Don Draper, Gearhead? - NYTimes.com In this Sunday's Automobiles section, Stuart Schwartzapfel profiles Ed McCabe, a real-life advertising star of the "Mad Men" era who was responsible for many of Volvo's brand-making campaigns of the 1960s and "70s. Meanwhile, as the fifth season of "Mad Men" kicks off Sunday night after a 17-month hiatus, the show has left the Wheels blog with a few unanswered questions. First, Don Draper hasn't bought a new car since he splurged for the Caddy during the show's second season. Isn't it about time he traded in for a new model, maybe something sportier, or at least easier to park in the Village? Or, having become a city-dweller, does he blow his expense account on cabs? Also, will we hear from Honda again? We know that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce didn't land the motorcycle account; Don pulled the agency out of the running in an honorable act of corporate seppuku, after a faux-commercial caper that had Peggy Olson riding in circles around a sound stage. But hints were dropped that business might still be on the table, namely that of Honda's fledgling automobile division. The 600 sedan, Honda's first car offering for the United States market, was not introduced until 1969, so we may be a season or two away from that thread being tied up. Finally, will we ever find out the significance of Don's all-too-brief encounter with custom-car culture? This came in Episode 12 of the second season, during Don's extra-long lost weekend in California. While staying in San Pedro with Anna, his first wife (technically, at least), he runs across a small team of hot-rodders prepping for a coming race. It's an intriguing scene for a racing enthusiast, with the kind of shop talk that suggests at least one car buff among the "Mad Men" writing staff. One of the mechanics has modified his 1934 Ford sedan with a "60 Nailhead engine, along with a ""39 LaSalle transmission and a "40 banjo rear end," lingo that Don, a former used-car salesman, laps up like an old hand. Who would have guessed that this slick ad executive would know what "dropped the spindle" meant? The scene suggests that Don might be a gearhead in the making - he even asks the hot-rodders for a job - and yet, after he returns to New York in the following episode, the hot-rodders are never mentioned again, not for the rest of that season or in the two full seasons since. It's a complete non sequitur, this two-minute scene, and it may have been nothing more than a red herring. Or perhaps it's a hint of the life that Dick Whitman, Don's alter ego, might have led, had he not been seduced by Madison Avenue. It's easy to see the appeal of hot-rod culture to a compulsive self-reinventor like Don Draper - get behind the wheel, press hard on the gas and drive away from everything that haunts you, the faster the better.