Driven World March Issue 2012

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After all...it’s a driven world

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF SUPERCAR SUNDAY

Contents ISSUE 26, MARCH 2012 EDITOR IN CHIEF ART DIRECTOR

Tim Cummings

SENIOR COPY EDITOR

Louis Berkman

DESIGN

1080 Signs

WEB DESIGN

Jeff Balbien

STORIES BY

07

PHOTOGRAPHY ADVERTISING

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Dustin Troyan

Louis Berkman Brian Zacuto Jay Parille Eliot Roberts Dustin Troyan Greg Grudt 1080 Signs Auto Gallery All Car Parts, LTD. Lavaggio Shaver Automotive Group Coastline Motorsport Valley Pacific Nutek Wheels Fred Staul-State Farm Greystone Concours Supercharger Connection Papa Jay’s Hot Rods Dent Mechanix Socal Shop Guy Fusion Motor Sports Legacy Awards Western Collision Center Still Saving Lives-Car Show

Payments and Deadline Payments are made in advance of printing.

Please submit payment with ad submission.

Artwork due by the 1st of the month prior to publication month.

Preferred payment method is check.

We do accept credit cards.

Please make checks payable to: Connected Media Group, LLC. 23907 Ventura Blvd., Calabasas, CA. 91302 Questions or comments: Dustin@connectedmediagroup.com 818-516-5053 SIZING: Full Page 8.625” x 11.125” 1/2” Page 7.875” x 5” (if horizontal) and 3.875” x 10.375” (if vertical) 1/4” Page 3.875” x 5” Business Card 2” x 3.5” Artwork Specifications: HI-REZ PDF or PDF/X1-A / CMYK with all high resoulution graphics and fonts embedded Email artwork to: Dustin@connectedmediagroup.com

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from the editor Cut The Grass STORY BY DUSTIN TROYAN

I

like cutting the lawn. I always have. I don’t know why exactly, but from a very young age, I took great pleasure in cutting our lawn. Trees too for that matter. I love cutting trees. I remember driving around with a business partner and I would always point out yards that need some major tree trimming and grass cutting and would say “man, I would love to go over there and cut the grass…”. He thought I was nuts, but to this day, I really enjoy yard work and gardening. In fact, as a kid I had a business cutting grass in the neighborhood and some trees. Looking back, boy did I worked cheap.

I remember from a young age my mom used to cut the grass. We couldn’t afford gardeners and my parents were the type that if something needed to be done at the house, we did it. I used to follow behind her with my toy lawn mower and pretend that I was cutting the grass. All I wanted to do as a kid is to use the real lawn mower and cut that grass. Then the day finally came…..I think I was 7 or 8 years old, and mom let me do it. I am sure she assisted me, but I cut the grass.

A huge sense of pride swelled from within, I CUT THE GRASS. I couldn’t wait to tell my father. I was a man.

I waited for what seemed an eternity for my father to come home from work. Hours seemed like days, where was he? This new emotion, I had no idea what it was, but I knew it felt good, it felt right, it felt natural.

I wanted more and I wanted to tell my dad!

When I had finished cutting the grass for the first time, my mom rewarded me with my first allowance, a five dollar bill. A whole five dollar bill. Man, I was rich! Not only did I feel like a man, but I generated my first income. What a day! I took that five bucks, ran to my room and put it in my secret hiding spot. Sure there were some pennies, quarters and nickels, but now I had a whole five dollar bill. It just couldn’t get any better.

Ah, the moment I heard my dad’s truck round the corner, that little Ford Courier bouncing down the street, it was time! I knew he would be so proud of me, it was a momentous occasion. I can still see my father walking up from his truck, he was probably exhausted, but you never see how tired superman is, he had his work bag in his hands, I ran up to him as fast as I could.

“Daddy, daddy guess what, guess what”, he put down his bag to give me his full attention. “Daddy daddy, I cut the grass, mommy let me cut the grass, I cut the grass.” He smiled and said “let me see your work”. He looked at the job I did, walked around the yard, checked the edges, smiled and told me how proud he was of me and what a fine job I did. I was beaming! That sense of pride again swelled. It was the exact response I needed. I felt, incredible. Then, he asked me an odd question: “Son, did you mother reward you with anything, an allowance, money?” My mind was racing, “why, what, but, it was my allowance, I did a job, I got

paid, why is he asking this question?” I answered that she did. He told me to “go get it and bring it to me.” So I raced off to my hiding spot, retrieved my prized five bucks and went back to my father who was still outside. He put out his hand and said “give it to me”. “WHAT! Give it to him!?” I gave him the five bucks and he pulled out his wallet, but the five bucks in it and put it back in his pants. I had no idea what just happened. My father smiled and explained that “we were a family, the house was also mine and as a family we all contribute. “” So, there was no need for him to pay me for helping the family.” Further, he explained that since I was now “big” enough to cut the grass, it was no longer my mom’s job but my responsibility. “As a family, we all must contribute and support each other and now I can contribute.” Now, I wanted that five bucks and there was definitely a moment of confusion, but more than anything I wanted to contribute to my family and to make them proud.

