"C3on66" Charity Drive, "Aardvark" FFR build 1st trip

[John Phillips]

Hi Everyone, I've been gone from the Forums for quite awhile, as family, retirement and life outside the FFR universe kind of took over. However, in recent times I've built another FFR Mk4 Roadster, with a wonderful back story, which we've named "Aardvark". Nicole Smith wrote a cool article about it on the FFR website back in September 2023 at https://www.factoryfive.com/whats-new/aardvark/ I'm excited to see the finished result, currently in the hands of Jeff Kleiner for bodywork and paint.

AardvarkDash.jpegCobra-Blueridge.jpeg

My two cousins and I have planned a trip down the length of famous Route 66, from Chicago to Santa Monica, CA, approx. 2400 miles, beginning May 4, 2024. Each of us will drive our own sportscar. We decided it should be a drive to benefit folks other than ourselves, so we're trying to raise money for three charities: Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Team Boomer/Boomer Esiason Foundation . The exact details of the trip are in the final planning stage now, but it's for certain that: 1. We're GOING; 2. Aardvark will be my car for the trip (Aardvark's 1st major voyage); 3. We're asking for some help from the FFR Community.

C3on66hero.jpeg

We built a website to give more detail of our project, the charities, and our sponsors. Factory Five Racing and Route 66 Sodas so far have volunteered as sponsors. Now I'm posting blog updates from time to time on our preparations for the trip, some of the people whose lives demonstrate why we're trying to help, and any other interesting stuff we come across. When the trip begins in May, I plan to do blog updates daily. The trip down Route 66 will take about two weeks, plus the time it take us to drive from our homes (Ohio, Phoenix, and Florida/N.Carolina). All the developments can be seen at the "BLOG" button on our website. www.c3on66.org

What kind of help am I asking from the FFR Community? Well, certainly donations to our charities will be appreciated (!), but there are other ways we could use help. If you live along the Route 66 corridor, and have a space we could crash for a night, that would really help. We might need mechanical help (I think I built a good car, but who knows...?!), so a contact for assistance would be great. We've never done this drive before, and could use recommendations for best sights to see, places to eat, cool car stuff to see or do. Possibly someone out there could organize a local Cobra/SportsCar get together at a diner or bar or etc. where we could meet and hang with some of the FFR faithful along the way. Any ideas how we can spread the word about this fund raiser project? I've never done this kind of thing before so will really appreciate any constructive ideas.

Thanks for your patience reading this post, and your interest in our project. I'll add more detail as it develops.

John Phillips
From 1996 built a Mk1, Mk2, Mk3, Mk4, and rebuilt a Challenge Racer
Love the Roadsters!

[JimLev]

John,
We’ve texted in the past. Pretty sure you have my contact info/cell.
Looking at your route it looks like you’ll be heading south from Santa Fe on Rt 25.
You’ll be passing writhing 2-3 miles of my house.
I can’t put you guys up for the night however I will buy you lunch or dinner when you’re in the area.
Stop at the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa.
https://www.santarosabluehole.com/route-66-auto-museum/

I’ll dig up a few more and update this post in the coming days.

The outskirts of St. Louis has a great vintage motorcycle museum.
Click on the Home and Contacts links for more info.

https://www.themotomuseum.com

[Al_C]

John, This looks like a wonderful trip! Would you like any others to join you for portions of your trip? Please check your email.

[John Phillips]

Thanks Jim & Al! All your input is appreciated so much, I’m a novice at organizing anything like this. I think we’d welcome anyone who wants to show up or come along with us on some of the drive. Maybe we could meet up with some local FFR guys at one of the classic Route 66 destinations for an impromptu car show, “meet & greet”, whatever would work for local guys.

I’ll keep posting developments on the Route 66 charity trip here, so we can keep the info & suggestions in one place. The more the merrier! Thanks again to all in our FFR Community who’d like to participate, on-line or on-road.

[John Phillips]

Bump

[John Phillips]

It's ON about three weeks from now. Our first "event" is the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides event in Frankfort, IL at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, May 4. It's a suburb of Chicago; we hope to have a chance to photo ourselves at the official beginning of Route 66 in downtown Chicago the evening before. The organizers of the event are enthused about having a small informal car show as part of the festivities, so I'm hoping some of you guys will want to come out and support the CF event and show off your FFR machinery...or whatever else you have. It'd be great to meet up with you all.

First week rough schedule is: Saturday evening May 4 is Springfield, IL; May 5 is Springfield, MO; May 6 is Tulsa, OK; May 7 is Clinton, OK; May 8 at Santa Rosa, NM; May 9 at Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, NM; Friday May 10 at Albuquerque, NM.

Second week rough schedule is:Saturday evening May 11 is WigWam Motel, Holbrook, NM; May 12 is Scottsdale, AZ; May 13 is Flagstaff, AZ; May 14 is Kingman, AZ; May 15 is Barstow, CA; May 16 is Marina del Rey, near Santa Monica, CA; NO PLANS YET for Friday May 17 near Santa Monica.

We can use any participation or suggestions any of you would like to offer. Hopefully our trip will be without mechanical problems, but emergency contacts would be welcome! I can't figure how to post a most-recent pic of my Mk4, with some of the charity graphics attached. We'll finish up placing the stickers in Chicago. I'll figure it out later! Come out to hang with us, share a drink or eat some food, whatever works for your area and our schedule. It'd be great to meet some of you in person after years of just seeing posts on the forum.

PM me here or email me at [email protected] Our website has info too, check out the BLOG and Charities/Sponsors pages in particular. www.C3on66.org

Thanks to you all,

[Jeff Kleiner]

... I can't figure how to post a most-recent pic of my Mk4, with some of the charity graphics attached. We'll finish up placing the stickers in Chicago. I'll figure it out later! ...

OOOH! OOOH! I say, sounding like Arnold Horshack while waving my hand in the air! I can post those pictures!









And for those who may be wondering about the significance of the "65 Roses" meatballs here's the story:

The 65 Roses Story
Mary G. Weiss became a volunteer for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 1965 after learning that her three little boys had CF. Her duty was to call every civic club, social, and service organization, seeking financial support for CF research. Mary's 4-year-old son, Richard (Ricky), listened closely to his mother as she made each call.

After several calls, Richard came into the room and told his mom, "I know what you are working for." Mary was dumbstruck because Richard did not know what she was doing, nor did he know that he had cystic fibrosis.

With some trepidation, Mary asked, "What am I working for, Ricky?"

He answered, "You are working for 65 Roses."

Mary was speechless. He could not see the tears running down Mary's cheeks as she stammered, "Yes, Ricky, I'm working for 65 Roses."

Since 1965, the term "65 Roses" has been used by children of all ages to describe their disease. But, making it easier to say does not make CF any easier to live with.

The reality is that cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that affects 40,000 children and adults in the United States.

Sadly, Richard lost his fight against CF in 2014. Richard is survived by his devoted wife, Lisa, his adored dog, Keppie, and his brother, Anthony.



The Weiss brothers: Richard, 5; Arthur, 7; and Anthony, 16 months.

The "65 Roses" story has captured the hearts and emotions of all who have heard it. And the rose, a symbol of love, has come to represent the CF community.

Jeff