Stars and their Cars

“Automobile”

November 2002, Author Unknown

Dean Stockwell:

Since his debut as a child actor in 1945's The Valley of Decision opposite Gregory Peck and Greer Garson.  Dean Stockwell has had roles in more than 125 feature films and television series including Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob (for which he received an academy award nomination) and opposite Scott Bakula in the long-running series Quantum Leap.  He played Howard Hughes in Francis Ford Coppola's automotive biopic, Tucker: The Man and His Dreams. Despite his bohemian leanings-he abandoned Hollywood for Haight Ashbury in the 1960's he's a Cadillac Driver. He leases a new Deville every three years and thinks the upcoming XLR roadster is "a star among cars" He's also looking forward to the V-8-engined CTS.  "I'm not a car nut, perse,” he says, "but I like a car with a lot of pop, Cadillac has that now".

Dennis Hopper:

You almost expect "Born to be Wild" to be piped into the sound system wherever the Easy Rider star happens to be.  Dennis Hopper has played many memorable characters over the years, including a demented, oxygen-huffing psychopath in David Lynch's Blue Velvet.  He broke through in Rebel without a Cause opposite James Dean (with whom he also shared the screen in Giant.) My family had a ford with a rumble seat, "he recalls of his Kansas childhood.  Today his ride of choice is a Jaguar S-type R.  "It's an amazing car, and you can really make good time in it," says Hopper, a master of understatement.  "When you're going 90, you'd think you were sitting still." After serving as a presenter at this year's World Stunt Awards, Hopper was given a dirt bike as an honorarium, only to learn that he needed a California motorcycle license to operate it.  He went to the Highway Patrol for the test, and the cops almost doubled over with laughter when they saw him "You're the guy we tell everybody not to ride like!"

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