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When Does a Car’s Story Matter?
I have a confession to make: I’m a sucker for car stories. Almost every car has one. Some are happy, and some are sad. A few are delightful, and others are truly tragic. Stories add an element of humanity to this little hobby of ours, and enrich it in the process. Just like fine wine and stories about your high school football exploits, though, car stories seem to “improve” with age. And by “improve” I mean get a bit further from the actual event or events. In my experience as an appraiser and a car guy, that can be a problem.
Here is one simple example of how this automotive “story inflation” happens quite innocently. In this case, the names of both the car and the celebrities have been changed to protect the innocent …
The seller of a 1970 Mach 1 Mustang mentions in passing that the car he is selling was once owned by a roadie for a famous rock group, The Stray Pets. He enjoyed the car and took members of this famous band out from beer runs or airport drop-offs. You get the picture. No ownership by the band or its members, but rather from someone associated with the group.
The buyer enjoyed the car for a few years and, when it’s time to sell, that owner tells the next owner that the original owner was a member of the famous rock group. In other words, he has not only passed along hearsay information, but has also improved upon it. By the time the car has passed on to the next seller, lead singer (and famous heartthrob, of course) Bob Rockstar of the Stray Pets was the original owner, who bought it new in Hollywood after their first album went platinum.
Next time the car is seen, it’s at an auction with a full-sized cutout of Bob Rockstar, along with a signed copy of the famous first platinum Stray Pets album.
If you are thinking of buying Bob Rockstar’s car, here are a few things you can do. First and foremost, don’t overpay because of an unverified story. Ever. The second thing that you can do, if that story is just too enticing, is try to verify it.
Here is where some good detective work can come in handy. This is all stuff that you can do yourself, if you are so inclined. First, does the build date of the Mach 1 line up with any of the events that is was supposed to be a part of? I’ve found that this can be the easiest way to confirm or deny the story. From there, if you find that the Mach 1 existed in the possible timeline, then start asking more questions: Did the Stray Pets even exist in 1971? A quick search might give you an answer, but even that could be nuanced. Maybe the Stray Pets were together, but that was before Bob Rockstar was the lead singer, for example. Does the timeline of their first Platinum album match with the year of the car? Again, this is likely an easy one to answer. In other words, look for red flags and don’t ignore them. Now might also be a good time to search both for magazine and newspaper articles and photos of and about the Stray Pets. One question will lead to the next.
I’m never surprised when we find out how far off the possible timeline these imagined stories often are. In many cases I have seen, the timeline is your best friend, as the events described which might have been plausible just fall apart when the car itself didn’t exist until a later date.
I get that sometimes these story inflation problems start from an innocent mistake, just the conflation or misremembering of events and people over the years. Unfortunately, in some cases an owner will just make something up and convince themselves that their truth is the actual truth. This is where good old common sense come into play.
The issue of stories doesn’t just crop up in the case of famous previous owners. They make a difference in the makeup of the cars themselves, especially when they explain an unusual combination of equipment and/or options. Again, common sense should be front of mind. For example, did General Motors stop the production line to make one Vega with fake Leopard skin seats, like someone told you they did? No, they didn’t. Somewhere an owner did that, but not GM. Did Ford take a 1967 Mustang off the production line to put a GM Crate Motor in it? Nope, not going to happen. And if they did, to use it as a test bed, then the car and motor would have been destroyed, not sold. Most claims about a car’s components and history can be verified with enough research and/or consulting with experts.
For smaller companies, though, those that built cars in the hundreds per year, the rules could be a bit different. I visited Avanti Motors in South Bend, IN, numerous times in the late 1970s through 1985, and I can attest that a few cars were built with customized touches like real Marble dash inserts, questionable fabric and color interior combinations, full custom sound systems and, in one case, a blue and yellow paint scheme for a very enthusiastic University of Michigan supporter.
The same can hold true for many smaller European manufactures, as a wealthy clients who were repeat customers may have been able to special order colors, accessories or equipment to their specification. Today, many of the smaller manufacturers and a few of the larger ones also offer clients their form of “bespoke” customizing options. Cadillac will even let you custom design your new electric Celestiq, provided you’re planning to drop $300,000 on yours. All of the above are things you should be able to verify. If you can’t, well, it simply isn’t enough to rely on word of mouth or hearsay.
Stories about cars are great, but in the end they are mostly just that—stories.
