Frankly Frankl - Blackhawk Automotive Museum Saturday Morning Lecture Series - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Frankly Frankl - Quite a Week - San Francisco - New York and London - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

 Well. This has been quite a week. Started off with a dash to Half Moon Bay's Ritz Carlton for a speech And a book signing at the Pacific Region Ferrari Owners Club. It was freezing outside, lots of brave open top members arrived half frozen but once inside it was a great occasion. Knowledgeable, welcoming folks, dedicated owners with a twist of California thrown in. Namely-no phony airs and graces. 

Of course having people like the outgoing President Randy Steyer and incoming President Jody Stewart helps, move charming, more dedicated members you would be hard pushed to find.

I must salute the Ritz for the stunning brunch, this was a far cry from mass catering!

As soon as I've signed a few books it was time for rushing off to the airport to catch a flight to New York and a whole new experience. First of all thank you Mr BMW for an excellent X5, it was a tough week of driving around, the Bimmer never missed a beat.

I have  to be honest, the Chowder Club and I are fairly new acquaintances. They've never heard of me and I've never heard of them. This was soon rectified with the help of some mutual friends such Ken Gross and Larry Crane. Thank you gentlemen!

The club is run by Bruce Wennerstrom, a highly knowledgable auto expert and enthusiast. The Chowder Club holds a lunch 10 times a year, always at Sardi's in the heart of the theatre district.

They very kindly invited me to be the guest speaker at their Christmas lunch, a huge honor. I must have done something right-they've invited me to become an honorary member. Great crowd, several FORZA readers, one of them has a complete collection since Issue One!

In the meantime the book has received two very favorable reviews, one from Peter Habicht in California and one from David Tremayne in England, David writes for GrandPrixplus- the number one blog for all F1 enthusiasts.
Now it is time to jump on Virgin Atlantic to London for a further talk and book signing.

Happy holidays said someone in New York..happy yes, holidays? One day.

Frankly Frankl - US Grand Prix in Austin - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Austin Anecdotes..

Just as I was ready to board the plane back to San Francisco came the shock news that this time round Bernie Ecclestone could really be on his way out.  The boss of CVC made it crystal clear that if found guilty in one of the many court cases pending. Bernie would be dismissed from his job as the undisputed master of Formula One. Before people start passing judgment just  let them listen to the folks in Austin. They love him. He put the city on the map of great destinations. Just been talking a FORZA subscriber in the departure lounge. Roger is the proud owner of a 246 and a 328. He has been telling me that motels that normally charge  50 dollars a night were asking 500! Like me, he would also like to see some closer racing in 2014. That was certainly the sentiment shared by the Shell people who very kindly invited me for the weekend. The size of their company is simply mind blowing as is their depth of understanding the business. Talking to a charming lady from one of their London offices she was telling me about the various challenges they face from Nigeria to Turkey. I've asked her about the recent Greenpeace Demo at the Belgian Grand Prix, a race they sponsor. Instead of jumping up and down they very wisely chose to ignore it. Much more relevant us their technical knowledge. A few years ago there was a massive explosion at a refinery in the UK  belonging to a rival company. Shell's safety expert were on the scene almost immediately to offer help and with advice to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. 

Coming back to Texas the story of the weekend belongs to Governor Perry. Apparently Ferrari invited him to Maranello with his wife. President Montezemolo duly took her for a spin around the company's Fiorano test track in a California. The car is very nice pronounced the Governor but there is something wrong with it. Puzzled look from Montezemolo. The name is wrong said Perry adding California is the past, Texas is the future. Game, set and match. We don't have to agree with him but I think it was really funny. The look on Luca's face..

 

But back to the race. Watching from a stand instead of the claustrophobic press office it was fascinating to see the racing live and from above. Vettel's serene progress totally just amazing just as it was great to see Alonso retaking a position with a masterful pass on Hulkenberg. There was a lot of love and sympathy towards Felipe Massa who is leaving for Williams. I think we would all love to see him do well although I am not sure he will ever be the same again as before his horrendous crash back in 2009.

