Photos courtesy of Matt Stone, Don Ricardo, and Scott Grundfor
Seemingly a thousand years ago, when my 1979 Fiat 124 Spider was my daily driver and I was attending Pasadena City College, I enjoyed attending what was known to LA car guys in the know as Car Night. A Thursday night gathering of car fanatics, mostly of the European persuasion, Car Night would go from place-to-place, never meeting at the same location too often throughout the year, keeping things fresh.
One of the most memorable places we gathered was the garage of Don Ricardo. A famed musician of jazz and big band, Don may be most famously remembered as the leader of “Don Ricardo’s NBC Orchestra” on the radio during the 1930s and ’40s. While that was amazing in its own right, to car guys, he was an avid devotee to Mercedes-Benz. He’d set a number of speed records and owned some very important cars ranging from 300SL Gull Wings, one of which was an alloy-bodied example with which Don set speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, to an SSK to a K Sports Roadster originally built for Rudolph Valentino and many more, even some that had been commissioned for and used by members of the Third Reich. To my great delight, tucked away in the corner, seemingly forgotten, was a DeLorean, which he said was suffering from what he thought was a failed fuel pump and some fuse box issues. Car Night that evening was unforgettable.
That night, someone said the cars kept Don young. At 20-something years old, I probably only half understood what the guy was talking about, but it made some sense. The cars gave him his sense of purpose and activity. At the time, he still drove them, despite how difficult those 1920s and ’30s cars could be, he still took them to shows and events, he was the unstoppable man. Years later, I’d heard he hired a person to drive the cars for him, and then on August 15, 2001, he passed away. I attended the auction where a few of his cars were sold, and it was nice to have met his son (stepson?) who showed me around the amazing 600 limousine.
Today, at half a century old, my mind still thinks I’m that 20-something-year-old guy roaming around other people’s property, and for a big part, I am – after all, this magazine keeps me legally traipsing around people’s garages and bringing them to you. A great one is featured below, a small shop in a coastal town in Northern California owned by an MG fanatic who, like Don, was kept young for a number of years, thanks to the hobby providing him with purpose and activity.
Also, be sure to check out all the goodies Mecum Auctions is bringing to the table during Dana Mecum’s Original Spring Classic this May 10-18 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Based on what we see here, it’ll be a humdinger of a sale – I’m hoping to attend, even if only through their online portal. Enjoy, and keep on stayin’ young! Maybe I’ll take the Fiat out for a little sprint around the hills, a sip from the fountain of youth, perhaps. Yes, I still have it.
Thanks for stopping by!
