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the blackest black hue. It was enough
to make you…well, let’s just say I
haven’t felt that way in years.
I take my photographs, all the
while noticing that nearby a very born
to the manor, sophisticated, gray-
haired, southern gentleman was ever
so politely dining on a light lunch with
a beautiful, obviously very gracious
woman of the same age. But some-
thing didn’t seem quite right, although
her melt in your mouth, silky smooth
southern accent was very gentle on
the acoustic meatus. Then I figured it
out, for even though this very adroit
man of the south was wearing tailored
slacks, I could see he wasn’t wearing
any socks. I know that’s oversharing,
but really? Come on, if you can afford
to have a bite to eat at Gooding before
bidding six to seven figures on a col-
lector car, you can afford to wear a de-
cent pair of socks in your obviously
very expensive Italian loafers.
I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts
Charlie Ross, Gooding’s more than
proper British auctioneer, always
wears socks, no matter what the occa-
sion or part of the world where he hap-
pens to be auctioneering. Maybe I
should be saying, “pounds to crum-
pets.” No matter, you get the idea.
Friday March 11th
RM/Sotheby Auction Preview
Motostalgia Auction Preview
After literally being jolted out of a
deep slumber by the trusty old iphone
assaulting my unsuspecting brain
cells, I now find myself, “
puttin’ on the
Ritz
” – Taco 1983, while struttin’ my
mo’ bad shtuff across a beautifully
manicured lawn bordering the At-
lantic Ocean. The reason I am doing
this casual “stroll is how I roll” on this
plush greenery is to take photos of
classic, exotic, and muscle cars strate-
gically placed throughout the beauti-
fully landscaped grounds of The
Ritz-Carlton, as in “la-tee-da, dahling,”
on Amelia Island. As I’m snapping
away at all the metallic sculptures re-
splendent in shinier than shiny paint,
and adorned with brighter than bright
chrome, all to the sound of crashing
waves on a nearby sandy beach, I can’t
help but think, “Life is good.”
However, I had to bring myself
back down to earthly reality by taking
photos of the following two Shelby AC
cousins going to the highest bidder at
the RM/Sotheby auction being held at
the Ritz-Carlton. The 1960 AC Ace-
Bristol went for $495,000, and the
1963 Shelby 289 Cobra hammered at
$1,155,000.
Taking a little time out from the
overwhelming awe of being sur-
rounded by so much auto beauty, I
enter the ritzy Ritz to visit the lobby
floor vendors exhibit area. This is ba-
sically every nook and cranny of all
the rooms and even the hallways, to
see some really neato-frito petrobilia,
automobilia, memorabilia, and in fact,
just about any type of “bilia” you can
imagine.
The first gentleman I encounter is
Chuck of Chuck Harders Restorations,
whose specialty is gas pump barn
finds, gas pump restorations, gas sta-
tion signs, and generally any type of
vintage petroliana available on planet
earth. He must be doing something
right, because I saw a big ol’ SOLD
sign hanging on an absolutely fantas-
tic looking, unrestored, White Eagle
gas pump from way back in the day.
And I’ll bet Chuck was one happy
petroliana camper, because that bad
boy went for $9,500 “
greenback, a dol-
lars
” – Kingston Trio 1963.
The next objet d’ auto art, is some-
thing my protruding eyeballs do a car-
toon like popping towards, an OMG
1/10th GT 40, the likes of which my
sore eyes have never seen before.
Since my cornea were now literally
glued to this mixed metals sculpture,
I was forced to follow them to the art
piece, where I gently pried them from
the delicate, but very solidly built
GT40. After this somewhat crude dis-
play of ophthalmological expertise, I
introduce myself to Jamie of Jamie
Schena Design + Sculpture, who is an
industrial designer and artist, a great
career combination for creating what
is obviously a great rendition of a
GT40. After discussing his independ-
ent, intelligent thoughts on auto art,
him doing most of the talking and me
doing most of the listening (a rare oc-
currence, to say the least), I explore
his website to find more insight into
his art:
“
I use scrap steel to create sculp-
tures, giving the material new life
through industrial art. I have a very
kinaesthetic approach to my work as I
manipulate steel through welding,
grinding and sanding until I am satis-
fied with the result
.” In other words,
the kid’s good, real good!
Stepping outside onto the Ritzy
Carlton’s large, covered veranda
straight out of “Gone With the Wind,”
I see a sight for sore eyes (caused by
peeling them off the GT40 sculpture):
another great rendition of a GT40,
only this time it is a life-size model
being made by FoMoCo. And if “that
don’t beat all”, standing nearby is a
very nice, life size young lady repre-
senting Ford, who accepts my request
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 68