I loved the initiatives of the locals near the track. They were not only offering parking for 20 or 30 dollars but in addition offered to drop the customers at the circuit and collect them after the race. Some of them were even doing BBQs to make some extra money. There were a number of very trendy clubs all over the city and these were all jam packed with well healed customers. The My Yacht group who normally run a very successful weekend during the Monaco GP did a great transplant from the Principality to the building normally occupied by the good folks of the Austin Ballet. It was wonderful to run into Sharon, Sally Swart's daughter. Now this will mean very little to most people but I knew Sally when she was Jim Clark's girlfriend. If you don't know who Jim Clark was then you are reading the wrong blog.

Now it is on to São Paulo and the final race. For most teams the season cannot be over too soon, for once great team such as McLaren the humiliation must have been quite hard to take.

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Frankly Frankl - Book Launch Party at Ferrari of San Francisco and Fun in Napa - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Well folks, it has been pandemonium here of late. The book-Frankly Frankl- was finally launched last week. I've spent 2 hours signing at Ferrari of SF, in the meantime they made full advantage of the merry crowd-courtesy of Cline wines-and decided to spend a bit of money. So at the end of the day I went to the bank to pay in  800 dollars and they , the sales team also went off to the bank to pay in half a million dollars! Someone said I should have been on commission which is not fair. They gave me a platform and I for one don't blame them for taking full advantage of it. Leah Garchick who writes in the SF Chronicle's datebook found it sufficiently amusing to mention it as did the local paper here in Tiburon.

Once we've all recovered from the party we started planning our next adventure. This was a small gathering of Ferrari enthusiasts from the Pacific Region who decided to drop in on next year's President, Jody Stewart, a seriously big cheese at Napa's Silver Oak winery. Amazing wines and literally a cast of thousands. There were limos as far as the eye can see with customers from all over the World. Clearly well-heeled as nothing happens at Silver Oak at under 70 dollars.

 

 

The bit I liked most that after floods some years ago the whole place rebuilt at  a higher elevation and as the Boss said-should there be another flood or earthquake there is room for all the staff. I had a massive treat on the way . A very nice gentleman whose name and address I will not mention for the simple reason that there is no need to advertise something as desirable as a brand spanking new 458 spider -took me all the way to Sonoma. After some very fine, enthusiastic driving it was time for a standing start. I know he won't mind but the truth is that he had the 458 somewhat sideways!

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Frankly Frankl - New Book Launch Party at Ferrari of San Francisco - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My adorable neighbors Bill and Sandra told me that writing a book is just the  beginning. They specialize in military books but the principle is the same. First you write it, then you get an editor and an art director, send it to the printer, pay him and hey presto your book arrives in no time. Yeah right. On pallets with 10 copies in a box weighing 28 pounds each. Thank God Ferrari SF's service people came to my rescue and allowed the copies to be unloaded at their San Rafael premises. So far so good. Then, if this is your first book you realize that you have to  fulfil all your orders from people who have been kind enough to trust you without seeing anything apart from your articles in FORZA. No problem apart from figuring out postage, packing, shipping, labels, invoices,  the sort of things all big publishers employ lots of people to do. So with all of that falling on my shoulders ably assisted by my lovely wife things are getting a bit hectic. Still, we have a launch party organized for Wednesday both October at Ferrari of San Francisco, 595 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Cline are very kindly pouring the wine, Piatti will be serving refreshments and I will be happy to sign personalized copies. Neither purchase of a 458 Spider nor of my book are obligatory although Sales Director Mark Paddack will happy to part with one. The book at 40 dollars costs less than any part of a 458 apart from the documentation, without the leather binder of course. Please let me know if you can make it,

e mail andrewfrankl@me.com 

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Frankly Frankl - Meadow Club - Formula 1 and the Columbus Day Parade My New Book - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Some local friends very kindly invited me for a gentle drive to the rather spectacular Meadow Club, not far from Fairfax in Marin County.