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The story is a major part of a car at Pebble Beach or other concourse show. Often a winning car will not always be the best condition car but the one with the best and most interesting confirmed history.
As for celerity cars. What matters here is how the star or famous owner was connected to the car and how it played in their life.
The Bullet car for example. Great star connection.. The Boxer Ferrari in the I can’t drive 55 Video with Sammy Hagar big deal. The car Paris Hilton ordered and drove to one movie premier no big deal.
You do need to watch. The case of the Bandit Trans Am’s. How often have we seen a Trans Am claimed to have been owned by Burt Reynolds go to auction and draw a big price? We see a few a year.
Now here is the key to this. There was a car restorer that worked with Burt in his last years. They would restore a 77 TA and register it in his name. He would autograph it and meet the buyers. Most of these car were never driven by him. He has stopped driving years ago. These are just paper work cars.
The cars from the movie were crushed as all were destroyed. The last shot the car rolled into the race track was not even running. the hill provided the motion.
There was one car Pontiac gave Burt it was a 1978 and it is in private hands in Florida. This is the car he owned for a good while and gifted it to an assistant. It is the only one really worth anything star wise.
Other cars documented race histories and uses in history as parade cars etc. these can be of value but need documentation.
Cars with a big media presents too. Like a While Bronco owned by a former NFL player. These can have some added value.
As for rare factory cars. It is a toss up. Some can be very much in demand and others may be rare but see no demand.
This just comes down to common sense. I would not buy a Cadillac owned by Johnny Carson for more more money over any other Cadillac. But a documented Dale Earnhardt raced car over a similar race car would get my added money.
For the most I would really rather have just a regular car over a star car. Now a race car with a good history that is different.
I think many mistake the cars story just as being a celebrity. It is much deeper than that.
Stories like the Dusenberg built for the family in Hawaii is a good example of a good story. The car was built with a very large body and was driven often on the island as the owner owned a pineapple plantation.
This car was returned to the states and is in the family today and is on permeant loan to the Auburn museum in Indiana. The car is considered one of the best, rare and expensive Dusenbergs in the world. The story is what really makes the car.
Many of these cars hold great stories and often they can win a large show not be cause of value or condition but the story of the car and around the car.
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There once was a Plymouth dealer in Milwaukee. They had a green mustang and a black charger on the lot. The salesman claimed the cars eere the original movie cars. Never did challenge him for proof since I wasnt in the market for a car.
I, like most Hagerty enthusiasts from what I’ve ascertained, would never pay more for a celebrity car. I wouldn’t pay more for a racing drivers of renown daily driver either all things being equal. Even if one fell into my lap it would just be a casual passing comment- ‘Racer X owned this car ‘ – ‘Really’ – , okay so what? end of story. That kind of name dropping, recognition by distant association (or in this case just purchase) makes no sense to me. I recognize that some people find an appeal in that and too each his own yet I honestly don’t understand it at all. Seldom if ever would I invest in something that is so far outside from my own perception of what is desirable. However my mother one year did say that the christmas gift she really wanted to give me was one of Charlie Chaplins old silent era hats that came to auction but it was too pricey. In character for me and it was that thought that counted.
I’d pay extra for Steve McQueen’s Corvette over an identical Corvette. For those too young to remember McQueen, among other things, he did some wild motorcycle riding in The Great Escape, a story about an escape via tunnel from a Nazi prison camp, and more generally, he was a great actor.
Which makes his Corvette a…..Corvette.
Not a car but I have an 80’s vintage Burberry jacket like McQueen used racing bikes, complete with replica race button. Cool jacket. I bought it because I like the look and was not expensive.
I think a lot depends on the level of devotion any buyer has to a particular celebrity. I can imagine two Carson fanatics going to war over his Cadillac.
Maybe, but I’m hard-pressed to make a connection between the comedian/talk-show-host and automobiles. If I was a Carson fanatic, I might treasure a prop from one of his sketches (like the turban from the Carnac skit for example) but he wasn’t known as a car guy, so to lust after a car that resided in his garage? Meh, IMO.
I don’t care about celebrity ownership. The best story is loved by one owner who drove it often and kept up on the maintenance.
How about a 1970 Dodge Charger 500 Se with 91,000 miles on it. A true survivor – all original, including the owner and his wife.
The car comes with the owner and wife. How many miles on their odometer? I’m kidding.
