When I was growing up I had two fathers. One drove my Great Grandfather’s Medium Green Ford LTD; the other woke me up every morning with his 1975 Ferrari 308GT4. Now before you go thinking that I was raised in an automotive household surrounded by cool cars, my Real Father will admit quite the opposite was true.
Real Dad was building a business, raising two children and I’m certain was struggling with a house payment so we could attend the best public schools in L.A. Real Dad was conservative, paid cash for every car he owned and drove each one into the ground. They were all well cared for and dispensed with only when the roadway below started showing up beneath our feet.
Me and Adam West having fun in my garage!
Surrogate Dad was none other than Adam West, who we all know as the iconic actor who created the “Classic TV Batman”. Batman lived three houses away and knew I was crazy about cars. I’m sure when he started his Ferrari up in the morning, he revved it just a little higher than normal just to put a smile on my face. That low, raspy “whaamp whaamp” did more to wake me up in the morning than my mother frying bacon downstairs.
I really couldn’t spend much time hanging around Adam’s 308GT4, as I was up to my eyeballs working on my 1953 M38A1 Military Jeep; fixing the steering so when I turned the wheel something actually happened, working on the brakes so I didn’t have to put my foot out to stop, and installing a header pipe to raise the horsepower from 72 to 73! I didn’t know it at the time, but my life and every thing I experienced behind the wheel was about to change…
If my memory serves me correct, I was sixteen when Batman came over to the house in the Ferrari and asked me if I wanted to go for a spin. “Let’s go for a drive up in the hills to look at a house I’m thinking of buying.” Adam said in that low baritone voice that should be trademarked, if there ever was such a thing…
As I was opening up the passenger door to my first experience of what an automobile should be, it occurred to me this car was designed by men with passion, and not by a committee of bean counters. Dropping into the passenger seat was overwhelming; I was sitting so low and far forward, that I could see every pebble on the ground! Up until now, the only thing I had seen was a green, quarter acre hood of a Ford LTD! I felt like I was in a Formula One Ferrari… so this is what Niki Lauda saw!
Me, my dad, Adam West, and the Batmobile!
As intoxicating as all this was, the party was only just starting… Adam’s simple twist of the key, the whirl of the fuel pump, a quick jab of the gas, and another quarter turn set the starter in motion that turned over a crescendo that was just about to explode into life. That familiar sound I heard bouncing off houses was now 18″ behind my head. Compared to my Jeep, I just made the transformation from GI Joe in Korea to Don Johnson in Miami. I’m giddy with excitement as Adam pulls away from the curb… all the while the hair on the back of my neck raising as the engine climbed toward redline.
Up into the foothills we charged. The metallic noise of the gears and timing chains was offset by the melodious exhaust. Balance, quickness, and noises only a grand prix race could top. As incredible as this day was, it was about to get a whole lot better. Adam pulled over to the side of the road and said, “You’re driving home!” “No, no, no… I’m not driving your car…” “Oh, yes you are…” After thinking this caped crusader could knock me out with one of his patented “POW!” maneuvers, I relented, knowing full well damaging his car would most certainly end our relationship… and borrowing “The Bat Surfboard” would be a thing of the past.
Some people say they have a day in their life that changed them forever… for me, as I let out the clutch with hardly a shudder, it was this day. Up until now I had spent more time reading the automotive classified ads in the L.A. Times, than reading my English books. Now, that was only going to continue in a more fanatical way… a fact that was consistently re-enforced with every English test I got back.
At that moment in my life, I knew what I was born to do. I was always interested in cars, but at that moment, I knew why. I still get that same excited feeling after a great drive, whether it’s on the race track, or dropping the hammer on my own 1976 308GT4.
More fun in the garage with my 308!
Funny thing, Adam always knew I was a car guy, but I never really thanked him or told him what it meant to me that day. What started out as a thank you letter to him turned into locating one of The Batmobiles, then Adam graciously flying out to be on the cover with my father and me for this Father’s Day Issue.
Thank you, Adam. You helped give me a focus in life, added to my love of cars, and showed me that it’s the simple things in life that make the most impact on people… a fact that I’m very much aware of when I let the neighborhood kids drive my 308GT4.
So here’s to my Real Father, Adam and men all over the world that go out of their way to make an impact on a young man’s life. Happy Father’s Day to you, Dad. You are my mentor and my best friend. And to you Adam, the one and still only “Classic Batman”, that has touched so many people around this world; a Happy Father’s Day to you.
P.S. My Father and Adam remain best friends to this day, still laughing, and enjoying life.
P.S.S. The only way I could get into the University of Colorado was to take a remedial English class in the summer before school started in 1978. In this English class, I wrote a surreal paper about that experience in the 308GT4 and received an “A”. Up until then, I never received an “A” in English in my life… and now look what I’m doing. Who would have thought?