Feel good Porsche Story
09-30-2003, 10:11 AM
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Feel good Porsche Story
Birthday surprise: a childhood memory
Birthday surprise: a childhood memory
By AMY SCHERZER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 30, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Ford Smith tracked down his late father-in-law's 1978 Porsche 911 Targa and bought it as a birthday gift for his wife, Malena Garcia-Smith.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - Honk if you like romantic gestures and happy endings.
Hit the brakes if you've ever had a love affair with a car.
Here's a story that touches it all. It's about a man and his wheels, and how the car arrived in his daughter's garage nearly two decades after his unexpected death.
It begins with Eddie Garcia. He was a 23-year-old architecture student at the University of Havana when he fled Cuba in April 1961. He landed a job as a draftsman for an architect in Tampa and rented a room in a roach- and termite-infested boarding house.
His parents, Juan and Esperanza, brother Luis and grandmother Margarita soon joined him in the United States. The whole family shared a beat-up '52 Chevy while they struggled to achieve the American dream.
In 1971, Garcia and a colleague, Sol Fleischman, formed FleischmanGarcia Architects. Garcia gained a reputation for his contemporary designs, including the Tampa Medical Tower on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Lopez Elementary in east Hillsborough.
A decade later, the Cuban immigrant bought his dream car: a 1978 Porsche, a Targa SC. Metallic brown.
"His family, his career and his car were his pride and joy," Fleischman said.
Within two years, Garcia died of a brain aneurysm at age 46.
It happened on a Monday in August 1984. Garcia told his wife, Tessie, he felt dizzy. She took him to a neurosurgeon, who sent him to St. Joseph's Hospital.
"In the elevator, on the way to have a CAT scan, the aneurysm burst," Fleischman said. "He never recovered.
His death devastated friends, family and clients.
"He was young and healthy, at the top of his game," said Malena Garcia-Smith, one of his two daughters. At the time, she was 21 and living at home.
For years, the sight of a vintage Porsche revived memories of her father. She'd be 17 again, with her dad driving her to school. On the cassette player: Hotel California by the Eagles. Sometimes, they'd drive to his job sites. He'd rev the Porsche and take off, her long black hair blowing in the wind.
A trip to get a gallon of milk could take an hour.
"The store was five blocks away and we'd end up racing on (Interstate) 275 because he loved to drive his car," she said. "Your heart sinks into the seat when you accelerate."
Two weeks after his funeral, she met her future husband, Ford Smith. She was a receptionist at Stewart Title Co. He was a company courier.
She remembers showing him the Porsche. It was to be sold.
Fast forward to five years ago. Smith thought about the car while reading a background check on a prospective business partner. The report listed all the cars the man owned, and all the people who previously owned them.
"That's where I got the idea," said Smith, 42, a developer and partner in BayStar Hotel Group. He asked Fleischman to find the Porsche's vehicle identification number. He gave it to Val Volpe, a Tampa police detective and friend, who tracked it down.
Within 48 hours, Smith was on the phone with the owner, Michael Shooks of Grand Rapids, Mich., pitching his request.
"I wanted to buy it for Malena for our 10th anniversary," Smith said.
Shooks refused.
"He said it was his baby and he wasn't interested in selling," said Smith. "He'd owned it almost 12 years and only drove it on weekends ... never in the rain."
Smith never mentioned it to his wife. From time to time, he would give Shooks a call. The answer always was the same.
But Smith didn't quit.
In April, he tried again. He told Shooks Malena's 40th birthday was coming up. No gift could be more meaningful.
This time, Shooks said yes. Elated, he told his wife he was going to a business meeting in Atlanta but instead flew to Michigan.
Shooks met his plane at 1 p.m. He arrived in the Porsche.
"It looked exactly the same," Smith said.
The men went for a drive, agreed on the $20,000 price, then returned to the airport in time to catch a 3 p.m. flight back to Tampa.
"There was no need to negotiate," Smith said. "The car meant too much to me."
A month later, when the Porsche arrived on a trailer, the secret almost slipped out. Smith had made arrangements to hide it in an old firehouse he once renovated on Magnolia Avenue.
"They're rolling it off and here comes Cindy Tigert driving down Platt Street," recalled Smith. "She saw the Porsche and pulled over."
Tigert, a longtime friend, swore secrecy.
Finally, in late June, with the birthday more than a month away, Smith seized an opportunity. Their daughters, Nina, 8, and Haley, 6, were with friends for the night, and the couple was cleaning out the garage of their Sunset Park home.
"Hey, you want your birthday present early?" he asked. "You want to go pick it up now?"
Sure, she said, accepting a blindfold.
"I'm thinking a ring," she said. "I'm thinking we're driving to a jewelry store."
The gift certainly sparkled.
"I just started crying," she said. "I couldn't believe it."
To top it off, Smith ordered a custom license plate. It bears the Bucs logo - Eddie Garcia was a loyal season ticket holder - and the numbers 41685. Garcia's birthday was April 16; his daughter was born Aug. 5.
"Nothing, not even a $100,000 car would have meant anything like this means to me," she said.
Her husband handed her the service records. Inside was a note from Shooks.
It read: "I hope you enjoy this car as much as I have, and as much as I know your father did."
© Copyright 2000-2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birthday surprise: a childhood memory
By AMY SCHERZER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 30, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Ford Smith tracked down his late father-in-law's 1978 Porsche 911 Targa and bought it as a birthday gift for his wife, Malena Garcia-Smith.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - Honk if you like romantic gestures and happy endings.
Hit the brakes if you've ever had a love affair with a car.
Here's a story that touches it all. It's about a man and his wheels, and how the car arrived in his daughter's garage nearly two decades after his unexpected death.
