Monte Shalett, long time owner of the Breadvan has passed

Just saw this sad news:

Hello to all of Monte's Tribe near and far. Some of you are aware of this, many of you may not be. It is with great love, care and of course the deepest of sadness that we share with you here the news of Monte's passing. The below obituary will offer more particulars, but one thing our family wants to add here...while the last year, and specifically the last 6 months of dad's life were very difficult for everyone, some truly wonderful things came with it. Monte's son Lee, his daughter-in-law Kaylee and their two twins, Maeve and Stone moved to New Orleans for the entirety of those 6 months. Monte got to be closely surrounded and held by the people he loves the most, we spent really important time together as a family, we waded in the surf of the Gulf Coast beaches, sang along to Toots and the Maytals, had pancake breakfasts, pizza nights, went on dog walks in the park, he watched as his grandchildren learned to swim in the pool he learned to swim in, he met and held his fourth grandchild Kara who was born in July, he raced go-karts, we danced in the streets on Mardi Gras day, we went to Jazz Fest where we set up camps, shared delicious treats and got to feel 3 full generations of our family moving to music together. These and many more are experiences we may have never had otherwise. It was a gift and one we will be forever grateful for. This is all to say, dad's body was tired in the end, but his spirit was full. We hope this provides some comfort for you while processing this difficult news. Please take care, and so much love to all of you who made his experience in this world richer. - The Shalett Family.

RIP Monte, I will share a few memories of moments I spent with him tomorrow.

 

So a few words on Monte:

It was a pleasure to meet him in New Orleans in 2000, he picked me up at the airport in his ZR1 Corvette and just tossed me the keys, then guided me immediately through a tour of the historic garden district! I had to concentrate on traffic and admire the houses and trees at the same time. Maybe that is why I became captivated by the beauty and multi cultural history of New Orleans.

The next day I drove the Breadvan for the very first time with him, for my Cavallino article.

This took place near Napoleonville's Madewood plantation where there was a very nice Ferrari event, Concorso on the bayou. The drive showed me just how fast the croissant charriot was, complete with sugar cane trucks dropping grass on us as we passed them, the car bouncing on the bumps, stopping at a remote bayou boat ramp with it, the locals wondering what on earth it was, almost crossing themselves, great memories. I had no idea I would race it with its subsequent owner at Le Mans Classic 2008.

RIP Monte, thanks for that special day. My condoleances to Merrit, the family and the Nawlins gang, Don Franco, John and all. Here a couple of photos (poor scans of 24x36mm slides) at Madewood at dawn 23 years ago.



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