Now how’s this for busting the stereotype of the typical Lambo driver? But here’s the best part: Lorrie Stern used it as her daily driver for decades after her late husband bought it for her new in 1974. Actually, that was a condition of the gift. And with four kids, no less. I suspect she avoided drive-through restaurants. She said the trunk was no stranger to kids. Ms. Stern, why couldn’t you have been my mother? I obsessed on the Espada as a kid, and rightfully so. It was one of the most influential production cars of its time, which began in 1968. You can see a lot of Espada influence in a raft of cars right through the eighties. I touched on it here, but will do a full story on this milestone car soon.
Obviously, this Espada, which first went pink in 1979, has been a recipient of a nice restoration, but it’s still no stranger to kids, as her five grandchildren are regularly treated to the white leather interior, now in car seats though. If you want the full evidence (kids being buckled in) and the rest of this story, here’s the link to the NYT article.
One of the better looking pink cars I’ve ever seen.
I love stories like this. Cars are meant to be used, not stored as showpieces.
I have a friend with an Aston Martin Vanquish (converted to convention shifter, up for sale) who used to get complaints from the dealership when he brought it for service. Their complaint?: “they don’t ususally come in this dirty”.
Now we’re getting to the king of personal obsessions.
What makes people ‘keep’ what they have instead of selling it…. and what could be of our society, and our cars, if more folks were ‘keepers’?
I absolutely love these articles about auto enthusiasts who keep their cars in good running order for decades. Those are the people I call up whenever I’m at the auctions and find an old car in great condition. Some of those prior owners I have talked to for hours on end about their cars. A few of them even became my good friends.
Thanks again for a great article. You can never get tired of reading about passions that endure throughout the ages. Cars, houses, art, music, it’s all manna for the soul. Speaking of which, it looks like CC is off to a great start.
I’m pleasantly surprised myself, given the lack of publicity. I’m glad I didn’t decide to write about guns 🙂
Steve, I’m increasingly interested in that aspect about the cars I find, and I have recently found owners of some of them, and they have great stories. It’s really perhaps the key aspect of what makes cars interesting (once the new car smell is gone), the emotional investment that accumulates (with interest) in our cars. And maybe it’s even more important in our era, since so many families and relationships are either fractured or virtual. Cars are like family members and/or pets, but they can be kept going forever!
A pink Espada. Pink.
Talk about a rare bird, er, bull. I’d love to take a ride in it, colour and all. Driving it, though… might be a trickier proposition. That beast looks as long as a bus.
My dad has a 2001 Carrera that has been his daily driver since 2004. He just puts snow tires on it in the winter. He gets a lot of odd looks in January, when people see his salt-encrusted 911 pass them in the snow!