Sambora signs car in dad's memory
By Robyn Flans
Posted September 29, 2011 at 8:57 p.m.
Richie Sambora, guitarist from Bon Jovi, looks for a place Wednesday to sign a 1953 Austin Healey 100 in honor of his father, who died of cancer. The World Class Motoring Big Wednesday event in Agoura Hills saluted Drive Away Cancer and founder John Nikas, who drove the Austin Healey on a 19-state marathon to raise cancer awareness.
John Nikas thought the broken, abused 1953 Austin Healey 100 that just wouldn't quit was the perfect metaphor for people with cancer.
He decided to take the car on a 10-day, 19-state, 7,241-mile solo trip. He called the journey Drive Away Cancer, to raise support and money for cancer awareness.
"If this broken car could do things, then people who are sick can keep trying," he said at Agoura Hills' World Class Motoring, where the car he's named Grace was on display Wednesday night. "This car could barely run, but she has the heart of a lion. She won't quit.
"The car belongs to a friend of mine who let me take it for a short drive to see if I could get it running," said Nikas, who recently returned from Drive Away Cancer. "He got such a kick out of seeing it run again that when he called a couple of days later and told me he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I thought if he got such a kick out of seeing it go to Ventura, maybe he'd get a kick out of seeing it go somewhere else."
For eight days, Nikas and some cohorts worked on the car.
Then he put the names of those he'd lost to cancer and those now fighting it on the back in vinyl lettering.
The day he was leaving, amid a big send-off, Nikas realized he had forgotten to put the car owner's name among those in vinyl. He sent someone out to get some markers, and suddenly everyone present was writing the names of those they had lost to cancer, names of survivors, or those still fighting for their lives.
Austin Healey 100 raises support for cancer awareness
"It was never our intention to do that, but every time I stopped in a city, people asked if they could sign the car," said Nikas, 41.
Nikas, who lives in Irvine, brought the car to World Class Motoring for its monthly Big Wednesday bash.
Local resident Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi's guitarist, dropped by to add his signature to the car.
"Richie lost his father, Adam, to cancer in 2007, so we wanted to give him an opportunity to sign the car in his father's memory tonight," said Fred Lobianco, co-owner of World Class Motoring.
"I'm here to support John Nikas, who drove across the country for cancer awareness," Sambora said. "Also, these guys here at World Class Motoring take care of my cars. I have a '34 Coupe like that one over there and a Ferrari and an Aston Martin."
Nikas said wherever he went, people were drawn to the car. One woman nearly fainted when she saw that her brother had already penned their father's name two states earlier.
"On the way back East, a man asked if I was going to California. I said I was as soon as I hit the Atlantic and I was going to turn around. He gave me a picture of his wife and said he had always promised to take her to California, but she had passed away before they had made it, so would I take her? So I got some Scotch tape and taped her to the dashboard."
At the end of October, Nikas will participate with the car in the Mille Miglia North American Tribute California rally, a 1,000-mile race.
"Cancer can only kill you," Nikas said. "It can't take away your legacy or the memories you leave behind and it can't take away the people who love you."
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