The Only Car Ever Made To Honor God

00:00:12
Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. And we tell stories about everything here on this show, from the arts to sports, and from history to business and everything in between, and your stories, too. And now it’s time for our My Car series, where our fellow Americans tell stories about a car that they once owned. And today’s feature is from Barry McGuire, the CEO of his third-generation family company, McGuire’s, which is the largest car care products company in the country. He told us about purchasing his favorite car, one that he was trying to buy just because he wanted a car from the same year that his family’s company was founded: 1901.

00:01:02
Speaker 2: So I found this 1901 car at auction. They have these Cost Car Acts. They sell nothing but old cars. That’s why I’ll be next week. I’ll be at the same where I bought this, and there are seven other auctions going on at the same time. They’re huge, probably $150 million worth of cars that were sold this week in.

00:01:17
Speaker 1: Scottsdale. $160 over there now — for I told them $163.5.

00:01:23
Speaker 2: It’s a crazy, it’s a crazy marketplace. So I saw this as a Boucher, and I decided I’d like to get it. And I was at another auction, and friends that were at the auction for this, I said, “Would you buy it for me?” But here’s my limit: I only go over this amount. So by the time I get there, they just bought the car, and they paid more than I wanted for it, fortunately, because I wouldn’t have bought it. The number one car collector in the world is a guy named Vert Lowman. Here’s the Lowman Museum. It’s on the grounds of the Queen in The Hague in Holland. The collection itself and the cars and the building is probably worth a billion dollars. This guy, he knows every… He-he is the expert on clutching cars. He could buy anything he wants, and he had picked out this car as one he wanted to buy. And it turned out that when he went in to buy it and just got off the walk, he just missed it. I got it. He would have bid me, he would have gotten the car, but I got it. So he comes out, he says, “Who bought this car?” They said, “Barry.” He looked at me; he said, “He knows I’m in these kinds of cars. I’m not in the seat cars,” said, “Barry, you bought this car?” “Yeah.” And he’s looking at, he says, “Oh, I’m so jealous!” Well, this is hilarious. He could buy this with pocket change. I mean, this is a nothing car. He’s got cars are worth twenty, whatever, million dollars. He-he said, “I have this car, but it’s not correct. This one’s correct.” We have since taken this car completely apart, and they talk about numbers matching. This is the real deal. This is all 1901 stuff. The number is in all the parts. Everything in this car is original, which makes it a very special car. He says, “I have one, but it’s not a car.” He’s going to take pictures. “I’ll make some of these parts.” I said, “Of course.” So he says, “So, you know about this car? Is it a dirty?” I’m thinking, “Made in France or something?”

00:03:25
Speaker 1: I don’t know.

00:03:26
Speaker 2: I just want to have a 1901 car. He says, “You know what? It has three cylinders!” Now, this guy’s taller than me, and he’s-he’s the most passionate car driver, said, “He’s a helper.” He’s-he’s-he’s-he’s just—I mean, the guy, his presentation is just… I love the way he talks. I-I did a TV show with every car in the collection. This car, it just-it just makes my heart patterns. He’s every car in the collection. He talks to me so personally involved with it. So, he’s really saying, “We get the idea.” He’s, “You know why this car has three cylinders?” I mean, you don’t have three cylinders; you have two, four, six, because of vibrations, stuff, and bounds. You don’t have the three-cylinder car. “You know why this car has three cylinders?” Here. He said, “Oh, you know why this car has three cylinders?” I said, “No.” He said, “What? You don’t know why it has three cylinders?” I said, “No.” He said, “Well, you know they’re Christians.” He knows I’m a Christian. He’s not a Christian. He’s a collector with all this knowledge. He said, “Well, you know they’re Christians?” I said, “Who?” He says, “The Duryea Brothers.” Oh, God! Turns out the Duryea Brothers created the first American gas-powered car in the 1800s. 1886, they created the first production car. They’re the first time they ever made a second car like the first car. So they have the record: the first production car. They have the record winning the first automobile race. I mean, there’s all kinds of history. I don’t know. Anyway. He’s sorry. He says, “You know they’re Christians?” I said, “Who?” He says, “The Duryea Brothers.” “But dirty brothers,” he says, “Yeah, he’s, in fact, they call themselves Trinitarians.” “Are you?” “Yeah,” he says, “And look at that!” He says. “You know when there’s a fish on the side, right?” Well, I had looked at that and I thought, “That is the dumbest thing in the world. Why would anybody carve a fish into a car?” I mean, that just doesn’t make any sense. I just, “I’ll buy it,” right? I just, “You know why the chishion on the side of the car?” Well, it was art. Everything was art. So they put the… Here’s the whole tail to fish, right, elegantly? He said, “You know why they put the fish in the side of the car?” And I said, “He did?” “Very?” He said, “The sign of the fish? The early Christians?” “Are you kidding me?” He says. He comes to it and says, “Do you not know this is the only car ever made to honor God?” And I got it. I own it. I mean, can you believe it? So I always look for ways to talk about God in my car-guy situation. So every chance I get, they always want to know what kind of cars have it. I got one car. It’s really instinct, and I tell them this story. What have I just done? I just told there is a God who works miracles. That’s central to my life, and I didn’t offend anybody. You know, you find ways to share your faith, so you don’t anybody. I think there are about twenty of them in existence, and I think there are only two or three that are running, but none of them put none of them like that.

00:06:57
Speaker 1: And great job to Montieu, who helped us with the. And Montieu is a student at Hillsdale College. And what a great find! And thanks also to Barry McGuire and what passion he has for this car, this car that he just had to own because he needed a car from 1901 because that’s when his family’s company was founded. And it turns out he found the only car ever made to honor and celebrate God. What a good story! Barry McGuire’s story, his car story, here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we’re asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.