Stars and their Cars: Talking Buick and Opel with Actor Joe Mantegna

You might know Joe Mantegna from his frequent roles in television and feature films, but the fan-favorite actor has a long history with the automotive practice, as well.

"I'm not a collector at all," Mantegna said. "What I have collected is two of my cars that have been in my life for a long time."

Those include a 1947 Buick and a 1970 Opel GT-both of which Mantegna has owned and cared for since moving to California to pursue the hollywood dream.

We had the opportunity to speak with Mantegna and discuss how he first got into collecting cars, his favorite aspects of car culture, and his unique affinity for black 1962 Chevrolet Corvettes.

Read the entire interview with Mantegna below and click here for more photos of the Buick.

Tell me a little about your history with cars. Do you collect?

Well, on a [much] lighter scale, compared to some like Jay Leno. I'm not a collector at all. What I have collected is two of my cars that have been in my life for a long time. In other words, I still own my first car-which is not something that most people at 67 years old can say. Growing up in Chicago, my parents didn't have a lot of cash. When I turned 16, like everybody else, I borrowed my dad's car. I never owned a car until I was 19, because I couldn't afford one. When I turned 19, my father needed a new car, so he handed me over our only car, which was a 1956 Chevrolet, already 11 years old.

An 11-year-old car in Chicago takes a lot of damage, and it was rusted out, but at least it was a car. As it turns out, a friend of mine had seen this car for sale, just parked on the street, a 1947 Buick. To us, it was beautiful. It looked to be in pretty good shape - to us, anyway - and it wasn't rusty. This guy wanted to sell it for $225, which was a significant amount of money at the time. We were going to go in on it together, and it seemed like a good idea. Then he decided he didn't want it and backed out, but I still wanted this car. I was in a band at the time and making a little money, so I decided to sell the Chevy and buy the Buick. This happened in about a day. I was a junior college student and put up a sign in the hallway saying that there was a '56 Chevy for sale for about $90. Somebody bought it the next day, and I took that money, and some of the money I made from the band, and bought the '47 Buick.

It became the car that we used for [our] band. We would drive around and go to jobs in it. It fit our profile: we were four Italian guys, kind of like the Beatles, and we'd arrive in that black '47 Buick. It looked like the mob was showing up, you know? I drove that car from 1967 to 1971. I was in the band all those years, and then my acting career started. I got cast in the play, "Hair" in 1969. The winters of Chicago started to take a toll on the car, and I didn't have the band to support me if something went wrong, so in 1971 I put the car in a friend's barn in Indiana thinking, 'Someday when I have the money, I'd like to crack it out and do right by this car.' I loved the car, but it needed a lot of work, and I didn't have the time or wherewithal to do it.

The car sat in the barn for 30 years. [About 20] years later, my career had taken off, I was living in California, and I got a phone call from my friend, who asked what I wanted to do with the car. I had no idea what shape it was in, and I felt so bad that it had been sitting for [so long.]

'Put it on a flatbed and send it out here,' I said. 'I owe it to the car.' When it arrived, I was like, "Oh my god." I happened to be on the Tonight Show, when Jay Leno was still new and a guest host, and I was plugging some movie. I showed him the picture of the car on the flatbed, knowing he was an aficionado, and he held it up to the cameras, saying, "Alert the navy: we've found their anchor!" That pretty much summed up how the car looked. It was in terrible shape. For the next 10 years, I devoted myself to getting that car right: finding a [parts car], and a local mechanic who knew the car through the Buick owners club. I joined the club back in '67, and of course, I let my membership lapse in 1971. I contacted them in 1993 and said, "I used to be a member of your club. Can I re-up?" They looked through their files and saw that I was one of the first 5000 members [or so], "like royalty!" I've been a member again ever since. Through the club, I found the people I needed to get the car going again. It's totally restored, and it looks a lot different than it did back then.

After buying your first Buick, did you stay with the brand?

I inadvertently did. [My] other collectible car is a 1970 Opel GT. While Opel isn't a Buick, Buick was their distributor here in the United States. My Opel counts as part of the Buick club. That was my first California car, which I bought in 1980 after being there for a couple of years. I didn't have much money, but I liked the Opel GT because a girlfriend of my dear friend Dennis Franz owned one. I found one for $1300, without rust, and I drove it into the ground. I was going to junk it, because I couldn't get parts for it, and my career was just starting to take off. I parked the car on the driveway of my first home, and I thought my gardener [might buy it], until I came out and saw a business card on the windshield that said, "If you want to restore this car, call me." On the other side of the card, it said "Opel GT Source."

I called the guy, and his sole business was restoring Opel GTs. There was only one other guy in the country doing it, out of Connecticut, and this guy was in Canoga Park. I told him that the car was in terrible shape, and he said, "Does it drive?" I told him I could get it started, and he told me to come by and let him decide. When I showed up at his garage, I saw that he had about five of them lying around in different [stages] of restoration. I turned it over to him, and it's better than new. I kept the body as is, and only changed the mirrors, paint, interior, and wheels. I won some awards for my Buick. Jay Leno showed up to one of the [car shows], and I said, "Jay, here's that anchor you made fun of!"

