show car’s hood was about to bear the full brunt of a large sledge hammer.
Crash course for an underage driver
Sledge hammer challenge
A crowd has formed around a competition prepped 1996 Honda Accord. The young owner has realized that people will pay to slam the hood of his car with a sledge hammer. Owner Christian Farquhar has no reservations about the blows to be inflicted. His logic, the blow might actual straighten out an existing dent. After all, his Honda has been prepped for a Demolition Derby.
When older car enthusiasts wonder where the new blood will come from, Christian answers that question both figuratively and literally.
It all started two years ago in 2018.
Far too young for a driver’s permit, Christian Farquhar, a high school wrestler with a stunt man’s heart climbed in through the driver’s side window of his 1991 Honda Accord. He had enjoyed watching such events on YouTube. But now, at the age of 14, it would be him behind the wheel and he would be in front of 4,000 screaming fans. For Christian’s parents, Tom and Lori Farquhar, who considered themselves well prepared for the event, their son’s first drive remains a vivid memory.
“Impacts
are bone jarringly violent and louder than you would expect. All of a sudden it gets real, very real,” says Tom. Lori recalls, “walking in, I was cool with it.” Then […]
Here’s this week’s question:
Chrysler is known for its “Hemi” engine. To what does the term “Hemi” refer?
Answer to last week’s question:
What did Felix Wankel develop? The rotary engine
About the blogger
Burton Hall has written for an automotive client list that includes Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Peugeot and Volvo. He has also written for The Washington Post, AutoWeek, Corvette Monthly, Jaguar Magazine, BMW Magazine, Hemmings.com, Hagerty Magazine and numerous auto restoration buff books.
A member of the Society of Automotive Historians, he, in 2014, created and has since taught the adult school program “Collectible automobiles as a passion.” In 2020 he originated and has since produced the Drivin’ News blog.
As a classic car hobbyist, He owns a 1961 Corvette that he bought in 1967, a 1953 Jaguar XK120MC Drophead Coupe that he restored after finding it disassembled in a barn in 1980, a 2003 BMW 330i he bought new and a 1951 MG TD that presently serves as a planter and centerpiece in his garden. All are great drivers, except the MG which has a few bugs.
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