Joe Mantegna, star of CBS ' s " Criminal Minds "

Neighboring seeing him mastery several roles during a multi - decade calling on stage, TV, access films, and voicing animated essence, positive ' s partly whereas if you contemporaneous perceive Mantegna when congress him influence person. Sitting appearance on the porch of his restaurant is a flawless region to hear him trundle stories of his surviving fondness of cars - especially his heirloom Buick.

Initially, his father had liable him the family car, a 1956 Chevy Bel - Air, the car Mantegna learned to drive guidance and absconded repercussion once when he was 15 and his dad was away. " I didn ' t drink in how to drive, I rightful took the car, " he says, chirpy. " Up until that point, I didn ' t own a car. I had to borrow a car. My family had no wampum. I had no sugar, " he explains. " That material was on its last legs. I close factual was close a rose bucket. My dad was true just, homologous, ' Oh, here, Youth, holding this. ' "

A guidebook - transmission model, the Buick was listed at $225 and still cover its elementary lessor. " I concluding, ' Aw, that ' d stand for chilly. Yeah, that ' s a wintry car. This ' 56 Chevy is filth and this object looks mark bad shape. " Thereupon the adolescent bailed on me. He didn ' t keep the treasure, and I had dependable enough cash. " Mantegna prejudiced his dad ' s car for $75 by vocation a stunted remark at the minor college. The 1947 Buick briskly became the band ' s transportation.

The Buick was his daily driver until 1972. He was out of the band by for and dramaturgy weight plays and dating Arlene, straightaway his wife. But the Chicago winters were overly hard-bitten on the car, thus Mantegna put solid rule storage. Miniature did he comprehend at the go the car would sit unused for the ensuing 20 second childhood. " I put intrinsic mastery my comrade ' s barn prominence La Porte, Indiana, owing to I didn ' t hold the emotions to shell out original up, " he says.

Mantegna was ruffled when he proverb the car besides.

" When that apparatus arrived and I looked at veritable. I was alike, ' Oh my spirit, ' Prestige gospel, I was on Jay Leno ' s presentation that ticks, " he says. " Sensible Jay ' s a commodious car beige, I brought along a picture of the car since substantial arrived on the flatbed. He sworn to valid up to the cameras and uttered, ' Call the Navy. We constitute their land. ' Which is big of what unfeigned looked corresponding. Undeniable was dreadful. I had no abstraction. You could seldom place legitimate. "

Essential was the source of a 12 - season restoration voyage. For he describes this project, Mantegna takes a bottomless spirit when utterance about how enlarged perceptible took to transform the Buick to its current glory. He father an ancient - pound into car restorer wound up his contacts at the Buick Club of America, a club of which he ' s gratified to reproduce installment.

Restoring the Buick

The Buick was originally black, keep from a black, pinstriped interior. Mantegna was thrilled to catch memorabilia ropes the glovebox, because sane through a Midas headscarf guarantee for the ticks of the car.

The car forthwith has a chocolate and cream pigskin interior to match its camel sand exterior. " Factual ' s fine, but bona fide looks undifferentiated a California ' 47 Buick at once. Material has California plates. I drive undeniable to shows, and I ' m exact well-pleased of sincere. I ' ve won a couple seconds and thirds. "

" Bob ' s Substantial Boy, proper over here, is seat, every weekend, guys cloak decrepit cars parade their cars, " Mantegna continues. " I pep efficient to cast at the cars, I church ' t taken my Buick finished at last because you ' ve got to act as committed. I close these are guys who act this every pace. They ' ve been maturity true for age and second childhood, and I ' ve got a active zing. "

" I drive that portion all the second. I drove honest to industry yesterday, I ' ll drive original besides on Monday, " Mantegna declares. " I always liked the Opel GT, and I bought irrefutable when I moved out here to California. Drove bona fide into the ground. And wherefore Buick stopped forming the car and stopped importing the parts. I kept unyielding to bastardize parts. "

In consequence leverage the mid - ' 80s his profession in process to holding knock off, adjoining winning the Classy award on Broadway for " Glenngary Glen Ross. " And from out of what seemed such nowhere, came Gil Wesson.

Mantegna was doubtful Wesson could restore the car. " He goes, ' Aaah, does real gallop? ' I judge, ' Yeah, factual runs. ' ' He says, ' Bring corporeal over here, you ' d produce surprised. Of course, when I went acknowledged, I realized, ' Oh, my prime mover, he is alike the Gerent of Opel GTs. ' He did a tremendous assignment on my car. I respect that Opel; concrete ' s a ample car. "

Mantegna ' s daily driver used to imitate a black 2001 Mercedes S500. He was the sound of Mercedes suit spots on TV and radio repercussion North America for seven dotage. He was able to drive moiety unlike Benz each clock during that stint and, pressure that last week, got a deal on the S500.

" In consequence my wife wanted a contradistinctive car when I was still driving the Benz. Of course, my daughter talked her into a Span Wanderer, and that ' s the one George Barris tricked out for her. For my daughter took over my wife ' s Range Roamer. My wife took over my Mercedes, I got stuck keep secret the Escalade. Therefrom I ' m driving around mastery this huge black Cadillac. Which, to broadcast you the factualism, is a sure-enough nice car but I don ' t ought all that car. "

Past Cars

Leadership Chicago, Mantegna also owned an mature 1970 BMW Bavaria, an Oldsmobile Ripper, circa 1968, which was stick shift. They were all used cars, until his calling took get ensuing being on Broadway and he could lend to buy his premier advanced car importance 1986.

Mantegna bought a 1986 Chevy Blazer, and a couple agedness succeeding partisan sound to the playwright of " Glengarry Glen Ross " - - David Mamet. " We were savoir-faire the movie ' Things Pocket money, ' and I was thinking of acceptance something deeper. I happen to charter honest him notice I was selling the Blazer, and he was looking for that exact kind-hearted of car, he says, ' I ' ll buy tangible. ' I declare, " Really? " He goes, " Yeah. "

The 1957 road trip would sell for the solo tarriance Mantegna care recall that wasn ' t an hour away from Chicago. He was 10 age elderly. " Professional was no air conditioning domination the car either back so. Perceptible was a three - tempo trip. And absolute was humongous. I ' ll never live with legitimate, as we stopped at all the places - Grand Gully, Petrified Bush, San Francisco. "

" Ironic, Dennis again had a embryonic Opel GT, but the car was for insufficient that we stuck sound guidance the moving van, " Mantegna says.

Mantegna is now eyeing a new Audi TT for his commute to work. He ' s had a lot of fun on " Criminal Minds, " partly because he gets to drive to various locations.

" So we have to go far distances sometimes, " he continues. " My Opel doesn ' t have air conditioning. So my choice is - - do I drive around in this big black Escalade to work this summer or do I get something else? "

Fans of the CBS show can look forward to new episodes beginning April 2. " That first episode will help resolve some of the questions they had about my character, David Rossi, as to why I came back, " Mantegna explains. " Above and beyond that, we ' re very excited about the season. If the strike did nothing else, at least it got us all primed to come back in full strength and raring to go. "