Once Bitten Twice Smitten

Kimberly V. Althage – December 16, 2021

Kristopher always wanted a classic car. Nothing nudged him to follow through until recently. He tried to order a Mercedes-AMG E63 S only to receive an email stating all AMGs were cancelled for the 2022 year, which he thought was lame. He examined other cars instead, initially looking at Range Rover then Audi only to get the same result. If he wanted one, he needed to order it now but would not get it until summer of 2022.

Kristopher then went to SEMA which lit the spark for a classic once more. Seeing all those classic cars, he realized it was time and begun his research. It being his first go-around, he wanted to focus on the Las Vegas area and be able to see options with his own eyes instead of buying from an unknown source online. This brought him to the Las Vegas showroom where he saw the 1969 Cadillac Eldorado and he thought, “that’s it!”

“I liked everything about it,” he explained. “I liked it still had the original motor in it, the 472 CID V8. I liked the paint. I liked the way it looked overall, and Cadillac is GM and GM is American. Another reason I was looking into classic cars is I wanted the original motor because cars are going electric. These motors, I feel, especially if they’re in a nice car, people are going to want them even more.”

Kristopher’s dad was into classic cars too. His dad always liked them, but never got one himself that was out of their social/economic status at the time as a single dad in North Las Vegas. Instead, his dad would buy him the old school model cars for Kristopher to build and paint. He recalled sitting there, painting from the inside out and needing it to dry before taking next steps. “It definitely taught me patience,” he said.

Kristopher said he just liked classic cars better, yet only recently was he able to afford one. “Now that I can,” he said, “I would rather buy a classic car and put money into that than buying a new Mercedes.”

The funny thing is initially Kristopher reached out to our Las Vegas Sales Consultant, Dave Mroczek, and told him he wanted a Lincoln Continental. That was his intention. Until he saw the Eldorado and its sharp body style.

“I really liked the lights in the back and all the lights in the front were all original. I liked the work they did to the car. They took out the gas – they took out where you put in gas, you must open the trunk – it made the body look cleaner. I like the long body, like the Lincoln Continental, the Cadillac like that long body. Then I saw it, and I was like, ‘dang, I guess I’m not looking for a Lincoln Continental because this is it.’”

Now bitten by the classic car bug, or smitten with vintage-mania, Kristopher has already set his sights on his next acquisition. He texted Dave Mroczek (Las Vegas Sales Consultant) to be on the lookout for a 64 Impala. Everyone has warned him “once you buy your first classic, you’re done for.”

Kristopher received a CD with the restoration story of the car and is in the process of building a website to tell its story. Because the original owner dubbed the car Caditude and painted that on the vehicle, he bought that domain for his car’s story. He plans to create a QR code to place on its back windshield, so people can scan it and see what the car’s whole story. Thinking ahead, he knows when he sells the car it is not just the car, he’s selling but selling a story with the car.

Now that he has a classic and has been driving it around, he sees others, but it’s older guys behind the wheel. “I don’t really see people my age with these kinds of cars. I don’t know if it’s just not having gone to a show or anything like that yet. I do intend on taking it to shows and different places. I want to meet others that have these classics too. My plan is to take pictures in different states and cities and post them on the website adding to the car’s story.”