Francisco Mir

RIP

 

My father knew him well and I recall the shop. Condolences to his family.

 

I worked as Francisco's secretary at his racing shop in the '70s--ordering Ferraris from the factory, etc. It was quite an experience. Just learned of his passing (on the internet). Condolences to his children.

 

I found this when I Googled Francisco Mir and I was shocked when I read about his passing. I worked with Francisco at W. I. Simonson the Mercedes-Benz dealer in Santa Monica. When Francisco opened he had three franchises: Ferrari, Magneti Marelli and Bosch. 90% of the shops income was Mercedes-Benz . Francisco had OEM Bosch test stands that could handle any gasoline or diesel injection pump ever made. MBZ used gasoline fuel injection pumps from 1953 to 1967. A small number of automotive diesel were also serviced. Thousands of PFE (Pacific Fruit Express) rail road refrigerator cars used a MBZ 180db similar to the auto version. Francisco could do it all and no one did it better! When the MBZ dealers were charging $22 a flat rate hour Francisco charged $32 and was booked 6 weeks in advance. The all others expected the tech to flag (claim) on average 12 hours a day but D & S the most he would allow was 6.5 or 7. Either he or the shop foreman, Louis, would flag the difference. D & S was the only square deal in town. Above all Francisco taught me to work honest and deliver the finest workmanship. God forbid a tech would guess, change a part resulting with the original problem. The Italian Ferrari Stallion would go ballistic, walk the tech outside and point to a huge roof top sign: Diagnosis and Service. "What do I call this F-ing place Guess and Change ... NO! 2&3#61% ... you change parts like a monkey I give you bananas". And he'd walk away steaming. I loved it ... you could work at a proper pace and make $10-$30 less a week. But Francisco's perks trumped the minor losses. Lunch every Monday was catered and it was the finest restaurants in West LA, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Restaurant Row. D & S brings back some fond memories.

 

Ho avuto il piacere di conoscere Francisco MIR ai tempi del ristorante BOTH! e FERRARI SANTA MONICA , ho il migliore dei riccordi di questa persona che si ha fatto strada da solo , RIP Caro Francisco

 

I was watching a segment on Channel 5 news this morning about exotic cars! They showed the cement floor, with a high gloss sheen and I immediately thought of Francisco! You could walk into his shop and literally eat off of the floors! I own a body shop now and wish I could keep my shop as he did! He was a very miticulous man and a genius, serious and funny, too! He was an awesome engineer, a great person, family man and chef! I googled him and was sad to read of his passing and at such a young age! R.I.P
I had the pleasure of meeting Francisco Mir back in the 1970's, as well! At the time, I worked at Glendale Auto Radio and Stereo, in Glendale, Ca! We met him via an independant Rolls Royce dealership, also located in Santa Monica! At the time, we were the only car stereo installers who could install a 200 watt Blaupunkt stereo system, with Fosgate amps and could conceal up to 16 speakers, without anything visible but the in-dash stero! When Francisco heard about us, he immediately contacted my boss, who had also grown up in Argentina and once they shook hands, they became fast friends! Our first job for him was his own convervitable Mercedez and once we installed a high end stereo for him, with no visible speakers showing, we were in! We started to do installations for his customers, who did not want their Ferrari's butchered, by some of the other car stereo shops in town because they wanted to maintain the integrity of the interiors of their cars, for future resale! I was only 20 years old when I first walked into his shop and we maintained a relationship with him for several years! I drove my first 308GTB, my first Daytona Ferrari and my first Spider, and many other cars, out of his shop to ours and back! Not many girls would be trusted with that kind of power and money, in their hands! My favorite moment, I think, was upon arriving at his shop one day, delivering a car and I noticed a very tall man, standing off to the side and as I got out of the car, he said something like what a beauty, talking about the car, (I'm sure) which was his own, of course! His voice almost made me faint because it was Adam West, Batman and I was at a loss for words! After regaining my composure, we talked together for several minutes, while my boss and Francisco giggled in the corner! It was the only customer I had met in person but apparently I had driven cars for many celebrities and had no idea! I phoned my "old boss", who later became my boyfriend and father to my son and he was deeply saddened to hear of Francisco's passing! We are both grateful for having known such a man, as he!