Wednesday, July 17, 2019
The Ferrari’s Rueben drove enjoyed running above the speed limit. The Daytona’s and Daytona Spyder’s had 12-cylinder engines and were like racehorses. They didn’t want to be held back or driven slowly. The unusual body styles and bright colors made them easy to spot by the highway patrol. And, if a police officer didn’t see the Ferrari, he usually heard the roar of its engine.
Editor’s Note: Jim was traveling earlier this week, so here’s a favorite post of his. Enjoy!
Driving fast Ferrari’s every day of the week, Rueben was constantly watching out for the Highway Patrol, especially in California where he did most of his driving.
“On another occasion, I was coming back from Southern California with a Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer (BB), ” Rueben recalled. “You know…the 12 cylinders Ferrari. Now in those days, the speed limit was 55 mph, and I had to be careful not to get too many speeding tickets.
“I was on my usual California route and used to stop at Denny’s in Lost Hills at the intersection of I-5 and Highway 46. Denny’s was my regular stop to have lunch, take a break, or put gas in the car. Highway patrol officers stopped there to take breaks as well. While they saw me plenty of times, they usually didn’t say anything to me.”
Until one day when the officers got curious.
One of three officers asked Rueben, “Why are you here so often, what kind of job do you have?”
Rueben explained that his job involved driving to and from Los Gatos with Ferrari’s. All three officers asked to see the car.
When Rueben said “Sure,” they got excited and asked for a ride as well. Rueben responded, “Give me your keys and your gun, and you can take the car for a run around here by yourself.”
They laughed, but one of them gave Rueben the keys to his patrol car and asked, “You want my gun too?”
“No,” said Rueben. “Just the keys.”
The highway patrol officer took the Ferrari for a drive and came back so happy the other two went for a ride as well. They thanked Rueben and left, but not before saying, “We hope to see you around here again.”
Rueben said, “Over time, I probably let those highway patrol officers drive three or four different Ferraris while I took my break at Denny’s.”
Police Advice on How To Avoid Speeding Tickets
One time, as Rueben started to leave Denny’s, the highway patrolmen offered to share some valuable advice for someone who regularly drove fast cars.
“We appreciate you letting us drive these fancy cars. We want to tell you something, so pay attention. We know when we see a sports car on the highway, sooner or later, the driver will go over the speed limit. We call each other and say, ‘Watch out for this car.’ So remember, if the officer that sees you speeding doesn’t catch you, another one will.”
Rueben already had two tickets, so this was not only good advice, but advice he planned to take. One more and he would have lost his license.
Rueben’s adventures are only part of the Ferrari of Los Gatos story. In the next post, meet one of the greatest baseball players in San Francisco history, that is, until it came to driving a Ferrari.
Photo: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com
About the Blog
The blog FLGstory.com tells how two young men had a dream to sell Ferraris. In 1976, Richard Rivoir and Brian Burnett's dream turned into a Silicon Valley business that became the best-known Ferrari dealership in the world. It's the story of Ferrari of Los Gatos and corresponds with a book that is a work in progress.
About the Author
Jim Ciardella is a storyteller, Ferrari enthusiast, and native Californian. Born and raised in Palo Alto, he grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley and witnessed the dot.com boom and the changes it created.
At one point, he met Brian Burnett, co-owner of Ferrari of Los Gatos. Over the years, Brian told Jim numerous stories about Ferrari of Los Gatos and finished each tale with these words: “And someone ought to write a book about it.”
One night, after many stories and Brian’s predictable conclusion, Jim told him, “I’ll do it. I’ll write the book.”
When he isn’t writing to tell a story, Jim, a finance executive, helps technology companies. He started his career in public accounting and soon realized that growing and improving businesses was his calling. And there was no better place to fulfill that calling than Silicon Valley, the land of startups and successful hi-tech firms.
Writing played a big part in all of Jim’s business experiences and is his real passion. Jim believes, “The written word weaves memories into an amazing story.”