By: Maria Allard | C&G Newspapers | Published August 4, 2025
METRO DETROIT — David Watson wanted to buy a classic car that represented the year of his birth: 1947.
The St. Clair Shores resident looked around but didn’t find one made that year. He got as close as he could, though, by purchasing a striking 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Coupe. He bought the car in 2004.
While the white vintage vehicle — with the decorative purple and blue flames — is 77 years old, Watson had it modernized over the years at local shops.
“When I got it, it was all white. I had the flames painted on it,” he said. “I put the rims on it.”
If you look under the hood, you’ll see the motor of a 1991 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z.
“It’s just a modern engine. It’s fuel-injected,” Watson said. “It has a digital dash, power steering, power brakes, power windows, and a custom interior. It’s an automatic. All the shiny parts are stainless steel.”
Other updates were completed to keep the car running smoothly. The transmission was rebuilt, air conditioning was added, and there also is a power antenna and a power trunk. So he could play music, an AM/FM radio and a compact disc player were installed. And “breaker one nine,” the car has a citizens band radio that works, although Watson doesn’t use it.
The ’48 model does not have any door handles but rather shaved doors. The shaved doors were a popular trend that gave cars a smooth look.
Perhaps you’ve come across the car around town. One spot Watson likes to take the coupe on a regular basis to is Eddie’s Drive-In in Harrison Township, which has a classic car show from 4 to 8 p.m. every Sunday during the warmer months.
“That’s my favorite place to go,” Watson said.
Watson sometimes shows up to the weekly car shows from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in St. Clair Shores, and to the Friday night car shows from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Walter F. Bruce Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1146, also in St Clair Shores. He made it to the Eastpointe Crusin’ Gratiot car show June 14 at Eastpointe High School.
“There’s somewhere to go every day,” the car buff said. “People wave and they give you a thumbs-up.”
He also comes across people whose dads or grandpas once owned a 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Coupe, which generally sparks conversations. Watson’s car gets around, as it was featured in the background of a commentary video for the 2008 Clint Eastwood film “Gran Torino.” Watson used to go to Kalamazoo for the Street Rod Nationals, which he said was great for meeting other car enthusiasts.
“The newest car that could get in was a ’48,” Watson said. “Anywhere from 1925 up to ’48.”
Watson has always been into cars.
“When I was 15 years old, I started working on cars. I would go to people’s houses. The first car I ever worked on was a 1953 Buick convertible. A straight-A car, three speeds on the column,” he said. “My neighbor gave it to me. He said, ‘Here, it doesn’t run. You can have it.’ At that time, there was nowhere to donate them. You just took it to the junkyard. This was in ’62.”
Watson found a Buick book and discovered it was the coil causing problems for the convertible.
“I put a coil on it and I gave it back to him,” said Watson, who found a new pastime fixing cars in the neighborhood. “I got really busy. I couldn’t do it anymore. Too many cars at the house.”
At age 21, while working for Chrysler, Watson bought his first car, a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. Price tag: $2,850.
“It was a ’69, but I bought it in December of ’68. We were making, I think, $3.40 an hour,” Watson said. “The car payment was $100 a month, but I paid $1,000 a year for insurance in 1969, which was a lot of money then; it’s a lot of money now. The first year, I put 30,000 miles on that car. I just went everywhere. My mother would pull her hair out because at the time there were no cellphones and no way to track you.”
As a young adult, Watson cruised Woodward Avenue. Maverick’s Drive-In, Big Boy and the Totem Pole on Woodward were regular hangouts.
“You would go and mingle,” he said. “You could cruise then and people would pull over and stop. You could talk to them.”
The Road Runner was like a second home.
“I slept in the car out on Woodward more than I slept in my house. You get tired, too far to drive,” Watson said. “I had police wake me up, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ I’m in the back sleeping.”