RITZ-CARLTON ORLANDO FESTIVALS OF SPEED, December 2nd, 2018

[DMC-81]

Ever since I first attended the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Festivals of Speed a little more than a decade ago, I wanted to show a car at this prestigious event located in a picturesque setting on the hotel's grounds. Yesterday, I was able to achieve that. Here are a few selected pictures:

Arriving:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58760&d=1543841978

Queued in the staging area:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58761&d=1543843630

Placed on the field. I was fortunate to get a favorable placement as a lead car in the American Sports Car Section:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58762&d=1543845136

There were a lot of unique vehicles and a great variety as well, including not one but 2 Bugattis:

Bugatti Chiron #1, (with an eye watering MSRP of $2.6 million):
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58766&d=1543862858

Bugatti Chiron #2, All the way from Ontario, Canada. The tag read “FUNDSRLO" (funds are low) :)
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58767&d=1543862998
I understand oil changes on these cars cost $21,000.

A more "pedestrian" Lamborghini Aventador SV:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58768&d=1543863443

If a sedan is more your style, there was this Rolls Royce Wraith Coupe with suicide doors:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58770&d=1543863916

Or this beautiful convertible ( Rolls Royce Dawn)
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58769&d=1543863780

A Rhino GX luxury SUV:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58771&d=1543864223

Or a pretty blue monster truck. I’m not normally a fan of trucks, but something about this one caught my attention:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58772&d=1543864410

I was honored to have received an award:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=58765&d=1543854142

It was the perfect ending to a great day. If you want to catch this event next year or any of the other ones, here is their website: https://www.festivalsofspeed.com/

[Col Bennett]

Nice one. Congrats Dana. I bet your car looked even cleaner than those million dollar supercars.

[DMC-81]

Nice one. Congrats Dana. I bet your car looked even cleaner than those million dollar supercars.

Thanks Colin! I was honored to even be among them.

[Jonathan]

That's really amazing, Dana. Great job! And an honor to be included for sure, yet also an acknowledgement by others of how nice your car is. Through all that time and effort YOU put in to YOUR car. I'll bet not a single other owner of those super cars does any of his own work. Much less the kind of restoration and attention to detail you put into yours. That trophy speaks volumes to anyone who sees it and knows what it represents. Beauty.

[DMC-81]

That's really amazing, Dana. Great job! And an honor to be included for sure, yet also an acknowledgement by others of how nice your car is. Through all that time and effort YOU put in to YOUR car. I'll bet not a single other owner of those super cars does any of his own work. Much less the kind of restoration and attention to detail you put into yours. That trophy speaks volumes to anyone who sees it and knows what it represents. Beauty.

Thanks for the very kind words Jonathan! :)

One thing I always enjoy about shows is talking to the spectators. One family that stood out in particular from Sunday's show was a couple with their pre-teen son. The mom approached me and said that their son really loves cars and the DeLorean has always been his favorite, despite never seeing one before today. She said that he was there at the entrance before the show, taking pictures of the various cars as they arrived. Then she shared that when I drove around the corner into view, he was so overwhelmed that he broke down in tears. Then he panicked as I appeared to leave after a few minutes. (I was directed to another staging area). So, he got another surprise when they wandered into the show area where the car was.

I was moved by this and proceeded to open the driver door and ask if he wanted sit in it. Well, after got situated, he broke down again and said "Do you know what you've done for me today? You've given me the best moment in my life so far!"

Wow, I needed a moment after that. After a few minutes of photos, conversation and showing the car to them, all three shook my hand and sincerely thanked me.

I was reminded yet again to try to always be in a sociable mood around this car to avoid ruining introductory moments like these for fans of the car. In addition to the award that I received, I'll have this memory of helping to make a young future enthusiast's day. To me, that seems just as valuable.