If you have been following my Instagram @Morillo55 you might already know my love and obsession for all things stylish and vintage flowing into a great passion for classic cars particularly from the 1980s/1990s and most definitely of European make.
Why, you might ask, does my attraction to cars fall in the 80/90s European upper class category? Well, like most of us here I am a sucker for nostalgia and those cozy childhood memories and images.
Growing up in Milano in the 80s and 90s I was surrounded by all the Fiats, BMWs, Saabs, Alfa Romeo, Porsche and of course Mercedes.. some of them were within our reach and some others were just an ambition and today we can fully relive the experience of awe and admiration (or just the pleasure of turning back time) with all our senses by driving a vintage car.
They are out there if you seek them and one of my Sunday fun activities with my son is to hunt them down parked in the suburban streets, admire them and take a photo for my collection. Boy how I get excited when I see a Bruno Sacco designed 1980s Benz (and Man they are still prominently out there..these cars outlive us all) or when I see an E30 BMW with those gorgeous round headlights.. or even better a classic Carrera 911!
Selling vintage watches was a short leap to getting involved with classic cars as so many of my clients are prominent car collectors and most of my clients drove those beauties in their heyday I was really curious to see for myself.
For the first time ever I wanted to put myself in my client’s shoes and see how the hunt to find the car of my dreams and the subsequent process would go.
Firstly I set my heart on finding a vintage Saab.. Why Saab? Because growing up my best friend’s mom drove a Saab 900 and we had so many memories together I really wanted to relive that somehow and feel at home again. Hers was the last iteration of the 900 with 4 doors and a crazy sky blue metallic color, it was so recognizable you could see it from a mile away!
We even gave it a name “Nuvoletta Blue” (Little blue cloud) I told you it’s all about nostalgia..
So the closest thing was going to be a Saab 900 Convertible (I always wanted a convertible, could never afford one). I was set also on the so called “Directional” wheels and I also decided it had to be “eucalyptus green” paint or whatever best I could find.
I started looking at Craigslist, Offerup, Ebay, Bring a Trailer, Hemmings, Saab Forums perusing the offerings (not many) and making myself a little bit of culture about the cars and the market. Again, this was my first foray ever into cars since thus far I just was leasing the cars I could afford and they never were what I really dreamed of driving.
I finally found it: 1993 900 turbo, convertible, eucalyptus green, directional wheels, automatic, basically totally original from the day it left the dealership in Chicago, over 100k miles, price within my budget but the catch was it’s in Chicago that means I can’t see it in person I can’t drive it I just have to trust the dealer.
Well I was really, really curious to be finally on the other side and trust a dealer for his reputation, experience and word and see how it feels to be my clients. The dealer was communicative, helpfuland was also dealing in much more important Porsche cars than my Saab, he had a reputation to defend. I took his word about the condition and history and let myself go to the process of acquiring a car remotely.
Like my clients I wired the funds and waited for the arrival of my beloved Saab.
After a few weeks wait to have it sent to New York safely in a flat bed truck together with a vintage Camaro sold to another gentleman in Long Island to save a bit of cost, it arrived the day of my birthday December 2nd!
I now have been driving the car almost daily and I truly enjoy the experience. The smell, the leather, the vinyl surfaces, the gasoline, the sounds, the feel.. I am truly teletransported to a movie where I am starring. The movie I always wanted to be in. There is nothing like driving a car from the past century- just like the watches I wear and deal with they don’t make them anymore like they used to!! I don’t care about bluetooth, AC and all the comforts of today. Do you know what makes me really appreciate them? The fact they don’t have a computer and they cannot fail me for some silly software glitch (yes it happened to me I was without a car for 3 months)!
If I could find a car with the manual windows I would be even happier.
F electric vehicles, F digital currency, F tesla cars.. true freedom is a tank full of gas and a pocket full of cash or gold.
That is freedom! Living the dream.
