Last week was a busy and hectic week here in Jacksonville. Still, we found
time to meet with Mark Dent, his son Drew, his father Roger, and his
father's dog Boomer.
I met up with them on Friday and we set out to pick up a car that Mark had
bought. That was quite the adventure as I was operating on sleep
deprivation and I am sure I was not the best travelling companion. They
were very gracious and we made reasonable time getting down to pick up the
car. We loaded it up and met with Bob Porter for some Roadster chat and
comraderie. (I keep trying to get Bob to see the light and get another
Roadster - maybe some day he will come around.) We took the back roads
coming back and made good time. On Saturday, Mark and crowd were able to
see some of the RM auction at the Amelia Island Concours. The trailer was
not big enough for another car, so they did not buy anything. (that is what
I am telling everyone!) Saturday evening was the planned SEROC Mini Meet.
(these are shaping up to be Micro Meets, aren't they?)
Norman Ritz - a regular Roadster nut in this area - was out of town, so he
did not make it. Jeff Gaver got the rare opportunity to have a date with
his wife sans kids, so he capitalized on that, but Matthew Altenbach and his
brother (neither are SEROC members - yet...) came out and extended a hearty
welcome. We met up with the local Z car club at the cruise in and chatted
about cars for some time. In all, 3 Roadster guys came out to meet Mark and
his family members. Only one Roadster made it, but a good time was had by
all. After saying our goodbye's, the Dent family began their trek
northward.
My weekend did not end there. I woke up at 4am on Sunday to go to do
volunteer work at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. I had planned to
take the Jaguar, but at the last minute decided to take the Roadster. It
was quite cool, but temperature be damned, I drove top down the whole way up
(one hour from my house). Part the way there, I realized that rough road
was coming ahead and I had the Solex setup in the trunk. Rather than have
it bounce around and damage something in the trunk, I pulled over and put it
in the floorboard. The car performed flawlessly the entire trip up. The
event was fun, and the staff was fantastic. If you are in the southeast
during this time of year, you really should plan to go.
On the way home, I had a few odd failures (the speedo cable decided to take
a vacation among other things), but no show stoppers. The car drove like a
champ and I had quite a nice Roadster burn. The nice thing is that although
the car is not a concours car, I got quite a bit of high praise from folks
that were going to and coming from the event. I thought that was very cool!
Now if I can only convince them that a Roadster needs to be in there....
In closing, I need to publicly thank Mark Dent for all of the help, advice
and support that he has given me since we met. I first talked to Mark as he
sought me out to ask some questions about 1500 Roadsters. He ended up
getting the beautiful car that he has after those discussions (and I admit I
was a bit envious!) and we became good friends over the course of it all.
Mark and his wife put me up for a weekend and Mark took me to Summit Point
for the nice juicy race weekend we had. Mark has freely given advice about
Roadsters and business over the years, and I really owe him a big debt of
gratitude. Without his help and support, I would not be making the headway
that I am now. Thank you Mark!
Sidney Raper
1964 1500 (still a project.... sigh....)
1967 SRL311 00076 (alive again!)
Jacksonville Florida
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