I am not sure why this came out as I sat down to write the letter from the editor, perhaps it is because I am going to cut the grass in a few minutes, perhaps I am sentimental, perhaps it is because so many things in our culture don’t make sense to me. All I know is that my father was right and there are times to contribute and great pride can be taken from it. Achievement is natural, it is honest and it is true. Let’s achieve!

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The SuperCar Sunday

Driven World Project Car STORY BY DUSTIN TROYAN

Shant at Western Collision Center (www.westerncollision2.com) is making some great headway on the Supercar Sunday/Driven World Project 1968 Camaro. The body panels have been removed, everything that can come of is off. The car is being stripped down to the metal and Shant is going to pull out all the stops and make this one amazing example of a custom 1968 Camaro. Plans include: Shaving the drip rails, filling body panels for a smoother look, sending everything out for blasting and really going “the distance.� For more info please visit: www.drivenworld.com/forums.

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driven to health

Going Vegan...

STORY BY BRIAN ZACUTO

I

f you had asked me 6 months ago to write an article about healthy living I would have laughed! Recently I took on a new lifestyle and decided that I not only wanted to eat healthy, I wanted to FEEL BETTER. Most of you know me, I am Brian Zacuto.

I have worked in the automotive performance aftermarket for nearly 20 years, I have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and all of them always accepted me for who I was. Over the last year or so I have been getting hints from many of my friends, family, and acquaintances that enough was enough. I constantly heard, “Hey BIG guy”, or “Hey BIG HOSS”….and quite frankly I was tired of it.

I did not take this on as a New Year’s Resolution, nor did I set any unrealistic goals.

I firmly believe that unrealistic goals are a recipe for failure, so why set myself up for failure. After some intense research, and a lot of discussion with people that have done it I decided to go with a Vegan lifestyle for 30 days. After a 10 day juice fast (oh boy that was fun) I have been consuming 100% plant based food and proteins, and after 30 days I have lost nearly 60 lbs. and I feel amazing!

My goal with this column over the next few issues is to help curb the fear of the change; I want to enlighten people on the experience so they too can make a lifestyle change for better health! I constantly hear “I cannot do that”, or “There is no way I can do that”, or “That’s impossible for me”. I am here to tell you, you can do it, it is not impossible, and the outcome is worth it!

I will start with some of the most common questions I get: 1) What made you decide to make a change?

I was just plain sick and tired of being sick and tired.

2) What was the hardest part about making such and drastic change in your lifestyle?

The hardest part for me was getting

through the first 10 days; this is the time that you are going through so many emotions! I suffered most from the SHOCK of not doing what I had been doing EVERY morning for 25 years, drinking coffee.

3) How do you go out to eat with friends?

The first couple of times were rough, but once I started feeling better it became easy.

Most restaurants have a Vegan or Vegetarian menu, if they don’t it is very easy to order a salad and ask for the cheese and other garbage to be left out. Get your dressing on the side (I used to laugh at people that did this).

4) How do you prepare your meals after having cooked one way for so long?

It’s funny, I feel like I am learning how to cook all over again. I am no longer using SALT, and heavy cream, EVERYTHING is fresh vegetable or fruit based. Learning how to cook vegetables and not damage them in the process is definitely an art. I have gotten better; however I have a LONG way to go.

5) Does it cost more to live this new lifestyle?

At first yes, you need to invest in some “tools” of the trade, a juicer, a good blender, food processor, and a GOOD knife. The initial investment in tools for me was only about 85.00 since I already had the rest. I also spent about 3-4 trips to the market to figure out how to buy my veggies. After some failures I learned how to buy and store them so they would last longer before final preparation.

6) Where do you shop?

I try to shop anyplace that has certified Organic Vegies. While I know there is some fraud in this area I trust the stores I patronize to do the right thing. I have found that Trader Joes is the best source for good quality Vegies; I try to stay away from GMO food as much as possible.

