Collector Classics: The kids are alright

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Marc Testa wheels his Plum Crazy hued 1969 Dodge Charger in beside his friend’s red and white 1958 Pontiac Laurentian. He deftly shifts the four-speed transmission and revs the hot 383 Magnum V8 engine as the 52-year-old muscle car comes to rest. Matt Marsolais has been working on his Pontiac for two years to get it road ready and he has been driving it a lot this summer. The two friends are soon joined by Mateo Cecchini who is driving his all red 1968 Camaro – another hot muscle car that was originally popular more than half-a-century ago.

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The three car buddies have owned their classics since they were teenagers and are now in their early 20’s. They are living proof that the collector hobby isn’t just for grey haired enthusiasts seeking sentimental touchstones to the cars they wanted when they were young. These guys are young and they love the cars from an era enjoyed by their parents and grandparents.

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Marc, a recent SFU graduate who currently runs equipment for the City of New Westminster, and Mateo, an apprentice plumber, first met in elementary school. They immediately bonded over shared interests in hockey and cars.

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“We would look at collector car ads in the Auto Trader magazine and each try to guess what the price of the car was,” Marc says. “We learned about cars at a really young age and have loved them ever since. I particularly like B-body Mopars.”

The three friends are all from Coquitlam and help each other work on their cars. They regularly check online to get advice from the ‘University of YouYube’ or get their fathers involved if they get bogged down and need help to complete complicated repairs. Marc’s father is in the automotive business and worked with Marc to install a four-speed transmission in the Charger last year. “I learn how to do things as I go,” Marc says. Matt’s father is also a collector car enthusiast. He owns a 1964 Pontiac GTO convertible and a restored 1957 Chevrolet pickup truck.

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Matt is entering his final year in the British Columbia Institute of Technology business program after previously completing a degree in film. He still has his first car, a 1992 Mustang LX convertible which he and his two brothers consecutively drove to high school. He learned how to maintain and repair the car as a teenager. “I could never afford to bring it to a garage so fixing it myself was a necessity,” he says.

Having always loved Fifties’ music and cars, Matt had been looking for a classic car since high school. “I checked Craigslist every day.” He located his rare Canadian-built Laurentian two-door hardtop in Surrey, which had recently been shipped to B.C. from Alberta. But the car was sold with only bill of sale and had no other documentation or vehicle registration. It took him two years to get the car mechanically sound to pass the B.C. ‘out of province’ safety test so it could be registered. He got the car on the road in July.

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“It drives better than I expected. It just floats, although I would like to add power steering,” Matt says.

Mateo traces his love of cars back to his youngest days when he had small toy cars and his father would tell him the names and model years. “My grandpa had a 1966 Buick Special as his daily driver and I loved that car,” he says. He developed a love for early Camaro muscle cars through watching the Barrett-Jackson Auction on television. He was 19 when he bought his 1968 model and has been improving it for the past three years.

The trio says almost everyone in their group of friends wants an old car but don’t feel they can afford it. “It’s expensive because we have to have two cars: One that’s a daily driver and the other as a hobby car. We’ve chosen to spend our extra money on our cars because it’s a true passion for all of us,” Matt says.

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Their advice to other young people considering the purchase of a collector car: If you like the car, just do it. You will meet the people who will help you fix it up and keep it running.

Every time I shift from first gear to second, I feel – this is so cool.

“You get such a different feeling with an old car as compared with a new one. Every time I stop, people want to talk about the car.” Matt says. “I took four people to the drive-in last week in the car. That’s been my dream.”

Dodge Charger owner Marc Testa adds: “Every time I shift from first gear to second, I feel – this is so cool.”

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com