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to have her photo taken next to this
truly American supercar. I’m wearing
my Nor Cal Shelby Editor media
badge, pinned to my Nor Cal Shelby
shirt so I look kind of, sort of, officious,
and that’s probably why she let me
take her photo. I love my job!
Afterwards, I wander on over to
the three “ride ‘n drive” experiences,
one offered by Ferrari, another by
Lamborghini and a third by Alfa
Romeo. Them eyetalians are here in
force, ready to conquer America’s
sports car market by letting you step
right up, set your sorry derriere in
some rich smelling leather, then bang
through them thar Stallion, Bull, and
Dragon gears to your little heart’s de-
light around Amelia Island!
Well, come to find out, it’s not
quite that easy, because after nosing
around a little bit (sniff-sniff-sniff) I
discover one has to be on an already
developed “appointment list,” which
you had to be placed on after inquiring
about purchasing one of their wee
beasties at one of their dealerships. In
other words, you had to be somewhat
pre-approved before being placed on
the “ride ‘n drive” list, which makes
total sense, because if some flea in-
fested, odoriferous yahoo rolls up to
ask for the keys, they can simply reply,
“
You’re not on the list.
” Fleas and
leather don’t go together!
However, I did something I always
do at ride ‘n drives! No, not ask for the
keys — mainly because I was more
than a bit pooh-tinky from wearing
the same shirt two days in a row in the
Florida humidity, not to mention I
probably had a flea or two from my
rental car and hotel room. Instead, I
asked the absolutely too cutesie Alfa
Romeo girls, both with wonderful “la
dolce vita” accents, if I could have my
picture taken with one of them. They
agreed, one posing and the other pho-
tographing, as I told them I send my
wife an email picture of me with a gor-
geous woman whenever I am away at
a car event, telling her I am having a
“good” time with one of the locals. She
always replies, “
What do you talk
about?
” My wife’s cutesie, but she can
also be so mean.
While leaving, I thought it would be
easiest to just cut through the main
floor of the Ritz-Carlton. Well, wrongo
again, Natty Bumppo; all of a sudden
I realized, too late, I had made a cou-
ple of righty-tighties when they should
have been lefty-loosies. Anyway, in an
alcove just off the hallway maze, I spot
a table occupied by a very beautiful
lady wearing a name tag saying “Vol-
unteer.” Her name is actually Gara,
she lives on “the island,” and proudly
serves as a volunteer during Amelia
Island Concours Auto Week (one of a
cadre of about 700 volunteers). Any-
way, when she sees my NorCal Shelby
white collar shirt, this wonderful
woman proceeds to tell me a great
Cobra story about her Cobra earrings.
You read that right, the dangling
baubles that hang from the lobules au-
riculae.
Gara’s husband is a verified, cer-
tified, Cobra fanatic from way back,
and currently drives a 427 Cobra
replica (I think she said an Everett-
Morrison), in which they both enjoy
cruising around coastal Florida for no
other reason than they just like gettin’
“
bugs in their teeth and wind in their
hair.
” One fine day she goes to put on
her Cobra earrings and finds she is
missing one, and that just couldn’t be.
Like most women, she keeps all her
jewelry in one place, and one place
only. She complains to her husband,
and he starts doing the old Jimmy
Stewart, “Ah, shucks,” routine, sheep-
ishly staring at the ground, shuffling
his feet, and doing the old, “
Well, uh, I
uh…
”
Come to find out, Mr. Amelia Is-
land Cobra guy took one of her ear-
rings apart, then used the Cobra
emblem logo as a good looking addi-
tion to the top of his dipstick. I’m
guessing he told her he couldn’t
change his oil without it because it
was a quick and sure way to find the
dipstick. The whole time Gara is
telling me this story she is laughing
like crazy, but I’m also guessing she
may have called him a “dipstick” as
she went online to purchase the most
expensive pair of Cobra earrings she
could find. Ya’ gotta’ love it!
Motostalgia Auctions d’ Elegance
is pretty much the new game in town
when it comes to Amelia Island auc-
tions, but they chose a great location
to “see and be seen,” right off Amelia
Island Parkway and directly between
Bonham’s and RM/Sotheby. If you’re
traveling to Bonham’s or RM/Sotheby
you’ll see a great big Motostalgia auc-
tion banner, so why not drive right on
in and take a looky-loo or two, which
is exactly what got me to make a last
minute turn into their parking lot.
Walking around, taking a gander
at what the new guy has to offer, I’m
really kind of impressed, because their
initial Amelia Island auction includes
such first class vehicles as a ‘66 Fer-
rari 330 GT 2+2, ‘06 Mercedes
McLaren SLR, ‘67 Ferrari 330 GTC,
and their main attraction, a ‘35 Mer-
cedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster. Of
course, I’m there to see the Shelby in-
spired automobiles, a ‘67 Shelby
GT500, a 427 Cobra replica and a ‘65
Sunbeam Tiger.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 69