1954 Swartley Special

Terry Bennett says he grew up as both a nerd and a motor-head. It was hardly his fault. His father was a brilliant physician, his mother a concert-grade pianist, and he was born in 1938 in Los Angeles, soon to be the epicenter of sports car racing.

Bennett began driving automobiles at age eight and bought his first car at age ten. “It was a 1928 Chevy coupe and I drove it home with a phone book on the seat,” he said. “I owned that car three times. I kept fixing it up and reselling it to another kid from school. Finally a grown up bought it from me and drove it away for good. Cars were always fascinating and have remained so. Now I have a 45,000 square-foot barn at my home in Rochester, New Hampshire, with 70 cars in it and 30 motorcycles. I am that level of crazy. I’ve been at that level of crazy all of my life. I’ve always bought cars that I thought were interesting, even if no one else wanted anything to do with them.”