July 23, 2025
Mike G., Co-Editor in Chief
Former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson, currently a resident of Rancho Gardens Senior Living in Glendale, California, has spent the last couple of years reminiscing about rock-‘n’-roll stardom over green bean casserole and chocolate pudding.
Dickinson enjoys the idle life in California.
His life at Rancho Gardens has been a quiet one based in routine, but there is an upside: its relative cheapness has allowed him to save some money and start a new business.
“I’m so excited!” Dickinson says. “It came to me during afternoon free time. I was playing mahjongg with some of the ladies, and I started drifting off. I mean, they’re used to it, heh heh. Just shut my eyes for a bit. I’d been talking to Gloria, and she’d been telling me about her brother Otis. Or was it Oren? I remember she said he was really tall, and he worked at a dealership in Utah. Now, I went to Utah with the band after Happy Days. Mormons, right?”
Dickinson closed his eyes in thought for a full minute.
“Actually, I think the dealership was in Colorado. Colorado? That’s the one with Colorado Springs, right? Ha! Of course, it has to be. Colorado Springs. I always liked Colorado, wish I’d gone there more often.
“So, I said to Maggie, I said, ‘Hey, don’t we have a trip coming up this weekend?’ and she said, well… wait. Gloria was the one I was talking about, right? Yeah. I don’t know what Maggie said. Gloria: short hair. Maggie: medium-length hair. I do like Maggie, though. She’s a much louder talker than Gloria. We have to tell her to turn it down sometimes! But she’s great.”
Here, Dickinson paused again.
Dickinson’s customized Roadmaster. Courtesy Buickinson Ltd.
“Anyhow, Buickinson! Isn’t that wonderful?” Dickinson continued. “We thought of the name Buickinson for the company, and it’s just perfect. So, there’s two other guys. One guy does most of the body work, and the other handles the email, answers the phone, and so on. He’s Richard. I do some cosmetic stuff, painting, mirrors. And I guess I’m eye candy, too! Ha ha! No, but seriously…”
At this point, against our better judgment, we reminded Dickinson that he had been talking about somebody named Gloria.
“Ah!” said Dickinson. “Right, so Gloria had this brother. Tall guy. He lived in Colorado and had a dealership. He knew a guy who customized cars. And that guy had another friend, also tall. Not the second guy. The guy’s friend. He was even taller! Hey, do you remember Brian Futter? Tall guy, too. He played the guitar and the harmonica. No, wait, I played the harmonica.
“Customized Buicks, with all the painting, funny gear shifts, tachometers, mirrors. Why not? It’s an untapped market! And why not make a little money? So Scott says to me, he says, ‘Listen, Rob, you keep wanting these light metallic colors, and those aren’t trendy at all.’ And I said to Scott, I said, ‘Consider our client, Brian! I mean Scott! We’re talking about someone my age, really looking for something class, not sporty. Hold on, I just have to stand up and pull my belt a little tighter.”
(At this point, we were a little too lost to get Rob to explain who these people were. We just let him keep talking.)
A clearly Photoshopped publicity photo of a custom Riviera. It’s unclear whether this auto or the showroom actually exists.
“Have you taken a ride in a 1980s, 1990s Buick? It’s like a hovercraft, man! Can’t feel the road at all. Just this feeling of weightlessness, so Scott basically gave up on trying to convince me about the paint colors. You know what? I said ‘light metallic’ and it reminded me of ‘Black Metallic’!
“So, Gloria had a dealership. Wait! Gloria’s brother had a dealership. (Well, I guess somebody needs a nap, right?). So I said to Gloria’s brother, man, I’m an old man and I’m bored. Scarfing down pudding and so on. So I bought a shop, and that’s pretty much it!”
Another photo sent to us from the Buickinson email, but this is clearly a custom PT cruiser, so who knows what’s going on. We’re now having doubts about whether any of this is real.
“So anyhow,” Dickinson continued, “We’re thinking about expanding to Japan! Plenty of older people there, right? Money to spend, places to drive. We can give ’em something sporty.”
At this point, a staff member by the name of Monica interrupted the conversation to hand Dickinson a couple of pills and a cup of water.
“I had hip surgery a couple of years ago, and these pills help. But they’re huge! Did you see? What am I, some kind of horse? Why do they make pills this huge?
“So hey, Merck’s in here, too! He lives in a room down the hall. Every once in a while, I go to his room and and we pull out his record collection.”
(Note: Merck Mercuriadis is currently a music industry CEO. We found no evidence that he had ever visited the Rancho Gardens facility.)
At this point, we asked Dickinson if we could visit the Buickinson shop or showroom.
“Uh, maybe later? I can’t take you there now; I’m not allowed out. Talk to Merck! He remembers where it is! Hey, I’m really tired. Maybe I could just do an autograph and talk to you later? Miss Monica!”
At this point, the attendant walked over.
“That’s Ms. Monica, sweetie. What can I do for you?”
“Did you know I own a car company?” Dickinson said. “A custom car shop that does Buicks? And I was in a rock band, too!”
“Oh, that’s nice, honey.”
“And we had songs like ‘Crank,’ and ‘Waydown,’ and… uh, ‘Our Friend Joey.'”
“Yes, that’s wonderful, Mr. Dickinson. So nice that you wrote a song about your friend. So, are we having a nap now? I’ll walk with you.”
“Yes, ma’am. Can you give my visitor this autograph?”
Dickinson handed Monica the attendant a crumpled napkin.
“OK, honey. [turning her head and whispering] You can just throw that in the trash when you’re gone. You’re so sweet to pay him a visit! I hope he didn’t bore you too much with his car stories!”
Happy 60th, Rob Dickinson.