04/20/2026
A 36-Year-Old Woman Keeping the Spirit of Analog Driving Alive
Tabetha Kanter, 36, an innkeeper in Arlington, Vermont, traces her love for vintage automobiles back to her childhood in rural Colorado. Growing up, she was surrounded by the rumble of old engines and the quiet pride of her parents and grandparents, who treated classic cars like treasured family heirlooms. That early affection stayed with her, eventually becoming a defining part of her adult life.
Today, Kanter owns two standout machines: a 1973 Mini Cooper S and a 1928 Packard convertible coupe. The Packard, still in its unrestored, timeworn state, was purchased from the daughter of the man who had owned it since the early 1960s, a detail that made the car feel less like a transaction and more like the passing of a story from one hand to another.
For Kanter, modern cars simply don’t offer the same soul.
“I find cars of the 1980s and 1990s are the beginning of the era when cars had just too much tech, and the driver was getting pushed more and more out of the equation,” she said. “The totally analog driving experience of old cars is wonderful. Everything from the feel of old-style bias-ply tires on the road to shifting a transmission without synchromesh is unique.”
That passion has taken her on some unforgettable journeys, including the day she bought her Mini Cooper sight unseen in San Diego and drove it all the way back to Colorado. The 1,100-mile trip unfolded mostly on back roads, an ambitious test for a 50-year-old car weighing just 1,450 pounds and riding on tiny 10-inch wheels. But the Mini handled it with charm, proving both its resilience and her devotion to machines built in a different era.
In the end, Kanter says it’s not just about the cars themselves, it’s about the feeling they inspire. The smell of old leather, the mechanical chatter of an engine with nothing digital to cushion it, the sense that every mile is earned rather than assisted. For her, vintage cars aren’t relics. They’re reminders that driving can still be simple, visceral, and beautifully human.
