Saturday, May 31, 2008

The crazy things we save

For as long as I can remember I have considered myself very fortunate to have been blessed to have been involved with great cars. There just isn't enough time to write about all the amazing cars, the stories, the adventures and opportunities they have afforded me not to mention the fact they are what put a roof over my head and beans on the table. But as interesting as the cars have been and indeed many of them have been the stars in my life, it's the owners and drivers of many of these machines that have made my life rewarding and Heaven knows there have been a lot.

Since 1968, one such person I have had the pleasure of being able to call my close friend is Carroll Shelby who was a driver, designer/builder, team manager, lover of fast cars and obviously a living legend way ahead of his time. Like I previously mentioned there have been cars and there have been drivers who I have known some of which stand out more than others when it comes to great memories. One such memory started back in July of 1990 while I was in Hollywood and found myself enjoying the company of a family man, his mother and father as well as his car all of whom were an amazing story unto themselves. This man was none other than Carroll Shelby's heart doctor that operated on him at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In a post I made back in January I talked about the time the good doctor took me to visit Carroll in his hospital room where Carroll autographed a bumper sticker for me. Last night while digging through some files I just happen to stumble over that very bumper sticker still un-used.





Who would ever have thought that something as ordinary as a bumper sticker would have a story to tell? Respectfully I suppose that in some way Carroll has always been alive and well and living under the hood of my car and others and I suppose he will for eternity.

1 comment:

F.O. said...

WoW I want a one of this!