Classic car enthusiasts, start your engines! Made in Maine caps its 18th season with an episode that will have car lovers salivating as Lou McNally hosts the season finale from “Cruise Night” at Ainslie’s Market on Route 201 in Gardiner. Every Thursday evening from 5-8 pm in summer, dozens and sometimes as many as 200 vintage cars and their owners make their way to Ainslie’s to show off and to learn from others. Walt Dupont and his wife Rocky approached market owner (and fellow car buff) Jay Ainslie about the concept over nine years ago, and the event has since grown to the point where on a sunny evening in summer, cars begin arriving two hours early to get a prime spot.
Viewers then meet Neil Martin, owner of Goldenrod Garage in Freeport, which buys and sells vintage used cars. With an inventory of over 300 such cars for sale – Martin at one point reveals that “I find some cars in here I don’t even remember I bought” – there’s a car for every customer, be it the typical old car enthusiast or, as you’ll meet in this segment, a woman with six kids who bought the car of her husband’s dreams to give him upon his return from 6 months of military duty in Iraq. The look on his face when he receives his “welcome home” gift is reason enough to watch this episode!
In the show’s last segment, we introduce viewers to Nick DiMaio, whose love of cars led him to start Metal Shaping Tool Company of Buckfield 14 years ago (then in Westbrook). DiMaio shows viewers how he shapes custom-designed body parts and turns old worn-out vehicles – including one that, DiMaio says, “wasn’t technically made in Maine but spent its entire life here, and looked it” when he received it – into “artwork that drives down the street.” Viewers get to see, through the use of before-and-after pictures, the incredible work DiMaio performs on some old classic cars that, after the application of a little elbow grease, live to see a new day.
