A Porsche, a Lotus and a Vintage Firetruck: Our 11 Favorite My Ride Vehicles of 2021

This NFL Corridor of Famer and Retired Choose’s Coronary heart Belongs to a 115-12 months-Previous Buick

Minneapolis-based Justice

Alan Web page

first laid eyes on his 1906 Buick Mannequin F within the basement of his future father-in-law’s house again in 1973. The automotive was in items, together with 5 different vintage Buicks. Practically 5 a long time later, he’s the caretaker of this restored 1906 Buick, and has pushed it in quite a few rallies throughout his house state. This 1906 Buick is “extra fascinating to drive than some other automotive I’ve pushed,” Justice Page said in his column in November.

He Invented a New Shade of Purple for His Souped-Up

Ford

Albuquerque, N.M., is a metropolis stuffed with automotive nuts. Living proof:

Leonard Erdman,

a service-department supervisor at a neighborhood Dodge dealership. Mr. Erdman constructed this one-of-a-kind {custom} 1952 Ford pickup that he calls the Joker. “I wished it to be in your face,” he stated in his July column. He even custom-designed the purple paint. Since his column ran, Mr. Erdman has cruised this pickup to Colorado, round northern New Mexico and thru the center of his hometown. It’s exhausting to overlook the Joker when it rolls by.

The Work of Artwork in Eric Haze’s Storage

Eric Haze

has been a fixture within the New York artwork scene for many years. Mr. Haze constructed this practice 1962 Plymouth Savoy utilizing new elements from the early ’60s that have been by no means used that took years to seek out. He selected paint within the palette for which he’s recognized within the artwork world. (He’s designed uniforms for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, on this colour scheme.) “To me,” he said in his April column, “there’s not a lot distinction between gathering artwork and gathering automobiles. I get nearly as a lot pleasure taking a look at them and having them as a part of my artwork assortment as I do driving them.”

Lyn St. James Drives Her Miata Like It’s within the Indy 500

In 1990, racing phenom

Lyn St. James

noticed a brand new Mazda Miata in a pal’s storage. She’d by no means heard of such a factor. That’s how new the mannequin was. Ms. St. James, the 1992 Indy 500 Rookie of the 12 months, beloved this automotive a lot, she purchased one from the primary mannequin yr. Many years later, the Miata, in-built Hiroshima, Japan, is the bestselling two-seat convertible sports activities automotive of all time. The Phoenix-based Ms. St. James—whose column ran in March—still has her 1990 edition. She’s planning to upgrade it with Recaro racing seats and a race-car steering wheel in 2022. Who does she think she is—Lyn St. James?

The 1957 Ford With Flower Wagon Power

Sheridan Kahn

is married to a gearhead. But she never showed affection for cars until he brought this 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon to their home in Ventura County, Calif. The second she saw it, she claimed it as her own. The car was painted her favorite color, and upgraded to make it safer and easier to drive. Now she uses it for her budding landscape business and for taking her kids to the beach. She calls it her Flower Wagon. “The wagon’s whole aesthetic—the color, the shape, the way it moves, the way it inspires people—can be summed up in a word: charm,” she explained in her May column. “It’s only a enjoyable time, each time we take it out.”

Her Traditional British Roadster Stands Out on Rocky Mountain Roads

British roadsters of the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s preserve an enormous fan base, the MG MGB amongst them.

Kelsey Weatherford

purchased hers—a 1980, from the final yr of MGB manufacturing—with the assistance of her father, for $6,500. Ms. Weatherford, a 23-year-old customer-care affiliate at a video-messaging firm, has spent high quality time throughout the pandemic with the highest down on Colorado roads, mastering the guide transmission. And he or she’s at work changing the wheels with a set that got here off a particular version of the MGB in 1980. “I discovered on this automotive precisely what I had hoped for,” she said in her November column. “The enjoyment of driving.”

The

Porsche

He Wished Wasn’t Bought within the U.S. So He Constructed One.

In 2017,

Eric Pasia,

a Phoenix-based administration advisor and founding father of Final Period, a motorsport-inspired clothes model, purchased this 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera, one of many final era of air-cooled Porsches (an enormous deal, when you’re a Porsche fan). He has modified the automotive to create a tribute to the 911 Carrera RS, a uncommon higher-performance model by no means supplied within the U.S. Lately, Mr. Pasia has gotten his 8-year-old son concerned in caring for this automotive. “He can’t wait ’til he’s sufficiently old to learn to drive a guide transmission!” stated Mr. Pasia, whose column ran in January.

This Manufacturing facility 5 Daytona Coupe Tribute Referred to as ‘The Huntress’ Stalks Its Prey on the Racetrack

“My total life I’ve beloved pace,”

Karen Salvaggio

stated in her February column. A well being and wellness coach dwelling in Hemet, Calif., Ms. Salvaggio’s present experience is a tribute to the famed Shelby Daytona Coupe racing automotive of the Nineteen Sixties, of which solely six have been constructed. Manufacturing facility 5 is a small firm that makes these tributes, and Ms. Salvaggio constructed hers out as a full-on race automotive, with quantity 28 as a result of that was her age when she began racing. She named it the Huntress. Since her column ran, she competed within the Pacific Northwest Historics exterior Seattle. “The automotive ran fantastically,” she stated.

This Classic Firetruck Might Save Your Life

Bob McMahon,

a retired economics professor dwelling within the Villages, Fla., has eclectic mechanical tastes. He as soon as owned a 65-foot steam tugboat and picked up sawmill equipment. After becoming a member of a volunteer fireplace division, he purchased this 1928 Ahrens-Fox N-S-4 firetruck in 2004. It was initially in-built Cincinnati for the Bloomington, Ailing., fireplace division. He restored it to operating order, hoses included, and has pushed it in quite a few parades. “I guess it saved lots of lives in its day,” he said in his January column. Mr. McMahon not too long ago bought this truck. His subsequent mission? A classic Ford Mannequin A.

What’s His Dream Automobile? Trace: Mercedes Is His Mother’s Center Identify

Roger Graham,

the CEO of an organization that fabricates business metallic merchandise in Bellflower, Calif., loves his 2011

Mercedes-Benz

SLS AMG for a lot of causes. He has been a Mercedes fan for years. His mom’s center title is Mercedes. And, her initials are AMG (for Audrey Mercedes Graham), the badge Mercedes-Benz makes use of for its highest line of efficiency autos. The SLS AMG is a homage to the enduring Gullwing Mercedes of the Nineteen Fifties, however it stands by itself as a high-powered, high-design automobile. Mr. Graham loves the efficiency, however “a very powerful a part of it,” he said in his July column, “is the truth that it jogs my memory of my mother.”

A Classic Lotus Stays Forward of the Curve

Throughout the postwar years, British racing engineer

Colin Chapman

created Lotus with a particular philosophy: Tremendous light-weight automobiles with small engines can beat larger, heavier automobiles with extra energy. Living proof: this 1962 Lotus Kind 23, a racing automotive in basic Lotus paint scheme, owned by entrepreneur and angel investor

Joshua Schachter

of Los Altos, Calif. “These automobiles have been constructed to be giant-killers on the racetrack,” Mr. Schachter explained in his September column, “and Lotus was very profitable in doing that.” He not too long ago had the engine rebuilt and is planning to take this automotive classic racing, in 2022.

—Write to A.J. Baime at myride@wsj.com.