7) How does your significant other adapt to this new lifestyle?

It took about 10 days (yes she wanted

NOTHING to do with the juice fast) for her to really come around. After a few meals that I didn’t screw up she realized that it just felt better to eat better. We BOTH have far more energy after eating; neither of us feels like sitting around after eating. So my advice to anyone with a wife or husband is this: Give it a try, he or she will make an attempt to support you by trying. Once you both get into it, it’s really FUN! 8) How much do you eat?

In one word MORE! I eat so much more and more often than I did before! Because you are not eating over processed food laced with chemicals your body breaks it down sooner and more efficiently. I eat DOUBLE what I normally did, so if you like to eat this is the lifestyle for you!

9) What are the changes you have noticed since you started?

To be blunt, I process my intake allot faster. The first few weeks you might not want to take a long road trip! The other positive things are, I am sharper, and my mind just works better! I am shrinking! My energy level is through the ceiling, I have more selfconfidence than I ever have! I am off of ALL of the over the counter pills I was taking for joint pain and heart burn, my skin looks and feels healthier, and most important I feel in control of something that was out of control.

I STOPPED snoring (your welcome dear), 99% of the things I complained about are gone!

10) How long do you plan to do this?

FOREVER, I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK TO THE OLD ME! In closing I would like to invite questions from anyone that wants to ask, I am available via email @ brianzacuto@gmail.com. I do not suggest that anyone makes a drastic lifestyle change like this without medical supervision.

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The Century Tow Drive Phone: 1 (818) 993-7555 Email: centurytow2010@gmail.com Website: www.centurytowguys.com STORY BY DUSTIN TROYAN

When the guys from Century Tow call you and invite you to a “Drive”, you go!

Century Tow is one of those companies who don’t advertise and really don’t need to. Their reputation of transporting the rarest and finest cars ensures that they are always busy. From running cars for exotic car dealers, to collections, to Pebble Beach, Jeff and Joel are passionate, honest, hardworking and they just plain care.

They have saved many of us in times of emergency and always take great care of our cars.

Just because they tow the world’s finest doesn’t mean they won’t tow your vehicle, they will. They have towed many of my rusty old muscle cars and many of my friends. The nice thing about Century Tow is that they treat each vehicle as if it is the rarest and this ensures safe transport.

The day of the drive the group met at Lavaggio in Agoura Hills and we were met with a warm reception and delectable delights. From there the group of about 30 cars headed over to a couple of the finest collections on the West Coast. Century Tow went out or their way spoiling us with the amazing collections and a great lunch!

Thank you Century Tow!

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driven to cook “They Are The Same Except For The Differences.”

STORY BY LOUIS BERKMAN

A

mong my many musings on food, I have always remembered the importance of maintaining the provenance of your recipes and recipe ingredients. This not only includes organic vs. non-organic, but the flavor profiles of specific prepared ingredients. Many a great recipe has produced inelegant results because the recipe didn’t include specific information as to the BRAND of ingredients used. Unknown substitution of ingredients often produces less than stellar results and the preparer doesn’t know why.

This became an issue for me as I have been trying to resuscitate many of my grandmother’s recipes. As is usually the case in old recipes, Grandma’s recipes are written as if you already know how to make them. Since I didn’t know how to make them, I would follow a recipe exactly and the end result would just be off …not the flavor of my grandmother’s recipe, but a sort of approximation of the correct flavor.

After grappling with this issue for a while I had an epiphany. My grandmother didn’t have a lot of the ingredients we cook with today. She fried her justly famous potato latkes not in vegetable oil but Crisco. As I later found out, this one difference is why her latkes always came out crisp and golden brown. I have translated this knowledge to a number of recipes with fairly impressive success.

I have also developed a great respect for Crisco. For the small amount of frying that I do, the difference Crisco makes over vegetable oil is remarkable. Because Crisco is a naturally saturated vegetable fat, it can take a LOT of heat and not break down like most vegetable oils. The lack of break down produces crisp, NOT GREASY fried food.

Fish fried in Crisco is a whole different experience; light, clean tasting and crunchy.

If you are going to go ahead and create the

mess anyway, why not produce the best result possible?

My first use of this Great Knowledge came when my wife and I made our last batch of shrimp patties, a VERY old Cajun recipe. Up until now, we had always made Shrimp Patty batter in a food processor.

