Hospitality is a family business for Jason Pomeranc. In 2001, along with two brothers and his real estate mogul father, Jack, he opened a boutique hotel, 60 Thompson, in downtown Manhattan. Pomeranc has spent the past decade and a half expanding his reach, most recently through his Sixty Hotels brand, with properties in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and soon, Montreal.
But luxury lodging isn’t the only passion passed down in the Pomeranc family. “As a kid, my father would talk about coming to the U.S. [from Poland], and the cars he would indulge in as he became successful,” said the 45-year-old hotelier. “He would reference his ’59 Cadillac Fleetwood—this big boat, this symbol of American arrival.”
For guys who grew up in a certain era, Pomeranc said, “I think we’re all somewhat car guys. I see it as an aspirational, eternal youth, male sort of pursuit. And the different feel of different cars. Regular use, as opposed to racing, which has a different vibe. For many people, cars evoke emotional connections that go far beyond the technical details and specifications that others really fixate on. It wasn’t so much about this lustful need for speed; it was more the artistry of what a particular car meant at a particular period of time.”
Here, Pomeranc discusses the vehicles that have marked his own arrival—and inspired more than a few departures.
Favorite Drive
“The Pacific Coast Highway. You’ve got the mountains on one side, the ocean on the other, and this curviness in between. You can really disconnect. It’s different from taking a speed drive on the Autobahn. The interaction of the coastline is the ultimate escapism. It brings you back to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, where the journey is everything, not necessarily the destination.”
His City Car
“The Mercedes G55 SUV is still virtually the same design since its 1970s introduction as a military vehicle. It’s still a bit rough around the edges and sits high on the road, but I like the height, the strength of the engine, and the noise, quite frankly—the roar of the engine gives the perception of complete power. It’s very tactile, as opposed to some of the newer car engines that hum like some type of spaceship. And you don’t necessarily need to go off-road or climb a mountain or cross a desert when you’re driving through New York City. But knowing that you can? That’s exciting.”
His First Car
“I bought a mildly beaten-up manual-shift Jeep Wrangler in 1988 and spent 6 months interning at what was then Bear Stearns in order to garner a loan from my father to pay for it.”
Road Trip Advice
“I prefer to have a general idea of where we’re going to end up. Don’t just start driving and see where it goes. The time and the distance become more abstract. Break it up into zones where you have things to look forward to in bite-sized pieces. And don’t over-plan it, either—stop and experience the local culture—and don’t focus on the time. It’s not about getting there faster; it’s about getting the most out of what you’re seeing. For me, scenery is important. It’s what helps me escape, so going long distances on vacant highways in order to get to great places is not as exciting as the curvy route and seeing things that, living in big cities, we don’t get to see—whether that’s nature or small towns or instances of charm that can only occur in the adventure of things.”
His Fun Car
“I have a 1989 Porsche Targa in Los Angeles, in addition to my regular car, and it’s not the smoothest and easiest car to drive, but it feels completely different with the engine and the old format. It was actually a car that my older brother had, his first major sports car, and I remember thinking as a kid: That was the ultimate cool thing to have. It’s a manual-shift, too, which is fun. It can get tiring in L.A. traffic, but when you can really rip it open, you feel like you’re much more engaged with the road.”
His Dream Car
“An original Shelby Cobra from the mid-1960s. I like the look of it. And I like the Shelby story. There’s something so fierce about it. The car represents, in my opinion, the best of Anglo-American car design: powerful, sleek, masculine, and compact. More than any other car, it captured the spirit of freedom that more mass-production cars like the Corvettes and Mustangs popularized on a much larger scale, and it had as much style as speed. It’s just a beautiful specimen and screams masculinity, open road, power—all the good stuff.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
