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
Cars We Love & Who We Are #11
Motor Trend has “Car of the Year.” Car and Driver has its annual new car “Top Ten” and so on. However, from our standpoint as classic automobile enthusiasts, the staff at Drivin’ News views such awards as akin to bragging about which fresh wine tastes best. At Drivin’ News we honor great car and owner teams with an award that can only be earned over time. Membership in the Drivin’ News Half Century Club recognizes fifty uninterrupted years of owning and operating the same vehicle.
Drivin’ News is proud to induct as a member of the Drivin’ News Half Century Club, New Jersey resident and 1965 Karmann Ghia owner, Mr. Vince Vespe.
Guatemala and back in a Karmann Ghia
To say that Vincent Vespe has wanderlust qualifies as serious understatement. This is a guy who drove a VW beetle from Paris to the Arctic Circle because; well, because he had never been to Lapland.
Vespe, now retired from a career in education that saw him recognized as New Jersey History Teacher of the Year in 1982, holds a firm belief that to excel as a Social Studies teacher requires experiencing the cultures about which one teaches.
Frequently the vehicle for Vespe’s explorations was the 1965 VW Karmann Ghia cabriolet he bought new in 1965 and in 2020 still has, drives and shows.
To Guatemala and back, from New Jersey, in a 1965 Karmann Ghia convertible? For Vespe, no big deal. Actually Vespe made the Guatemala trip twice with his ’65 Karmann Ghia. The first was in 1966 and the second in 1971. For the first trip, in June of 1966, Vespe began driving down the road three days after walking down the aisle.
Vespe’s new bride, Gail, knew Vespe loved to travel. On that sunny day in June the new Mrs. Vespe stood on the brink of learning just how much. On June 22nd 1966 the Vespes began a lifetime together of exploration and adventure punctuated with the rich rewards and disquieting challenges associated with Vespe’s wanderlust.
Looking back Vespe laughs at how he and Gail blissfully ignored conditions that others would find intolerable. Normally they drove with the top down as the Karmann Ghia had no air conditioning. Vespe can recall one especially torrid day traversing the desert in Mexico when the windshield wiper control knob melted. […]
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 […]
Here’s this week’s question:
“Little Bastard ” was the nickname given to a Porsche by its owner. What event made it famous?
Answer to last week’s question:
Chrysler is known for its “Hemi” engine. To what does the term “Hemi” refer? Hemispherical combustion chamber
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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