On Nantucket, vintage Broncos are the latest status symbols — restored, rare, and too nice for the beach

Boston Globe

14-07-2025

In this case it was a 1969 Bronco, in
Greenwich, Conn. He's a man who is both an enthusiastic social critic and also delighted to be a member of the very social group he is critiquing.
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'I don't want to be that jerky Nantucket guy who says his wife bought him one for his 50th birthday,' he said, allowing himself a smile, 'but my wife bought one for my 50th birthday.'
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Lee Milazzo corrects his sunglasses while posing for a portrait with his 1969 Brittany blue Ford Bronco, parked by Cisco Beach, on July 9, 2025. Although a vintage car like Milazzo's is laborious to maintain, he isn't afraid to drive his dream car like his daily and take it through the Nantucket sand.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
If the status Nantucket car was forever an old four-wheel-drive 'beater' that you could drive to Great Point, tire pressure lowered, sandy kids in the back, the generational wealth understated, today's It Car may be that very same vehicle — but now with every single part restored, repainted, or replaced.
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The new driveway candy is a Ford Bronco, Land Rover Defender, or
'I did a vintage Broncos Day where we drove cars to
As he paraded through town, Milazzo kept one eye on the road as the other scanned for vehicular admirers. Quickly, one appeared in the form of a man who looked to be of a certain age and tax bracket, relaxing on a bench outside a boutique.
'It's my dream car,' he called out, as if on cue.
The steering wheel and gear stick of the 1969 Ford Bronco.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
In some ways, showy restored vintage 4x4s were a trend waiting to happen, as longtime Nantucketers say the island has gotten flashier (the word 'Hamptons' is thrown around). Private pools are proliferating (never mind you're surrounded by water), and real estate has gotten so pricey that one firm has to add new high-end categories that go beyond the traditional 'luxury' category to capture it all: 'ultra luxury' is for properties between $10 million and $20 million, and 'mega luxury' describes those even more expensive.
Probably no one is better positioned to see the rise of the high-end, custom-built classic 4x4 than Craig Carreau, the founder of
'We call them 'big boy toys,'' the genial Carreau said on a recent afternoon in Plymouth, as he showed a reporter around the 12-acre lot that houses an enormous garage where his crew of eight men works seven days a week refurbishing these cars.
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At the top of the line, new-custom-upholstered seats are made of calfskin leather, the soft roofs fashioned out of custom mohair, and with the push of a button, the exhaust system can be made to roar like a Lamborghini or purr like a Rolls-Royce.
One customer, a billionaire, had an automated humidor installed in the center console of his 1972 Bronco. (But don't ask for his name, as he, like many others, required that Carreau sign a non-disclosure agreement.)
The wait to get a car done by Carreau can be 18 months
or longer, what with parts that need to be sourced nationally and internationally, the labor, and, annoyingly, the other 1 percenters.
Lee Milazzo poses for a portrait with his 1969 Brittany Blue Ford Bronco.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
Not that people with automated-humidor money are known for waiting passively. Indeed, when asked, Carreau confirmed that not a few try to skip the line.
'People want to wine and dine you, or fly you over to Nantucket,' Carreau said.
Many of the cars summer on Nantucket, and like their owners, winter in Palm (with the cars traveling to Florida by flat-bed truck). Others are driven only in the summer and spend the off-season in
Carreau's climate-controlled storage garage in Plymouth for $350 per month.
The restored vintage trend on the island ramped up during COVID, Carreau said, and by now there are so many that recently two
On one hand, the vintage vehicles aren't, technically, performance cars, lacking, as they do, impressive acceleration, handling, suspension, etc. But in today's image-forward culture, perhaps they are the ultimate performance vehicle.
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As they say on Instagram: #nantucket
In a status-symbol feedback loop, the rise in wealthy Nantucketers driving vintage cars has led more companies and couples to rent similar vehicles for photo shoots, the better to borrow some Nantucket glamor.
'People are trying to chase that image of old school money,' said Nick Johnson. He started a vintage-car rental service on the island in 2020,
He's now got 14 vintage cars in his fleet, and at $1,500 for a half-day shoot, it's a good business. But there is one downside: He got into the business because he loves vintage vehicles. But now that the cars have become so valuable, including his 1970 Land Rover, some of the fun is gone.
'I'm second-guessing myself,' he said, 'and thinking maybe I shouldn't take this to the beach.'
Beth Teitell can be reached at