The first car Kenosha resident Joe Monticelli bought was a 1957 Oldsmobile. But make no mistake about it: From his baseball cap to the four Fairlanes, a Galaxie and a Mustang that he has owned to his former membership in the Fairlane Club of America, Monticelli is a “Ford guy” through and through.

His prized possession is a 1967 Ford Fairlane 500 XL. He purchased the two-door, hardtop, Brittany Blue model in August 1988 after a co-worker at Sears in Racine spotted it along Washington Avenue.

“It had some dings in the door, but I thought I could fix that,” Monticelli said. “I think (the former owner) wanted $4,400 or something. I offered him $3,000 and he wouldn’t take it. He said, ‘The least I’ll take is $3,500,’ so I said, ‘OK, I’ll give you $3,500.’”

Twenty-two years and about 10,000 miles on the odometer later, Monticelli, 68, still professes the same affection for his car that he did when he discovered it during that drought-filled summer.

“It’s a member of the family. I am attached to it,” he said.

The love affair begins

Monticelli’s fondness for Fairlanes, produced by Ford Motor Co. from 1955 to 1970, began nearly a half-century ago.

“Back in 1965, I was looking through Hot Rod Magazine and I saw a picture of a ’66 Fairlane that was coming out in the fall,” Monticelli recalled. “I just fell in love with the picture. I said, ‘I have to have that car.’

“So in September, I went down to the local Ford dealer (on 60th Street in Kenosha) and ordered one — just the way I wanted it. I wanted the 390 engine, a vintage burgundy color, a two-door hardtop with a bench seat. Well, I waited and waited and waited for this car, and in December I had had it. I went down to the dealer and said, ‘I don’t want the car anymore. I changed my mind.’

“They gave me my deposit back and in about the middle of January I get a phone call from the dealer saying, ‘Your car’s in. Do you still want it?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’” Monticelli said with a sheepish grin.

He owned that first Fairlane for about four years until it was totaled in an accident. Monticelli’s second Fairlane, a ’67 convertible that he bought in 1971, also unfortunately met a similar fate.

A different love

During the early 1970s, Monticelli got married, and he and his wife, Patricia, started a family. His affinity for Fairlanes got pushed to the back burner.

So when his work buddy gave him the tip about another Fairlane 17 years later, the one still parked in the garage of his south side home, Monticelli jumped at the opportunity.

“I fell in love with the Fairlane, that body style. That’s basically what it is. I wanted another one,” Monticelli said.

“The body style is what I like the most (along with) ... the roof line, the headlights — the way they are one above the other. I just like the general looks of the whole car.”

He drives it a few times a year along the Kenosha lakefront and shows it off at St. Therese’s annual car show.

Some of the other cars Monticelli has owned include a ’61 Galaxie, ’69 Fairlane, ’74 Mustang and ’64 Mercury station wagon.

“I’ve had other ones but they were never as nice as this one,” he said.