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“Beyond Correct” Thaddeus Farrow and the Ferrari at Bill Pollard’s Sport Auto
Making my way through Bill’s front door, I was in search of Thaddeus, who is a Workbased Learning student. I was greeted by Ferrari’s. There were Ferrari’s everywhere, in a very spacious shop. Some were on lifts, some on the floor. All were in various stages of repair. Most were painted in beautiful shades of (what else?) red. They were breathtaking. Bill
and I shook hands and he ushered me to where Thaddeus was working
on an engine that had been completely removed from the car. We
talked awhile, then I proceeded to take pictures of everyone
and nearly every thing. The guys in the shop were all
very friendly. Thaddeus seemed to fit right in. “I
started We
next met the guys in the shop and took some photos of the whole
team. Sean Sheridan is the Lead Tech at Sport Auto. Paul
Schuster is the Parts Manager, which is a heck of a job, considering
what might have to be imported from Italy at any given time. Derek “Nobby” Clark is another Tech, who showed me a book loaded with photos of racing teams from the ‘60’s. Sure enough, there was a much younger Nobby, posing with the motorcycles he used to work on. “Nobby was the first Westerner to work for Honda Motor Corporation,” explained Bill. “He was a road racing mechanic.” Nobby speaks with a charming accent, which I took to be English, but he’s really a native of Rhodesia. He also has a very engaging personality, so I asked him, “How does a guy named Derek get to be called Nobby?” “Well, all the Clarks are called Nobs,” he said. We all lived on the second floor.” “Huh?” I said. “Yes, we all used to live on the second floor. You know,‘one above,’so they all called us Nobs or Nobby.” As I frantically wrote it all down I thought, “You’ve gotta love Nobby after that one.” Finally, Bill’s cell phone stopped ringing for a few minutes and we had our first real chance to talk since I arrived. “I opened the Sport Shop in 1990,” he said. “I was involved in Bob Sharp Ferrari. I attended the Ferrari Factory School and did my training in the 80’s. We have a huge following for Ferrari’s here. Mostly we do mechanical restorations. A lot of major mechanical rebuilds. We do suspensions, steering, brakes, the works. We don’t do body work.” As
I looked around at all the vintage cars, I figured business
must be very good. “Yeah, business is good. There
are a lot of people getting into the collector car hobby. We
also do business with lots of people from New York and New
Jersey. The cars are very time consuming, though. They
need to be ‘beyond correct’. You need a feel
for that type of thing. It’s hard to make big profits. We
can never charge what we actually put in for time.” I asked Bill about Thaddeus. “He’s a great worker, very dedicated. We never have to stay on top of him. He always does what he’s asked. He actually surprised us with how quick he does things. He’s worked on quite a few of these,” said Bill, referring to the cars currently in the shop. “He’s got great arm strength. He does everything on a timely basis. It’s an A plus to have him here, because he’s very careful with parts. He’s just a natural for working on these things. Also, his disability never gets in the way.” Oh, did I forget to mention it? Thaddeus has been wheelchair-bound for most of his life. After a while, I looked around. Bill was back on the phone with another customer, Thaddeus was back at the bench with his engine, and the rest of the guys were busy doing what they do. It was time to go. As I said goodbye to everyone, I knew that Thaddeus couldn’t be in better hands. Outside, I passed Bill who was again conducting business on the phone. We waved goodbye to each other. “Beyond correct,” I thought. That’s for sure. Jerry Gryguc February 2008
Thaddeus Farrow, Sean Sheridan, Paul Schuster, Bill Pollard, and Nobby Clark |
working
here in July,” he said. “I do disassembly,
inspections, cleaning-I work a lot on parts. I’m
learning a lot here. I do some assembling, but I’m
building to where I can do final assemblies.” I
asked what kind of things he was learning. “Well,
mostly the mechanical aspects of the trade, but also, the history
of race cars, and what years are the best years. It’s
pretty interesting. I can see what’s involved in
their maintenance. It makes me more aware of the value
of the cars ‘cause I know how much work you have to put
into them. My favorite part is just watching the cars
leave and knowing the customer is satisfied.” “Wow,” I
thought. This kid is a Senior in high school?
