STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Paul Arena's 1948 Dodge has been a part of his family for over 40 years. The glossy black exterior ushered his newborn daughter home from the hospital in style, much the same way it did on the day of her wedding.

The car also made appearances on the big screen says Arena, who purchased the car for less than $300 with 70,000 miles on the engine.

"One of the first movies was back in the early 70's with Sylvester Stallone, when he was just starting out ... it was called the 'Lords of Flatbush,'" Arena recalled.

Other notable movies include the 1994 flick "I.Q." starring Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan and Walter Matthau, who played Albert Einstein.

The modest, six-cylinder engine moved the big body smoothly along Hylan Boulevard on the way to Gateway National Recreation area, where Arena and fellow enthusiasts meet weekly with their cars.

The classic includes some features such as a sun visor, suicide doors, a traffic light magnifier and winged hood that flips open. Seat belts, however, were not included in the car and neither were turn signals, but Arena remedied that once he used the car more often.

The car runs through three gears with a feature called "fluid drive", which makes shifting ... well, fluid.

"It's a three-speed transmission but you don't have to shift it all the time," he explained.

"If you come to a light, you don't have to put the clutch down. I used the car in the snow and when you can start off in high, the wheels aren't spinning ... I had excellent traction."

Adorning the hood is the signature chrome Dodge ram that seems to glide forward during Arena's leisurely drive, but Arena says there are some pitfalls to driving a rare ride around town.

"You're driving on the highway and the people looking at [the car] are not realizing that they're swerving into your lane."

Such a heavy burden with a head-turner of a vehicle.