Talk about an interesting guy

[speeder]

Long story short, I am the caretaker of a Bentley that belongs to a friend who never drives it. 2005 Arnage w 8k miles and the last 2-3k were mostly me over the last 5 years or so. I go and take it out of the garage a couple times a year, get the maintenance done if needed, etc. I drive it for a few days and then put it back in its garage on a trickle charger.

It needs to be smogged for registration and is throwing a code w no symptoms, so I dropped it off today at the independent shop I use, Charles Agipou in West Hollywood. I've always noticed this place on Santa Monica Blvd. near the Troubador and Dan Tanna's but never paid much attention to it because I've never been into Rolls or Bentley cars. I needed to find a good independent after seeing that the dealer was robbing her blind on small repairs and in some cases, not even fixing the problems they were charging for.

It always seemed packed w cars so I figured that this is where everyone brings their Bentleys and Rolls. The proprietor, whom I now have a friendly relationship with, is an older English gentleman of impeccable manners who really knows these cars. He is THE GUY in town for RRB cars. Sells/services/restores them. I like him a lot.

I'm on Bring a Trailer last week reading comments on a Bentley auction and the car is local and has had a lot of work done @ Agipou. Someone in the comment thread mentions something about the Agipou brothers having worked for Carroll Shelby back in the day, this piques my interest. So today when I'm dropping off the car, I remember to ask Charlie about Shelby.

Turns out that he was Ken Miles' crew chief back in the early '60s and followed him as he drove for Shelby @ LeMans and elsewhere, first w Cobras and then w Ford GT40s and the car that followed, (forgot that one), what a life!

The best part was that he just came off of a consulting gig for the big Shelby vs. Ferrari film that has been in the works forever and finally got made. It's the story of their bitter rivalry @ Lemans in the '60s. Matt Damon plays Shelby and Christian Bale plays Ken Miles. With Shelby and Miles dead, they obviously needed Charlie very much to fill in the story and what really went down. The last sentence is mine, he is too modest and polite to blow his own horn but that is definitely the truth.

I love living in L.A. and find it fascinating how many times you can scratch the surface of someone like an auto shop owner and find such amazing background stories. I've been in his place many times and talked to him and his wife quite a bit but never knew about his Shelby/Ken Miles connection.

[Jim Richards]

Great thread. I love that art car. Thanks for sharing this, Denis.

[speeder]

Here is a great old Shelby promo film from Youtube w some Ken Miles, Pete Brock and Dan Gurney content filmed testing the various Shelby cars @ Willow Springs in '65:

[Gogar]

I always walk really slowly by there when I'm walking from the Troubador to Hamburger Haven.

[Jim Richards]

Great video, Denis!

[LWJ]

That art car hit my happy spot!! Wow.

[speeder]

Thanks, Jim. I'm still a little in awe...I'm just a mechanic at the end of the day and I can't believe how much time this guy has spent shooting the breeze w me about mechanical stuff, treating me as an equal when he was a crew chief/chief mechanic for Shelby @ LeMans, making Fords beat Ferraris.

I'm almost embarrassed. Such a humble gentleman.

[Yorkie]

We have been supplying equipment for that film. They have recreated the stadiums and pits here in LA for the film. A friend sent me a bunch of pictures from the filming with some incredible cars in the pits. I will dig them out. Sometimes LA can be surreal.

[Jim Richards]

To this old midwestern boy, LA’s always surreal...in a good way.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Yorkie

We have been supplying equipment for that film. They have recreated the stadiums and pits here in LA for the film. A friend sent me a bunch of pictures from the filming with some incredible cars in the pits. I will dig them out. Sometimes LA can be surreal.

He was telling me about how they re-created the LeMans pits, (can't remember where), how incredible it was, etc...

Sounds like it's going to be a hell of a film.

[A930Rocket]

Great story!

Any idea when the movie comes out?

[Rick Lee]

Subscribed

[speeder]

2019, according to Imdb.

Charlie is in the film, or should I say an actor plays him.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Yorkie

We have been supplying equipment for that film. They have recreated the stadiums and pits here in LA for the film. A friend sent me a bunch of pictures from the filming with some incredible cars in the pits. I will dig them out. Sometimes LA can be surreal.

Another pal of mine supplied the cars for the film, he told me about it several months ago and it slipped my mind. He is a huge movie car guy w a massive warehouse in Sylmar that I might sublet space in.

The last time we talked, he was telling me about finding some place in Wisconsin that was building the Ford GT40 replicas for him. Amazing what talent and resources there are out there.

[Kraftwerk]

Denis, I have always been curious about that RR/Bentley shop whenever I have strolled by. It makes perfect sense in some ways but its also a kind of 'reliquary quality' in the way that some places in L.A. can be. Cool that the owner has such a story, thanks for sharing.

[masraum]

Very cool, thx for sharing.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Cool story!

I met an older English gentleman at a hotel bar in Charlotte and struck up a conversation, turns out he did fabrication and chassis development work for Shelby on the GT-40, worked for Ford Racing, and had freelanced for just about everyone else. He was an encyclopedia on racing from the '60s through the '80s, just an incredibly cool guy to talk with. He also had a 250TR that he'd built out of a 330, Rally Monte Carlo winning Falcon, Bugeye Sprite, Cortina, and some other cool stuff.

[Rinty]

Thanks for posting, Denis.

[smadsen]

The Agapiou brothers bought a pair of GT-40s directly from Ford, reputedly for $1.00, when the international racing program was closed down. The cars were highly modified as spyders in Los Angeles and then run in the latter days of the Can-Am and in select international races. Many notable drivers of the era drove for him. Having beers with Charles Agapiou would be a hoot, fixing Bentley's is only scratching the surface.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by smadsen

The Agapiou brothers bought a pair of GT-40s directly from Ford, reputedly for $1.00, when the international racing program was closed down. The cars were highly modified as spyders in Los Angeles and then run in the latter days of the Can-Am and in select international races. Many notable drivers of the era drove for him. Having beers with Charles Agapiou would be a hoot, fixing Bentley's is only scratching the surface.

I really understand that now. It's kind of apropos in a way, though, that a smart mechanic would specialize in Rolls/Bentley in the Beverly Hills area. They are absolute POS cars that constantly need servicing and the $$ to be made fixing them is real. Jay Leno was a RR/Bentley wrench, even if he'd never made it in comedy, he would be affluent. Not crazy rich like he is but not poor.

I've always enjoyed talking to Charlie, even before I found out about this interesting history. When I dropped off the car, we were talking Porsches and I told him about my history at the old Westwood Porsche and Bob Smith in Hollywood, (both gone), and my very small role in care taking McQueen's 911S and Speedster when we stored them for him. He was really enjoying talking McQueen, whom he obviously knew pretty well.