What is your daily driver?

I daily-drive a 2011 Audi TT that's been somewhat modified, with blacked out paint and colored brake calipers. It's a really nice car. I like German cars, which also explains the Opel. It's my second Audi. I was the voice of Mercedes-Benz for about five years, back in the '90s, [before Jon Hamm]. Every year, they gave me a company car to drive. I drove an S-class for five years and became a big fan of Mercedes-Benz. My wife drives an E-class. There's no getting around German engineering. Their mechanicals tend to be cutting-edge. My feeling is that great American cars stopped in the mid-'60s, after which everything looked the same. Now, things are coming back. I like what Cadillac is doing, and I like the new Corvette.

Are you looking to build a collection? Is two enough?

I go back and forth on that, because of my age. Who am I kidding: I get enough enjoyment out of just going to car shows and looking at them. I don't really need to own them anymore. I hardly drive the Buick and the Opel now. I have to make a point to take them out. If I was Jay Leno, how would I keep up? He drives a different one almost every day. One day, he came to my restaurant, Taste Chicago, and I said to him "Jay, you're leaking oil out all over the parking lot!" He said, "It's not oil: it's water! It's a Stanley Steemer." He was dripping water all over my parking lot. Sometimes, I want to sell the Buick and the Opel to someone who would appreciate them, and maybe buying something else. But I have an attachment to both cars, and I have the bill of sale from the original owner of the Buick.

Have you owned anything else as long as you've owned the Buick?

My wife. That's about it. She's been with me the whole time; she was in "Hair" with me. In fact, when I finally restored the car, I emailed everyone who knew me when I got the car, including this one girl who I used to date. She's married and has kids now, but wrote me back and said, "Check the back seat for a pair of my earrings."

Did you find them?

No. But in the glove compartment I found things from back then. I was going to take Midas up on the lifetime guarantee on the muffler. I had a guarantee card in the glove compartment, dated 1967, and thought about driving up and telling them I needed a new muffler. After the custom work was done, I didn't take them up on it. I've won some car shows with it. George Barris did some work on it. I was the grand marshal of one of his car shows. As a teenager, he was like a god to me. George did work on both my Opel and my Buick. I have his special emblem from cars that he works on that ups the value quotient on each car. Guys always ask for a chance to meet George Barris. He's always happy to see me. For a guy who's not really into cars on a level that some people are, I have pretty good stories and connections in that world.

Is there something about living in California that makes you want to be a car person?

It absolutely helps. I really was into it a lot when I was a teenager in Chicago. One guy in the band's father owned a gas station, which made it really convenient for us to work on the car. I learned how to change the plugs, transmission and clutches. I would always buy "Car Craft" and "Road & Track," but it wasn't until I moved to California that I started needing cars. You'd see them in mint condition and then go to the places you'd heard about, like Barris' shop - which I can walk to from my house - and the original Bob's Big Boy. I've had my cars there a couple of times. Every Friday in the summer, there's still a [gathering] every Friday. It's awesome. You're seeing the cars you read about as a kid - '32 Fords and chopped Mercurys - and then you see the members of the clubs, like the Burbank Road Kings. My Buick won an award from them. A lot of guys around my age wear the purple jackets, and they asked me to join, but I knew I couldn't devote the time to it. It's like a pilgrimage to Bob's Big Boy. You feel like you're back in 1956.

Do you have any advice for someone considering buying an older car but may be put off by the potential hassle?

I'd say, "Go for it." People see my car and read about it and say, "I wish I'd have kept my first car." If you've had a car for a while, and it's within your ability to do something with it, give it a shot. You don't have many opportunities to do something that defines your youth. At the end of the day, you can maybe pass it on to your kids. My two daughters, I don't know if they'll have the strength or ability to drive the Buick, but I'll pass it on to somebody. I'd rather buy an American car from the '50s than one from the '70s or '80s. I'd rather spend the money to fix one up. Depending on your age, who you are, and what turns you on, go for it. You'll cherish it more than something that's just a "ride." Beyond that, you have to understand that there will be expense, time, and effort involved. That car I spent $225 on is worth a lot more. I don't regret any of it. We used it on an episode of "Criminal Minds!"

Is there a feature on modern cars that you miss when you drive your classic car?

Air conditioning-on both of them! Neither the Buick nor the Opel has air conditioning. I don't have power steering. The Buick drives like a tank. It's hard for me now to drive it. When I was 19, it was a little different. I miss the modern conveniences, but [it's] not meant to be a hot rod. I miss the little things that would be nice to have, but I don't drive the cars for that reason. They're not my daily drivers. They're my collector cars.

If someone were to surprise with a car wrapped up and finished with a big red bow, what would you want it to be?

It would be a 1962 Corvette, as pristine as it came out of the showroom. Tony Danza actually owned one. He's a friend of mine, and he owns a black '62 'Vette. I don't know if he still owns it, but I saw it on display, and I knew I had to get it. Maybe someday I'll treat myself and get one. In the meantime, I'm fine. If Tony called tomorrow and told me he was thinking of selling it, it might tempt me. I don't have any other dream cars.