Driving passion
Laurens Electric Cooperative member Paul Ianuario shares his love of rare and vintage automobiles.
Photo by Milton Morris
Paul Ianuario
Age: 72.
Hometown: Duncan. Originally from North Augusta.
Occupation: Retired engineer; avid collector of rare automobiles.
Other interests: “I grew up being a collector—butterflies, rocks, seashells, arrowheads, stamps, coins and baseball cards.”
Need for speed: Used to build and race hydroplanes. Raced 10 times in Mille Miglia, Italy’s revered 1,000-mile endurance road race, and was on the winning team five times.
Co-op connection: Ianuario is a member of Laurens Electric Cooperative.
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When Paul Ianuario managed to scrape together enough money to buy his first car back in the 1960s, the North Augusta teenager was reeling with anticipation. After all, owning a car in those days was a stamp of personal independence and a widely recognized symbol of passage into manhood.
He decided on a 1959 Renault Dauphine, a tiny red French sedan with a four-cylinder engine. Ianuario liked that the little car stood out from the Fords and Chevrolets and Chryslers that dominated the roadways.
“I wanted something that everybody else didn’t have,” he says. “I wanted a car that was different.”
Today, Ianuario is the proud owner of a collection of 24 vehicles that are, indeed, different. His collection includes a 1908 single-cylinder Cadillac, a 1910 Chalmers Detroit, a 1912 Hudson ‘Mile-a-Minute’ Speedster and a 1929 Packard custom convertible coupe—the cars he’ll be displaying Nov. 2–4 at the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival as the event’s 2018 Honored Collector.
“You know, if I had collected just Model A Fords or just ’57 Chevys or just Mustangs, life would have been easy,” Ianuario says with a laugh. “But I never met a car I didn’t like. Each one brought back feelings and emotions about different eras. I never bought a car because it was worth money; I bought it because of its history.”
Ianuario, who spent decades working in research and development for the French tire company Michelin, keeps his beloved collection of classic cars in a climate-controlled 7,000-square-foot garage near his home, but he regularly lends vehicles to exhibits around the country so that other classic automobile enthusiasts can see and enjoy them. “I honestly believe that if you can’t share a car then you don’t have any business owning it.”