The Only Car Ever Made To Honor God

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All new episode, Sunday, April 23rd at 10 PM Eastern on MSNBC and streaming on Peacock. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And we tell stories about everything here on this show, from the arts to sports and from history to business and everything in between and your stories too. And now it's time for our My Car series where our fellow Americans tell stories about a car that they've once owned.

And today's feature is from Barry Maguire, the CEO of his third generation family company, Maguire's, which is the largest car care products company in the country. He told us about purchasing his favorite car, one that he was trying to buy just because he wanted a car from the same year that his family's company was founded, 1901. So I found this 1901 car at an auction. They have these classic car auctions where they sell nothing but old cars. That's where I'll be next week.

I'll be at the same where I bought this. And there's seven other auctions going on at the same time. They're huge. Probably 150 million dollars worth of cars that we sold this week in Scottsdale.

164 there now, Ford sold them 163 and a half. It's a crazy marketplace. So I saw this in the brochure and I decided I'd like to get it. And I was at another auction and friends that were at the auction where this was, I said, would you buy it for me? But here's my limit.

I want to go over this amount. So by the time I get there, they just bought the car and they paid more than I wanted for it, fortunately, because I wouldn't have bought it. The number one car collector in the world is a guy named Evert Laumann. He has the Laumann Museum.

It's on the grounds of the queen in the Hague in Holland. The collection itself and the cars and the building, probably worth a billion dollars. This guy, he knows every, he is the expert on collector cars. He could buy anything he wants. And he had picked out this car as one he wanted to buy. And it turned out that when he went in to buy it and it just got off the block, he just missed it.

I got it. He would have outbid me. He would have got the car, but I got it.

So he comes out. He says, who bought this car? He said, Barry. He looked at me and he goes, I'm in these kind of cars. I'm not in these kind of cars. Barry, you bought this car? Yeah. And he's looking and he says, oh, I'm so jealous.

Oh, this is hilarious. He could buy this with pocket change. I mean, this is a nothing car. He's got cars that are worth 20, whatever, million dollars.

He's, I have this car, but it's not correct. This one's correct. We've since taken this car completely apart and they talk about numbers matching. This is the real deal.

This is the real deal. This is all 1901 stuff. The numbers is in all the parts. Everything in this car is original, which makes it a very special car. He says, I have one, but it's not correct. He's going to take pictures.

I'll make some of these parts. I said, of course you can. So he says, so you know about this car? It's a Duryea. I'm thinking of made in France or something.

I don't know. I just want to have a 1901 car. He says, you know, it has three cylinders. Now this guy is taller than me and he's, he's the most passionate car guy ever.

He's, he's, he's, he's just, I mean, the guy, his presentation is just, I love the way he talks. I did a TV show with every car in the collection. This car, it just, it just makes my heart patter. Every car in the collection, he talks to me so personally involved with it.

So he's really, so we get the idea. You know why this car has three cylinders? I mean, you don't have three cylinders.

You have two, four, six, eight because of vibration and stuff and balance. You don't have a three cylinder car. You know why this car has three cylinders? And here he said, oh, you know why this car has three cylinders? I said, no. He looked at me and said, what?

You don't know why it has three cylinders? I said, no. He said, well, you know, they're Christians. He knows I'm a Christian. He's not a Christian.

He's a collector with all this knowledge. He said, well, you know, they're Christians. I said, who? The Duryea brothers.

Oh God. Turns out the Duryea brothers created the first American car, gas powered car in the 1800s, 1886. They created the first production car. They're the first kind to ever make a second car like the first car. So they have the record of the first production car. They have the record of winning the first automobile race.

I mean, there's all kinds of, I didn't know what it is. Anyway, he's like, three cylinders. You know, they're Christians. I said, who? He says, the Duryea brothers.

The Duryea brothers. He says, yeah. In fact, they call themselves Trinitarians. Are you? Yeah.

He says, and look at this. You know why there's a fish on the side, right? Well, I had looked at that and I thought, that is the dumbest thing in the world. Why would anybody carve a fish into a car? I mean, that just doesn't make any sense.

I'll buy it anyway. You know why the fish on the side of the car? Well, it was art. Everything was art. So they put the, here's the whole tail of the fish, right?

Elegantly. Yeah. He's, you know why they put the fish in the side of the car?

And I said, he said, the sign of the fish, the early Christians. Are you kidding me? He says, he comes over and he says, do you not know this is the only car ever made to honor God? What? And I got it. I own it.

I mean, can you believe it? So I've always looked at ways to talk about God in my car guy situation. So every chance I get, they always want to know what kind of cars have you.

I got one car. It's really interesting. And I tell them this story. What have I just done? I just told them there is a God who works miracles that's central to my life. And I didn't offend anybody. You know, you find ways to share your faith where you don't offend anybody. I think there's about 20 of them in existence.

And I think there's only two or three that are running, but none of them put that up like that. And great job to Monty who helped us with the piece. And Monty is a student at Hillsdale College. And what a great find. And thanks also to Barry Maguire and what passion he has for this car, this car that he just had to own because he needed a car from 1901 because that's when his family's company was founded. It turns out he found the only car ever made to honor and celebrate God. What a good story.

Barry Maguire's story, his car story here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters.

Go to our americanstories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming. I'm Malcolm Gladwell. I live way out in the country. I drive everywhere.

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