George Goldstein, who says he’s a child at heart, has been collecting elite cars for the past 16 years. His latest collection focuses on personal sports cars.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Nearly every day, George Goldstein must drive 30 miles from his Point Dume home to his office in Beverly Hills. It doesn’t matter, the distance and time, however, because Goldstein loves the journey to work and back as he takes it in one of his 10 sports cars that make up his extensive auto collection.
“Driving down PCH in the densely populated Malibu area is fun,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein, founder and managing director of Wealth Management Group, a real estate investment company, has a huge smile on his face when he discusses his car collection, talking about it as if he is speaking about members of his family. This is because when he buys a car, it has been purchased after a great deal of research and has been selected because he absolutely loves it.
Goldstein’s car collection is specific-personal sports cars. “Anything that is meant for a family, with four doors and lots of room, is not going to be included,” he said.
And the reason he selects sports cars is, he said, because “I am a child. I made peace with myself a while ago and came to terms that I am a child at heart.”
Goldstein has some rules with what cars he selects. One of them is that the color must be interesting and rare; except for when it comes to a Ferrari, which Goldstein says has to be red. His 1972 Corvette is an Elkhardt green. “This color is so ugly, it’s gorgeous,” the financial expert said. Another car, a 1956 Thunderbird, which is original down to its hubcaps, is a peacock blue, a color Goldstein finds fascinating.
Another rule is that the car must drive well because he wants to be able to actually use the car. While many people like to collect a great deal of vehicles and then store them in their personal museums, Goldstein said that doesn’t interest him. He wants to be able to drive them, as he makes sure he does so with all his cars, every week.
And, except for his 1955 Ford F100 pickup truck (the oldest vehicle in the collection), which Goldstein said is too difficult to drive in its natural state, he makes no alterations to the vehicles. They are restored, but always to what they were originally, never trying to improve them.
“It’s like a woman who’s attractive and she has surgery to improve herself even more, but in actuality she makes herself worse by losing that natural beauty,” Goldstein said. “Once you start altering a car, you begin to destroy it.”
Goldstein could spend hours-sometimes a whole day-cleaning and working on his cars. However, recently married, he doesn’t spend as much time with them now. But he still enjoys looking after the collection when he can.
“It’s amazing how therapeutic it can be, and how you can think of more things and then clear your head of all the cobwebs while doing something like cleaning a windshield,” Goldstein said. “It puts you in a Zen-kind of zone.”
Collecting cars also takes patience. It can take several years for Goldstein to find the car he is looking for. Also, restoring the vehicles can take a long time. He once waited six months to get a windshield wiper blade for one of the cars.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you have, sometimes it takes a while,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein’s fascination with cars began as a child. He would wash and wax his family member’s cars just to be close with them.
“At an early age I found an artistic connection with cars,” Goldstein said. “I discovered the essence of why they’re important.”
An avid new car buyer most of his life, Goldstein began his first car collection about 16 years ago. This one was devoted to European high performance vehicles; a collection that Goldstein said is a typical one. After awhile, he got bored with the cars and he sold them. Goldstein later began a new collection of mid-’60s high-performance luxury cars.
But then the driving stopped after a freak car accident crushed his right leg. He was told he would never be able to walk again, and if at all, with trouble. But remarkably, he recovered and now walks with no noticeable problems. And five years ago, he began his third and current collection with the purchase of a 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS.
Goldstein always buys his cars through private parties. He hears about what’s for sale through word of mouth and sometimes the Internet. Often, he said, a person who is selling a car wants to find somebody who is going to take good care of it.
“When they come to my house and see my collection, they are delighted,” Goldstein said.
And Goldstein, himself, never sells his cars unless he becomes bored with them, as he did with the first collection. Although many of them continue to increase in value, he has no interest in trying to make a profit on the cars.
A 1955 Porsche Spider is on its way as the latest addition to Goldstein’s collection. He said after that, his collection will be complete because for the moment he does not feel there is anything missing. But he admits, that can, and probably will, change.
“I have 10 mistresses,” Goldstein said. “You have to love these cars to have a collection and take care of them. And they love you back.”