Howard Agency? Pelican encounter?

daepp · 12-31-2008, 08:14 AM

I was driving home from Death Valley via Las Vegas last night and saw this beautiful 914 on I-15 south. It was running along at about 75 and looked oh so sweet, stock and the woman driving seemed very confident. For those not in the know, this is a pretty desolate drive - but that 914 just kept on truckin'.

Anyway, as I got closer, I saw a memorial to someone named Howard Drnaow who passed away in 07. Was this his car? It is a sweet ride. I seem to remember he was the guy who picked up the piece off the wrecked Malibu Enzo and put it on ebay. If this is the same guy, I never knew him but I knew he was well loved by the Pelican community.

ps. I hope she didn't think I was a stalker. I was driving a diesel Sprinter motorhome and it was tough to keep up!

elwood-914 · 12-31-2008, 08:31 AM

That might be a gal from the club. She goes by the name "Toast" I think she has a yellow 914, and she drives it everywhere.
Yep that is Howard. Pretty sure he is the one who picked up the parts, and yes he and his humor will be missed.

daepp · 12-31-2008, 08:46 AM

What's the club?

legion · 12-31-2008, 08:50 AM

The first rule of fight club is not to talk about fight club.

Dottore · 12-31-2008, 09:43 AM

Howard Dranow was a gentleman. I enjoyed his presence on this board.

Daepp: At the risk of hijacking this thread, tell me about your diesel sprinter motorhome. Is it an Airstream Interstate by any chance? Five cylinder diesel? We have been looking at these, and wondered about the power —whether it was sufficient...

Clay Perrine · 12-31-2008, 09:46 AM

Yep that is Toastie's car. She is on both 914world and clubnarp.com.

It is about Howard Dranow. He passed in 07. He is very missed in the 914 community.

KaptKaos · 12-31-2008, 09:51 AM

Yep. 100% that's Toast. You can find her at 914world.com and clubnarp.com. I don't know if she's been on 914Club since the schism.

I heard she's living in Vegas now, don't know the details.

She's a neat gal.

We all miss Howard terribly. It was only a few years ago, on a hangover run up at VCR in Calabasas that Howard, Slits, myself and a few others tailed Phil Hill through the canyons for a while. The weather turned sour and Howard had us over to his place for an impromptu BBQ. Marianne was a gracious hostess and dealt with us unwashed masses with care.

Howard was a true gentleman and is still missed and mentioned regularly on World and Narp. His beloved 914 "Suzi" was recently sold to a World member who has treated her with loving care.

An example of Howard's grace came when Club was down (pre-schism) and a bunch of hooligans invaded an X1/9 site. The Fiat guys didn't take too well to it. Howard, in his sagely ways, smoothed the road between the two mid-engined misfits. Several of the XWeb guys participated in 914 runs, and would soon come to call Howard a friend.

He is rightly missed.

tchanson · 12-31-2008, 10:00 AM

I miss Howard as well.

Over the years, he was one of my favorite people on this board.

And he ruled in the "Name That Car" thread...

Tim

daepp · 12-31-2008, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dottore

Howard Dranow was a gentleman. I enjoyed his presence on this board.

Daepp: At the risk of hijacking this thread, tell me about your diesel sprinter motorhome. Is it an Airstream Interstate by any chance? Five cylinder diesel? We have been looking at these, and wondered about the power —whether it was sufficient...

I found the Airstream View 24' on Craigslist. A private party rents it out to help make the payments. The owner told me he paid $96K - ouch.

The thing has a 5 cyl MBZ turbo diesel. And to give you an idea of the mpg, I noticed I had put 80 miles on it heading south on the 15 out of stateline and the needle was still pegged at full. If you drive an easy 65 you'll get close 18-20 mpg.

daepp · 12-31-2008, 10:36 AM

This is the best motorhome I've ever driven. It keeps up with just about everything on the road, and the there were quite a few questions from owners of large motorhomes about its mpg.

Hawktel · 12-31-2008, 11:53 AM

Howard was a class act. That stunt with the ferrari hose still kills me.

Raise a glass for Howard tonight guys. You don't get many like him to come by your life.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

The 914 community

So much drama...

...so little time!

campbellcj · 12-31-2008, 07:15 PM

RIP Howard. What a great guy.

I was wondering what happened to his 914 2.0 - glad to hear it is in good hands. Anybody know where the monster flared V8 car ended up?

slodave · slodave's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by campbellcj

RIP Howard. What a great guy.

I was wondering what happened to his 914 2.0 - glad to hear it is in good hands. Anybody know where the monster flared V8 car ended up?

Toast drives her own yellow 914, the one in the pix is not Howard's.

campbellcj · 12-31-2008, 07:41 PM

Got it - but I swear I saw an earlier post that said a 914world member was now the owner/caretaker of Howard's car. Either way, this thread brings back some good (and bad) memories.

Jim Garfield · 01-01-2009, 01:51 PM

I never had the pleasure of meeting Howard, but man, I used to enjoy reading his posts. He was one funny guy! You guys that were his friends were lucky to spend time with him.

maxnine11 · maxnine11's Garage

daepp · 01-01-2009, 06:04 PM

OMG - who/where/what/how did you get that?

maxnine11 · maxnine11's Garage

Mulholland Highway. (Between the lookout point and the hairpin if you are familiar).
I think it would have been 2004.
I also have some photos of Howard with the white V-8 car, but am far from that hard drive right now.

max

KaptKaos · 01-01-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campbellcj

Got it - but I swear I saw an earlier post that said a 914world member was now the owner/caretaker of Howard's car. Either way, this thread brings back some good (and bad) memories.

Chris - I believe MikeZ helped the family find "Moby" a new home shortly after Howard's passing.

Max- that's a great picture of Howard in "Suzi".