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Michael Pranger knows that no one drove a Ford to the levee when the levee was dry.
Nope, that would’ve been a Chevy.
Well, at least it was a Chevy in singer-songwriter Don McLean’s “American-Pie”-fueled imaginative rendering of the rock-’n’-rolled 1950s.
These days, the General Motors levee itself might seem to be running dry, what with all the bad news on the doorstep – bankruptcy declarations, plant closings, brand discontinuations and general public dejection on the state and future of the U.S. auto industry.
But something built by GM remains “the quintessential American car,” as Pranger, a Fort Wayne resident who restores cars for a living, puts it.
Pranger, general manager of Artisans Rods and Classics in Huntertown, has owned a half-dozen GM vehicles that mirror the stages of his life.
It started with the 1977 two-door, gold Chevy Malibu with the big engine that earned him a couple of speeding tickets after he got out of high school in 1987. He spent plenty of money customizing the car, and credits it in part for getting him started on his career.
“It meant freedom,” he says.
Then there was the T-topped 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass that made him feel like hot stuff when he was in the Army in the late ’80s.
“Me and my Army buddies would be out riding around in it with the T-top open down there in Tennessee,” he says nostalgically.
Then came marriage, kids and a couple of Astro minivans – cheap, reliable and roomy enough “to pack a lot of kid junk.”
Lately, he acknowledges being sucked in by GM’s bigger engines and, maybe, advertising that promised a truck “like a rock.”
He needed one, and he bought a used 1996 Silverado a few years ago. It’s held plenty of cargo – and its value “like crazy,” Pranger says.
He even can’t say much that’s bad about the 2005 Yukon Denali he bought last year and took to Florida with five family members.
“I drove it to Daytona last year when gas was $3.89, but it still gets 18 miles per gallon (on the) highway, even with six people and all the luggage for a week. We did the whole trip for $500,” he says. “You can’t fly that many people for that.”
So, when it came time for his daughter Darian’s first car, she got a 1991 Buick Roadmaster station wagon. He’s been hanging onto it in case she needs to pack it full to go off to college.
Pranger’s dad and his grandfather both drove GM vehicles, and he’s not about to break the chain, he says, pausing from working in his shop where the current inventory includes a Cherry Red 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible (think Ronnie and the Daytonas’ “Little GTO”) and a 1957 Chevy convertible in merlot red.
“Wrong color,” Pranger sniffs, referring to the latter car. “Merlot red is a Ford color.”
Another Fort Wayne resident, Jerry Carter, has taken pride in driving GM cars for more than 40 years.
“I’ve never really driven anything else,” the 62-year-old said. “I did own a Ford Escort once. That was just for gas mileage. It was like a second car.”
Carter, whose first GM car was a Chevy Impala convertible, remembers the status associated with driving a GM car in his youth.
“If you could not afford Cadillac, then you felt just as important with your Buick or Oldsmobile,” he said. “As a young person, it kind of made you feel like you had arrived.”
Over the years, it was not the social status that kept him but the brand’s dependability and comfort.
“I’ve had good luck with them. I think it’s a company that kind of stands behind its cars more than some others,” Carter said of GM. “I’ve seen them go beyond warranty to take care of customers.”
His son, Greg Oliver, and daughter, Monica Carter – both adults – own a Chevy Impala and a Pontiac Grand Prix, respectively. Oliver’s company car is also an Impala (though he also owns a Honda minivan).
Jerry Carter’s wife, Elizabeth, drives a Pontiac G6. But Carter acknowledges: “We do have a Ford in the family now. My wife has a Ford Mustang. She’s always wanted one.”
Rhea Edmonds of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story.