 

The variety of cars was simply mind-blowing. The organizers- Ken and Carole Jesmore did a superb job and in addition to making sure that everybody was happy led the way in a light blue 1957 Thunderbird. It has been superbly restored but there was more to it. For once in my life I didn't have to drive settling instead into the very comfortable back seat of Mel Owen's 1956 Bentley. In mint condition it ran like a Swiss clock. There was of course a bright red Ferrari California Spider owned by Tom Price. This is part of Tom's collection which also includes a priceless Maserati 250F. Not to be outdone good friend Dave Olson came along in his 1934 Packard owned by a certain Al Capone. Dennis Barry turned up in a 2012 Bentley Continental. Apparently he went to buy a Lamborghini and ended up with this rather fine convertible. I' ve driven an awful lot of Lambos over the years and I simply could not imagine him or his good lady trying to get into or out of one. Mind you, once you are in an Avantador Spider there very few cars in the World to touch it. A good time was had by all/

Thank you Ken and Carol.

 

 

 

Moving on to Formula One I have to admit that Vettel is rapidly becoming a true champion. He and Horner seem to have got the message and have toned down the sometimes juvenile celebrations. The Japanese Grand Prix showed Vettel at his finest. Alonso already congratulated him on his fourth title and even though there are mathematical chances for a last minute America Co style change of fortune I do believe that in this  instance it is a pipe dream. As for all the driver changes Hulkenberg star seems to be rising, Massa's falling. You have to feel sorry for the plucky little Brazilian who was World Champion for all of 15 seconds before Hamilton took away the title.

I have had a lot of e mails concerning my new book-- Frankly Frankl-:ife, love, luck and automobiles. I too would like see copies arrive to fulfill all the orders. The minute they reach me they'll be on their to you. Thank you for your patience!

 

 

In case you missed it - The Columbus day in the city was fun filled with a Ferrari float and a lot of fun had by all

 

 

 

 

 

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Frankly Frankl - My New Book - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles - My Heroes

Many people have asked me why I didn’t cover  current F1 in my new book-Frankly Frankl-life, love, luck and automobiles which will be ready for shipment by the end of October. Simple. These heroes are not my heroes. Well , some of them such as Alonso and Hamilton are but I simply could not face writing about Sebastian Vettel. It seems that I am not alone. The booing that started several races ago seems to follow him all over the World. Maybe not in Korea as I am sure the locals haven’t got a clue about what is going on and possibly not in Japan either. But come Austin Texas I can guarantee a less than friendly welcome.

I can think of several reasons. The owner, the team, the PR lackeys are all incredibly arrogant. Mix this with a young man who is surrounded by adoring sycophants and you have a mixture that many people find hard to digest. Sticking  up a finger after being fastest in qualifying and again after winning the race might go down well in Austria at Red Bull’s HQ but it turns stomachs in the rest of the World. Vettel is not the first World Champion and certainly not the last. Senna was gracious in victory as was Jackie Stewart. Lewis Hamilton’s victories are a delight to witness, as are those of Alonso. Vettel and his boss Christian Horner both come across as a couple brilliant but preprogrammed parrots. Having said that one has to admire them and their design genius Adrian Newey as well their unsung yet  brilliant Renault engine.

So maybe now you’ll understand why I concentrated on Stewart, Peterson, Cevert and the rest. Anyway, as you can see from the enclosed  front cover it is now only a matter of a few weeks before I start visiting the post office on a regular basis.

For the benefit of those who are new to my blog Frankly Frankl in its first, hard cover, coffee table format will sell at 44.95, 35 pounds in the UK. 499 copies all told with about 400 remaining, 99 having been pre sold. Of those 50 have been reserved for the launch party at Ferrari of San Francisco and another 50 for a book signing at Sardi’s in New York where the monthly meeting of the Chowder Society is held. Take away another 50 reserved for the Royal Automobile Club in London and if my mathematics is right leaves about 250 copies for the rest of the World . If you are going to be in Austin for the Grand Prix next month  and would like to buy a copy please  let me know and I would be happy  take a signed copy for you.
 

Just send me an e mail to andrewfrankl@me.com or go to my website at www.franklyfrankl.com

 Thank you.