Cars We Love & Who We Are
More than the polished parts and hard to find pieces, the special interest vehicles people collect embody the character of each owner. “Cars We Love & Who We Are” profiles individual special interest vehicles and the proud owner committed to its preservation.
Conversations with People We Value
Talking with skilled professionals who support our passion for collectible automobiles.
Roads We Remember
Some roads discovered far from home reward us with a once in a lifetime driving experience. Others are old friends revisited to elevate our spirits and celebrate the joy of life behind the wheel.
In Search of the 7th Royale Series – All the Episodes Here
Conversations With People We Value #58
You never know what good a new day will bring. On that day it came in the form of an email. Sent by my friend and fellow car guy Ira, it explained that he had recommended me to a facility that served the needs of young adults on the autism spectrum. Why me? Because they wanted to do a dedicated classic car event as an enhancement to their program for treating the needs of their clients. He included the organization’s contact information. I called.
Classic cars have always been recognized as a source of worth, pride, pleasure, excitement and entertainment. Could they, as well, be a source of healing? We were about to find out.
Classic Autos and Autism: Sharing a Journey to Betterment
Photos: Courtesy of Kayleigh Gorman, Good Talking People, LLC
Three months after Ira’s email arrived, a 1915 Ford Model T rolled into the tree rimmed parking area of the “Good Talking People” care facility in Teaneck, NJ. Soon the early Ford would be followed by a 1986 Porsche 911, a 1976 VW bus, a 1967 Austin Healey 3000 and eight other classic cars, the event and the idea behind it had come to life. Good Talking People Owner/Director Arlene Rubin and Office Manager Kayleigh Gorman welcomed the car owners as the vehicles came to rest.
This Wednesday evening represented a new twist in the facility’s ongoing effort to promote comfort in social situations. At these monthly socials young adults on the spectrum can enjoy the opportunity to come together with their community of peers and practice their social skills. Arlene says, “They look forward to seeing the people that they have developed relationships with. It’s a comfortable place for them to be able to just be them.” Historically these events have included bowling, trivia night, dancing, costume parties, karaoke, crafts, etc.
The “Car Show” represented a unique activity in the ongoing effort to create engaging monthly social events. In this setting these young adults could engage with the classic cars and the owners in a social setting with familiar faces. In so doing they could develop the social skills necessary to improve their quality of life.
On this beautiful early evening in mid July a cluster of adults enveloped in a cloud of excited anticipation blended, hesitatingly at first, into the display of […]
Cars We Love & Who We Are # 69
Rosell’s Auto Repair’s tidy but unimposing workshop situated on a quiet woodsy intersection in River Vale, NJ appears to project a compelling gravitational force. This extraordinary power seems to exert an especially attractive draw on forlorn classic cars left abandoned but not unloved. Most of these once tantalizing treasures have for decades silently developed unmolested shrouds of dust. A hoary patina grows as these ever more weary beauties remain overshadowed by life’s greater demands, until each forgotten treasure’s place in a family’s history, like a good-natured telltale heart, could no longer be ignored.
The following offers six joy filled tales celebrating rediscovery and rebirth at the hands of Al Rosell.
Every Car Tells a Story, Here are 6 Good Ones
When asked, Al Rosell, owner of Rosell’s Auto Repair, makes it clear that he loves what he does but he does not go looking for vintage car resurrection candidates. The cars seem to find him. Al says, “I don’t have a website. I don’t advertise.” He relies on the power of third party testimonial. He references one customer who like many of Al’s loyal clients went to a car show looking for recommendations. We will call the customer, Carl. Carl came to Al saying, “I was at a car show and asked four different people where to bring my car. All four said go to “this guy,” he will take care of you. Well, Al is “this guy.” All of his business comes by word of mouth. Al sums up his successful marketing philosophy saying, “People talk.”
