Cheer up. You don’t always get the dream car, but you’ll get to ride something that’s damn close — or even better.
INTERVIEW JOSEPH L. GARCIA
Dreams are fermented in childhood, and for many boys, a part of the dream was driving a fast, shiny car, or wearing a big shiny watch: equipment for the quest in having it all. Tad Uchtman, Scuderia Ferrari Global Brand President at Movado Group, Inc., is already surrounded by both watches and cars, as the Movado group makes watches under a licensing agreement with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari’s Formula One racing team. In this interview with High Life, Mr. Uchtman talks about his past loves: one of them, a car judged by The Telegraph as the “World’s Most Beautiful Car.”
HL: I understand you’re a big watch guy, but are you a big car guy too?
I love cars. I grew up loving cars. When I was a little kid, I lived three doors down from a petrol station, and my favorite thing was to go up there and just sit on the curb and just watch the cars come in and out all day long.
HL: Do you have a favorite car?
Ferrari, of course. Even models that nobody makes anymore.
The Jaguar XK-E. The original one is a favorite of mine. It was the design of it: it was beautiful, long, curved. The fluidity of the shape was just very beautiful. It was very long in the front, very short in the back. The front of it kind of evoked power, and yet artistry at the same time. That was always a favorite of mine.
HL: Tell me about your first car.
My father said to me, “If you want a car, you have to earn it.” A friend of his was going to give his car to the junkyard because it didn’t run anymore. My father brought it home one day, and said: “If you want a car, you figure out how to make this work.” It was a powder blue Chevrolet Nova. It was beautiful, it was beautiful. That was my first car, but I had to make it work. That’s how I learned about engines. My father did quite well in life, but he had this rule that his children had to learn it and earn it like he did.
HL: Did you ever get that Jaguar XK-E?
I did not. I got a model of it, but I never got the car. I did own a Jaguar XK convertible, which was wonderful until I moved to New York. You really don’t need a car in New York. I did get close, but not to that original one.
HL: Why do cars appeal to you?
It’s just the fun of driving them. Especially with a convertible, where you can put the top down and feel the wind in your hair while you’re driving through the countryside.
