<<<Any of you guys know a Thomas Coady? He's on speed channel right now
showing off his Cunningham c3 coupe, one of only 19. Hot car, they
said the guy is from northern illinois, but didn't specify where.
License says "to fast" :-p
>>>
Amazing.
I met Tom Coady several years ago while in a Chicagoland MG Club caravan to
the Champagne British Car Festival. We took backroads - to give credit where
credit is due, it was a route Barney Gaylord came up with of two-laners from
Chicago to Champaign that he uses to go to Champaign County Autocrosses - and
we
stopped in Roberts, IL at a little ice cream place called "Sundae Drive". A
gentleman in overalls came in while we were enjoying our ice cream and
approached our group and told us he had been admiring our cars. He invited us
to come
see his cars and told us to stop at the Ford dealership a bit further down IL
115 on the south edge of Roberts and ask for Tom Coady. So we did. It was
amazing. I wish I had written down what all we saw. I remember a Ferrari he
said
was his son's. Then he took us to the shops added on to the north side of the
building. I can remember seeing two Allards and an Osca. And there were several
more cars there. Then he took us to another location in town where he had a
warehouse full of cars - Jaguars, Ferraris, Maseratis. He came to the festival
the next day in a Ferrari - I don't remember the exact model, but he said it
was the Geneva show car when the model was introduced. And his low-key,
matter-of-fact demeanor leads me be very trusting of his claims. I was very
impressed
that as a crowd gathered around the car, he reached out to a young (8 or so)
boy standing in the group and said, "Have you ever sat in a Ferrari?" and then
installed the lad in the seat of the car. The next day he came back for the
car show in a British car from his collection - a Rolls Royce.
If I remember correctly, he lives in Paxton, just a little south of Roberts
and north of Champaign along I57. More Central Illinois than Northern.
Very impressive gentleman with an amazing collection of cars and car
knowledge.
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
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