Made To Drive | S03 E20

Purist Loves This Car Just The Way It Is

We’ve been asking–actually, begging and pleading–for a ride in this monument to Americana but James Chen always found a way to politely turn us down. He is, he says, willing to share his Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Cadillacs, but he and his family enjoy such a personal relationship with this particular car that he seldom shares it with outsiders. He finally gave in.

View Comments

Up Next

UP NEXT

Made To Drive

Saab Sonett: Two-Stroke Heirloom

In 1967, Glenn's parents special-ordered a silver Saab Sonett II from a Florida dealer and, as a result, Glenn spent his childhood riding to school not in Detroit’s muscle cars of the 1960s and ‘70s but in a 1500-pound Swedish sports car with a 70 horsepower, two-stroke engine. The Sonett has followed Glenn through life. In 1980, when he was eighteen years old, Glenn bought the car from his parents for $300 and, with the help of his father, gave the car enough energy to carry Glenn through college and into adulthood.

This Datsun Traveled 37,000 miles on a North American Road Trip

Made To Drive

This Datsun Traveled 37,000 miles on a North American Road Trip

The average American driver puts 13,500 miles per year on their car. Mr. Scott Fisher of Las Vegas, Nevada, added that many to the odometer of his 1967 Datsun Roadster in just the first three months of a recently-completed road trip that ultimately took him to forty-eight U.S. states and seven Canadian provinces. By the time Scott pulled into his garage in Las Vegas for the first time in eight months, he had covered 37,850 miles of the North American countryside.

Made To Drive

Jaguar XK140 Brings Coventry to Compton

Mr. Winston Dabbs is a product of his time. As a young man in 1970s Compton, California, he was swept up in the local enthusiasm for British sports cars, tasteful status symbols among young black men of the time. Winston's own entry into the world of British cars was modest – a Bugeye Sprite which he bought from a friend for $75 – but it sparked a passion that has stayed with him to this day, a passion that led to a career in automotive restoration.

Made To Drive

VIEW ALL

Chrysler

Made To Drive

Son Takes Chrysler New Yorker Rally Car To The Next Stage

After some searching for a rally car, Jake Auerbach and his father settled upon a 1951 Chrysler New Yorker, a car which had previously run the famed La Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico and the Pike's Peak Hill Climb in Colorado. They began adding their own miles to the car's odomoeter, running the New York-to-Vancouver leg of the Trans-America Challenge in 2012 in addition to numerous other events. This father-and-son team covered more than 10,000 competition miles together.. They never, however, managed to win any of the events they entered together. In 2012, Jonathan Auerbach died at the age of 70. Shortly after, Jake entered the first rally he'd ever run without his dad. He won.

0 0 votes

Article Rating

37 Comments

newest

oldest most voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Paul Scoropan

9 years ago

This is a nice car collection. I like the white Lambo!

guest

10 years ago

LOL at the speedometer (3:59)

Denis Porokhniak

Troll tastefully®

Jimmy Arata

That was hilarious, and very well done . . .

ShawDC

Definitely had me going.

Neal Neals

Wow what a sense of humor great job!!

Beck

“Drive Tastefully.. and don’t forget your keys.”

You guys can humor tastefully as well 😀

Doug

“…he assured me there is no termite damage because..(dramatic pause)..it’s not made out of wood.”

Hilarious.

Jono51

I was watching this, thinking, “you have got to be kidding me …” and oh, when was this posted?. Nice one guys!

Corey Chow

Oh my, they really had me going for a while. I felt so confused.

I was curious as to how much one of these was worth. Then I came across this…

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/4370752795.html

Yoav Gilad

Reply to Corey Chow

Well spotted. Err, I mean, we have no idea what you’re talking about… 😉

Royce

Hell, good catch; thats the exact car used in the video!!!

Jake Williams

I didn’t realize until half way through the video what day it is. Even on PetroliciousCo, a good laugh is not that far away. Good job guys, and April Fools to everyone. 😉

Bertram Wooster

Gaaaawd! Pop had two of these and he passed on a third a year ago! Y’know, in top condition, in this screwy market, it just might go up, if you can keep the emissions equipment from destroying the engine. Best laugh I’ve had all day!

Day: made!

kevin doleshal

Jesus Christ…had me going for a sec…..good job….hilarious.

Alex Daniel

A Pebble Beach winner no doubt……..bahaaaaaaa. Sorry I couldn’t resist

Matthew Haber

Nice April fools joke guys, James was great but how about getting him to do a video on either that caddy or maybe his 458, please and thanks, take care

Wayne Van Dyk

Reply to Matthew Haber

I agree with Matthew, would love to see a feature on that caddy!

Lars Banka

Hihihi, that’s a good one. And I want to take a photo if his sons face turning 16 and getting – well – a piece of automobile history 🙂

ElGato

“Termite inspector.” Hilarious. Great work.

Nelson

🙂

Matthew Lange

Lol good April Fools piece. Maybe in Monterey week the Lebaron should do the Concours d’lemons while the Lusso does Concours Italiano and see which gets more attention 😀

Rodney Wren

That was hilarious!

Glenn Sacco

April FOOLS!!!!!

Jose A.

I knew it had to be a joke from the start. A Ferrari Lusso owner that likes this piece of crap lebaron? c’on petrolicious. Good one though!

Josh Clason

Reply to Jose A.

But it is rumored to have been owned by Jon Voight!

Carlo

Ha Ha. Well done! At first was like, not sure if serious. Then it hit me, April 1st!

Dustin Rittle

Im not sure if this is a April fools joke or what but im loving it!. Its nice to see a car like this getting some attention at least for one day 😀

Alan Mitchell

Well played, Sir!

Now if it had been one of the proposed LeBaron’s with a RUMBLE SEAT….

Benjamin Shahrabani

April Fools?

Emanuel Costa

Despite the rarity, the oddity, some technological inovations and the fact that it was featured in Time magazine… it’s not my kind of car…

Reply to Emanuel Costa

When he drove away with te top ‘half down’ I tought it would come all the way down with the motion, but not even that to convince me he was being serious about that ugly peace of metal…

Bill

My friend John Voight had a car exactly like that one.

Sid Widmer

I hope he does give that to his son for his first car. Hahaha.

RJ Mundt

Well played! You had me all the way to the end, until I saw the April 1.

Vincent P.

#speechless
He is like the Magnus of vintage LeBarons.

Reply to Vincent P.

I hope he can truly obtain a fleet of vintage Lebarons.

Purist Loves This Car Just The Way It Is

Petrolicious Newsletter

Petrolicious

Account

duPont REGISTRY Group

Join the Family

How was the drive?

Reset Your Password

Purist Loves This Car Just The Way It Is

Petrolicious Newsletter

Petrolicious

Account

duPont REGISTRY Group