It begins with Eddie Garcia. He was a 23-year-old architecture student at the University of Havana when he fled Cuba in April 1961. He landed a job as a draftsman for an architect in Tampa and rented a room in a roach- and termite-infested boarding house.
His parents, Juan and Esperanza, brother Luis and grandmother Margarita soon joined him in the United States. The whole family shared a beat-up '52 Chevy while they struggled to achieve the American dream.
In 1971, Garcia and a colleague, Sol Fleischman, formed FleischmanGarcia Architects. Garcia gained a reputation for his contemporary designs, including the Tampa Medical Tower on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Lopez Elementary in east Hillsborough.
A decade later, the Cuban immigrant bought his dream car: a 1978 Porsche, a Targa SC. Metallic brown.
"His family, his career and his car were his pride and joy," Fleischman said.
Within two years, Garcia died of a brain aneurysm at age 46.
It happened on a Monday in August 1984. Garcia told his wife, Tessie, he felt dizzy. She took him to a neurosurgeon, who sent him to St. Joseph's Hospital.
"In the elevator, on the way to have a CAT scan, the aneurysm burst," Fleischman said. "He never recovered.
His death devastated friends, family and clients.
"He was young and healthy, at the top of his game," said Malena Garcia-Smith, one of his two daughters. At the time, she was 21 and living at home.
For years, the sight of a vintage Porsche revived memories of her father. She'd be 17 again, with her dad driving her to school. On the cassette player: Hotel California by the Eagles. Sometimes, they'd drive to his job sites. He'd rev the Porsche and take off, her long black hair blowing in the wind.
A trip to get a gallon of milk could take an hour.
"The store was five blocks away and we'd end up racing on (Interstate) 275 because he loved to drive his car," she said. "Your heart sinks into the seat when you accelerate."
Two weeks after his funeral, she met her future husband, Ford Smith. She was a receptionist at Stewart Title Co. He was a company courier.
She remembers showing him the Porsche. It was to be sold.
Fast forward to five years ago. Smith thought about the car while reading a background check on a prospective business partner. The report listed all the cars the man owned, and all the people who previously owned them.
"That's where I got the idea," said Smith, 42, a developer and partner in BayStar Hotel Group. He asked Fleischman to find the Porsche's vehicle identification number. He gave it to Val Volpe, a Tampa police detective and friend, who tracked it down.
Within 48 hours, Smith was on the phone with the owner, Michael Shooks of Grand Rapids, Mich., pitching his request.
"I wanted to buy it for Malena for our 10th anniversary," Smith said.
Shooks refused.
"He said it was his baby and he wasn't interested in selling," said Smith. "He'd owned it almost 12 years and only drove it on weekends ... never in the rain."
Smith never mentioned it to his wife. From time to time, he would give Shooks a call. The answer always was the same.
But Smith didn't quit.
In April, he tried again. He told Shooks Malena's 40th birthday was coming up. No gift could be more meaningful.
This time, Shooks said yes. Elated, he told his wife he was going to a business meeting in Atlanta but instead flew to Michigan.
Shooks met his plane at 1 p.m. He arrived in the Porsche.
"It looked exactly the same," Smith said.
The men went for a drive, agreed on the $20,000 price, then returned to the airport in time to catch a 3 p.m. flight back to Tampa.
"There was no need to negotiate," Smith said. "The car meant too much to me."
A month later, when the Porsche arrived on a trailer, the secret almost slipped out. Smith had made arrangements to hide it in an old firehouse he once renovated on Magnolia Avenue.
"They're rolling it off and here comes Cindy Tigert driving down Platt Street," recalled Smith. "She saw the Porsche and pulled over."
Tigert, a longtime friend, swore secrecy.
Finally, in late June, with the birthday more than a month away, Smith seized an opportunity. Their daughters, Nina, 8, and Haley, 6, were with friends for the night, and the couple was cleaning out the garage of their Sunset Park home.
"Hey, you want your birthday present early?" he asked. "You want to go pick it up now?"
Sure, she said, accepting a blindfold.
"I'm thinking a ring," she said. "I'm thinking we're driving to a jewelry store."
The gift certainly sparkled.
"I just started crying," she said. "I couldn't believe it."
To top it off, Smith ordered a custom license plate. It bears the Bucs logo - Eddie Garcia was a loyal season ticket holder - and the numbers 41685. Garcia's birthday was April 16; his daughter was born Aug. 5.
"Nothing, not even a $100,000 car would have meant anything like this means to me," she said.
Her husband handed her the service records. Inside was a note from Shooks.
It read: "I hope you enjoy this car as much as I have, and as much as I know your father did."
© Copyright 2000-2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
09-30-2003, 11:08 AM
#2
Race Director
Nice story!!
There is a guy on the 944-list who tracked down his deceased fathers previous 944 and these two stories confirms just how emotionally the connection betwen man and machine can be.
There is a guy on the 944-list who tracked down his deceased fathers previous 944 and these two stories confirms just how emotionally the connection betwen man and machine can be.
09-30-2003, 11:53 AM
#3
And this is why I'll never sell my 356. Funny similar thing happened the other day - my fuel pump died on my way home late at night... sitting by the side of the road, a nice old lady slowed down and looked at me... a few minutes later, a guy comes out of a neighborhood looking like he just got out of bed - robe, slippers, etc. Said his wife saw a young man (me) and a broke down 356, and he should go help. Turns out he owned a 356 shop here in town in the '70s, knew my father well, and actually recognized my car. Couldn't help get me going, but we enjoyed a 30 minute chit chat while waiting on the tow truck.
