Skip Granger, My Delivery Roadster and Other Cars in My Life

Starry Night Wines

Many people were surprised at my delivery vehicle from Starry Night Winery. The same year that Mary Ann and I started the  winery, I was able to purchase the fifth  BMW Z3 Roadster delivered in the US, and I used it to sell and deliver our wines. When I pulled up to a restaurant, the owner would often say ”Skip, I ordered FIVE cases of wine,” and I would say ”You got ’em – 3 in the trunk, 2 in the footwell and 1 in the passenger seat!”

I was in charge of selling our wines in California, Arizona, Nevada and Kansas, my home state.  My partner covered the rest of the US and Europe, where we had a surprisingly large market.  We made 8 Zinfandels of our 16 varietals of wine, and Zin goes exceedingly well with Hungarian food.  We sold an immense amount of wine there and even brought in a Hungarian partner. Maybe they used delivery trucks in Hungary.

Any story about cars in my life would have to involve driving Judy Dalke in the  1952 Mercury Monterey convertible that my father bought from Dave Priboth’s dad, who worked at Dick Price Motors.  It was white with a red and black leather interior and every conceivable option from air conditioning to power steering, brakes, top and windows – plus automatic transmission – everything that could possibly reduce the speed!  But as a teenager, I wanted speed, not power!  Judy was one of the most perfect ladies that I dated, and I wanted to impress her.  So I took her riding, and at Pershing Circle, in front of George and Dee Tiller’s home, I put the car in neutral and revved the engine before popping it into low gear, thereby dropping the rear end!  I’m happy my parents will never know how it happened!

Long ago and very far away, there was another very special car. Every time we went to Dallas, Aunt Betty let me drive her 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS [Super Sport] Hardtop Convertible. I never asked her why a little old lady was driving a muscle car!  She was more special than ”the Yellow Rose of Texas” that she drove, and we loved her dearly.  When she died about 45 years ago, she left us some very special family handmade antique furniture… and a special car to haul it home.  I flew to Dallas,  rented a U-Haul trailer, and began the long drive to Marin County, California.  I stopped for a while in Las Vegas, and Mary Ann flew out to accompany me home.  We stayed at Caesar’s Palace, and chained the large trailer to a light pole in the parking lot. Vegas was safer then.  The only problem was  that when we began to approach the Bay Area, the car choked for a bit, and I thought that maybe the Yellow Rose didn’t want to leave Texas. I used to drive her to Silicon Valley, where I spent two days a week, and I was the only venture guy who drove such a car.

Suffice it to say that I loved that car, and — fast  forward — when my parents came to visit, we drove it to Sea Ranch. My father had looked forward to that trip, so he didn’t tell us that he was to have his kidney removed soon after his return to Phoenix.  At his age, he was having some trouble getting a kidney, but the Kidney Foundation got the donation of a very special car and somehow found him a kidney!

Our next car was a 1978 Black Cadillac Seville, much more in keeping with the Silicon Valley  image. 

My 1957 MGA Roadster had a fate somewhat similar to Aunt Betty’s yellow Impala convertible.  After KU law school, I moved to Topeka to be a Research Attorney for the Supreme Court and leased an apartment across the street from the Capitol Building.  I could walk to work, but when a friend told me of a little old lady who wanted to sell her 1957 MGA Roadster, I was intrigued.  She had purchased it to be with some young folks that she enjoyed hanging out with, and when they moved on to motorcycles, she wanted to sell it.  I got a super bargain and loved that car!  

A few years later, I was driving a politician instead of a beautiful girl. Since I had  been a driver for Bob Dole during his campaign for the Senate, I attended a rally for him in Topeka. The secretary of the Supreme Court, an extremely staunch lady named Mae who had been Alf Landon’s secretary turned me in.  The Chief Justice apprised me that the court was an apolitical body, and as such, we were not allowed to attend any political events.  Rather than turn in Mae the tattletale, I wise-assed to the Chief and asked if it was alright to get my water checked at a filling station on my 1957 MGA Roadster, which had a Dole cap on the radiator!  He laughed instead of dismissing me.

In order to get my position at the Kansas Supreme Court, I had to assure the court of a one year tenure. I stayed for a year and two weeks. This was a very important time in my life, because I learned that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my  life with lawyers. Later, I figured out that venture capitalists make more than most attorneys anyway!  

Fast forward again.  After a few years, I moved to Hawaii and kept the ’57 MGA  in a widow’s garage in Leawood, Kansas, that I had used while I lived there.  When I returned to Leawood some time later, I collected the car drove it to San Francisco where I was going to live.  I was still doing some work as a travel executive and was called to lead an Alaska Cruise. I left the MGA at the Salt Lake City airport.   When I flew back a few weeks later, I drove it back to San Francisco, where I truly loved driving it! 

The MGA and I also found our way to Silly Valley, where my largest client was Intel.  I provided millions of dollars for their startup semiconductor companies.  My contact had come from a Caribbean Island, where he was related to royalty and where Intel had a facility. Oddly, he did not report to Intel’s iconic, entrepreneurial founders Gordon Moore or  Andy Grove, but rather to Arthur Rock, a top member of the Board.  Al, my contact, was my favorite and most lucrative relationship for over 14 years.  When his wife needed a kidney, she had problems getting one.  She was not old, but they were black.  None of my business, but when I donated my beloved MGA roadster to the Kidney Foundation in her name, they found a kidney for her! 

Sounds like the same game, but this one turned out very differently.  I was in Hawaii with my family when my Menlo Capital partner called and told me that we had lost the Intel account, which I found hard to believe since he had always been so loyal.  It seems that Intel had promoted Al to be in charge of the new fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon.  He had refused it before, because they needed to be close to Stanford Medical Hospital and their dialysis unit until a new kidney for her was found.  The company had formed Intel Capital to do what I had done for 14 years.  I lost my beloved MG and bit off my tale in the process.

I still remember that sleek and beautiful MGA. It wasn’t the fastest sports car around, but it was superb to drive. 

Cheers for great cars!