| Author | Message | ||
| DanPic (Danp)
New member Username: Danp Post Number: 33 Registered: 2-2002 |
Ahhhhh...Johnnies!  Good thing you guys took DES there and not Tito's or The Hat! | ||
| rob guess (Beast)
Junior Member Username: Beast Post Number: 107 Registered: 5-2003 |
DES; If you keep writing about how much fun you had, i will never be able to sit down. My butt is sore from all of the repeated kicks i give myself for not making the time to get out there. Keep up the awsome story telling! Rob | ||
| martin j weiner,M.D. (Mw575)
Intermediate Member Username: Mw575 Post Number: 1088 Registered: 5-2001 |
DES- You do write well. Sounds like youse guys had a ball-Glad I wasn't with you!!!(at my age). | ||
| Ralph Koslin (Ralfabco)
Member Username: Ralfabco Post Number: 550 Registered: 3-2002 |
DES: Don't forget to include DEtailS about being picked up by The Bird. Everyone wants to know. | ||
| "The Don" (The_don)
Senior Member Username: The_don Post Number: 6122 Registered: 8-2002 |
Dan, my car is a 78.... | ||
| "The Don" (The_don)
Senior Member Username: The_don Post Number: 6121 Registered: 8-2002 |
Tom, I thought it was better then the Fredricks of Hollywood show. (if you have seen the catalog then you know what I mean) | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Advanced Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 4204 Registered: 9-2001 |
the pajama party at palms was great, better than the victoria's secret fashion show. Des you forgot the little joke we played on Matt - - leaving you in Vegas | ||
| Pat Pasqualini (Enzo)
Member Username: Enzo Post Number: 788 Registered: 2-2002 |
Once again DES great writing! | ||
| Martin - Cavallino Motors (Miami348ts)
Senior Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 5253 Registered: 5-2001 |
I must have been dreaming about these cutties in the nighties at the Palm then | ||
| Byron (Bmyth)
Member Username: Bmyth Post Number: 983 Registered: 10-2002 |
hehe... edited? I thought it was b/c we were SOOOOO tired from the drive up and the dinner, that we all just crashed and went to sleep. But that doesn't explain how Dan passed Matt at 5am in the lobby... hmmmmm | ||
| Martin - Cavallino Motors (Miami348ts)
Senior Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 5251 Registered: 5-2001 |
What was the edited part? I have no clear recollection of any of those events myself  | ||
| Jim E (Jimpo1)
Intermediate Member Username: Jimpo1 Post Number: 2118 Registered: 7-2001 |
Cool! I read it first! | ||
| DES (Sickspeed)
Senior Member Username: Sickspeed Post Number: 5417 Registered: 8-2002 |
Bob and I headed back to the launch, where some people had already left. The parking lot wasn�t as full as it was when Ron and I first got there, still, the remaining exotica was breathtaking. I�ll never get tired of seeing a Ferrari. Little groups of people were sprinkled about the lot, engaged in their respective conversations. Bob and I joined into one like we had never left. Among those people who were headed to Vegas, plans were being finalized. The big �guess what� of the afternoon was that Roland Linder was going to meet us in Vegas. I just hung around, bouncing from conversation to conversation, awaiting the exodus. When the last of the goodbyes had been exchanged and all were ready to go, Martin put my suitcase in the back of his <chuckle> Ford Ranger and we were ready to go. Regrouping at the gas station for go juice, I was riding with Matt in his gray 1977 Ferrari 308 GTS (damn, I�ll never get tired of saying that ). Kevin & Eldon were in the NSX, Martin & his wife were in the Ford Ranger, Steve & Tom were in Steve�s Porsche Boxster and Byron & Sunny were in the black XJ6. A 5-minute stop at the gas station was the first of several before we made it to Las Vegas. Once we were on the road, the top was down in the only Ferrari making the trip and Matt and I had the warm California air in our faces, a rumbling engine behind our heads and nothing but fun to look forward to. Matt made a special MP3 for the ride, complete with the two best driving songs I know: Smack My ••••• Up by Prodigy and Sandstorm by Darude. Also on the play list was Staind. Traffic was light and the ride was smooth� for a while. A little confusion as to whether everything was ok with one of the other cars led to an impromptu stop on the side of the road. Little did we know, the joke was on us when the 308 stalled just as we parked. Steve pointed out that something was leaking from Matt�s engine, as there were drops of oil all over the back of the car. Further investigation showed that there was a cracked coil. Everyone was bewildered at how such a thing could occur � no one�s ever seen anything like that before. Me? I just hung around taking pictures. I don�t know a cracked coil from a candied apple, I just know that •••• happens. As luck would have it, there was a Kragen auto parts store only a few miles from where we pulled over. Steve & Matt jumped in the Boxster and made there way over there to get Matt a new coil. The rest of us just hung around for the 15 minutes they were gone, chatting about whatever. Steve & Matt returned with a new coil for the 308 and cold drinks for the rest of us. The new coil was leaking before it even came out of the box, but Matt still put it in; what choice did he have? He got in the car, turned the key and she started right up. So after a brief but seemingly harmless scare, we were ready to restart our journey. Pictures of the infamous cracked coil will be posted soon. Although things were fine and the only stops we made after that were at gas stations, Matt�s 308 was still running high water and oil temperatures and when your car is doing that in the middle of the DESert, it�s kinda hard to have fun. The fact that he was carrying a hefty passenger didn�t really help the car, especially on hills, but we still made it. Shortly before sundown, we made our last stop before Vegas, for gas. Martin bought everyone burritos while Matt played with the cute b!tch from the next pump over. The ride down the final hill into Vegas was like one from a book or television show. A caravan of varying sports cars, inhabited by people from across the country, strolling through a crepuscular heat inconspicuously mingled with the Sin