KMeloney

Hey all,

A buddy and I attended a fundraiser in Lehigh County (PA) last night where Mario Andretti was to make an appearance. Long story short, Mario appeared early and stayed late, and really spent some good time talking to the two of us about cars. It was amazing!

I used the fact that I have a Z06 as a way to start the conversation, asking him how he liked his. He replied that he has a Ferrari and Diablo, etc., but that the Z06 was by far "the best bang for the buck," and that it's the car that he drives "most of the time." He continued that they (Chev.) really got the car right, that the balance is good, and that the attention to the castings and whatnot really show that they made the car special. The conversation really rolled from there (we wondered if we, being a couple of car nuts, were bringing him down with car conversation that he must get burdened with all the time, but it was clear that he LOVES talking cars, especially in a setting where the other people there probably were just blowing smoke in his ear).

As it turned out, Mario drove his Diablo VT to the event, and invited us to check it out when he was leaving (we told him we'd love to follow him to the parking lot to hear him start it up, and he said "sure, no problem"). There were only 30 or so people at this event, and more than half of them left before Mario did, and so just my buddy and I went out to his car with him. There, I asked him if he wouldn't mind signing a couple things for me, and he again abliged. I went to my buddy's car and came back with the Road&Track where he tested the Z06 along with 4 other top cars, and my yellow 1:18 scale Z06 model (yep, I came prepared!). He signed the cover of the R&T, and autographed the trunk of the Z06 model. It was very cool! :D

Mario is just a complete class act who clearly loves automobiles (and having conversations with others who have a passion for them as well). In the event that you weren't already sure, you should find comfort in the fact that a former F1 and CART champion (amongst his other acheivements) really drives and enjoys his Z06.

-Kirk

thefly

very cool story. sounds like a very nice car nut like the rest of us. congrats on scoring the autographs.

Bill Reid

:cool:

:cheers:

Bwright

Great story. I have one though it's not as good as yours.

I was in my office bathroom sometime in early 1999. The bathroom was down the hall from our office and I noticed a gentleman washing his hands in the sink. I could not help but notice how much he resembled Mario so I said "You probably hear this a lot but you look just like Mario Andretti." To my eternal embarrassment he smiled and said, "Yes, I do. Probably because I am Mario Andretti."

As we walked down the hall I peppered him with questions about his impression of the Vette (not the Z06 which was not out yet). He was very complimentary and said he really liked the car a lot. He waited outside my office for a minute while I ran in for something to write on then signed an autograph.

I had it on my desk but lost it when we moved two years later :cry

He really is a great guy who talks freely and readily about cars of all stripe. I really was lucky to have met him.

jim482

:cool: story....thanks.

Fast Lane

:cool: Mario is a great Ambassador. We another American F1 Champion. :cool:

Corvette Junkie

:cool:

INTRUBL

If you get a chance get the dvd Super Speedway. It features Mario and his son Michael. It was done for the IMAX theaters, the sound will blow you away.

bhamvett

The Andretti's are a class act family.I had the pleasure
of going to Nazareth speedway with a sports news caster
for a interview he was taping with Mario.He is the nicest guy
you will ever meet.That was back in 1994-1995.
Mario drove the corvette to the track.He has always owned
and driven corvettes.
Don't you wish everyone acted like that?
bhamvett

VNAMVET

How COOL is that! Lucky guys............I would have him sign my dash!!

KMeloney

I hear you! I didn't know what the logistics were going to be last night, and I was prepared to get my stuff to be signed from the car at any given point. But, I thought that bringing a valve cover or something might have been a little much.. LOL If we had taken MY car, yep, I think would have asked him to sign my Z somewhere.

-Kirk

PS -- As reiterated by everyone, he really is a nice, approachable guy.

Tracy

Very cool stories. I've always liked Mario. Even his commercials, like the Havoline one were he beats some guy and his son to the oil....he tends to poke fun at himself and his reputation, showing he doesn't take himself too seriously. Yet, he's a mega-star, with many interesting facets to his life.

Of course, he ACTS like he puts his pants one leg at a time like the rest of us mere mortals, and we love him for it.....but the fact is that his pit crew holds his pants open for him and he does a somersault off of his bed and easily jumps into 'em with both legs at once!!!!

How cool is it that he likes his Z06!? Wouldn't it be GREAT to go for a ride with him on some twisties? Wow!! His pinkie finger knows more about driving fast than my whole body!! He's not a young man, but I'll bet he can still push a car harder than damn near anybody out there.

Yeah, Mario is way cool. Kinda like Tony Bennett is way cool!!!


[Modified by Tracy, 12:38 PM 10/29/2002]

vetterdstr

Mario is clearly a class act! :yesnod:

vetterdstr :cheers:

Tracy

Can you even IMAGINE the stories that guy has? Maximum racecars, very rich & influential people, very beautiful women, races, F1, people getting killed, the places he's been. It makes my head spin. I wonder if there's any *good* books about him, or an autobiography. Hmmmmm...off to Amazon.

hcvone

I have only ever seen Mario driving a Benz. ;)

IMXCITD

:cool:

Wilson6t7

:cool: stuff, sounds like a top notch guy!

toondaddy

Wow...cool story. I love to hear about celebrities not forgetting where they come from. I met Dale Earnhardt, Ron Fellows, and Andy Pilgrim at past races and they all seemed to be level headed, normal guys who just loved to race cars...kinda like some of us! Would like to meet Mario someday.

KMeloney

Yeah, we certainly could have talked with him for hours! It was one of those situations where you barely knew where to start, 'cause you just wanted his impressions of EVERYTHING!

The conversation about his Diablo got him talking about how it's not an extremely graceful car to drive, which got him talking about the braking (some decent brake steer to deal with, apparently), which lead him to talk about some hydrolics issues. This prompted him to tell us how he's been over in Germany working on different braking and steering systems (all electronic -- no more fluids!), and how some of the German engineers assured him that some of his ideas "simply wouldn't work" -- only to be proven wrong later. Mario simply has so much to offer the automotive industry, WORLD WIDE, that it was amzing to be standing there "BS'ing" with him.

Did I mention that while I was going to get my signing fodder out of my friend's car that Mario told my buddy to go ahead and sit in the driver's seat of his Diablo?! My friend didn't even ask! He just told him to go ahead and check it out. How darn amazing and down-to-earth is THAT?! Wow!

When he pulled out of the lot, he took the driveway at an angle to keep from ripping his carbon fiber air splitter off the car. He cruised to the stop light at the end of the block, and we turned to head to my friend's car. Then, when we were almost to the car, we heard a nice "scrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreech!" as he clearly left the light in a "spirited" manner.

Awesome.

-Kirk

AP

:cool::cool::cool: