Memorial drive named in honor of Brian Liechty
Annual event changed to Drive For Brian
On March 30, the Marshall County community lost Brian Liechty after a lengthy battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia. Brian was known for many things and his love of driving his orange Mazda Miata was one such example.
“Brian’s original Miata was a ’91, a custom painted orange, which he named Sunny. Orange was definitely his color! Brian drove Sunny for many years, then early this year he purchased a 30th Anniversary Miata, the color is called Racing Orange,” said friend and fellow Miata enthusiast Brian Bartlett.
Liechty never had a chance to drive his new car. It was delivered right before he contracted COVID-19.
“Brian’s daughter, Jessica, owns Sunny now, and his son, Tristan, now owns the new Racing Orange Miata, which he drove on our weekend trip,” said Bartlett.
The drive that Bartlett mentions is the Indy Club’s “Marietta Madness” weekend drive. It typically takes place every year sometime between Memorial Day and Father’s Day. Occassionally it’s ran during the Fall in order to enjoy the autumn foliage.
“Brian belonged to the Indy Miata Club, which
hosted the drive,” Bartlett said. “Brian was also more or less the founder of a small sub group of the Indy Club, consisting of the most hardcore drivers, which we call CLR (short for Cool Little Roads).”
This year the trip started on Friday, June 4 and ended on Sunday, June 6. The group met on the east side of Indianapolis and drove to southeast Ohio. They spent all day Friday and Saturday driving the roads around Marietta, Ohio. On Sunday, they had one more short drive back up to Zanesville, Ohio. There they parted way to their respective homes.
“We had around 20 cars, some with couples and some with single drivers, and everyone drove a Miata. Some cars were older models from the early ’90’s, and some were brand new 2021, and almost every color and generation were in attendance,” said Bartlett.
Starting this year and going forward, the trip will be known as the Drive For Brian in memory of Liechty.
“Brian would have loved the trip! He not only loved to drive the roads, the more curves and hills the better, he also enjoyed sharing the experiences of our trips with the other drivers! It’s a lot more than just a car and a fun road, it’s more about meeting new people, seeing new places, sharing a meal together at a new restaurant, and sharing stories about the current drive and cars, past drives, and just talking about everything we all love about the cars!” said Bartlett.