Early 70's Miami - Orange Motors?

i remember them when i went to UM in the 70's. I remember some drug money scandal (big surprise, in miami in the 70's) closed them down . i think, memory is a little hazy from that time as well!!

 

I assume that was entirely unreleated

 

Orange Motors! That brings back some memories. I was just a kid at the time, and don't remember/don't know anything about them being an official importer but I do remember them having a lot of very cool cars - Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and various other European exotics and oddballs. I used to love going there with my dad as a kid. For some reason I remember them being on 36th Street near I-95 though, not North Miami Beach.

 

Bill ask Ed Waterman of Motorcar Gallery in Fort Lauderdale: he has been dealing in classics since the 60's -that young whippersnapper Mike Sheehan calls him uncle Eddie- and has been around longer than anyone in south Florida: he almost bought the Ferrari dealership from two young brothers who were struggling with it in the early eighties, their name was Shelton but he could not be bothered with new car customers: much nicer to deal with enthusiasts than with status buyers, as I can tell from personal experience there!

Call him afternoons or evenings at the dealership: 954 522 9900 and he will tell you what he remembers, which is usually a lot. Don't bother emailing as he won't have time to answer.

Hope this helps,

Marc Sonnery

 

Ed Waterman has a new showroom now, just 100 yards or so to the North of the old one.
The old one is being demolished as we speak, but it would have gone down by itself if he had waited a bit longer!

 

Yes he was never one for the big shiny showroom and the mistake a lot of people always made was not to see past that: whereas so many who have the shiny showrooms with truck loads of recent cars know nothing. He has had more cars, more important cars than most dealers in the US and there is a lot of knowledge there...but yes I am not not sorry to hear the old showroom is gone! You should have seen it during your typical Florida summer monsoon: a sieve, with buckets everywhere but Ed did not care: he was on the phoe working the next deal, oblivious!

 

Not an official dealer or importer, as I recall. I think the authorized Miami dealer back when Dinos were new was Crown- back when Ft. Lauderdale's Shelton was still Cressman-Baumgarten. As for folks to ask, try Tim Stanford- he'd probably know. I think maybe Ed W. was still up in suburban Washington DC at that point?

 

Hello Ira hope you are well, greetings from the Alps!

Actually just as I lurk in Fchat and post every 29th of February if there is a concurrent full moon so Ed lurked in Fort Lauderdale well before he started Motorcar Gallery in FLL in 84, his parents lived in a condo on the Beach from 20 or 30 years earlier so he'd been spending months down south as a snowbird already buying and selling back then, even though he ran his Thoroughbred Motorcars in Arlington Virginia as his main residence.

Best regards,

Marc

 

Gotcha Marc- that makes sense. All's well here- hope you can say the same. Still have your Khamsin?
Ira
P.S.: I'm sure you remember Charlie Gallant, my friend on Barton Ave. in PB at whose house you shot Frame's F-50 for that Cavallino cover. Well, Charlie died some time back, and his son just had their 246 GTS redone- not too many genuine one-owner Dino Spyders around!

 

Thanks Ira:

I actually met Charles Gallant son at Tim's in 2004 or so, I figured out who he was and I told him about the F50 shoot...and had heard that Mister Gallant had passed, sad...a very gracious man.

I am in one piece, I guess, after a very topsy turvy couple of years, consequently my khamsin is in the Christie's Monterey auction in a little over a week...it hurts to sell my baby but I will buy another Khamsin within a couple of years. I had a nice ride in another near Modena 10 days ago, a white one and it even looked great in that color: I was amazed.

What are you using as a track car nowadays?

 

I am very impressed about your success. This story crowns your efforts and I think, is a nice added value to your car as well.

Funny enough, I am actually looking also for earlier dealers, workshops, owners, sales- and service staffs of the 70s...80s in Florida. A lot have changed, but people are still somewhere. It's great to find and give them a call. But as you said once, the trick is to decide them to have a look in their records.

There is a lot of good contacts in this forum. It's great to participate and thanks for sharing.

 

Well Marc, I'm afraid we've succeeded in hijacking this thread- sorry guys. Hope the Khamsin brings a good price @ Christie's, and here's my track car (348 SS tb Challenge #94285):
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Ah yes but to steal a quote from Sharon Stone sorry Katherine Trammel: "What are they going to do: charge us for talking about cars!?"

 

Oh and your 348 looks very sharp: have fun!

 

Ira, for crying out loud....I will pay for the removal of the decals and to have new "Cavallino Motors" or "ICT Motorsports" decals added to the car. When and where do I pickup the car for a day? We'll have it detailed by Eddie at the same time. Free of charge

 

You're right, Martin, we need to talk! Haven't been around much lately (other than a brief visit to Sebring a few weeks ago and another coming up in late September), but when I next see you . . .

 

Come and register with NASA for the September 1-2 event. www.drive NASAfl.com . You will be able to sign up for HPDE3 and then get a check ride for HPDE4 if you want. If they need someone to vouch for your driving ability, give them my name. I can also pre-tech your car if you want. Of course Tim can do that as well.

Martin

 

As far as I remember Orange Motors later became Deel motors which then in some part became the collection (some of the franchises kept the deel name while the others became the collection). BTW for all those south florida people, does anyone remember when The Collection was an authorized YUGO dealer?

 

THANKS Martin, but that's just a few days after I return from Elkhart Lake (doing the LRS Formula USA program in a '97 Arrows F1 car at Road America- yikes!), so I think I'm going to wait until late September and do the SAFE Motorsports event at Sebring instead.

 

HAHA yes I do!

 

How about The Collection Chevrolet on 27th avenue just south of NW 95th street?!

 

im embarassed to say my mom actually bought one of the Yugos back in '85 ! it was gold , 4speed stick, no radio !what a P.O.S.

 

They are collector items these days.