PHOTOGRAPHS BY SARA STATHASMY GRANDPA WOULD
always buy my grandmother
the newest Cadillac. Her last
Cadillac would go to him, and his
Cadillac went to my uncle. Then my
aunt, then my other uncle, my other
aunt, down through our whole family.
I remember being seven years old and
going to Central Cadillac in Cleveland
with my grandpa. I was enamored
with this Allanté sitting there. I asked,
“Why don’t you get one of these for
Grandma?” He had read the reports:
Allantés are ickle. “The top leaks,”
he said. I’m now on my sixth Allanté,
and he was right. The tops have been
a pain in every single one. On the
freeway, when it’s raining, water
shoots into the cabin. But I don’t care.
For one, I love the history. Pininfarina
assembled the bodies in Turin, Italy,
and GM lew them back to Detroit, 56
at a time, on custom 747s. It’sridiculous. It’s a car from a time when
nothing was impossible.
I wanted this particular one because
it was the last year Cadillac made the
car, and it has the Northstar engine,
with 95 more horsepower than the
previous year. And it was rust-free,
Southern, and had only 90,000 miles—
nearly perfect. I didn’t need another
car, but my partner, Nicholas, and I
drive it all the time. My grandpa passed
away in 2001. Now, when my grandma
comes to visit, I throw her the keys and
she has it as long as she is here.In place of typical
analog gauges, this
Allanté has a digital
instrument cluster.1993 Cadillac
Allanté
LOCATION:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Y E A R S
OWNED:
TwoFOUND
ON:
eBay
PURCHASE
PRICE:
$3,100OWNER:
Wes Shaver
50 JULY/AUGUST _ 201 POPULARMECHANICS.COM
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