|
more articles like this
Someone You Should Meet: Jack Bianchi
updated: Jun 18, 2011, 8:15 AM
By David Powdrell
Jack Bianchi has a kind and generous soul, but it's a competitive one when it needs to be.
Mention the name Ferrari in Santa Barbara County and Jack's name will eventually surface. He has been the consummate master mechanic of the Ferrari automobile in this area for decades.
At age 18, while parking cars in Montecito, Jack was first bitten by the bug for fine automobiles. Mercedes, Porsche, Bentley and Ferrari automobiles were commonplace, not unlike today. Jack soon started working on cars and became passionate about working on the finest automobiles. Racing trophies dating back to 1964 and earlier adorn his workbench.
Fast forward to today. At age 69 and semi-retired, Jack owns some incredible vehicles. He emailed me that he'd just recently acquired an 800-horsepower, 220 miles-per-hour retired Indianapolis 500 racecar that I needed to see. His plans are to race it around Laguna Seca and other speedways, but probably not use it for ice cream runs to Vons.
Soft spoken and incredibly humble, Jack's got a great humanitarian side to him, too. In 1992, he was notified that he had advanced cancer and was given a 20% chance of survival. He persevered 2-a-day radiation treatments, chemotherapy and ear-to-ear neck surgery, beating his cancer. To date, Jack along with the Santa Barbara Cancer Center/Santa Barbara Triathlon, Santa Barbara Triathlon Club and many friends, have raised over $1.7 million for cancer research. Jack was named a Local Hero by the Santa Barbara Independent in 2008.
Somewhere along the way, Jack fell into long distance running; then long distance bicycling. Today he's among the nation's elite triathlon competitors in his age bracket.
Jack's one of those people that you hope you run into at least once in your lifetime. His path has been to choose the best, always give your best and when things get challenging, fight your best fight. And then, whenever it's possible, do what you can to help others.
Jack's still got the spirit, spunk and attitude of an 18-year-old and is someone I thought you should meet. Oh, and check out his new Indy car!
# # # #
Send this picture as a postcard
# # # #
Send this picture as a postcard
# # # #
Send this picture as a postcard
# # # #
Send this picture as a postcard
# # # #
Send this picture as a postcard
# # # #
5 comments on this article. Read/Add
# # # #
|
