‘Adams built the Vivant while working at Pontiac – so he had full access to the division’s finest performance components’
IN 2009 THE car suddenly resurfaced in a blog on the internet. A friend sent me a link, and when I viewed the images there was a surprising personal connection. My uncle used to bring me pictures of unusual cars when I was a kid. I would pin them up on a corkboard in my bedroom – my make-believe car collection. The corkboard and photos are long gone, but the memory of them remains. And I instantly recognised these blog photos as one of ‘my cars’.
And so began the chase. First, I had to track down the person who posted the photos. When I finally found him I was disappointed. No, the car was not his; but he knew a guy who knew a guy, and on it went. It took nearly a month to get the owner on the phone and, to my surprise, there were three. And they were all called Bob! The courtship was long, with dozens of telephone calls, never really knowing which Bob I’d reached. After more than two years of discussions with the Bob trio, somehow I finally got a ‘yes’. The car was being stored in Ohio and I feared the sellers might change their mind, so I immediately wired a large sum of money to trusted car buddy Myron Vernis. Within 24 hours Vernis had the car on his trailer. Deal done.
When the car arrived at my workshop it was complete with the original engine, chassis and aluminium body. The windshield uprights were there but the original glass was gone. Much of the Nassau Blue exterior paint had been removed and the interior was in poor and incomplete condition. None of that bothered me, because I had the car of my childhood dreams – Herb Adams’ ultimate expression.
Straight away I got in touch with Adams, and from there a friendship began. I shared with him my plan to show the car at Pebble Beach and he was enthusiastic, becoming intimately involved in the car’s restoration from start to finish, and providing key details along the way. With that debut as our goal, the car was shipped to Jake Yenny of Loveland, Colorado, in 2014. After 4000 hours and more currency than I ever dare tell my wife, the car rolled out of Yenny’s shop and onto the lawns of Pebble Beach.
THE CRISP MORNING air at Pebble Beach is invigorating as I drive onto the showfield. The finished Vivant is everything I had ever dreamed about in a sports car: elegant, beautiful and powerful. Adams himself is swarmed by admirers and the car seems to be appreciated by enthusiasts from all corners of the hobby. By the end of the day, the Vivant has crossed the awards ramp to collect a First in Class Trophy.
Several European friends have suggested that I show the car at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como. They believe it could be one of those rare American designs that Europeans can’t resist. Perhaps that trip will be my next goal. Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy driving it.
Vivant means ‘alive’. Once again, and at last, it most certainly is.