Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Hmm

[George (ygpz4re]

In response to Scottie's remarks below, I'll offer the following short stories.

Back in 1996 or '97, I was sitting in a Chick-Fil-A in Fredericksburg VA, was wearing my FoW race team jacket.  A woman approached me and excitedly asked if I owned a Ferrari.  I told her no, I just worked on the race team.  She said her brother had one and it was such a cool car.  I asked what model he had, and she said "Well, he had a Mondial, but just got a new one.  I don't know that that one's called...."  So I asked his name and if he lived here and she said yes, he lives right in town.

That brother was our own Matt Boyd, and we've been friends ever since.   I actually didn't get to meet him until a few months later when he showed up in his 308 at an FoW event.  When he introduced himself, I said "Hey, I met your sister!"  "Oh, that was you??"  "Yep!"  When I bought the ex-Joe Martz/ex-Steve Cook 308, Matt and I drove our cars over to his sister's house where there was a kids birthday party going on, and we took the kids for rides.  I think that topped their pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game....  hahahaha!!

WRT Scottie's comments about the "top collectors" - the guy who owned FoW (and the race team) when I was involved, may not have been in the same echelon as those who Scottie mentioned, but still, he had an F40 and a 250SWB (both of which were well driven - Clyde), so he was not hurting.  But with a regular wardrobe of jeans, polo shirt, and docksiders, the average person on the street would never have guessed.  Very down to earth and nice guy.

Later, Clyde wrote: "If you have to worry about maintenance, fuel mileage, insurance you've bought the wrong car!"   When I first bought my Spitfire (RIP), I decided to mod it a bit for better performance (even by cheap car standards, it was quite anemic).  As was thinking about swapping out the horrible Stromberg carb for a Weber, and the cast iron exhaust manifold for a header, I commented to a friend that I was a bit concerned about what the mpg might be.  He replied - "If you're only worried about gas milage, buy a Yugo you yellow-bellied communist!!"  Hahahahha!!

gp

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From: scott saidel <Scott_Saidel [at] Hotmail.com>
To: Lashdeep Singh <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Hmm

For me -

<snip>

BUT, having spent years in and among - it is the people.  Like this group.  The common passion brought together this amazing group, I never see or hear attitude (and I know many have reason to be more than proud of their accomplishments) and everyone is always eager to step up.  This ?brain trust? is often my first resource - especially when I have obscure questions.

When I was helping organize large events, the Ferrari guys were almost always the easiest to manage.  Came when asked, followed the rules, kept things safe sane and organized.  Lambo guys ? well, at least the open shirt, gold chain, rippling muscles crowd in South Florida ? not so much.  Of course, exceptions to every rule, but in general.

Finally, even the top of the top collectors are down to earth and approachable, at least about their cars.  I once met Mr. Marriott at Cavallino, when I was drooling over one of his cars.  He spent half an hour discussing its recent restoration.  At the time, I had a girlfriend that was an all-star in the Marriott organization.  As an award for several years of record setting numbers, she got a half hour audience with him.  All I did was admire a very admirable car.

Stroll, Shirley, Leno, Bachman, Fux ? so many more I can?t think of, have all been generous with their time and knowledge over the years.  I often imagine how hard, if not impossible, it would have been to reach them in their professional capacities.

Just my .02

scottie