A stupid road trip in unreliable old cars brought two surprises.
If you're below a certain age, you may never have heard of a car called Sterling. Launched to positive reviews in 1987, the U.K.-built Sterling quickly became the least reliable brand sold in the U.S.—landing at the bottom of J.D. Power's quality ratings after just its first model year. Sales peaked that first year and plummeted thereafter until the importer folded its tents in 1991 and vanished.
The idea was to buy a very cheap, very used Sterling 827 that one of us had seen in an ad. The car was outside Portland, Oregon. Tom is in New Hampshire, I'm in upstate New York, but each of us was itching to get out of the Northeast. We decided to try to drive the Sterling more than 2500 miles toIf we made it, we hoped to find that singular Rad fan who would appreciate this automotive unicorn—and buy it.
The next morning, we visited Victor, selling a near twin to Tom's car, but a 1991 model. He'd bought it as a non-runner from an heir of the first owner, who had kept it almost 30 years—then died. It proved to need only a cap and rotor, plus a new battery. Victor said it fired right up after months of sitting unused.
The worst problem with my car was that both front door handles were broken. I was prepared, with two replacements in the right color in my luggage, ordered from Dale Charles, a.k.a. the"Sterling Fixer." And on Day 3, we headed for Steve Ollison, whom I dubbed"the Sterling Whisperer" for his vast knowledge of the orphaned brand. He had stocks of spare parts and multiple Sterlings in various states of repair. He installed both door handles—they're known to be fragile.
We carried on, taking pictures, filming video, and driving through stunning scenery not found anywhere else. The Four Corners area, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet, includes Monument Valley, the protected wild landscape with dozens of mesas jutting out of flat desert. The weather included clouds, drizzle, sleet, bright sun, and almost perpetual wind. I'd never seen anything like it.
Still, remarkably, neither car broke down. Not once. We didn't talk about it much at first, but then it became,"Well, today's the day, huh?" But the only time the hoods went up was to put in oil, washer fluid, or check for leaks.
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