The resulting Shrimp Patties tasted great, but had the consistency of a potato latke; dense and somewhat doughy. This time before we started, I asked my wife how HER mother made Shrimp Patties. She told me that her mom prepared the ingredients and my wife sat and turned the crank on an old meat grinder. The ground mixture was then mixed and fried (in lard or Crisco). So instead of making the batter in the food processor, we used the meat grinder attachment on our Kitchenaid mixer. The results were far more than better they were astounding; light, fluffy pillows of shrimp with vegetables, NOT latkes.

What this pointed out to me is that you need to know more than just what ingredients are in a recipe. You need to know where a particular recipe comes from, how old it is and if any specific techniques are used in the preparation. I have since used this knowledge to CORRECTLY translate a number of old recipes into modern terms.

I can think of two specific examples of this regarding tomato sauce. My grandmother’s recipes didn’t specify any particular tomato sauce. The first time I prepared her cabbage soup I could not figure out why the end result tasted good, but NOT like Grandma’s. I experimented with several brands of tomato sauce and when I used Hunt’s, lo and behold, I had re-created her cabbage soup!

The second instance involved a recipe I created for a neighbor’s 9 year old daughter. I have been reliably informed that just about all 9 year olds LOVE cheese and

pasta. Using this knowledge I created not a recipe, but an ASSEMBLAGE. The difference being a recipe involves cooking and technique. An assemblage may involve some cooking, but there is very little technique involved. There are variations of this recipe everywhere, but this one tastes particularly good.

KID TESTED, NANNY APPROVED PASTA BAKE 1 pound penne, rigatoni or other pasta cuts 2 12 ounce bags Italian cheese blend Parmesan cheese 1 jar marinara sauce (I use Kirkland Signature from Costco) 1 15 ounce can CENTO Tomato Sauce (other tomato sauce brands don’t taste as good in this use) Boil pasta just until quite al dente.

Drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl combine marinara sauce, CENTO tomato sauce and 1 bag of Italian cheese.

Add cooled cooked pasta and blend. This mixture should be quite wet. Spray a deep 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray. Pour half of the pasta mixture into pan. Cover with a layer of Italian cheese and sprinkle with parmesan. Pour in remaining pasta mixture and top with Italian cheese and more parmesan. Cover with foil THAT HAS BEEN SPRAYED WITH COOKING SPRAY and bake in a 400° oven for 1 hour.

If you don’t spray the foil cover, the top layer of cheese will pull off when the foil is removed. Uncover and continue baking until the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Let stand 15 minutes before cutting so it can set up.

If you would like to add meat, brown ground beef in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. Drain and cool. Spread meat over pasta before adding cheese.

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The Grand Opening Of The Auto Gallery’s McLaren Beverly Hills STORY BY DUSTIN TROYAN

In their traditional style, The Auto Gallery threw one heck of grand opening for their newest dealership, McLaren Beverly Hills. First and foremost, congratulations to the Auto Gallery. Adding McLaren to the already amazing list of marques is a true triumph. Kudos!

The event was simply amazing. From the head of McLaren sharing corporate vision and passion to Jay Leno, Patrick Dempsey and a star studded list of A-list celebrities it was truly an amazing evening. Enthusiasts from all over the state and country showed up to celebrate and toast the Auto Gallery and McLaren.

The dealership is simply stunning. Purpose built, just like a McLaren. It lends to the spirit of purity, which some would say has led McLaren to many great victories and successes.

The Auto Gallery clearly

embraced this vision and created a space that embodies the McLaren tradition. My suggestion is that next time you are in Beverly Hills, stop by and make sure you bring a camera, it will be worth it!

For more pictures and video from the event visit: www.mclarenbeverlyhills.com McLaren Beverly Hills, 9022 Wilshire Blvd.

Beverly Hills, CA 90210 866.605.7568

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If It Is January, It’s Auction Time!

INTERVIEW BY JAY PARILLE

If you are car aficionado of any type you have to make the pilgrim edge to Scottsdale, Arizona in the third week of January. That is when the circus comes to town.

The Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auction starts off the yearlong auction season. This year Barrett-Jackson announced record sales and record attendance.

B-J announced a record 99% sell through rate for the week. Total sales generated over $92 million, a 32 percent increase over last year numbers. Over 270,000 buyers, cosigners and enthusiast crowded into the “tent” (this is the largest tent I have ever seen) to enjoy all the excitement. Not only is there a car auction going on, the three domestic automobile manufacturers have come in full force to show off all their new offerings.

