VIRGINIA USA. You never see them in daily use, the historical vehicles in the states. They come pouring in at car shows and meets but you never see them in traffic on a regular day. They seem to have forgotten that they once were used on a daily basis. When this creation rolled through traffic in Virginia I stopped it in hope of finding an American behind the wheel but no. Driving the car was an English principal. By Lars-Krantz. Translation Ellen Kay Krantz
Isabel Brennan had just returned from a game of horse polo and was exhausted. Father Andrew picked her up. Well known components but well executed and with a finish that shows that the principal knows what he’s talking about. He puts the car in good use.
Andrew Brennan swerved into the gas station after my enthusiastic waving exercise and I followed him, crisscrossing between the gas pumps in my little Chevy Cobolt rental.
– I might as well, he said whilst preparing for a refill of the Plymouth.
– Do you drive this one daily?
– Yepp, several days a week. I use it to drive the kids to different activities. It’s got a Chevrolet 350, a TH350 gearbox, and a Chevrolet rear axle.
The towering Englishman with the elegant mustache spoke with a refined language and gave an impression that was very well put together. He hadn’t just been thrown off some banana boat and stayed in the country by mistake. On the question how he ended up in Virginia he replied:
– I moved here eleven years ago and are running a private school.
– And what about the car?
– That, I built myself with the help of some craftsmen.
The car had only run 20.000 miles and was well kept but Andrew tor everything out in favor to authentic English leather and wood graining.
The car was at one time a black low-miler and very well preserved. When Andrew bought it he turned it over to Soho Street Rods to get a new drive train installed. The electrical got a 12V and the radio is modernized and is getting an iPod satellite radio as input source. Everything chrome based is new as well as all rubber. The interior is English leather.
– Three hides went into the making, Andrew explains and pops the hood to show power steering and AC.
He’s a member of the Plymouth Owners Club and has decided to lift (!) the car for appearance.
– Yes, I guess it rides a little too low. I put it in good use and I have a lot of passengers so I have to lift it a couple of inches.
To watch the grand creation move amongst stables and green fields is like looking at a Rembrandt. It’s simply unimaginable to think that the Americans really drive Japanese plastic buckets in a climate that to a Swede’ is considered as indoor driving.
Andy Jonsson is the name of a wood grain artist that takes on the most exclusive estates in this neighborhood. It was the first time he worked on a car though. Within the Cooker tires are disc brakes all around. Andrew is really content with his every day car and has purchased many details on Ebay as he went along. The color is a new one that has been excluded from the metallic ingredient to appear oldish.
Andrew tells me that the transmission tunnel had to be widened to fit with the box and the running(footboard, stepside?)board in rubber was a really tricky item to get a hold of. At last he managed to find a senior in Florida who manufacture them.
– I’m picking my girl up from horse polo, why don’t you tag along, he says.
Andrew puts the car in gear and rolls out of the gas station. The car leans easy against the rear axle, the tail pipes gives out a warm swoosh and the car navigates between the traffic lights. Soon the road gets curvier in a compact forest and Andrew eases up on the gas.
Roaring down the dirt road with that ol´ 48. Awesome ride of yours Mr. Brennan. The Englishmen got the light.
We turn into a lingering dirt road, he blows up a cloud of dust, dark shadows from the heavy tree branches dances on the roof top and it all looks like a gangster motion picture from the forties. The majestic tree’s of Virginia dissolves and we enter new ground. Wide, open spaces stretch out alongside the horizon and just in the middle of it all – stables, horses, riding areas and corrals for competition. Daughter Isabel comes running with her horse polo stick. She throws it in the car and jumps in her seat. A quick goodbye, another thrust in the tailpipes and the Plymouth disappears in a cloud of dust. The day of the Brennan family continues.
However, it was amazing to see an old car put in use in this country that’s got roads and weather that to a Swede reminds of a stroll through an indoor parking garage.
– But it took and Englishman to get there.
“jag ska höja den”;-)