George Valerio of Lincoln, California, has been hunting cars for as long as he can remember. Yes, it’s the way he earns his living, but it is more of an obsession than a vocation. After a few minutes on the telephone, it’s obvious that Valerio finds great joy in unearthing interesting cars. It’s as if he’s resuscitating them, giving life and motion where there was darkness and stagnation.
One of Valerio’s more interesting finds happened in October 2003 during a trip to Minneapolis to look at a gaggle of Porsches for sale from a private collection. Valerio wound up buying the entire lot which included a ’59 Cabriolet, a ’59 D Convertible, a ’64 C Coupe, and a Devin D (Porsche). But there was a fifth car sitting in the corner, the one Valerio knew nothing about. And it was this car that stirred his excitement. According to Valerio, “When I spotted what I later learned was the Wright Special I thought, wow, a vintage V-8 racecar, all-aluminum body, unrestored, so original…these things are hard to find.” Valerio added the Wright Special to the invoice, brought it back home and began researching the car’s history.
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