As of late, Al has observed a new trend developing. He says, “A guy or a guy and his son will come in to talk about a car that has sat in their garage for 30 years, 40 years or longer. Dad flat out says, ‘I’m getting old. I want to get this car going.’ Al continues saying, “I can’t tell you how much that has started to happen in the last two years. My God they are coming out of the woodwork.” Interestingly, people are not looking to sell the car. They want it to be enjoyed by the next generation and the generation after that. Al, with a mix of incredulity and resignation says, “I have six of them here right now.” So let’s take a look at the resurrection stories of 4-wheeled […]
Roads We Remember #13
From a young age old photos from Italy’s famed Mille Miglia taken in the 1950s had captured my imagination. My fascination clung to the classic black and white images showing spectacular period sports cars departing from the elevated stage area on the viale Venezia in Brescia. Dramatic in a film noir kind of way, they evoked an earlier time and place, both heroic and romantic. It always seemed that the face of an elegant Grace Kelly should be close-by overlooking a departing open sports car with a Moss or Fangio or some rakish European playboy at the wheel.
Now, I had signed on with Grandstand Motor Sports a British motorsport travel specialist. More about them later. My time had finally arrived to experience the Mille Miglia, called by many “The most beautiful race in the world.”
2025 Mille Miglia; Hot Town, Summer in the City
Blue skies and soaring temperatures welcomed me to Brescia, the traditional launch point for the Mille Miglia. Mille Miglia translates to “1000 miles” in Italian and commemorates the roughly one thousand mile length of a grueling round trip race on public roads from Brescia to Rome and back. Starting in 1927 and for the last time in 1957 the treacherous route had often been run by teams combining the greatest drivers accompanied by skilled navigators. Death of teams and spectators alike loomed as a constant possibility.
Teams faced treacherous back roads that twisted through the rugged narrow mountain passes of the Italian back country that challenged both driver and navigator. Each race witnessed head to head competition between some of the most dominant performance vehicles from companies such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin and Jaguar. In 1957 one of those vehicles, a Ferrari 335S driven by Alfonso de Portago had a front tire burst causing him to somersault through a crowd of spectators by the tiny village of Guidizollo. Eleven people including de Portago and co-driver Ed Nelson died. The dead included 5 children. This catastrophic accident outraged the Italian public to a such a degree that it ended the Mille Miglia as a competitive race and indeed pretty much ended all racing on public roads in Italy.
In a 2012 interview racing great Stirling Moss, who held […]
Here’s this week’s question:
What manufacturer in the 1950s boasted a high performance feature named Twin-H Power?
Answer to last week’s question:
What manufacturer won LeMans 5 times in the 1950s? Jaguar
About the blogger
Burton Hall has written for an automotive client list that includes Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Peugeot and Volvo. He has also written for The Washington Post, AutoWeek, Corvette Monthly, Jaguar Magazine, BMW Magazine, Hemmings.com, Hagerty Magazine and numerous auto restoration buff books.
He is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians and the Historic Vehicle Association.
As a classic car hobbyist, He owns a 1961 Corvette that he bought in 1967, a 1953 Jaguar XK120MC Drophead Coupe that he restored after finding it in a barn in 1980, an original 1953 Golden Anniversary Ford F100 pickup that he purchased from the original owner and a 1951 MG TD that presently serves as a planter and centerpiece in his garden. All are great drivers, except the MG which has a few bugs.
RECENT POSTS
08/11/25 – Every Car Tells a Story, Here are 6 Good Ones
07/20/25 – 2025 Mille Miglia; Hot Town, Summer in the City
07/01/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3. Episode 20 – A Snowball’s Chance)
06/14/25 – In search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 19 – Frozen Freeway to Freedom)
05/29/25 – In search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 18 – End Game)
05/15/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 17 – The Best Laid Plans)
05/01/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 16 – Bugatti Royale Resurrection)
04/17/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 15 – The Ultimate Barn Find)
04/09/25 – In Memoriam – Driving My Sister to Mobile
03/20/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 3, Episode 13 – Return to a Heart of Darkness)
02/20/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 11 – A Wounded Bird Points the Way)
02/06/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 10 – Harrowing Escape into an Unknown Future)
01/23/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 9 – Priceless Bugatti Lost in the Fog of War)
01/10/25 – Automotive Crimes and the Man Who Solved Many of Them, Talks AirTags, Fobs and Much More Pt. 2
12/04/24 – Jaguars Trans-formation into the New Coke of Automobile Re-branding
11/21/24 – New York City Automotive Crimes and the Man Who Solved Many of Them Pt 1
10/20/24 – The Charming Terror of Driving on Ireland’s Back Roads
09/14/24 – A Secret Sauce and Successful Recipe for Mixing Kids and Classic Cars
08/25/24 – America’s First Car Show for Kids?
