CARS
My Ride
Four car owners. Four very different tastes.
April 22, 2007
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
