Don Mates is known as 'Doctor Flywheel' to owners of classic and brass-era cars the world over. He's active in many clubs, and tours with son John in collector cars of all vintages. One of his favorite rides is his supercharged Cord phaeton, which he dubs "The Old Boiler" (it doesn't). To Cord owners he's an inexhaustible source of good-natured information on repairs, replacement and authenticity. He's never without a full complement of instruments, carried in his bib overalls, so on trips together we always know everything from the temperature to the phase of the moon!

I have a special connection to Don, since it was he who did most of the wonderful restoration of my own Cord for its previous owner in the early 1970s. He's shown here working on that project.