08/01/24 – Classic Trucks Loaded With Memories
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02/01/24 – The Black Adder VI, An Outrageous Hot Rod Bentley
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11/23/23 – Amish Buggies, Where Worlds Collide but No One Crashes
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10/26/23 – What’s a Burton
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09/14/23 – MG Shatters Records on Hitler’s Salt Flats in the Shadow of WWII
08/17/23 – In search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 8)
08/03/23 – In search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 7)
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01/19/23 – Dr. Fred Simeone’s Mona Lisa car legacy. Part 2. Fascinating backstories of cars he preserved.
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11/24/22 – How to manage down a classic car collection
11/10/22 – Saving the farm, Barry Wood’s beach club in the Blue Ridge
10/27/22 – When the collection outlives the collector, a daughter’s point of view
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09/15/22 – Visiting a community built for car enthusiasts
09/01/22 – Reaching the heights of her dreams on the wings of a deHavilland Beaver
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08/04/22 – Let’s create a Concours d’Elegance. OK…How?
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06/09/22 – Judged the 32 most historically significant cars in America. Do you agree?
05/26/22 – Hagerty automotive heritage dream conference. Gone for good?
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04/28/22 – Hot Road Missionary and his monster machines
04/14/22 – The monster truck that nearly crushed Volvo
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03/17/22 – Mr. Thomas’s forest of old Porsches, VW buses and more
03/03/22 – Taking the Skyline Drive to explore the dusty attic of Virginia car culture
02/17/22 – Return of the Zipper King
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12/09/21 – Hot rod love, family style
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10/28/21 – Provenance – Uncovering your car’s backstory
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07/01/21 – The sputtering Mosquito and the Virgin Loretto
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05/20/21 – An inspired venture to preserve American craftsmanship and vintage Airstream trailers
05/06/20 – When the find is the barn
04/22/21 – Man Cave Garage Sale unmasks Covid boredom
04/08/21 – The odd couple in Vinny Plotino’s garage
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12/10/20 – A Volvo Christmas Classic – “It’s a Vunderful Life”
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11/05/20 – Sons of Danger – Mad Men on wheels
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10/01/20 – American Pickers meets Hunger Games on a country road
09/24/20 – Crash course for an underage driver
09/17/20 – Playboy Bunnies in the rearview mirror
09/10/20 – The journey is the reward
09/03/20 – More than the next chapter, it’s the next book – Life 2.0
08/27/20 – Old School Larry
08/20/20 – In celebration of a life off the leash
08/13/20 – Asleep at the wheel – Rest Stop Recovery
08/06/20 – Rt. 17A – A sweet ride to Sugarloaf
07/30/20 – What’s a”Vineyard truck?”
07/16/20 – The woman picks up where the girl left off
07/09/20 – When time and other things stand still
07/02/20 – Drive-In movies, Back to the future
06/25/20 – Mystery of the vanishing Indian Motorcycle sign
06/18/20 – Dagavar’s Jaguar, the truth at last
06/11/20 – TAKE-OUT, Lifeline to the future
06/04/20 – Henry Hudson Drive
05/28/20 – CARnucopia Food Drive Results
05/21/20 – CARnucopia
05/14/20 – Collectible Car Culture in a Pandemic
05/07/20 – Austin Healey? Nope, It’s Austin’s Crosley!
04/30/20 – Storm King Highway
04/23/20 – Children We Love
04/16/20 – Mustang Madness Revisited
