Vintage and classic cars have a way of making folks feel good. I’m sure if you are a driver you can recall a moment that when you were driving down the road and spotted a well-maintained, older car cruising in the other lane. At that very moment, you smile and have one of those happy feelings. Maybe it’s nostalgia or just wonderment of something that appears so unique and special.

We have a lot of car shows in the Carolinas, and people come from near and far to spend time with great cars and the people who spend a good part of their life preserving and sharing them with the world.

It’s happened to me countless times; there is just something about the look, the sound and the very idea that the old cars are still running. In talking with some of my car loving friends, there are a few common threads.

Allen Langley, says that he loves the body styles of the old cars and the fact that they are easy to work on is a big advantage. Allen went on to say, they are for sure a head turner and when he drives his cars from the '20s they get a lot of attention and he loves it when people share stories about memories of the cars their parents or grandparents drove.

Ben Medlin told me that he likes the muscle cars from the '50s and '60s because he can tell someone has put a lot of time and resources into the cars. He said that makes the cars even more unique.

Betty Daye said that seeing the classic cars makes her happy and if they ever pass her on the road, she always tells everyone in the car to look at the wonderful old cars. She said there is just something special about them.

Randy Whitley recalled his childhood days when he and his buddies would name the cars by make, model and engine size as they passed by. He said it was a great game and that’s how he learned all the cars. He said the old cars bring back great memories. You could just tell that they were made of steel and made to last. He stated that they were just awesome.

In “The Collectors” episode of Life In The Carolinas, Ken Welbourn joined me on a quest to find something for collector friend, Tom Isenhour, in Salisbury, North Carolina. Ken’s friend, Rex Brown, owns a beautiful 1946 Chevrolet, and he agreed to allow us to use the car in that episode. It was a great day of production and driving a 1946 Chevrolet on our adventure was great fun and something I will likely never forget.

We have had the opportunity to do several segments around older cars and the people who care for them, and each segment has something special about it.

The cars are important, and so are the stories of the people who own them. In Forest City, North Carolina, brothers Buddy and Joe Bennett have their own Classic Antique Auto Museum. They keep about 70 cars on the floor most of the time. Buddy is the truck man, and Joe is more on the car side. Buddy told me that they built the museum so that others can enjoy this part of history. As you might guess this was not a small or cheap endeavor, but they did it because of their love of these wheeled works of art that captivate the hearts and minds of many people.

Here’s to smiles, happy memories and cars made to last.