C/D: You=E2=80=99re the son of a car salesman?
JB: For 34 years, my dad managed dealerships in Delaware. Mostly GM, but he did run a Chrysler operation and for a short time also sold Fords in Wilmington. He was bringing cars home all that time. I remember my senior prom, being able to take a 7000-mile Chrysler 300D off the lot.
C/D: Which cars do you most recall?
JB: I bought a =E2=80=9951 Studebaker. My dad thought it was nice and calm, but it had that overdrive, and it was fast. Then I bought a 1952 Plymouth convertible, candy-apple red with a split windshield. I think that was my favorite. I had a =E2=80=9956 Chevy, then in college I bought a
100,000-mile Mercedes 190SL with those Solex carburetors that never functioned. And I still have my 1967 Goodwood-green Corvette, 327, 350- horse, with a rear-axle ratio that really gets up and goes. The Secret Service won=E2=80=99t let me drive it. I=E2=80=99m not allowed to drive any= thing. It=E2=80=99s the one thing I hate about this job. I=E2=80=99m serious. C/D: Any cars recently zing you?
JB: My brother has one of those 556-hp [CTS-V] Cadillacs with a manual. He brought it down for me to eat my heart out. So I got in. I have a driveway that=E2=80=99s about 1700 feet long. I knew the Secret Serv= ice wouldn=E2=80=99t let me drive it outside. So I jumped on that sucker and la= id rubber. =E2=80=89A great feeling. That thing could probably beat my Corvett= e.
C/D: =E2=80=89Sadly, we must ask about the Onion story. While shirtless, ha= ve you ever washed a 1981 Pontiac Trans Am in your driveway?
JB: [Laughing] You think I=E2=80=99d drive a Trans Am? I have been in my bathing suit in my driveway and not only washed my Goodwood-green 1967 Corvette but also simonized it. =E2=80=89At least the Onion should have had= me washing a Trans Am convertible. I love convertibles.
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