Spring Car Care

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Car Care

Elisabeth: Roch’s sweet ride

By CHRISTY LYNN MIDDLEBURY — Musician Chuck Miller wrote about them in his 1956 song “Bright Red Convertible.” Prince penned his sing“It’s great ing love letter to them, fun to “Little Red Corvette,” in 1986. cruise There’s just something around alluring about little red on a nice cars that few can deny. day.” They always catch the eye — Roch and make both women and MacIntyre men swoon. One such local beauty belongs to Roch MacIntyre, who sometimes parks his baby outside MacIntyre Services

off Exchange Street in Middlebury. “Her name is Elisabeth — or Betty,” MacIntyre says, “with the top down.” Elisabeth is a 1950 Ford Custom Convertible. She’s painted a striking candy apple red with silver detailing and a tan canvas top. “I don’t really know why, but I’d always wanted a ’50s Ford,” MacIntyre says. In the late 1980s, MacIntyre saw this car advertised in Hemmings Motor News, a magazine that caters to traders and collectors of vintage and exotic vehicles.

ROCH MACINTYRE STANDS outside MacIntyre Services on Exchange Street in Middlebury with his treasured 1950 Ford Custom Convertible, Elisabeth.

Being prepared will make your trip safe and fun (BPT) — Across the country people are planning to take longer road trips this year. If you plan to be one of them, here are five maintenance tips to consider for today’s cars. NEW TIRES “For four-wheel drive cars and trucks, buy new tires as a complete set,” says RockAuto.com Engineer and Vice President Tom Taylor. “Mixing old and new tires or just mixing tire brands can create small differences in tire diameter that may be enough to overheat and damage four-wheel drive parts.” (See Car trips, Page 6)

ELISABETH’S ROSY PAINT job and classic lines make her quite a head-turner when she’s out on the road. Independent photos/Christy Lynn

“The previous owner was a womBristol mechanic and the interior finish an whose father had worked for Ford work was done by Jim Ortuno at Shoreham and he wanted to do something nice for his Upholstery around 2009. daughter’s high school graduation present,” “Jim made it a new custom top, new seats MacIntyre recounts. “He bought the car and new carpeting and did a bang-up job.” from someone in California and worked on MacIntyre gave Elisabeth a new motor getting it in shape for his daughter, saying and modern tires, but everything else is of she could have it upon successful gradua- the classic “stock” that would have been tion, granted she didn’t get into any trouble original to the car. beforehand. She had it for Indeed, Elisabeth is beautimany years but eventually ful. needed the money and put the “They were way Her lines are straight and car up for sale. sleek, in a style that was reahead of the “I called her and pretty ferred to as the “Shoe Box curve with this much committed to it sight Style” that in 1949 pulled one. It’s like unseen,” MacIntyre recalls. Ford out of the mid-war He proceeded to send a sitting in your slump, when civilian productrusted employee and his wife living room on the tion of automobiles had been to Chicago to collect the car. suspended by the war effort. Elisabeth was given her sofa when you’re The departure to this name on that trip back to driving down the streamlined design from the Vermont by the wife of Ma- road.” previous “fat fendered” look cIntyre’s employee and, Ma— Roch MacIntyre of Ford’s cars was widely cIntyre says, “It just stuck.” popular and is credited both Originally the car was with saving the company as painted a “pea soup” shade of green and well as developing some of the modern authe interior was a light brown, MacIntyre tomotive design conventions we see today learned after looking up the vehicle’s iden- (integrated fenders for one). tification number. It was changed to red by “You look at that car — or at least I look the previous owner and MacIntyre decided at that car — and you say, ‘Holy crow, they to keep it that way. were way ahead of the curve with this one.’ “I did a fair amount of the tinkering with it It’s like sitting in your living room on the in my garage here,” MacIntyre says, but the sofa when you’re driving down the road,” finish body work was done by a now-retired (See Elisabeth, Page 6)

Tips for buying your teen’s first car (MS) — Many parents contribute money toward the purchase of their teenagers’ first car. But even those who don’t help kids finance the purchase of their first vehicle may still want to offer some advice as their teens start to look for the car they will no doubt remember for the rest of their lives. Different drivers need different things out of their vehicles, so a car that might be perfect for adults will not necessarily be the best fit for teen drivers without much experience traversing the nation’s roadways. The following are a few factors to consider when helping teens find their first car. SIZE Teenagers have little to no experience behind the wheel, so it’s best that they not drive cars that are especially small or large right away. According to the National Highway Traffic (See First car, Page 7)