City traffic. We were there. We made it to our DEStination, all cars and persons therein, in tact. I guess I was the only one in the group who�d never been to Vegas. I yielded that signature look that all tourists are cursed with as I thrust my camera at every obscenely lit structure we passed. Traffic was apparently thicker than usual; a notion I picked up from Matt�s verbal displeasure with the number of cars on the road. His colorful use of profanity at the duration of each red light was another indication that his previous trips to Vegas went a little smoother. Deep down, he was worried about his car. We all were. Vegas Ok, so we�re there, right�? We�re in the city of lights. Sin City. Las Vegas � suspiciously rhyming with Lost Wages, as so eloquently pointed out by The Don. So what happened, you ask�? Well� What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. That was the agreement. However, the council has permitted me to elaborate on one or two things. For your edification, of course. We arrived at our hotel, where Roland Linder had already made it and was waiting. Five or ten minutes were taken for room check-ins and then we agreed to meet back downstairs in 30 minutes and go for dinner. Showers and a change of clothes were in order and we all made our way to our rooms. A half hour later, one by one, we slowly trickled downstairs to the meeting place. After the majority of us had convened back to the meeting point, Matt & Kevin decided to go to Auto Zone so Matt could pick up two more coils. He had called information before we made it to the hotel and there was actually a twenty-four hour Auto Zone only a few blocks from where we were staying. �Only in Vegas�, I thought. They went off as the rest of us waited for the final few who had not yet made it downstairs. Finally, we were all together again; a decision was made on where we would have dinner and separate taxis ushered us to P.F. Chang�s. If, by some chance in life, I get to write for some famous car magazine, that night will definitely be recalled in any given �memoir� article you see some columnists write. It was a night I�ll never forget. In a city as foreign to me as New York City is to anyone who�s never been, there I sat at a dinner table, in a restaurant with some of the most interesting and diverse people I would ever meet. To my right was Martin; not happy that his beers weren�t being brought to the table fast enough. In between deep sighs, he cracked jokes and kept me laughing. Next to him, his lovely wife, Marian, who was always smiling. To my left, after coming back from Auto Zone, was Matt. Downing iced tea after iced tea, he seemed to feel a little better about his car was a little more relaxed. Across from me, next to Martin�s wife, was Tom. A native East-Coaster, having just as good a time as I was. Next to Matt was a young man from France who couldn�t have been any older than myself and probably has more driving ability in either of his little toes than I can ever hope to have. He spoke no English but I was honored all the same to be in his presence. Next to him, Roland Linder. Do I really need to continue�? Here is someone who used to race cars back when my father was half the age I�m at now and his attitude was just as, if not younger, than mine. A man who doesn�t rush when he walks or talks. He takes his time with everything, enjoying everything life has to offer. I thought about Forza�s May issue, # 45; the one with his F40 Evoluzione on the top strip of the cover. �FERRARI RESSURECTED� it reads, in all caps. The car in the magazine, undoubtedly a Ferrari to be whispered about and marveled at for many generations to come, belongs to the man sitting two seats down from me. I almost lost consciousness when the topic of the French Quarter Classic in New Orleans came up. Someone mentioned that I was going. Surprise, surprise, Roland would be there, too. He and I started talking about it. It was unbelievable. I�ve only wanted to strap myself into a racecar for the last 24 years and here I was talking to someone who actually did it. Not only that, but I�m going to see him there � and he�s bringing the F40 LM�! The whole dinner was very surreal, talking with people I had only met in person some 24 hours ago. I was eerily aware that everyone I spoke to throughout the weekend was really nice; that night was no exception. After we left the restaurant, we [edit] Sorry. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. The night graduated into morning, sleepless and hazy. Matt was leaving early to beat the heat and traffic so as to avoid any trouble his car might give him. At 5AM, we passed each other in the lobby of the hotel, he on his way out, I on my way upstairs. I was going to leave with Sunny, Byron & Tom at 7:30 and decided it would be best that I didn�t sleep or I wouldn�t wake up in time. I wandered the casino, watching the older folks take advantage of the down time, as they casually gave their lives away, one quarter or nickel at a time, with each pull of the slot machine arm. I�m not much of a gambler. Ok, that�s a lie. I�m not much of a gambler anymore and the knowledge of the true odds in any �gambling� situation keep me far enough at bay that the allure of slot machines, card tables and roulette wheels don�t tempt me. I went back up the hotel room, flipped through the television channels and gazed out the window, watching the sun come up over a city I had just spent a very surreal 9 hours in. Eventually, the phone rang; it was Tom asking if I was ready. We would meet downstairs in 15 minutes. I stuffed my things into my suitcase and headed for the elevator. I was the first one downstairs but not for long. Once we were all a group again, we made our way to our respective vehicles. With Sunny at the wheel, the ride home was a quick one. Plans were made for a drive later that afternoon via cell phone, thanks to Byron. Our first stop, however, would be at Johnny Pastrami�s, for lunch with JL. From there, we reconvened to JL�s apartment only to relocate to a nearby park, about 15 minutes later. The cultivation of exotics ensued and a fabulous Sunday drive was ahead of us. The 6th and final part will come tomorrow folks, i promise, followed by pictures. Sorry for the delay, please don't hit me. |