The top selling vehicle of this event was

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not a Ferrari, not a Bentley, or even a Shelby. It was a 1948 Tucker Torpedo from the Ron Pratte collection. Tucker only manufactured 51 cars before the government and other manufactures forced Tucker to shut down. Selling price? $2.915 million!

This was a world record for a Tucker. Following the Tucker on this pyramid was a 1947 Bentley Mark VI by Franay. Selling price for this English beauty was $2.75 million. A Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing with only 4,159 original miles was the third highest offering. This vehicle is the lowest mileage documented Gullwing known in existence. Selling price, $2.2 million.

This year saw over 150 pickups trade hands. This is a 10% increase over previous years. A 1948 Chevrolet Coe pickup coming off a two year restoration sold for $97,000.

Chevrolet was offering for auction the first all-new 2013 Corvette ZO6 Convertible for charity. Chevy is offering this special fiberglass wonder to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of America’s only true sports car. The special edition ‘Vette receives the same 427 cubic inch LS7 V-8 as the hard top ZO6. This mighty bow tie block develops 505 horse power and 470 ftlbs of torque.

One of the high profile vehicles up for auction is the white hearse that carried the body of President JFK after his assassination in Dallas. It carried him from the hospital to Dallas Airport a short 10 minute ride. This particular car was brand new for the O’Neal Funeral Home in Dallas.

Mrs. Kennedy rode on the small jump seat next to her husband’s body. The car was auctioned for $160,000.

Chevrolet has announced the re-opening of the COPO Program (Central Office Production Order). For those of you old enough to remember, you could special order high performance cars through this program. Well Chevrolet is back at it with a new COPO program. This Camaro is designed as a concept vehicle to be run in NHRA Stock Eliminator class. It comes with all the unnecessary bells and whistles removed. The car comes equipped with full race equipment i.e.; chrome molly roll cage, a set of 29” lightweight COPO specific racing wheels, high rise cowl induction system, racing bucket seats, rear seat delete, safety harness, competition floor shifter, and gauges. The vehicle was not for sale, but it sure looks cool.

A 1970 Boss 429 fully restored went for $247,000 while a 1967 (Eleanor) clone went for $242,000. For you Chevrolet fans a 1969 Camaro Custom with a Ram Jet ZL1 all aluminum 454 motor, 6 speed transmission crossed the block for an astounding $269,000! The very first (serial number 0001) Chevrolet 2010 ZR1 from the Richard Hubbard Collection went for a $203,000. Not a bad price for the very first high performance Corvette. 2011 was a good year for the Camaro. Not only were sales good, this Bow-Tie paced the Indianapolis 500. One of fifty replica pace car crossed the auction block for $72,000.

There were four other auction houses’ competing for your dollars during this week. Don’t worry; this was only the first week of the auction season. There will be around 40 to 50 more auctions coming to your local area. Stay tuned…

Proud sponsor of the 8th Annual Motor4Toys Charity Car Show

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Collections History Forgot T

he other day I found myself at the Pasadena Rose Bowl for the once a month swap meet. You never know what you may find and where it may lead you. Your find can be junk or a treasure. My 8 year old goes with me as there is something hiding for all.

These days we attend the annual Hot Wheels convention, go to car shows, museums, collect various die cast cars and other automobilia and literature. Great finds come in all sizes, whether it is a toy car or a real car and often a great story unfolds.

First I found a Hot Wheels Mercedes C-111 and what a beautiful car that is; in the hot wheels world the values go into the several hundreds of dollars depending on scarcity of color and condition. Next we came we came across a nice mint, cherry red lesney matchbox… great additions for this holiday season.

But this story unfolds on what on what I stumbled upon later on in the day. I came across a fellow who had several Franklin Mint 1929 - 1933 die cast cars. Even with most of the cars missing pieces, I ended up really admiring a couple of complete cars; one of which was a gorgeous Duesenberg called the twenty grand as it cost 20k back in the day in 1933. Then I found a real hidden treasure, a 1:16 scale 1931 Bugatti Royale, known as the supreme type 41, “the king of kings”. This car is even grand in die cast form. This triple black Bugatti model from the “Franklin Mint” weighs in at 9.5 lbs. and is 14.25” long by 4.5” wide and 4.5” high. I wanted to learn more about these two models. Lacking further information in my library I started my research which ended up being a fascinating story.

