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Along the Natchez Trace

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Boys and Their Toys

Bill's sister, Alberta and her guy,  Ernie, recently took a vacation to Monterrey, California.  Besides visiting with family (this is Ernie's hometown) they went to car shows and car auctions.

Ernie bought the car shown in the next photo...
This car was intended to race in the NASCAR circuit, but, as sometimes happens, it became obsolete before it ever hit the track.

This place in Monterrey, aside from the other car shows, also has an auction where very prestigious automobiles are put up for bid.

There was a Ferrari that sold 27 million dollars!
Can you even imagine bidding on such a car?
Heck, when we were at Monte Carlo, in Monaco a couple of years ago, I was impressed just standing beside a red Ferrari that was parked on the street...  I'd probably have swallowed my eye teeth just thinking about bidding on that one in Monterrey last month!!!!

 Anyway...  Ernie bid on this automobile, and is now the owner of this "potential" NASCAR vehicle.  Last night it was delivered..... 

 This truck brought it to Ernie's shop last night, and they unloaded it this morning.
 This morning, Bill & I stopped by the restaurant where Ernie has breakfast.  He, and the driver of that huge transport tuck were having breakfast and we joined them.  This photo shows (big photo on the left) Marky...  a young man who works for Ernie....  he took the car for a spin in the next-door parking lot.  Now... this car can go 200+ mph....  Marky got in it...  took off...  and SPUN out through this parking lot, into the lot next door.  The upper left just shows the dust he made..... I mean, this guy was MOVIN' ON!!!!  Spun around and came back to where we all were standing.  When he got out of the car, Marky was shaking like a leaf!  He loved it!  Can you imagine driving a car...  a car that's never been raced...  a car in pristine condition...  a car that your boss just bought in California at a very prestigious auction...  one that your boss has never even sat in...  through downtown parking lots....  and even though that ride lasted less than 5 minutes.... YOU did it!  And you brought it back still intact and good shape?  Heck, I'd be more than shaking.  As Marky said...  he thought he might need a set of clean underwear.

What a treat it was talking with driver of the truck.  He actually lives near Orlando, Florida, but spends about 3 weeks of each month transporting VERY expensive cars throughout the USA.
 A view of the engine of the car Ernie bought...  as well as a couple of other shots...

I loved talking with the driver.... He'd told us about the multi-million dollar Ferrari he'd transported, so I had to ask him what vehicle in the "low life" category he'd had on board.

He told us about a heap of "parts" he'd picked up,,,  not even a total vehicle.  I wish I could remember the name, but it was right down there with our little Scion type car.  Oh well....  we never aspired to be the big "players" in life....

We all had other things to do....  Bill took a guy who may work out as a great "handyman" to a rental house we own here in Farmington to check on some work that needs done....  I headed off looking for some geocaches.

An hour or so later, we both found ourselves back at Ernies.... and looky here....

Looks like a Tom Sawyer, "Painting the Fence" kind of scenario to me...
Guys who ordinarily would be at their day jobs...  running wires for the electric company, guys who really do have day jobs...  all were very happily washing this great car that Ernie had brought to Farmington.


Quite a beauty, isn't it?
Even if you have no interest in this kind of thing, a person really has to admire the engineering, the technology.... and really...  the pure speed..... that this thing can attain.

I'm always amazed at the diversity of life we see...  and live.  

That's All For Today!

15 comments:

  1. You had that one titled correctly, "boys and their toys!"

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  2. Now Ernie needs a brown shirt, brown shorts, and one of those electronic tracking things to carry around.

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  3. I'm not even a "car guy", but that sort of thing is always fun.
    Once upon a time, my wife's company sponsored a "Pro-Mod" dragster. (It would do over 200 mph and a quarter mile in around six seconds)
    That was a heap of fun for some of my "pub-buddies" and I, especially since we would end up with "VIP" passes, that allowed us to park the motor home in the pit area.
    Hard to beat that!

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  4. You have a Scion? Me too. A 2005 Xb, bought in 2004. It now has 237,000 miles on it, and has transported thousands of cats for spay neuter (and smells like it). It still runs, however, and is my only transportation. It's scratched up, drivers seat is kind of scrunched, from me sitting on it that many miles, and the seating is torn. It has dents and is missing a few parts. But it still runs!

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  6. Now that's quite a toy! Sometimes you have to let boys be boys... :cD

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  7. I'm not one of those 'boys' who likes watching cars race around in circles (usually under caution flags), but I can appreciate all the hard work and engineering that goes into them.

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  8. What a nice boss; I know Marky grinned all day long.

    My boss bought a new motor cycle once. A BMW, big, 8 or 9 hundred liter, as I recall. He asked me to drive one of the men in the company over to pick it up. When we got to the dealership the salesman handed me the keys--"Jack said you could drive it back to the plant."

    Whoo hoo. I lost the guy in the car at the fist light.

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  9. butterbean carpenterAugust 31, 2013 at 2:58 PM

    Howdy Sharon & Bill,

    Did Bill get to take it for a 'spin' ??? Did y'all take the motorhome to Monaco, so you could stand beside a Ferrari ?? I'll bet they'll have to 'scrape' the grin off of that guy's face !!!

    Hope y'all have a WONDERFUL HAPPY WEEKEND and Bill gets to drive the UPS race car !!!!

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  10. Investing multi-millions of dollars in a car sounds like an awfully risky thing to do!

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  11. I'm not really into watching racing but I would sure take that car for a spin in a heart beat!!

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  12. 27 Mil?? :::THUNK::: (I just passed out)

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  13. That would be a great car for the West Texas highways. I like it!!!

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  14. Yup, boys will be boys! Great photos and story.

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