YA book or short story that features a young working class man who saves up to buy a ridiculous car (maybe an Isotta Fraschini?) I likely read this book in the 1990s.

[Paul]

It is possible that the ridiculous car is purchased to impress a young woman? It might get wrecked by the end of the book? But the memorable part is that this is happening in the 20's or 30's and a man who is only 18 or 20 (and is either a waiter or mechanic) has the ability to save up his money to buy such an outrageous car. The car is maybe an Isotta Fraschini, or maybe something like a Bugatti. I think European, not something like a Duesenberg. But that era / price level.

It is possible this is from a short story, rather than a novel.

[Capn]

A few wild stabs at it (based on a Bugatti search on WorldCat - got nothing for "fiction" + "Isotta Fraschini", sadly!):

Dead Letters (1997)
"Steve has embarked on his 'journey of a lifetime'. Having left the Sydney slum in which he grew up and the garage where he worked as a mechanic, he is backpacking around Europe. Occasional travelling companions find him attractive, gentle, helpful, accommodating - and inaccessible. A loner." "At first he regards his few night's shelter with the ageing writer Prince Stefano Torre della Aquila and his formidable psychoanalyst wife Tilda in Palermo as only another stage in his odyssey. There is a crumbling mansion, there are three spoiled Pekineses, and a beautiful, rusting Bugatti in the courtyard. But soon the experience becomes a different kind of odyssey. Steve's relationship with Stefano - the last of his line, mortally ill, yet profoundly and painfully alive - will change him for ever."

The Bride and the Bugatti (1958)
A translation of a French novel.
This is a riotously funny story about a young couple who discover, after a brilliant escape from their chaotic wedding, that they have left all their money behind. From this incongruous start, their honeymoon progresses from disaster to hilarious disaster. However, both they and the hero of the book-their veteran car, a temperamental Bugatti-continue undaunted, and at last reach Venice.

Paul - any sense of the age of the book when you read it? Recent for the 90s, or are we talking vintage stock? :) (I'm a big fan of musty and dusty old books, so no judgment on that front, if so!).

If you can think of other makes of cars that would be contemporary, please add the manufacturer's names here - they might be useful as search terms. :) Auburn and Duesenberg were American, right?

So Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, Alfa Romeo and Talbot? Any others? Or maybe names like "speedster", "roadster", models like Trossi...? (Please advise!) :)

[Paul]

Your questions helped jog my memory, Capn. Thanks.

My best guess as to the age of the book, based on my reading habits at the time, would be post-1945. I'm American and suspect this book is as well. Setting is likely either Boston or New York. The clearest thing I remember is just a young, working-class man "saving up" and buying what today would be something like a private jet.

I vaguely remember a scene of him trying to explain it to another character - likely a young woman - and that's where the "funny" or "exotic" name of the car, like Isotta Fraschini or Bugatti Royale, comes into play. Almost like he's buying it for the name as much as the performance, and she has no idea what he's even talking about because the name has too many syllables for a car company. It's all about status. There's kind of a "Gift of the Magi" quality to the storyline.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

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