Bumper To Bumper

My First Car
Drew Alcazar
President, Russo & Steele Collector Automobile Auctions

“I was 15 ½ years old and living in Colorado when my parents co-signed on a loan for me to buy a 1970 Mustang Mach I. I remember I could barely see over the massive hood scoop.

“I had a pretty good job at the time, but once I got my own set of wheels I was never home anymore. After just six months, my parents had enough of me being gone and made me sell the car.  I swapped the keys to the Mustang for my great grandfather’s 1963 Ford Galaxy. It was a four-door sedan with just 16,000 original miles. 

“I immediately took the car to the shop and tore it apart, rebuilding the motor. I took out the back seat to haul engines and other car parts.  I even put shag carpet in the trunk so I could sneak friends into the drive-in theatre.

“I drove that Galaxy for 25 years, until 1996, when I finally drove it to the junk yard in Fontana, California.

“I guess I’ve always been a ‘car guy’ and operated my own auto restoration shop in Los Angeles from the early 1980s until I closed it in 1995. I got into the collector-car auction business in 1995. I knew Craig Jackson from Barrett-Jackson and that he needed some help with his January ’96 auction and offered to help. That turned into five years as the general manager for Barrett-Jackson.

“I left to open my own collector car auction. I didn’t want to use my name and settled on Russo & Steele. The name came from a vintage red color Ferrari used called Russo. I also wanted to pay homage to the Detroit automotive heritage and came up with steel and added the ‘e’.

“Today I basically drive whatever is running at the time and have a total of about 25 permanent cars in the stable. They include a 1966 350 GT Lamborghini. It is one of the first six or eight of those made. I also have an original 1965 Shelby Cobra that’s an absolute blast to drive. I have a 1996 Dodge Viper Coupe that was the third one released to the public. Other cars in my garage include a 1957 Mercedes 190 that my wife Jo and I like to drive to breakfast on Sunday mornings, an Aston Martin DB6, and I just finished a ’58 fuel-injected Corvette. I’ve also got several Jaguars, a few Pontiacs and some AMC products including a Mark Donohue Javelin.  I also have an original 1969 Mustang Boss 429 parked in my living room.

“I do have a dream car or two that I would absolutely love to own. The first would be one of the original six Shelby Daytona Coupes and what I consider the Holy Grail of cars: the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder.”

Asked what is the one thing he’s learned from being in the business, Drew replies, “Never sell anything you can’t get back.”

— Jim Prueter

Photo courtesy of Drew Alcazar