In Memorium- Bob G.

Last month my Dad passed away at age 84. If I am known as Roger "tii" he was definitely Bob "Vette". Some of you may remember him since he helped me run my vendor booth in our early days of participation at the "Legends of the Autobahn" show in Monterey. So why is there a picture of him with a Corvette? He really wasn't a BMW-guy (he never owned one) but was a true car-guy and owned 2 Corvettes in his lifetime. The most prominent was this 1966 Convertible that he received new in the fall of 1965. The car started out life in Boston (and had the rusty frame rails to show for it) before making it out to California with us in the 1970s. One of my earliest memories of my Dad and the Vette was going for visits to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, MA.

Even well into the 2000s my Dad would drive that old Vette to and from work every day up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. It was his SoCal dream personified. He drove that car all over, including the Long Beach Gran Prix every April (dating back to when it was an F1 race) and to the Palos Verdes Concours de Elegance where he became an Executive Director and Chairman.

After a move back to Maryland he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and driving became more and more difficult. Every time I would go back to visit I wondered if that visit would be the last one where I would see him driving the car. That day eventually came on a summertime trip when he drove out into the Virginia countryside with the top down (of course). We both enjoyed the sunshine and the satisfying roar of the small block V8 upon every burst of acceleration. 

Our final ride in the Vette when he was too ill to drive and he was in the passenger's seat (a rare occasion). Here it was, the same car that had carried me as a baby until now 50+ years later. After that drive we took some pictures, put the Vette up for sale on Hemmings, and sold it a few weeks later. I asked him if he felt any remorse about seeing the car go but he said that he wasn't actually attached to the car itself. The car had already given him a lifetime of experiences with people and places and it wasn't about possession of the physical object. So go out for a drive alone, with friends, or loved ones in your BMW (or classic Vette) and enjoy the experiences that your car can bring you.