PUBLISHER
Jim Menneto, President
BETWEEN THE LINES
EDITORIAL
Richard Lentinello, Editor-in-Chief
Terry McGean, Executive Editor
Mike McNessor, Editor
Nancy Bianco, Managing Editor
Kate Sullivan, Managing Editor
James Donnelly, Senior Editor
David Traver Adolphus, Associate Editor
Craig Fitzgerald, Editor, Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car
Jeff Koch, West Coast Associate Editor
David LaChance, Associate Editor
Matthew Litwin, Associate Editor
Mark J. McCourt, Associate Editor
Daniel Strohl, Associate Editor
Tim Metcalf, Art Director
Edward Heys, Design Editor
Jonathan Gulley, Graphic Designer
Judi Thompson, Graphic Designer
Tom Comerro, Editorial Assistant
Jim O’Clair, Columnist/Parts Locator
Jim Howe, Columnist
ADVERTISING
Jeff Yager, Director of Advertising
Tim Redden, Internet Sales Manager
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Tammy Bredbenner, Greg Gordon, Christina LaFlamme,
Frank Lockwood, Tim McCart, Lesley McFadden,
Heather Naslund, David Nutter, Collins Sennett,
Sean Smith, Bonnie Stratton
Kelly Luke, Advertising Coordinator
Jennifer Sandquist: Telesales
CIRCULATION
Scott Smith, Circulation Director
Kathy Ryder, Circulation Manager
SUPPORT STAFF
Sandy Beddie, Bev Breese, Peg Brownell, Sarah Bull,
Melissa Carey, Dot Coolidge, Carol Dewey, Donna
Goodhue, Eleanor Gould, Amy Hansen, Maureen Johnson,
Lisa Knapp, Sunny Litwin, Merri Mattison, Nancy McCabe,
Alaina Seddon, Amy Surdam
GRAPHICS
Carol Wigger, Graphic Services Supervisor
Mary Pat Glover, Graphic Services Coordinator
SUPPORT STAFF
Karen Gaboury, Chickie Goodine, Adelaide Jaquith,
Linda Knapp, Paige Kwasniak, Peg Mulligan,
Rob Randall, Abby Shapiro, Jane Tudor
CLASSIFIED
Jeanne Bourn, Classified Director
SUPPORT STAFF
Mary Brott, Lynn Hoyt, Anita Murray,
Nancy Stearns, Dianne Stevens,
Peggy Stevens, Missy Telford, Laurie Weaver
INFORMATION SERVICES
Gregory Hunter, MIS Director
SUPPORT STAFF
Margaret Boulet, Mary McGuinness,
Jeremy Meerwarth
ADMINISTRATION
Mari Parizo, Business Manager
SUPPORT STAFF
Jessica Campbell, Freda Waterman
FACILITIES
Rick Morse, Supervisor
SUPPORT STAFF
Brad Babson, Paul Bissonette, Joe Masia
FILLING STATION STAFF
Steve Adams, Rick Bartholdi, Paul Becker, Monica Bolio,
Pete Davis, Steve Main, Howard Morrison, Caroline Morse,
Jade Morse, Tyson Morse, Adam Tronsen, Mark Tronsen
CAR SHOW REPRESENTATIVES
Trisha Grande, Car Show/Event Manager
East Coast: Jeff Chao, Matt Williams
West Coast: Terry Thompson, Carson Cameron
Got a Handle on Your Bucket List?
Do you have a bucket list? If you’re unfamiliar with the term, think of it as a list of goals
that defines what you want out of life
from now until whenever it is you kick
the bucket. Or in my case, another list
that my pen will run out halfway through
writing and that I will forget to finish
after spending an hour scribbling with
the 300 desiccated free promotional pens
(“Vote Tim ‘Tink’ Llewellyn for Town
Clerk!”) in the kitchen junk drawer—all
of which were constructed with the same
commitment to quality as a dollar-store
paint scraper.
I agree, the bucket list seems like a
heavy topic for car magazine page filler,
and I suppose if you’re a deep thinker
(wait, you’re reading this?), your bucket
list might be as mysteriously existential
as a Franz Kafka novel: “Call in sick to
work and ponder for an entire day what
it would mean if I transformed into a
giant insect. Then watch Golden Girls
and turn in early.”
But because this is America in the 21st
century, most people’s bucket lists tend
to read more like hedonist manifestos:
“Drive a nitro Funny Car to the drive-thru window, order and consume six
bacon double cheeseburgers. Afterward,
run for governor of New York or South
Carolina.”
I first heard of this bucket list business a couple of years ago, the way I hear
about most new terms and trends, from
the very hip and impeccably groomed
CFO of McNessor and McNessor Inc.
She actually has one of these lists and
is knocking off items the way successful
people tend to accomplish things. That is
to say, by actually accomplishing things.
Being more the “creative type,” which
is to say, given to all-day bouts of insect
pondering and Golden Girls watching (the
TV show, that is), I don’t have a bucket
list. But writing one would be high on my
list of things to do, if I had a to-do list.
Which I don’t, because I find the whole
concept requires thought and work.
It could also be that I’m just too afraid
to write a bucket list. What if, like everything else in my life, I don’t actually complete all of the items on the list before I
check out? Will I then be forced to spend
the eternal afterlife roaming the Earth
doing fun, meaningful things that will
make me grow as a person... uh, I mean,
a ghost? Cripes just shoot me now. No, no,
wait, DON’T shoot me now.
This whole business was far easier
for the Chief. She kicked off her bucket
list by just reading the fine print of one
of her life insurance policies: “Scuba?
Motorcycling? Not covered? Must be fun!
Fire up the Harley and let’s get over to
the dive shop!” She also has a lot of interesting travel goals, preceded by one that
says, “Ditch car-writer boy,” a reference
I’m not altogether clear on.
I bring this up because if I had a bucket
list, there would probably be a vehicle or
two or 50 on there. The first would be the
one always parked faithfully at the bottom
of this page. But the other would be less
common. It would be one of history’s best
known performance machines, linked by
engineering to the racing world’s greatest victories as well as its most horrific
tragedy. I’m talking of course about the
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.
Which brings me to this month’s
dreamy cover car. In 2006, our guy Daniel
Strohl photographed the red Gullwing
featured on these pages while in Utah to
do something that had been on his bucket
list: See the Bonneville Salt Flats and
experience Speed Week. He was lucky
enough to get a turn behind the Benz’s
wheel, an account of which you will read
alongside Mark McCourt’s excellent
guide to the Gullwing.
So, do you have a bucket list? If not,
maybe it’s time you wrote down what
you really want from life. Just don’t ask
to borrow a pen from me.
Tell me what’s on your list:
mmcnessor@hemmings.com.
American City Business Journals, Inc.
120 West Morehead Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
Ray Shaw, Chairman
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