Quick Stats: Mike Love of the Beach Boys
Daily driver: 2006 Bentley Continental GT (Rating: 20)
Other cars in his collection: 2008 Audi Q7 (Rating: 10)
2008 Chevy Suburban (Rating: 7.5)
2004 Lexus LX 470 (Rating: 9)
2005 Porsche 911 Turbo (Rating: 10)
1948 MG TC (Rating: 10)
Favorite road trip: Highway 1
Car he learned to drive in: 1957 Ford station wagon
First car bought: 1949 Chevy
With the start of summer, the Beach Boys and voice of Mike Love epitomize the sounds of the season with sun-drenched thoughts of the surf, the girls, and -- most of all -- classic American musclecars like that fuel-injected Sting Ray and the 409.
On the phone, Love gives off a pleasant, laid-back, mellow vibe, perhaps from all his years of disciplined Transcendental Meditation (he went on that famous trip to India with the Beatles and Mia Farrow in 1968).
But he loves his cars. And, boy, are there cars.
Growing up in Baldwin Hills, Love lived that fabled 1950s Southern California life, which meant the family had several cars. His father had a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, but Love learned to drive in the family's 1957 Ford station wagon, which had an automatic transmission.
"We had a lot of different cars back then," Love remembers. "We had the Eldorado; we had the station wagon. My grandfather would buy two Cadillacs a year and give one to each of his sons -- my dad and his brother."
First Car
In high school, Love worked odd jobs mowing lawns and delivering newspapers to buy his first car, a two-door 1949 Chevy. Although he doesn't remember the model, he said it had a manual transmission and six cylinders. "It wasn't a powerful car; there was nothing remarkable about it other than it was my first car," Love says.
"But my dad had a 1958 Chevy pickup with dual quads, which was amazing. It really hauled ass," Love laughs. Love preferred the pickup, with its manual tranny, over his own car. "Dad would let me drive it for dates and special occasions."
British Invasion
The Beach Boys started topping the musical charts as California's super group in the early 1960s. By 1964, the British invasion came to our shores, and the Beatles became their main rival.
Once the Beach Boys established themselves as the quintessential all-American rock 'n' roll band, with their refreshing harmonies and now-classic hits like "Surfin' USA" (1963) and "California Girls" (1965). That's when Love began collecting cars, especially British cars. "I'm an Anglophile when it comes to cars," Love says.
So with newfound fame and money, Love bought his glorious 1948 MG TC. It's the only car he still has from that period of his life. He gives the car a 10 out of 10 rating, for its aesthetics.
"You don't rate a '48 MG, there's no performance value, there's no power, it's just adorable," Love muses, as he chuckles about the old car. "It's so, so unique and special and cute and from another era. It's an old rally car from way back. It's just four cylinders and has a little stick. It's a convertible; it's just beautiful. It drives like a truck. There's no power steering. It's beautiful visually."
Love also bought a 1939 Rolls-Royce at that time. "What's more beautiful than a classic, with the big huge headlights and stuff," Love explains. "It was fantastic. That was an amazing car. Unfortunately it had a wood undercarriage wrapped in metal, but caught fire and burned to the point where it wasn't any fun anymore. But it was magnificent."
Then Love added a 1966 Jaguar XKE to the mix. "So I had the Jaguar, the Rolls-Royce, and the MG TC all at the same time. It shows you I kind of like English cars," Love says, with a chuckle.
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