DREAM CARS
Checkered Flag
I
Written & Photographed By Craig Lore
n America, as perhaps no other
country, driving and the auto-
mobile are a rite of passage. Learning to
drive is anticipated by every teenager
in the country. A car means freedom:
freedom to explore a larger world and
freedom from parents. And, for some,
it is much more: the car becames their
identity, or at least a large part of it.
Checkered Flag Classics, at 7743
Monterey Street in Gilroy, is co-
owned by Bill “Rocket” Marciano and
Doug Cassetta. Marciano was born in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. His nickname
in high school was “Rocky” after unde-
feated heavyweight boxing champion
Rocky Marciano. Later, Rocky became
“Rocket.” Marciano started in car sales
just after college at Courtesy Chevrolet
on Stevens Creek. Over the years he
worked for other dealerships, and
ended with twelve years as general
sales manager for Saturn.
In 2006, he moved to Gilroy and
opened Checkered Flag Classics. “We’re
a total niche,” he said. “There aren’t
many places like this anymore. My
original intent was to have classics and
exotics. I have a book in the front I call
the Book of Fame. It has pictures of
almost all the cars that I’ve sold, with
the owners. In the beginning, it was all
classic cars. But overtime, people would
come to me and ask for something
more contemporary.”
At the time of this writing, the front
showroom featured a 1970 Boss 302
Mustang; a fire-truck red, 1949 Massey
Harris Pony tractor; and a 1949 Chevy
3100 5-Window pickup. The main
showroom included a black 1936
Ford Tudor, a 1950 Mercury Coupe,
a 2006 Corvette convertible, and a
2015 Mercedes Benz S 550 Coupe.
The heyday of the car culture, we’re
told, is behind us, but at Checkered
Flag Classics, the showroom is a living
history of the era when “fire it up”
produced a throaty roar from a car’s
engine. See their current inventory at
checkeredflagclassics.com
“My average buyer is between 50
and 60,” Marciano said. “They’ll come
in here and say, ‘I used to have a car
like that in high school, and I want
another one, and now I can afford it.’
Or they say, ‘That’s my dream car,’ but
most of the time, a guy’ll walk in here.
He won’t even know what he’s lookin’
for, and he’ll see this truck, and he’ll
say, ‘Oh my gosh. I love this truck. I
wasn’t even lookin’ for a truck.’”
“The classic car guy wants an old
car. It’s got more character. It’s got
chrome bumpers. It’s got steel. I think
they’re better cars. And they say more.
Women love the Corvettes, Mustangs,
and particularly the ’55, ’56, ’57
Thunderbirds. The younger guys won’t
look at the classics. They’ll look at that
BMW or that Corvette or the Porsche.
I just try to look for cars that people
want. We’ll take cars on consignment;
CHECKERED FLAG CLASSICS
7743 Monterey Street • Gilroy
408.847.8788
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
june/july 2019
we’ll sell or trade: I do appraisals, but
we probably own 75 percent of the cars
out there on the showroom floor. The
biggest thing on these old cars is rust.
I won’t buy a rusty car. It’s like cancer
—a little bubble here—it’s somewhere
else you can’t see. I don’t buy from
auctions. I get most of my cars from
private parties.”
“Sometimes people think they want
to restore a car themselves. I say, ‘You
know sir, all you need to do is restore
one. You’ll never do it again. Not only
will it take too long, it’ll cost you much
more than you think. Almost every
car we have here has gone through a
pretty extensive restoration. Usually the
guys that come in to me want my cars
because they’re done—they’re turn-
key. I’m very honest with people. I’m
upfront with people. With the advent
of the computer, people know what the
value of a particular car is. They’ll say,
‘This car is priced right.’ I keep every-
thing simple.”
“Every car has a story. I got a call,
9 o’clock at night from a sergeant in
Afghanistan. At night the soldiers are
bored. He saw a ’63 Buick Riviera on
my website. ‘I really love this car,’ he
said. He bought the car. It ended up
in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Six
months later, he sends me a framed
plaque with a U.S. Flag that had flown
on a mission with him. He was part of
a flight crew called The Rocketeers.”
“My very first car that I owned was a
1965 Impala Super Sport. I wish I had
that car back.”
gmhtoday.com
51