Sometimes style is a function of being one-of-a-kind. It's rare, and so shows selectivity, even if the market of the time didn't embrace it. (Shawshank never won an Oscar.) Sometimes it is evocative of a past experience -- something we lusted after as a kid and vowed to have when we got older or conversely something we only grew to fully appreciate when it was gone.
These six selections from the Upperville Colt and Horse Show's Classic Car Show on Sunday were some of our favorites for one or more of the above reasons. Check us out online (http://citylifestyle.com/leesburg) for more selections.
1. The 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 was one of just 12 cars per week manufactured at the former American Wire Wheel Co. Plant in Springfield, Mass. Unlike the British-built Rolls, the Phantom could be ordered with bodywork by Brewster. It earned the People’s Choice Award.
2. Classic Mustang. My dad had one for which I think he paid $200, but it wasn't a convertible. The tag on this beauty? ENLSUMR.
3. 2006 Aston Martin Interior. This was Car and Driver's car of the year in '06, for many reasons. Ours is that it literally feels like "the lap of luxury."
4. So, there was this architect who had a Porsche that we would gas up and drive to Rehoboth every Friday in the summertime. The closest this show came to that car crush is this 1960 Porsche 356B Cabriolet Super 90 convertible.
5. I've never before heard of a Singer Roadster, let alone seen one. This 1952 4AD Roadster plays to my convertible craving, but with understated, elegant lines and enough trunk for a weekend get-away. I even like the color.
6. So, if you were ever bundled into the Ford and frog-marched on the family road trip, it might have been in one of the descendants of this 1941 Ford Station Wagon, a.k.a. "Woodie." What's particularly compelling about this baby is that its current owners seem to enjoy it for precisely the kind of get-away for which it was designed!