That would be my kind of story.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
That brings to mind Irv Gordon and his Volvo 1800S. 6,000,000 + miles. Bonus was that he was a very nice person, always happy to talk about the car. Bought the car on a Friday and was back at the dealer Monday or Tuesday for its free 1,500 mile inspection.
When I sold my 1938 Rolls-Royce many years ago, I stated that it was the most rare pre-war Rolls-Royce you would ever find! And why was it so rare? Simple, it was the only one for which no claims of prior Royal use or ownership had never been made!
HILARIOUS, as Jay Leno might say !
Man, that IS rare!
Great story angle! It adds aura to the desirability of brands and models.
Ah, the stories we tell about the cars we enjoy.
I find the story of the cars journey, not that a famous person w owned it, more fascinating. Especially if it is a European car. The owner of two, and a 3rd on the way, sometimes the car is the backstory to the life of the individual.
One such story if I remember correctly, revolved around a woman who traveled to Mexico City for the1968 Olympics from Italy to be a translator. She was given an Innocenti Spider and it was shipped to Mexico for her to use. At one point during her stay the car was stolen off the street. She has a connection within the government and the next day the car was returned to her no questions asked. It pays to know the right people.
Then, looking to get home after the games ended, she has spent all her money and could not afford the plane ticket home. Not sure whether the car was supposed to be shipped back or not, she sold the car to 2 brother’s from Texas and flew home.
While her story ended, the cars story did not. The brother’s were able to drive the car back home managing to keep the car alive, and your can imagine not many places would have parts for such a rare Italian car.
While there is much more color to this story, I find the interactions and decisions made along the way, and how intertwined we are with the vehicles we drive and own.
Sometimes the cars journey and the unknown people who invest their time and effort can be more interesting than some car that sat in a garage of a famous person having no journey other than to be basic transportation.
Who in the hell are the Stray Pets??? — Nuf said…
Maybe a reference to the STRAY CATS and Brian Setzer …??
The article says that the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
I bought a Bentley once, supposedly owned by a particular member of The Beach Boys and the seller was supposed to send me the documentation. Although I paid no more for it than for any other similar Bentley I still wanted to know the story so when the seller failed to provide anything, I managed, with a bit of luck and internet sleuthing to get that particular band member’s personal cell phone number so I called him one morning. He was extremely angry and basically refused to talk to me, but a little more research led me to his son, who was very cordial and actually invited me to his home in Carmel. While the son said he remembered the car, it did not belong to his father, but rather another well known Beach Boy instead. He was unable to help me contact that individual, as apparently there is a lot of “bad blood” between the band members as a result of years of litigation so I sold the car with the story provided “as I have been told.” It was only after the sale that I met the brother of the band member who was supposed to have been the owner of the car, but by that point, it was moot.
I think the better story (or at least the one I’d love to hear) is how you managed to acquire the personal cell phone number of a Beach Boy and then how you worked up enough chutzpah to actually dial it! I honestly imagine that you must have trouble walking, unless you are very bow-legged…😉
I’ve shared the whole process only with a few close friends and while I didn’t do anything underhanded or sneaky, well, let’s just say you will be amazed what happens when you sometimes just ask a simple question of the right person who possesses the answer. In this case, I don’t want to get that person in trouble! As far as “chutzpah” for calling the man, well, the first time I met Jay Leno I made a joke at his expense . . . his entourage gasped, but after a second or two, he laughed! Ranks right up there with the wise-crack I made at Peter Fonda’s expense the first time I met him too. These are just people – treat ’em like you would anyone else.
I’m acquainted with the Pope’s astronomer, and while at a party together I made a joke concerning him and the Pope based on something Guy said, so I suppose you and I are cut from the same cloth.
I knew of a guy who bought a Chrysler owned by Jon Voight. He was smart enough to get a pencil he chewed on as evidence of his ownership.
That Seinfeld was the first thing that came to my mind when I read this story!
A very recent auction of an early Ferrari 308 through a well known online auction site is a great example. It was presented as the car which “starred” in the first season of Magnum PI. In spite of little information or inquiries about lack of maintenance records and photos clearly showing areas of rust through, most of the over one hundred comments focused on comparing the car to closely scrutinized clips of the TV show. Much of the lack of documentation of its connection to the show was ignored. How there were enough bidders to propel it to a 115K sales price is beyond belief.
As an owner of a later 308 I understand the attraction and nostalgia associated with the show and Tom Selleck, but buyer’s remorse will be hitting someone very hard.
