((It's not that I don't remember, it's more I usually only pose a question if I can think of a good one))
Don Stracci: When I was a lad, dirt poor and playing in the streets everyday, I once wandered off to a more ritzier part of town. Don't remember why, but I think I was looking for a bigger score. I was sitting on the sidewalk, and this big, old, boat of a car comes around the corner. Huge thing... it could seat a lot of people, and it was, in a word, gorgeous. I had never seen anything like it in my life, and it was fast. Big powerful engine in the thing. The driver looked at me as he drove by, waved, and gunned it. And we're talking a car from the 1910s, boys. That thing could reach a top speed of 90 mph comfortably, and had 110 horsepower in a time when most cars had 30. I was impressed... mesmerized really, and I ran after it. Seeing this, the driver stopped, and stepped out to talk to me. He was a chauffeur for the car's owner, and he was more than happy to tell me all about it.
It was called a Crane-Simplex, and it was built by the redoubtable Henry M. Crane. Not sure if you heard of him, but he was an MIT grad with engineering prowess. He built these beautiful cars on a chassis basis only... meaning the buyer had to contract a custom coachbuilder to design the rest of his car... meaning... this baby, when it was finally finished, would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of TEN THOUSAND dollars. Ten grand. In the 1910s, $25 was considered a high weekly wage, so in order to own these things, you had to be stratospherically wealthy, practically God himself to own this car.
From that moment on, I knew it... I knew I was gonna have that kind of money someday. Why? Because it was power, and I didn't want my future kids growing up in a slum the way I had. I was going to be Crane-Simplex wealthy, and by god, I did it. It started not only my quest for self-enrichment, but also my love affair with classic cars. Here was someone driving around a model of pure perfection, even in modern day! Nothing could touch it! And nothing still can! I decided I would start a collection, one of the greatest collections in the world, in fact. While the Crane-Simplex was not the first classic I acquired, it did make the collection eventually. Ever since then I've been collecting them: Auburn, Brewster, Cadillac, Cord, Duesenberg, Franklin, Knox, LaSalle, Lincoln, Mercer, Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow, Pope-Hartford, Oldsmobile, Reo, Rickenbacker, Rolls-Royce, Crane-Simplex, Stutz, Daimler, Maybach Zeppelin, AC, Jensen, Talbot-Lago, Avions Voisin, Bugatti, Allard, Ford, Marmon, Chrysler, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Delahaye. Chances are, you can name it, I got it!
My family, my family hmmm... Victor thinks they're a waste of money, as does Caroline, but Caroline's a spoiled brat who wants "spending money" constantly. Paula thinks they're nice, Elio and Tony love them, but Tony shares my enthusiasm for 'em. That kid's something else. He also loved going for rides in them growing up. He was never into those new models they got nowadays. Who needs to hover when you can drive? There's something you can't beat about driving one of these things on the road today, and it's something I'll never give up, and I know Tony will forever appreciate.
Marcus: Do you have a girl of your own? Or is it more you just take any girl you want kind of deal?
Agent Lupis: Would you ever consider Don Stracci's offer to enter his employment? Or are the CIA perks just too good?