I have been collecting cars and automobilia for about 30 years. Unlike Jay Leno I have a modest collection, and yet I never heard of the Schlumph brothers or Jack Shakespeare…. And thus I thought, well perhaps you never did either…

You see, only six Bugatti Royals plus 1 prototype were ever built. Back in 1930 the Royale cost $30,000 and was released at the beginning of the great depression. Ettore Bugatti was inspired to build 25 cars, yet only 6 were made and 3 were actually sold. To this day it is considered one of the longest (21’),

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STORY BY ELIOT ROBERTS

rarest and most beautiful cars ever built. The engine was 4.5’ long x 3.5’ tall and thus is also one of the largest engines every built.

This massive engine was 12.7 liters and offered 300 hp at a modest 1700 rpm.

I want to introduce you now to a few individuals, John Shakespeare from the USA and Hans and Fritz Schlumpf who resided in France.

John Shakespeare was born in Michigan in 1905 and was independently wealthy.

He moved to Centralia, Illinois in 1950 and was in the oil business while his father amassed his fortune as the founder of “The Shakespeare Company”, the popular rod and reel manufacturer. John had a passion for automobiles. His first purchases were

a new 1953 Porsche followed by a 1951 Ferrari Spyder. However, soon he got the Bugatti bug. His first Bugatti was purchased in 1953 and John’s 30 car collection of Bugatti’s became the biggest in the United States, if not the world at the time. In 1956 he bought a Bugatti Royale which was the fourth one built and last one to be sold to a private customer, so a special car.

Another of the Bugatti’ Royales, nickname the “Napoleon” was Ettore Bugatti’s personal car and was shipped off to the Schlumpf brothers in France to protect it during World War II. In the meantime Hans and Fritz Schlumpf were in the textile business, owned spinning mills and became very wealthy. Fritz had a

driven to collect

passion for the Bugatti since childhood. The two brothers, although complete opposites, began collecting Bugatti’s in the early 1950’s.

Their collection grew from 40 cars in the summer of 1960, including 10 Bugatti’s, a Ferrari single seat race car, 10 Gordini race cars, some Lotus and Mercedes cars too. The brothers even sent a letter out to the Bugatti club offering to buy everyone’s Bugatti!!

In 1962 they bought 50 more Bugatti’s, including 18 of Ettore’s personal cars. The next year they bought all of John Shakespeare’s Bugatti’s, including the “Royale”; they were put on double deck trains in Illinois. What a site this must have been! By 1967 The Schlumpf collection included 105 Bugattis. Over the next few years their collection

grew to 400 cars!! What is interesting to note is they kept all of their collection hidden from their employees and most others as it was their secret passion and obsession.

I am in the Apparel business, often called the “rags to riches” business because it is very volatile. As often happens in this business, things did not stay great for the Schlumpfs for long. More manufacturing went to Asia so they converted a 200,000 sq ft wing of their factory secretively into a restoration shop, hiring a few dozen craftsmen to restore their cars. This was called the “Schlumpf Obsession”. The brothers would secretively visit daily and instruct on colors, interiors, etc.

More and more business moved to Asia

resulting in the closure and sales of their factories. Worker layoffs and a strike broke out where hundreds of police held back the workers from causing damage to the factories. During a sit-in strike a textile protestor broke into the factory and found the remarkable collection. The striker went on to burn an Austin 7.

The Schlumpfs had to flee to Switzerland due to all sorts of tax issues and lawsuits. To their astonishment the once secret warehouse collection was renamed the “Workers Factory” and opened to the public for 2 years, showing the cars to 800,000 lucky visitors before the French Government ordered it closed so the collection would not be broken up. The French National Automobile Museum reopened in 2000 as the largest automotive museum in the world. The Schlumpfs filed a lawsuit in France to regain their collection.

In 1999, several years after Fritz died, the French courts found in his favor and returned to his wife “the reserve stock” made up of 62 cars, including 17 Bugattis.

Half of these were from the collection John Shakespeare sold to the Schlumpfs. Madame Schlumpf took the cars and unbelievably put them in a shed, sold them, yet the contract stipulated they could only be removed once she passed away. In 2008 they moved most of the cars to the “Mullin Automotive Museum” in Oxnard, CA! Our other find, the infamous “Duesenberg Twenty Grand”. This car was named twenty as it cost 20K…another nice sum for 1933. ONLY one was built in the USA. You can find this awesome car at the amazing Nethercutt Museum, a collection comprising a couple hundred cars in Sylmar, California… Free admission and fun for a stop!

They also have an extensive library and private 2 hour tour you can schedule.

Collectors come in all sizes, some who are broad, some specific and some with downright obsessions… I am sure you have met quite a few in your time… and now you hopefully learned about a couple of others.

Happy Motoring !

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