General Motors Memories

GAMBRILLS, Md. (WUSA) -- He's loved cars since he was 4-years-old.

"In high school, I bought a 1940 Buick for $50, " Richard Berger of Gambrills says.

And he's been a General Motors man ever since.

"Everybody had an Impala when I was in high school."

Two generations of Berger babies have ridden home from the hospital in his 1956 Aztec bronze Chevy Impala convertible: his two children and his granddaughter.

"They don't build 'em like they used to," Berger says.

Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Berger are among a select few to own one of these 1953 commemorative Buick Skylarks.

"They only made 1,690 to celebrate Buick's 50th anniversary," Berger says.

Berger says it's GM's styling and resiliency that has always attracted him to the brand, staying power he says the company could use right now.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Berger's already seen one icon fall by the wayside, U.S. Steel. He hopes something can be done to keep General Motors from becoming the next.

Berger says he's doing his part by buying American made cars.

"I think it's unpatriotic to buy an import," Berger says. "That comes from my upbringing just outside Pittsburgh."

Berger just bought a used Cadillac and hopes a GM dealer will be around to service it, to keep it on the road for decades like his other vehicles.

"I think they'll bounce back," Berger says. "I hope they will."