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CARS

My Ride

Four car owners. Four very different tastes.

THE WILD

  • ANGEL CARRASQUILLO Property manager
  • HOME Hyde Park CAR 2000 Honda Odyssey
  • FEATURES Seven TV monitors, DVD player, Xbox 360, wraparound spoiler, 20-inch chrome wheels, LED and strobe lighting
  • WHY NOT A CORVETTE OR SOMETHING? "I wanted to be different. Others, they hook up their cars, but you hardly see [this in] a minivan."
  • HOW IT REFLECTS HIS PERSONALITY "It's totally opposite. I'm more humble, more shy. It's just I always wanted to do something that really catches the eye."
  • WHAT'S NEXT? "Hopefully, a 30-inch plasma."
  • THE FAST

  • R.J. VALENTINE CEO, the MBA Group (which includes kart-racing complex F1 Boston)
  • HOME Hingham
  • CAR 2006 Pontiac GTO.R
  • TOP SPEED About 195 m.p.h.
  • WHY IT'S SPECIAL It won the 2006 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series GT team championship - a series of 14 races, of which Valentine raced eight.
  • HOW IT RIDES "You drive it as much as we drive it, it feels like an old shoe."
  • HOW RACING AND BUSINESS ARE SIMILAR "Racing is a microcosm of business. It's about teamwork, details, and preparation. And in racing, like business, they don't wait for you."
  • THE NEW

  • CAROLYN GOLDEN HEBSGAARD Executive director, Boston Lawyers Group
  • HOME Marlborough
  • CAR 2007 Jaguar XK8, fully loaded
  • WHAT SEALED THE DEAL The retractable top. After seeing that, "I said, 'Boy, I'm in.'"
  • HER NICKNAME FOR IT "My baby."
  • WHY THE CAR'S A GOOD MATCH "I'm big on style and fashion, and the car is very elegant looking. It's a head-turner."
  • A THRILL THAT DOESN'T GET OLD "To be cruising along, driving past people, and you get that look. It happens all the time."
  • THE CLASSIC

  • GENE LAKS Organizational management and marketing specialist
  • HOMEFramingham Car 1929 Ford Model A Town Sedan Deluxe Horsepower 40 Top speed 48 m.p.h. What he saw in it Its gentle beauty “and, truly, her soul.”
  • FAVORITE FEATURE The “suicide doors” – the rear doors are hinged toward the rear of the vehicle.
  • CAR'S NAME Snaggy. “There’s the old phrase, when you get something special, ‘Hey, look what I snagged!’ ’’
  • ON OWNING AN ANTIQUE CAR “We don’t own them, we’re just stewards. It’s our job to preserve this part of our history.”
  • Photographs by Josh Campbell

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