Doug Allen

Special to the Village News

Chuck Rose was a real estate professional; she wanted a house. They met in his realty office in Warner Springs in 2005. For Barbara, buying a home in El Cajon with Chuck’s expert assistance was not the end of it for them. A year later, she allowed him to sell her his heart. They have been married for over three years now.

Chuck purchased his first Cadillac in 2000. It was a 1975 El Dorado Coupe "triple black;" the body, Landau roof, and interior are all black. It is a wonderful all original example of Cadillac’s mid-70s line of luxury cars.

Seven years ago, he purchased a red (burnt orange) 1976 El Dorado Convertible. Barbara joined Chuck as he proudly and enthusiastically drove their convertible in this year’s Fallbrook Christmas Parade. The Cadillac was one of many vintage cars owned and driven in the parade by members of the Fallbrook Vintage Car Club. Many of the vintage cars were the subjects of Village News articles published over the last few months.

Two years ago, Chuck found a blue1976 El Dorado Convertible for sale on EBay ®. He wanted it. The only problem was that it was located in Florida. Barbara and Chuck boarded a plane and flew east to pick-up the new treasure. Without even a screw driver in the glove compartment, they drove back to Southern California in five days by driving 75 – 80 miles per hour all the way.

They did make a long stop to visit some relatives. Advertisement

[ Christ the King Lutheran Church ] "Four whole hours long!" joked Barbara.

It rained a lot during that trip, and the windshield leaked. Sometimes little things like that are what vintage car enthusiasts put up with for the privilege of owning these titans of bygone years.

Chuck said, "At different stops for gas or food, several people asked if I wanted to sell the Cadillac. I told them sure, for $30,000. Since I still own it, obviously no one was willing to pay that much."

He also related that at one of the stops, a fellow asked if he could look at the car saying he worked on the line building these cars during the 70s. Chuck asked him if he did a good job assembling the car. The man replied, "Probably not." So much for the lack of quality during the construction of American cars built during the mid to late 70s.

Asked, "Why Cadillac?" he replied, "Everyone collects Fords, Chevrolets, and Dodges. Not many collect 1970s Cadillacs, so I decided to."

Barbara loves riding around with Chuck, the top down, and the warm summer air flowing through their hair. That’s really living!

If you see either of these two Cadillacs cruising through town, yell, "Barbara and Chuck, ‘Too Cool!’ "

The Fallbrook Vintage Car Club is always open to guests and new members. To receive more information about the car club, send an email to:

President@Fallbrookvintagecarclub.com.

Monthly meetings are held at the Fallbrook Woman’s Club, 238 West Mission Road, in Fallbrook, on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.