Bud Wilkinson

2 weeks ago | ctinsider.com | Bud Wilkinson

One of the many signs of spring is the retrieval of cherished classic vehicles from winter storage by their fussy owners. The old cars and trucks get dusted off and readied for showing off during the coming car show season, which stretches from April until late autumn. Last year, an estimated 350 one-time-only shows were held across Connecticut. That number doesn't include weekly or monthly car cruises at night, or "cars and coffee" events on weekend mornings.

2 weeks ago | ctinsider.com | Bud Wilkinson

WATERTOWN - Randy LaPointe of Oakville was a senior in high school when he bought his first car. It was May 1976, a month before graduation, when he got a loan from a credit union and acquired a sporty 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix that was bright yellow with a black vinyl top. The Grand Prix didn't last for long, though.

3 weeks ago | ctinsider.com | Bud Wilkinson

Milano's T-bucket is an amalgamation of brands. "It might be a Ford body, but the engine is Chevy, the transmission is Chevy, rear end is out of a Jaguar and the front end is out an old Ford drop-axle, so it's really bits and pieces of a car that we put together," Milano said of his restoration team. "And that's what makes it so much fun to have one. You have to think about it: 'How are you going to put this car together? What do I need? What do I do first?

1 month ago | ctinsider.com | Bud Wilkinson

Jones wanted to give it a go because the model is a rarity and has historical value. "It would be just a shame to part it out. There's so few left on the road," he said. "There's a registry of these and in the United States there's only a couple hundred that have active registrations."That, too, makes the RE5 significant. "Suzuki wanted to reshape motorcycling and they felt the Wankel technology that was developed in Germany was going to be the way of the future for bikes," Jones said.

1 month ago | middletownpress.com | Bud Wilkinson

It was in December that classic car and motorcycle collector Ken Jones of Burlington purchased a non-running 1976 Suzuki RE5 motorcycle after spotting it for sale at a dealership in Oregon. The RE5 is a rare bike that was only sold for the 1975 and 1976 model years. It's powered by a Wankel rotary engine and only 6,000 examples were produced. Jones had wanted to get one “for probably 10, 15 years.