By Mark Sweet, SCOA WI State Rep
Like most of our members, I
frequent our sister web-site
SaleenChat.com. It was there on
a dark dreary night back in
March, that I noticed a thread
stating Steve Saleen and
Parnelli Jones would be visiting
Rochester Ford in Rochester, MN
in late April. Friday the 27th
to be exact. Could this be
true? El Cid (the man),
visiting my neck of the woods.
Pinch me!!! A quick hop over to
MapQuest told me I was a mere
260 miles from their
destination. This could be done
I told myself. No, the old girl
(1988 #99) has never been that
far away from home since I have
owned her, but she would be up
for the trip. Right? Asleep
that night I had visions of
Steve, Parnelli, and I running
through a field of wild flowers
with the song "Best Friends" as
a faint backdrop.
Weeks turned to days, and the
chatter on the forum was picking
up, soon our guys will come.
Was I ready? I cut the last
ring off of my Advent chain,
which told be tomorrow was the
day I have been anxiously
waiting for. (C'mon guys and
gals, you know what an Advent
chain is. Those chains of
construction paper we all used
to make in grade school to count
down to Christmas? I can't be
the only one to have made them,
can I?) As I lay in bed, my
mind was spinning like a top.
Did I remember everything?
Cell, cash, camera, Sharpies,
SCOA info, car? I WAS ready.
Friday April 27, it was
here. The only bad thing was I
had to work a half day. 6AM to
10AM was the longest four hours
of my life. You would think I
was preparing to meet (insert
your favorite idol here). And I
was. This is the man who
created what we are all goo-goo
over. Our passion. And I was
about to meet him and Parnelli
Jones in less than six hours.
Back in the recesses of my mind
I was still worried about
driving that car, that far. I
convinced myself this trip would
be a "warm up" to the Spring
Fling. We packed #99, fueled up
with a full tank, and hit the
road.
Four hours-twenty minutes, and
sixty four dollars of premium
unleaded gas later, we found
ourselves in front of Rochester
Ford. Not a bad trip. With
4.10 gears in the old girl, even
the gas mileage suprised me.
Averaged about 22-24 miles to
the gallon. Doesn't help that
at 85 MPH the factory tach is
reading 3,200 RPM. May consider
switching back to the original
3.55's very soon. Those 4.10’s
are not freeway friendly at
all! Parked the car, made a
quick call to the better half to
let her and the kids now I made
it up safely, and pondered what
was about to happen. I was
quickly met by a Rochester Ford
employee who asked if I would
like to put the car inside the
signing corral. Would I? You
bet I would!!! Looking at the
front of the car I was ashamed
to pull her in. I must have
killed EVERY bug from Beloit, WI
to Rochester, MN. In my life, I
have never seen that many dead
bugs on the front of any car.
Not to worry, the nice young man
told me. " Pull her in back to
our Collision Center, they have
a detail area inside that will
fix you right up." he said,
gesturing out back. It was
4:15PM, Steve and Parnelli are
scheduled to arrive at 5:00PM.
Is there enough time? I drove
the car over to the Collision
Center where I was met by a very
friendly young man by the name
of Jason. I explained my
situation, and he quickly
returned with a few cleaning
supplies and told me to pull her
in. "Take your time," Jason
said. "We are here until
6:00PM." 6:00PM? No, no, no, I
kept thinking, I have to be back
up front by 5:00PM. I worked
feverishly until every last bug
and their guts were cleaned off
of the car. I pulled her back
into the corral with time to
spare. Note to self: Whenever
you leave home Mark, pack your
detailing equipment.
The crowd had started to gather
by the time I had made it back
in front of the dealership. I
slipped #99 right next to
another fox body. It was a 1989
model year, white with blue
stripes. The owner of this fine
example is a young man by the
name of Jeremy who drove down
from the Minneapolis area. The
car has a great story behind it
also. Jeremy stated that the
car was originally shipped to a
dealer in New York. From there,
the first owner had the car
shipped to Germany where he was
stationed in the armed
services. Once in Germany, in
order to be made legal for
German road use, the car was
outfitted with Fiat lighting
front and back. A host of
emission equipment was also
added. Once road worthy, she
was fitted with a German ID
tag.
(Photo
included).
Jeremy is the second owner, and
the FIRST person to have it
titled in the U.S.
As
I walked down the row of
Saleen’s in the corral, I
thought to myself how all of the
“white car” club members would
have felt like they had died and
gone to Iowa. Or is that
heaven? I counted FOUR white
S281 Speedsters and two white
S281’s. One of those fine
Speedster’s belongs to a
beautiful young lady from
Minnesota, named Serena. Serena
and her fiancé, Dallas, drove
down for the meet and greet and
it was a pleasure meeting them
both. (See photo, note how big
of a smile Mr. Saleen has.)
Another bad ass example was
driven by SCOA member Jay. His
being a gorgeous 1996 model.
Also in attendance was SCOA
member and new MN State Rep.,
Steve Millard. Steve drove down
his 2006 triple black
Speedster. This car is so
beautiful, a couple of Steve’s
groupies asked if they could
have their photo taken sitting
in her. Steve agreed, as Jay
and I bowed and did our best
Wayne’s World imitation. “We’re
not worthy”. Walking on, I
counted a total of 12 Saleen’s
and their owners who made the
trek to meet El Cid and Mr.
Jones. All with Minnesota
plates. I did my best to make
sure all left with SCOA
membership applications.
