Dennis Carol and Nancy Coultas-Carol’s 1972 Lemans Sport Convertible

 

Would you buy a car from a blind man? Much to my surprise, that is exactly what I did in 1995 when I decided it was time to add a classic muscle car to my garage. I was searching for a GTO convertible when I stumbled across a local Auto Swapper ad for a 1972 Lemans Sport Convertible. Oh yeah, it had a 455 in it! The car is a gorgeous bright blue metallic with a white interior. I knew immediately I was going to own this car since my first car out of high school was a blue and white Colonnade-style ’73 Lemans Sport Coupe. The ’72 car was loaded with AM/FM w/fade, power steering, windows, brakes, gage package, Endura front end, and air conditioning!  

My wife, Nancy, and I met while working together supporting GM Powertrain division, which is headquartered at the old Pontiac Motor Division complex in Pontiac. I was transferred to Pontiac full time after the Flint V6 Engineering Center at Buick City (the old Buick Engineering building) closed in 1998. Nancy and I talked nearly every day about problems or upcoming projects. Over time, we would talk candidly about our fallen past relationships, values, and interests over the years. I was promoted to a supervisor in 2003 and I soon asked Nancy out since we weren’t working together anymore. 

Our first date was on Memorial Day 2003. I had been invited by some friends to bring my convertible to drive in the annual Mt. Morris Memorial Day parade. Nancy brought her (then) 4-year old son Jacob with us. He absolutely loved the parade and he ate it up by waving his hand, waving a little U.S. flag in his other hand, and throwing candy to the crowd. The parade soon became a holiday tradition for the next several years for us.  

I eventually proposed to Nancy in December 2004, after getting Jacob’s permission. We were married on May 27, 2006, the Saturday before Memorial Day! The Lemans was used to take us from the church to the reception. Two days later, we were back in the Lemans in the Mt. Morris Memorial Day parade, this time sporting some “Just Married Two Days Ago” signs on the car.

 The Lemans gets a lot of summer usage. We have taken this car to local cruises like the Flushing and Davison cruises, local GM and EDS employee car shows, as well as many local car shows like the Dustoff, the Flint Sloan show, the Frankenmuth Autofest, the Vassar Riverfest, and of course, we cruise Woodward in it. 

We also drive this car across country. In 2006, we drove it to Pigeon Forge Tennessee for the Kustoms of America Southern Leadsled Reunion. We toured Smokey Mountain National Park and Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls state park as part of that trip. This past October, Nancy and I drove to West Virginia for the Charleston Car Show. While we were there, we toured the New River Gorge Bridge area, Babcock State Park, and drove a healthy portion of Route 60 (a.k.a. the Midland Trail – the eastern US version of Route 66). Incidentally, my car was filmed briefly by Dennis Gage’s film crew while I was cleaning my car. Who knows - perhaps my car might end up on a teaser for My Classic Car in 2009. 

I’ve also taken trips with my father down Route 66 in Illinois - from Joliet to Bloomington. My father and I did a week long trip to participate in 2001 Cruisin’ the Coast that spans from D’Iberville to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

 This car is now a permanent part of the family. We look forward to going out in it every chance we get.