WHO IS DRIVING THIS VEHICLE?


Dad's Corvette, Indio, CA, 1960

In 1959, my parents had two daughters, and my father owned a Corvette. When mom announced that a third child was on the way, and that a family car might be more practical, dad realized that mom might have a point, and he consoled himself with hopes that God might at least finally bless him with a son. Dad sold his Corvette to his brother-in-law, so that he could buy the Ford Thunderbird that mom wanted. But, on dad's birthday in 1960, mom gave him not a son, but his third daughter . . . me. Before I had a chance to come into the world, cars were already a part of my life. And unlike most people, whenever I see a white 1958 Corvette with a red panel wing, I am sadly confronted with the truth: My father wasn't passing out any cigars on the day that I was born.

Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company

About 16 years after dad let go of his Corvette, another American sports car became a part of my life when I had an opportunity to model for the Ford Motor Company. The photograph above was one of the photo's featured in the Ford model line for 1976. Here with the Cobra II and a cherry red Mustang II MPG Stallion, the photo became part of a 10-page insert that was featured in the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year issue. Carroll Shelby was a big feature in the insert and Pete Rose was on the cover of the magazine, having won the "Sportsman of the Year" title from runners-up Jack Nicklaus and O.J. Simpson.

Photo Courtesy of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

Before I was thirty, I was working at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. This is where, for the first time, I actually started to appreciate cars. I not only had a chance to drive a new model Chrysler from 1988 - 1997, but I learned a thing or two about how Chrysler marketed their vehicles.

Pictured above are some of the members of my Classic family from 1988-1997. I am pictured far left, next to Wynema King and Dawn Suggs, the two women that were there since day #1 of the tournament. Seated in the Chrysler LeBaron is former advertising executive at Chrysler, retired tournament director, Ed Heorodt. Heorodt was a great boss, he had a staff that not only respected him but would pretty much do anything for him. In the front passenger seat is Pat Bennett, another old-timer at the Classic office, still there today making everybody look good. Standing behind the LeBaron is the rest of the work crew that were an impressive bunch to say the very least. They are L-R: Connie Whelchel, Jim Walker, Jody Richardson, Dean Cowherd, Shawn Callahan, Betty Warren, Eva Claiborne and Tim Singer. (Not pictured above is Charles Clary. The only explanation for Charles not being in the photo is that he was trapped as usual in the warehouse by a member of the board with no reliable means of escape.) Another interesting thing about this photo is that there is no one in the driver seat. In 1995, when newly-elected President Clinton flew into Palm Springs to play in the opening round of the Chrysler Classic with Bob Hope and former president's Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, I recall a government official saying "Not to worry, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic runs on automatic pilot." It was a fitting remark for an efficient staff that amidst an onslaught of media attention and record-breaking attendance, worked together to help bring three U.S. presidents to the desert without a single mishap. It remains, to this day, the only time in history that three American presidents appeared together in the Palm Springs area.

Not too long after this photograph was taken, I was in Las Vegas working trade shows where Ford Trucks and Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motorcars were corporate sponsors. To promote the venues, I created something that few had seen at that time, an e-newsletter. It was the Y2K, and I was blazing a trail on the Internet frontier, delivering ad material for corporate America.

Then, on September 11, 2001, everything changed. I was one of the lucky ones, I only lost my job. After spending many months looking for work while our country was in mourning, and California in the process of recalling a governor, I followed the advice of family and friends and decided to venture out on my own. I remembered how excited the president of Rolls-Royce was to see his company's Internet link and logo delivered to a worldwide audience via the Internet, so in 2003, I created an e-newsletter using the same technology to promote activities in my hometown. Activities that would include events about cars. Palm Springs Volvo agreed to be a sponsor, and five years later remains a supporting advertiser.



Doug Minery's '33 Ford
Photo Credit: Bill Groak
Courtesy of the NHRA Motorsports Museum
In 2007, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum invited me to judge their annual Ladies Night Twilight Cruise. Of the nearly 100 cars entered in the show, I selected a 1933 Ford owned by Doug Minery to receive the Budweiser Pick Award. That night, I learned that Minerys '33 Ford had an interesting history. The car had actually won at a show once before, and it was Wally Parks, founder of the NHRA that had selected this same car to receive the Best of Show award several years earlier. Apparently my eye for great cars isn't all too bad.

However, what was most interesting about selecting Minerys '33 Ford, was the story I learned about his first car: a 1935 Ford coupe. In the late 1950s while a student at Santa Ana High School, Minery had a '35 Ford coupe that he raced at the Santa Ana Drags (one of the early drag strips in Southern California). Like many of the early hot rods, Minery's coupe was painted to resemble a WWII fighter with a pinup gal on the side. And the name of the pinup gal Minery painted on the side of that first hot rod of his, was the name of a '57 Pat Boone hit single . . . "Bernadine."

Bernadine Bogdanovs is owner/publisher of Palm Springs Desktop.com; writer, editor, publisher and webmaster of Palm Springs Car Events.com and writer, editor and webmaster of Learn From An Expert.org, and creator and director of Wheels On Reels. She is also involved with the planning and coordination of the Friends of Steve Mc Queen Car Show.