Video of a cool exotic car charity event I participate in

[SweetDaddyDelicious]

Hey folks,

Last year one of my customers, knowing I'm a "car guy", invited me to participate in an event called Dream Ride of Kids with her. Even though I'm not super into kids, it was actually a ton of fun. Proceeds benefited Camp Sunshine and Ronald McDonald house. Basically we got a bunch of exotic car owners together and gave kids with cancer or some other ailment a ride from Ferrari/Masseratti/Aston Martin of Atlanta (the event organizer) to Turner field. It was police escorted and extremely well organized. I had the only Lotus in a sea of Ferrari's, Ford GT's, Porsches, Rolls, etc etc and my friend brought out her SLR. I know how much fun I had blasting down the highway like the presidential caravan in millions upon million of dollars of the best machinery the world has to offer, I'm sure it was even better for a kid that spends most of his time in a hospital.

Well this year I was invited back to do the event again. We got 9 other cars to meet us for breakfast and come with our group, so this year I wasn't the only Lotus, lol. I wasn't even the only orange one. Given the great organization I couldn't wait to do it again this year. Word got out, as the event really grew. Participation was huge, and even a Spyker came out, which won the peoples choice award. My friend that asked me to do it last year actually brought 3 of her cars out this year- an SLR McLaren, Aston Martin DB9, and Bentley convertible- all customized by a shop in New York with a TV show called Unique Whips. She also won the "Bribe the Judges Concours.

They reversed it this year and it went from Turner Field to Ferrari of Atlanta, with a show at the end. You can see the smile that Andrew and I had on as we got back to the dealer in the short interview clip with him in my orange car. I look like a total doufus but I think it shows the fun we had. Andrew had a brain tumor and spends his time with Camp Sunshine but he and his family had a great outlook, and were all super cool. They must of thanked me and shook my hand 20 times. I'm glad Ferrari of Atlanta has taken their time to organize such a great event, and can't wait to participate again next year. It's really neat to be able to make someone so happy that is in such a shitty position.

Here is the clip of the video. It's kind of long, but if you like cool cars maybe you'll enjoy it.


http://thumbs.vidiac.com/879f929b-3280-482b-a639-996700cf39f8.jpg (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/879f929b-3280-482b-a639-996700cf39f8.htm)StreetFire.net covers the annual Dream Ride for Charity sponsored by Ferrari of Atlanta. Underprivileged and disabled kids get to ride in exotics across town in Atlanta. Lots of sweet rides! Edited by Michael Semon. Music by Ryan Fleisher. (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/879f929b-3280-482b-a639-996700cf39f8.htm)

[pdisme]

Great video and cause. I am kind of hoping someone puts a similar event together down here involving All Childrens Hospital; I know there are tons of local exotic owners that would come out. I'd do it if my free time allowed me to, maybe I'll try harder if nothing materializes, I've mentioned it to a few friends that work there to try and get someone at the hospital's PR dept. to reach out to the local exotic dealers and set something up.

[SweetDaddyDelicious]

It's just a really cool event. (prolly worth some rep, huh? lol)
We end up having as much fun as the kids. Obviously most participants are Ferrari of Atlanta customers, makes sense- they put it on and I'm sure their own customers are the easiest for them to get in touch with.

But it really is about the kids. It was nice to see the event grow so much this year. I like that FOA sends out invitations to all types of owners, many (like me) not even one of their own. Likewise some guys I know with used models and other models they don't sell received invites as well. Any make is welcome, not just what they sell or service. I think the only thing they would be opposed to would be another dealer coming in with a big representation and trying to promote themselves. For the time and effort they put into it, certainly understandable. Also of the 2 awards given they were both to cars not sold by them. I think that says something about them. Peoples choice was the Spyker, and Bribe the Judges to my friend Nicole. Well that award is more of to the person that donated the most rather than to the car. Of the 3 cars she brought, only the Aston was sold by Ferarri/Masseratti of Atlanta.

Unfortunately no Lambos this year or last. And not for lack of invites, or awareness of the event. I know it's often said here that Ferrari owners don't drive their cars and they are just garage queens while the Lambo drivers often drive theirs. But around here it's the opposite. Even our monthly Lotus meet always have huge Ferrari participation every month, and sometimes one or two Lambos (owned by the same guy) The only Month I saw more (I think 5 or 6!) was when Lambo was Marque of the month. And oddly enough a lot of the F car guys are there even it it rains. Not trying to derail my own thread. I'll post here when it the event recurs next year and maybe we can get a Lambo driver to come out.

One great thing about this event, is it was threatening rain and we still had an amazing turnout. The first year I caught a sprinkle (with the top down) on the way there as well. This year it threatened but never rained.

That Spyker was just awesome. The owner even cooler. I mean you can see the kid get in the car and chug back some soda. What they didn't show is he let the kid start it and rev it to the moon, hitting the rev limiter many many times. At that point I would be sweating it a little, even in my far less costly car. He didn't seem to mind though. It's just cool that this event not only brings the exotic cars owners together, but the really cool ones. These guys are just big kids and car guys themselves that happen to have a couple more bucks than the average car guy. Other than that, they are all friendly as can be, willing to talk all about their rides, and taking the time out of their day to really make a kid happy that probably deserves it more than most.