Then,
like a rap of thunder, a
distinct sound was heard. High
revving 302’s. From around the
corner whipped a mint 1970 Boss
302 with none other than
Parnelli Jones behind the
wheel. Followed closely, almost
too close, was Steve Saleen in
the new Saleen Parnelli Jones
edition Mustang. Both exited
their cars to the applause of
all in attendance. I took a
deep breath and began to sob
with joy. HE had come.
Parnelli
and Steve were greeted by the
fine folks of Rochester Ford and
also to the local media.
As
they made their way to the
signing table inside the
dealership, they were met by an
older gentleman who had brought
a fully restored 1950’s era Indy
Racer. Seeing the look in this
gentleman’s eyes as he grabbed
Parnelli’s hand and described
the restoration, reminded me of
how I felt seeing and
momentarily meeting Steve.
Parnelli graciously signed the
Racer, and with Steve, made his
way into the dealership. (See
photo).
All
in attendance made their way
into the dealership where
Parnelli and Steve where signing
the limited edition Saleen PJ
poster and each received one at
no charge. As I waited my turn
in line, the scene from the
movie “The Christmas Story”,
stuck in my head. You know the
one, Ralphie and Randy are on
line waiting to meet Santa and
Ralphie begins to panic. That
is how I felt. Nervous. What
would I say? Would I freeze on
Santa’s lap like Ralphie? Would
I panic? Clear your head Mark,
your almost at the table.
Luckily Jay and Steve were there
for support, I watched Jay, just
like a pro. Or is that a car
salesman? I say that in a good
way Jay. I was up next. Deep
breath. The words came out,
don’t quite recall what they
were, put from the response, it
seemed just perfect. I grabbed
Steve’s hand, shook it, told him
what a pleasure it was to meet
him, and how happy we all are
that he chose his profession.
Shook Mr. Jone’s hand and nearly
fainted. I had made it through,
poster and all. I quickly made
my way back to my car, clutching
my freshly signed poster like it
was gold. Tucked it away in the
hatch area, and just stood there
with a blank stare. I had just
met our Buddah. It can’t be
over, can it?
Not by a long shot. I would
estimate between 250 and 300
people snaked their way past the
signing table. Steve and
Parnelli graciously signing
anything and everything that was
put in front of them. Roughly 2
hours had past since I had seen
my hero and within the crowd a
buzz was stirring. Steve and PJ
would make their way outside to
sign owner’s cars.
Steve
and PJ began with a young man’s
white S281, beautiful car.
Chris was the owner’s name.
Chris, like myself, was beside
himself with admiration for
these two icons. They signed
Chris’s car and made their way
to Jeremy’s white ’89. Oh gawd!!
One more and they would be at
the front of #99. As Steve and
Parnelli made their way to my
car they were introduced to me
by a Saleen Regional Rep. Both
Steve and PJ shook my hand and
Steve asked me if I would like
him to sign my car. My mind
went numb. A few seconds past
and I blurted out YES. I could
not believe how approachable
BOTH Steve and PJ are. Both are
very soft spoken and utterly
polite. Once Steve was sitting
in #99 he could not believe this
car had 40,000 miles on her. He
complimented what fantastic
shape she was still in and
thanked me for taking such good
care of her. HE thanked ME.
OK, this is Iowa. I grabbed the
customary photo right after the
signing,
(See
photo) and Steve had gotten out
and was making his way to the
back of the car. He made sure
it had the right badging and
then complimented on how good
even the wheels looked. Steve
told us at the car that his
first couple of years making the
cars, he had purchased all of
the Hayashi wheels from none
other than Parnelli Jones
himself. Parnelli of course
owned over 30 Firestone
dealerships at the time.
Parnelli agreed to sign a wheel
if I would like. I told him, if
it was OK, I would like him and
Steve to sign the motor area.
This way it will be on the car
for all time. With a twinkle in
his eye he agreed. And with
that, they were on to the next.
Steve
and PJ kept this up for another
30 minutes when they made their
way to our other members cars,
Jay’s Speedster, and Steve’s
Speedster. The looks on their
faces when they both met PJ and
Steve, much like mine, was well
worth the price in gas. What a
joy it was.
It
was getting to be after 8:00
P.M. by this time and I had a 4
hour drive in front of me yet,
and worse, had to be back to
work by 6:00 A.M. on Saturday.
I bid my farwell to Jay, Steve
and their children. It was a
great pleasure to meet you
both. We will see both of them
soon. Chances are, we will be
holding our North Central
Regional up their way soon.
Looking forward to the trip
again. We loaded up the old
girl, pulled out of Rochester
Ford, and hit the big road
again. Déjà vu.
So
here this little story must
end. I am sure a babbled, not
much of a writer. I’ll keep
trying until Charlie and Terry
revoke my computer time. It was
a beautiful day, the weather
cooperated, had the chance to
meet and began new friendships
with fellow SCOA members, and
shook the hands and chatted with
two legends. I can not express
enough thanks to ALL at
Rochester Ford, in Rochester,
Minnesota. A fantastic event!
Thank you to Paul, for allowing
me a couple of moments during
you hectic evening to pitch you
on a club sponsorship. Thank
you to Jason in the Collision
Center for the bug removal.
Last, but not least, to the
beautiful young ladies who
served all of us in attendance a
great meal. Thank you. So, if
ever in our neck of the woods,
be sure to stop in at Rochester
Ford and be sure to test drive
one of many new Saleen’s on
their lot. Purchasing one
wouldn’t hurt the club’s
standing with them either. They
still have (2) PJ’s left. Hint,
hint.
Thank
you for reading this and I hope
to meet all of you real soon,
take care.