As one who has been involved with the movie and entertainment business for many years, generally a television show will have numerous examples of “the car” on hand just in case one breaks down, gets damaged or whatever. That way, production doesn’t stop. Years ago I would see literally dozens of old VW Beetles on Disney’s back lot, all virtually identical to what we saw as “Herbie,” in some cases, particular cars modified for a specific stunt. So, I was always amused when I saw someone claiming to now own “Herbie.” Yeah, him and at least 50 other people could make that statement. But due to the cost of a Ferrari, perhaps there was only one, (or two or three) but I’d heard that the car had to be modified to accommodate his height.
I love a great story too, and fortunately experienced the opposite: I found out that the vague story I was told when I purchased my car was actually much more interesting. Back in 2021 when I bought a 1946 MG TC, the auction catalogue said it had been given by MG to record breaker Alfred Goldie Gardner but they believed he had hardly used it, the story being he lent it to a lady in Scotland. I was researching my biography of Gardner at the time, and in the British National Motor Museum Archive, I later found many photos of the car being used by Gardner to test-run the speed record routes in Italy and Belgium in 1946, the first post-war record attempts, its number plate clearly visible. Later, when the book was launched at the Goodwood Revival in 2023, I used the car on the stand. A member of the public saw it and told me his father raced it in the 1960s. I now have photos of it on track in period at Silverstone, Brand Hatch and Oulton Park, and he let me take a photo of the trophies it won on the bonnet when I visited him in the car last year. I love the car for itself, but knowing this history has made it very special indeed.
Subtle sneaky reference to “The Black Ghost” by using that picture? No embellishment there!
My first thought as well! 😉
Great story! Thanks!
All my car stories are sad ones. They all basically go like this… “Found the car of my dreams. Loved that car. Adored that car. Pampered that car. PREENED that car. Then “stuff happens” and I sell the car to pay for [insert domestic need here; kids braces, college funds, medical bills, leaking roof, etc etc etc]”. At which point I pine for those cars, I wish I still had every single one of them… but such is life. In all I should be happy just to have had an opportunity to own the cars I did… but I still wish I had even one of them.
Ricklandia you are in very good company. Most owners of truly cool cars had life get in the way, causing them to part ways with their special car. I was the second owner of a ’71 hemi ‘Cuda convertible. I paid $1700. for it. It had to be my daily driver and I got tired of all the problems. Besides there were so many awesome muscle cars available, I couldn’t wait to try the next one. People ask me why I’m not full of remorse. Like you, I’m grateful for the memories, and besides, I now have a beautiful ’65 396 Corvette coupe that, for me, is the best all-around combination of them all.
When I was younger a “story car” was a car that had some sort of story to go with why something wasn’t quite right. Like the 20 year old low mileage car car with absolutely no sun fade on anything including the lenses, supposedly used only to go to the grocery store and out for dinner at night, kept in a garage that only had a north facing window, story was actually true. Or the Daytona wing car that was bought by a race car drivers mom to help homologate the car, so he could race one, and was garage kept and hardly ever driven, more likely car was tracked really hard but not often and driver was good enough to not even ding it, interesting car, but not passing the sniff test. Car with full KYB suspension because owner thought the shocks looked cool and never beat on the car. You get the picture.
I bought a 1959 Bentley S1 Radford Countryman because I liked the looks of it. When I checked out its history through the Rolls-Royce Owners Club (they have all the factory records for cars of that era, and a lot of the dealer records as well) I found that the car had a very interesting history and two famous owners in its past. So sometimes the background comes after the purchase, and not with it, but it does give one a story to tell.
OK, here’s a car story with a different kind of “celebrity”.
Bought a very nice, low mileage Mercedes convertible from a local Honda dealer where it had been traded in on a Honda Fit. Now who in their right mind does that? Decided it was going to remain a mystery.
About a year later, I dropped a pen which rolled under the seat. Found the pen and a business card from a massage parlor with a note “Thanks for a great time! Bambi.”
The guy got caught and his wife gave him an ultimatum – sell the Mercedes and get something with negative sex appeal or else . . . !!!!
Every time I see a Honda Fit I say “Thank you Bambi, who ever and wherever you may be.”
Hagerty should really make it possible to like comments. Your comment deserves at least 50 likes!
I’ve never understood why a certain human owning an automobile makes it worth more money. I don’t care who’s turd cutter sat in it.