Since I’ve started working for powerTV, I’ve been known to both my colleagues and to my readers as primarily a GM guy with a penchant for Turbo Buicks and late model LS-equipped rides, which is only a half-truth.

It’s also no secret around here that I’ve become slightly obsessed with the movie Drive, a film that was released on DVD/Blue Ray just a few weeks ago, and has already developed a cult following since. Now while I won’t bore you with a film review or even so much as the plot to this pseudo, neo-noir, drama, semi-action film, I will say that the main character played by Ryan Gosling falls into a personality not unlike my own.

Gosling plays a quiet, loner gearhead who mostly keeps to himself, but only seems to find trouble when he decides to help somebody else out, and in this case (or in most cases for some of us), it’s a woman for whom he becomes involved with that causes the shift in the current. As the movie plays out, “Driver” (as his character is simply known as) shows a dark side of his persona the audience isn’t quite ready for.

Anyway, ‘Driver’ falls under the “misfit character” category that Gosling usually plays, and what is this character’s ride of choice? A primered, ’73 Chevelle Malibu, a car in itself that has been cast out by almost everybody in the hobby as being too ugly, too slow, and too heavy to ever become anything desirable.

Or is it? I admit that some cars require an acquired taste for anybody to become remotely interested in, the ’73-77 Colonnade A-bodies being among them, but are they really that terrible?

We’ve covered Lagunas before in previous eBay Finds and even touched on them in an in-depth History of the Chevelle story your author wrote over a year ago, but with the remaining examples primarily residing in the warmest parts of the country (they’re pretty much extinct in the Midwest), could they ever be considered collectible, or more to the point, valuable? I’d take a ’73-75 in the SS/S-3, base-model coupe or a Laguna version, and give it the pro-touring treatment. But that’s just me.

Having said that, I think that every gearhead has a short-list of cars that they may be embarrassed to admit to their friends or colleagues they’re interested in acquiring. For example, a few of us around the office have a fascination with the DeLorean DMC-12, a car that apart from the obvious John DeLorean tie-in and the Back to the Future trilogy has no real significance in the hot rod realm.

Gosling climbing behind the wheels of 'Driver's' '73 Chevelle. Image: Flaviendachet.blogspot.com

The factory-equipped PRV (Peugeot-Renault-Volvo) V6 only produced 130hp in US-spec, and delivered 0-60 times of 10.5 seconds. Slow, even for the era, and on top of that, the chassis is reportedly too weak to handle the torque and horsepower of a real powerplant. But I still want one for no other reason than nostalgia and the gullwing doors.

But there are others I’d personally like to get my hands on, like the ’61-‘75 Jaguar E-type. Yeah I know,  it’s not even American, but the classic British lines of the old Jag always caught my attention, ditto the ’63-‘65 Aston Martin DB5. You can blame James Bond for the former. Also, despite my sick obsession with the Corvette (I will own one eventually, dammit!) I’m strangely attracted to the original Porsche 911/912 of the ’60s and early ‘70s -and pretty much every Ferrari of the time period as well, particularly the Daytona. The coupe, not the convertible Don Johnson drove in Miami Vice.

Throw in a Lamborghini Miura, and you would have just about every non-American car I’ve lusted after for years. But that’s not really embarrassing to admit, is it? Anybody with a pulse would admit to liking those cars on some level, so let’s refocus on the freaks. Admittingly, I also find myself admiring Vietnam War-era Bimmers, Benzes, and even Volvos and Saabs on some levels. The Sonnet in particular is the only car I can think of that is both ugly, and attractive. I know, I’m weird.

Jeff Schwartz's former '72 Vega. Image: Popular Hot Rodding

Obviously, most American, rear wheel drive car has performance potential, but there are those I simply won’t touch. Just about every American Motors product minus the Javelin, AMX, SC/Rambler, and the Rebel Machine I couldn’t be bothered with.  The Hornets are a grey area for me. You might argue that the Pacers and Gremlins were small, light, cheap, and back in the day, very plentiful, but there are reasons why you hardly see any on the road today.

But that doesn’t keep people from racing and maintaining the remaining examples, does it? Likewise the Ford Maverick and Pinto models, although I think the early Mavericks have a sort of mini-musclecar styling that can make them look cool with the right set of rollers and a killer stance. Since we’re on the subject of early ‘70s American compacts, I was never really a fan on the Vega, although I find the Twin-Cam Cosworth’s interesting, and I loved what Jeff Schwartz did to his LS-powered ’72 notchback until it was totaled just a few months ago.

Whenever I find myself at a car gathering, I’m always gravitating towards the big classic cars, like the Cadillac’s, Lincoln’s, Chevy Impala’s and others from the ‘60s and ‘70s. I have been finding myself browsing through ads of ’66 Coupe Deville’s, pre-’79 Eldorado convertibles, and suicide door Continentals on eBay at the wee hours of the morning, lately. The ’63-’64 Impala SS convertibles always put a smile on my face as well.

Whether or not this could be due to the early-‘90s hip-hop influence on my youth, or my slight Greek ethnicity shining through beyond control, I haven’t the foggiest notion. My friends don’t understand it, my mom doesn’t either. My dad and my brother do, so at least I know I’m not a total anomaly.

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own tastes, but I’ve always believed that you’re not a true car guy, unless you appreciate a variety of automobiles. I’ve been going to all of the local and national car shows for years, and whenever I find myself in a group of certain types of enthusiasts (or cliques, if you will), they usually seem to be narrow-minded and only have a love or respect for a single type of car, and that’s a shame.

Keep Rollin’

-Rick

The '68 Miura. Image: ClassyCars.org