Chambers Opens Maserati ‘House;’ Cruisin’ City Hall

SATURN ROCKET: David Johnson of Dracut rebuilt his 1970 Buick GSX, painting it to celebrate the space program. BILL GRIFFITH

By Sanjay Salomon

October 14, 2014

4 minutes to read

You have to admire Herb Chambers’ sense of timing. He scheduled a grand opening party on Oct. 2 for some auto-buying glitterati to unveil his Maserati dealership’s new showroom.

The day before, September’s automotive sales figures were released; Maserati was far and away at the top of the list with a 248 percent sales increase over the previous September.

Those events come as the company is celebrating its 100th birthday.

Maserati was a feature marque at the Pebble Beach Concours in August. Then, on September 18, 200 Maseratis filled the Piazza Grande in Modena, Italy.

The Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Ettore, and Ernesto opened shop in Bologna on Dec. 1, 1914.

To be fair, the big spike in sales over last year represents the arrival of the Ghibli to the US market, where it joins the exotically named Quattroporte, which actually means “four doors.’’

The Ghibli starts at $71,000, dipping below Maserati’s traditional six-figure benchmark, and making it an “affordable’’ entry in the exotic/luxury car market.

Maserati also offers the GranTurismo coupe ($126, 000) and convertible ($138,000) and there is an SUV—the Levante—in the works. In addition, Maserati has shown a 2+2 concept coupe, the Alfieri, named for the founding brother.

Chambers’ Maserati dealership is in an exotic row with Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Lamborghini on Route 20 in Wayland, the last building before the Sudbury line. Cross the town line and the first building you encounter is Chambers’ Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships.

The Herb Chambers group is New England’s largest. It acquired the Maserati franchise in 2013, giving the company a total of 53 dealerships.

Customers can sit in a separate lounge area to choose among 15 leathers and a wide array of exterior color and inside trim options displayed on a 50-inch LCD screen.

“It’s a brand that’s unmistaken around the world,’’ says Chambers.

Boston Welcomes These Cars

The Globe has written about how traffic jams and a shortage of parking spaces has made Boston a frustrating city for drivers.

However, Boston is proving itself a welcoming host for a pair of top-level car shows.

Last month, it was the 3rd annual Boston Cup concours, which brought big crowds to Boston Common.

Last Saturday, it was the Super Wheels Showdown on City Hall Plaza.

Each event drew a superb group of cars and each was easily reached via public transportation.

The City Hall event was part of the Cruisin’ New England series that was open to top cruise night and car show winners.

Best in Show went to a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air owned by Don Nichols of Pelham, NH. The Chevy has a 2013 Corvette LS3 V-8 engine. Pelham is still shaking the car down. “It’s only got 900 miles on it,’’ he says, even as he works on another classic, a Chevy Nomad wagon of the same vintage.

A ’64 Chevelle owned by Steve and Kim Harrop of Norton with a supercharged Chevy 350 engine and 3900-watt sound system won Cruisin’ New England Publisher Paul Mennett’s Publisher’s Award. Steve Harrop, an Iraq war vet, has 23 skulls designed into the car, representing each man in his platoon from the 182nd Engineering Company based in Newburyport. “We all came home safely,’’ he says.

Even the New England Motor Press Association members got into the act, picking their favorite car of the show. The only requirement: It had to have been driven to the show.

The winner was David Johnson of Dracut for his 1970 Buick GSX. Johnson did a frame-off restoration of a rust-free car originally from California. He started working on the car in January, 2012, and finished that October.

“Every nut and bolt was replaced during the project,’’ he says. “The frame was smooth as glass. It only needed a light sanding.’’

Matching the original yellow paint was another matter. “This model only came in two colors, both honoring our space program,’’ says Johnson. “One color was Apollo White, the other was Saturn Yellow. It took us three repaints to get the color just right.’’

He got it right enough to take it to the Buick GS Nationals and win gold with 396 points (on a scale of 400).

The People’s Choice Award went to Joe Renaud of Taunton and his copper and brown 1956 Chevy Stepside pickup.

Paul Menin of Ashly Falls had the hard luck story of the day. The retired teacher, known as Mr. Pontiac to his friends, was trailering his 1965 Pontiac GTO down the Massachusetts Turnpike and had not one, but two flat tires. Fortunately, they were on his trailer; unfortunately they were at separate times, causing him to arrive late.

Etc.

Even as the 2014 car show season winds down locally, the folks at Misselwood Concours are preparing for next July’s 6th annual event on the grounds of Endicott College. Event coordinator Patrick Cornelissen announced recently that the feature marques for next summer’s event (July 25-26) will be Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. The event is limited to 125 vehicles. Entry information is available at www.endicott.edu/concours/ … A lot sooner is today’s 21st Annual Cruisin’ New England Spooktacular from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at Memorial Field in Whitman … Also today is VW Day and Transporterfest at Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline. The show runs from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. It might be a bit cool for your Dune Buggy but never for a VW van …Next Saturday (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) is the 15th annual NE Speed Meeting at Plumb Corner in Rochester. It’s open to pre-1960 traditional style hot rods, customs, and vintage race cars.