Семья Замора из Детройта посвящает жизнь коллекционированию классических автомобилей и путешествиям по старым дорогам штата

METRO DETROIT — When Oz Zamora retired several years ago, he knew he wanted to spend his leisure time cruising around in a classic car. At the time, the Warren resident owned a 1969 MG Midget. “It was getting to the point where I almost needed a shoehorn to get in the Midget,” Oz said. It was time for a change. He sold the MG, and while perusing eBay found a sleek 1960 two-door Buick LeSabre convertible painted in a Corvette metallic red II. “I’ve gone through the hot rod phase, I’ve gone through the custom van phase, I had the foreign car, I had a Jeep,” said Oz, 69. “Almost the next natural progression was to get an old cruiser or land yacht as they call them.” The convertible has been to the Buick Nationals in South Bend, Indiana; cruised Route 66 through Pontiac, Illinois; and rode to Cheboygan and back. “Every show you go to, everyone is friendly,” Oz said. “You’ve got that common bond.” Oz liked the 1960 LeSabre so much that he bought another ’60 model six years ago, this time a four-door, gold-and-white flattop. His wife, Madelyn, 75, took over the convertible while Oz pretty much drives the flattop. “We always say the convertible is hers, because that one we always tried to keep stock and how it would have been back in the day,” Oz said. With the flattop, “I kind of monkey around with it a little bit. It’s on airbags, the two-tone paint job, the custom taillights. It has a feature on there when you start it up, it rises up to ride height.” They drive each car one at a time. “Every show we go to, there’s always somebody that says, ‘My grandfather had one of them,’ or ‘My uncle had one of them,’” Oz said. “We get a lot of toots and honks, thumbs-up.” At the Macomb 250 Patriotic Cruise car show in Richmond held July 25, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido and the Richmond Queen and her court presented the Zamoras with the “Most Patriotic Car” award for the red convertible. It was an honor. “Buicks were meant to be driven. Everyone will say they’re good road cars,” Oz said. “They ride real nice because of the nice, long wheelbase on them. If you can find a smooth road, it’s like going down the highway on your sofa.” Madelyn grew up around antique cars. Her dad had a 1929 Chrysler and an old Rickenbacker. “He always had a car in the garage he was working on. We would go in parades when I was little,” Madelyn said. “My brother was a car guy, my dad was a car guy. I was lucky when I met a car guy.” “I had a ’71 Plymouth Satellite when we met,” Oz said. “As soon as I asked for Madelyn’s hand and her dad found out I was a car guy, I was in.” The Zamoras take turns participating in various car events, including the Frankenmuth Classic Car Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Berkley CruiseFest Classic Car Parade. And time always stands still during the annual Old U.S. 27 Motor Tour, which was held Aug. 17-22 this year and rides along U.S. Highway 27. “It goes up old Michigan 27 from Coldwater to Cheboygan. You’re on the old road, and it’s police-escorted the entire way. You pull off in one jurisdiction and the next sheriff will pull on and take everybody on to the next stop,” Madelyn said. “We stop at two or three small towns each day and do an hour to two-hour car show, so you’re always seeing other classic cars and meeting new people. We stop in all the little towns — Grayling, Gaylord, Clare. “There’s people on the side of the road all through the farmland,” Madelyn said. “In one area there’s a group of nuns that come up from the convent, and the Amish kids are watching. Everybody waves. It’s wonderful.” “You ride through the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden there’s a bunch of people by the side of the road with a picnic table and a little tent up because they know the tour is coming through,” Oz said. As a youngster, Oz built model cars. “You get a little older and you start noticing the real ones going down the street,” he said. “There’s always the big kid around the corner that has a car. He’s out there tinkering with it every day, and you’re right next to him watching what he’s doing. Pretty soon, you get that driver’s license, which is like the Holy Grail for a young male teenager. It just kind of gets in your blood.”