Beer and Chips or Wine and Caviar?

This weekend I had the distinct honor of spending some time with Frank Ruppert. Besides the fact that Frank is a gentleman with many accomplishments, he is also one of the most incredible characters I have ever met. Originally it was our love of racing and more specifically our involvement with La Carrera Panamericana that brought us together to create a friendship which is sure to last a lifetime.

I recently competed in my very first La Carrera Panamericana, but Frank has been involved in many, including the first four La Carrera Panamericana races which started in 1950. Not only did Frank own numerous Lincoln dealerships and sponsor some of the biggest names in racing’s hall of fame, but he traveled with them during the races. There are far too many names to list here, but to name a few there were guys like Clay Smith, Troy Ruttman, Bill Stroppe, Johnny Mantz, Herschel McGriff and Mickey Thompson. Continue reading…

This weekend I was honored to be invited to Frank’s home along with my camera crew to shoot an interview with him, which we will be using in our soon to be released HD DVD documenting my involvement in the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana. On Sunday Frank invited us to his yacht club for a champagne brunch which we also used for the shoot. Afterwards Frank surprised us by asking if we would like to see a few of his cars in his private collection. Needless to say, he didn’t have to twist my arm. I have to tell you there are car collections and then there are car collections, and the truth is I was not prepared for what I was about to see.

Before Frank was finished removing car covers we sat in and admired over 7 million dollars worth of cars. Since he knew how much I enjoyed Ford GT 40s and the Ford GT he began with my favorite, which was one of the less expensive toys in his collection–a baby blue and orange Ford GT that was sitting next to a Viper GTS coupe.

From there we climbed inside not one but two brand new Maybachs. Next to the Maybachs there was the lonely Bentley which had such a deep blue paint job I almost drowned in it. If Maybachs and Bentleys don’t do it for you then there were his THREE brand new McLarens which he just brought back from the factory in Europe last week. One of them is a convertible–one of only 27 ever built, and the only one in the United States.

My cameraman told Frank he had a love for Porsches, so Frank took him over to his Porsches, including a custom built black and orange twin turbo 2007911 GT3.

Now in a lot of car guy garages, you’ll find an old fridge to keep a few brewskies chilled just in case a buddy or two should happen to drop by to help work on the car. Why shouldn’t Frank have something to wet the old whistle? As it turns out he does, but the difference is in my fridge I keep Bud. In Frank’s cooler he keeps over one million dollars worth of very choice wines including such names as Grand Vin de Lafite Rothchild.

Having been fortunate enough to have spent such an amazing afternoon, I am pleased to report that Frank is a true car nut, and still a very down to earth guy who would have equally enjoyed a warm can of beer while leaning over the fender of an old hot rod.