One of the perks of (A) living in the Los Angeles area; and (B) being in the fleet business is that occasionally interesting things come my way that many people don't have an opportunity to do. For instance some years ago I received a call from the leasing rep that my company did business with who told me that if I could be to a certain spot in one hour I would get a ride on the Goodyear blimp. Needless to say I made it with about 5 minutes to spare and got an experience to remember. Another time I was offered the chance to get 3 laps as a passenger in a Ford GT on a race track at 200 mph. It was an an interesting experience especially as we passed other vehicles on the track like they were standing still or even going backwards.

The other day I got a call from my Ford guy asking me if I had any interest in seeing the car collection of the comedian with the big jaw who is on the network with the peacock as the symbol and whose initials are JL. I didn't have to be asked twice so at a certain time and a certain place we were passed through the gate and into the auto collection complex. Unfortunately we didn't think to ask if pictures were allowed until we were at the very end at which point we were told to take all the pictures we wanted but we were done and at least I had to get back to work. The collection is of cars, motorcycles, engines and artwork from the 'teens to today. Some of the most exotic and mundane vehicles are there and they all run. JL calls daily to order that a particular vehicle be readied for the drive home. As we were walking through one of the rooms I spied something familiar. 'That is a tank engine' I pointed out to the guide. Sure enough it was an AVDS 1790 engine from an M48 tank. Silly me, it is a spare engine for the Tank Car. In this case an open cockpit roadster with a tank engine for power! Mr. JL has a weakness for one-off hand built cars that have unusual power plants such as steam engines, helicopter turbine engines, the before mentioned air cooled tank engine, and others. I was told that AAA enjoys getting calls to rescue Mr L from the roadside when his unusual cars quit running. I was told that he receives 1,000 letters a month offering to sell him stuff for his collection. He reads each one and sometimes even buys whatever was offered.

Here are two pictures of me in the premier car wing:

click on the pictures for full views

It was a grand time and one of the instances when I am glad that we live where we do and I work doing what I am doing!