Mr. Wolf had a few cars and trucks stashed in a friend’s warehouse where I spotted this old bicycle. “Looks like something you’d see at Burning Man,” I observed. Turns out I was right. The warehouse was filled with a giant metal sculpture (disassembled) that had graced the playa at some recent Burning Man. The builder/artist is trying to find a home for the massive piece.
In just a day-and-a-half I saw millions of dollars worth of vintage automobiles. I’m guessing that if you can afford one of these, you can afford several. And cannot resist doing so. But where to you keep a car that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars? We visited one of those places and saw this beautiful collection.
Mr. Wolf has a few clients that pay him to drive their cars once a month to keep them tuned up and ready. Nice work, huh? I asked about security and Mr. Wolf pointed out the difficulty in fencing a car like these.
Mr. Wolf lives in the world of vintage vehicles so our first stop was a nondescript garage somewhere in the Bay Area. Inside were gorgeous old cars worth millions. Two of Mr. Wolf’s friends were working on this Alfa Romeo. Pretty sure they told me this car would be valued at $4 million plus.
We’ll never know for sure but I’m pretty sure Dana is smarter than most people I know. Her human, Dan, has a shop next to Mr. Wolf and while we stood talking outside, Dana retrieved a toy and insisted on playing. We did this for a solid 15 minutes.
Ojai, California is a small artist community in the foothills east of Santa Barbara. My Lyft driver took the scenic route and it was beautiful. I spent an hour with Robert Wolfe.
Got a taste of California freeway traffic on the way from Ojai to LAX. Took 50 minutes to go ten miles. The driver said a 90 minute commute (morning and afternoon) is common. But it was sunny.
Mr. Wolf picked me up at the airport in a vintage Italian sports car and headed straight for Philippe’s garage (reaching speeds of 100 mph)
The engine is in and Philippe expects everything will be wrapped up — wait for it — by the end of next week.
Since arriving I have seen exotic vehicles worth millions (?) and met some really nice and interesting people. I’ll post a proper report and more photos upon my return.
You might have noticed how governments (and corporations) are getting chill on the topic of marijuana. The best explanation I’ve see for this trend is from a 2012 crime novel by John Burdett (Vulture Peak):
“The world economy has positioned itself in such a way that almost everyone is going to be unemployed by the middle of this century. The American sucker-consumer is now bankrupt for the next fifty years, and there’s no way Asians generally are going to waste their money en masse on toys like iPods — hoarding is hardwired in every head east of Suez. Americans are strange people. They allow themselves to be bled white by gangsters for generation after generation and call it freedom. But that blissful ignorance may be in its endgame. The consumer economy is already dead — what we’re experiencing right now is its wake. What do you think governments are going to use to keep everyone docile when the shit finally hits the fan?”
The answer? Cannabis.
“The best thing about it: young men delude themselves into believing they’re already war heroes. They don’t need to kill anyone.”
One more…
“Remember, no one’s elected in Beijing. That means they have to plan ahead. They have teams looking fifty, even a hundred years into the future. They have detailed economic and social models. And they don’t have democracy. They know what’s coming next.”
Mr. Wolf stopped by to visit the Land Rover on Friday. There was a time when we thought the truck would be done by September 2017. What is that, nine months ago? Like everything else with this project, the engine swap has been plagued with problems. There’s a chance the work could be complete by the time I arrive in San Francisco next Friday but I wouldn’t bet the farm.
I’ve confided to friends that my enthusiasm for this project has… waned. We can only hope that returns when I get the truck. But it’s a nice, first-world kind of problem. On a more positive note, Mr. Wolf took his Mercedes Benz Unimog off-roading last week (Fordyce Creek in the Tahoe National Forest) and shares this exceptional video.
This timeline includes my payments to Lucra Cars, Zombie Motors, Mr. Wolf, and — eventually — Philippe. I’ve been reticent about sharing that information. Seemed in poor taste. Or I come off looking like a chump. I’m over that. The truck will wind up costing what it costs and that is undeniably part of the story. Video runs just over 3 minutes. More info on each of these events by clicking the Land Rover link below. You can also navigate by date using the tool in the sidebar.