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MG Midget and Sprite General - Frank Clarici

Frank did not post on this forum, but a number of people on this forum had met him at the Sprite 50th event. He restored/owned Sprites almost his entire life, and was very gracious in both sharing his knowledge and passion for the little cars.

From the Spridget mail list:

"It is with heavy heart and tears in my eyes that I write this. I just got off the phone with Frankie Clarici. They are still pretty much in shock but he told me that he had just returned from the hospital. Frank Clarici, the dean of Spridgets, suffered a heart attack and passed away today. I will try to keep everyone informed as funeral plans proceed.

God Speed, Frank. I miss you already...."
Trevor Jessie

That is really sad. He was a great bloke, full of practical knowledge and hugely experienced with Spridgets. I remember in the mid '90s when he just completed his 34th Spridget restoration! Although I never met him he was always helpful both on forums and in private e-mails.

He was always quoting "drive it like you stole it". In fact perhaps he coined the phrase?

Drive it Frank, they will not catch you now.
Guy

That's a big loss to our community. Midget 50 won't be quite the same without Frank there. I still remember his genuine Lucas smoke testing gauge he had installed in his Sprite. Made sure that there was still plenty of smoke left in the harness before heading out.

B Young

This is horrible news. I also met him at LoO 50th and immediately liked the guy. He sure knew and loved Sprites. He sure will be missed.
Rik
Rik Hogan

NO FREAKEN WAY...GEZ!

What a ball busting gut puncher, I was just thinking about him the other day about him building the lady bug sprite.

What gets me is he wasnt all that old... mid 50s if that.

Another loss of spridget great-ness

Im telling ya guys, In this new world we live in of genetic altered re-processed chemical substitue foods .... we really have to watch what we eat and drink. with my george forman grill, it always makes me quissy seeing the large amounts of grease held in the grease trap. andthinking wow, that could have gone straight into the ol ticker pump. eatting a burger away from home is as scary as visting freddie krugers house on halloween
Prop

I also met Frank at Spridget 50, but his reputation had preceded him. He was a champion among us, and his enthusiasm, knowledge of Spridgets, and technical skills were admired by many.

Here's a pic of Frank I took at the event, helping (yet again) another Spridget owner get things sorted.

-:G:-

Gryf Ketcherside

Here's Frank hosting a carburetor workshop at Spridget 50.

-:G:-

Gryf Ketcherside

The world is a sadder darker place today. Words cannot begin to express our loss in terms of attitude as well as expertise that is gone forever now. This was a man who loved Spridgets from the first Bugeye to the last 1500 and anyone who loved Spridgets was his friend. An example that none of us could ever live up to. Here are a couple shots of Frank at the 2008 Buster Cluster.
David "running on empty" Lieb

David Lieb

Frank doing the Spridget 50 Funkhana in his excellent Speedwell Sprite.

-:G:-

Gryf Ketcherside

No pic with this post, but having had a mild heart attack myself in January of last year, Frank's passing should serve as a reminder that occasional heart exams can be life savers. I had no idea I had any coronary artery blockage until experiencing some mild chest and shoulder pain one morning, at which time I drove myself to the hospital and found that I had 99% blockage in one artery. I was fortunate enough to sail through treatment with a stent, and am doing fine today. But obviously, it could have been a lot worse.

Just wanted to mention that!

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Frank was always a great source of wit and wisdom, like many others I received help from him on many occasions.
I was looking forward to meeting Frank, I'm very sad that he is gone. We are all richer for having him with us for a time.

My heartfelt condolences to the Clarici family, Frank is missed.
Rick Bastedo

I met Frank at Lake of the Ozarks in 2008.
He was a walking dictionary of everything Spridget, He had a great family and I could tell he was having a blast, especially at the Midget pulling contest!
I was looking forward to seeing him again at Road America.

I am shocked and gutted by this news. My condolances and best wishes to his family. He will be missed by many, but all of us are better because he was here.

Phil Burke

Yes, the world is a better place because Frank Clarici was here. It was Frank who taught me that Spridget parts should not be sold, they should be given to people who need them with an exhortation to "pay it forward" when someone needs a part that they have spares of. I will never forget Frank's quick grin and mischievous nature. There is a Frank-sized hole in the universe.
David "I just might be driving the 900 miles to Joisey" Lieb
David Lieb


Frank was absolute speed-king when it came to restorations. He reckoned he could do a full strip down, renovation, repaint and rebuild of a Spridget in 6 weeks. And that was in his spare time from his Joinery business and his great pride and commitment to his wife and children!
Somewhere I have a text from him about how to achieve this, to organise the time and work sequence and maintain motivation! The key message was to do something on the project, however unexciting, every single day. It was good advice - if only I could keep to it!

I have an idea that Daniel S from this side of the pond was invited over and to stay with Frank and his family a few years back. He was that sort of friendly open person, full of good humour and mirth.
Guy

I first met Frank at Sprite Rush 98 (in 1998) and he was one of the guys I kept in touch with afterwards. While it wasn’t Frank who told me I had to get on the internet, it was Frank who told me about the Spridgets list and managed to put me straight when my e-competence let me down! We kept in touch and at Sprite Spree 2003 Frank lent me his Austin A40 to save me the cost of a hire car and to enable me to enjoy driving a classic. He’d have lent me his Sprite only there wasn’t room for my wife and 2 children in it! It was my pleasure to track down a couple of parts for the A40 and post them to him and at one point I even posted him a half shaft for it as well if not a pair of them. Frank in return sent me parts that were hard to find over here. In 2007 Frank managed the trip across ‘the pond’ and I think this was largely due to Buster’s strong encouragement. He had a great time and even before he arrived at my town he’d experienced some unexpected excitement which he took in his stride. I was pleased that he got to see a whole bunch of stuff over here including Stonehenge, and not just cars. In 2008 I went to the Sprite Jubilee and I was pleased that Frank’s car was awarded the best modified car at the show. I got to drive that Sprite in 2008 (I left the family at home so I could spend more time with the guys) which was a real treat for me even though I hoped I wouldn’t break or damage it. At the Sprite Jubilee I think Frank also ought to have won the driving Gymkhana despite having me as a pretty average passenger which was a big handicap for him. However, for some reason we didn’t get a time recorded but Frank was really relaxed about it and didn’t seem to mind. You see Frank wasn’t just an incredibly talented mechanic/car body repair/paint sprayer/restorer he was also a very capable and quick driver as well but win or lose or no time recorded , he was always in good humour. Nothing was too much trouble for Frank and he once collected an engine for me, stripped it down and then made a crate to ship the crank and rods to California for machining which in turn was used to ship the crank and rods back to me. So what more can I say, what a sad loss it is to lose Frank, who was by no means the oldest of us and certainly one of the nicest, guys, anyone could ever hope to meet.
Daniel Thirteen-Twelve

Very sad news indeed. I met him breify at Road America when he was up to help to plan for the Midget 50th later this year. If I recall, Dave Leib generously loaned him his bugeye to drive while he was in the area. On his way from the airport, Frank dicovered that it wasn't quite tuned up as well as it could be. By the time he got it to RA, it was going like a champ! He will be missed....
Tim Michnay

I just got an update for franks final arrangments

http://www.Justbrits.com/

Prop
Prop

I sent flowers and signed it from the MG Enthuisist BBS

Im vary happy to do this on behalf of our site, and want nothing in return

here is a photo of the flowers... I think they match his style and who he was


Prop

Prop

Thanks Prop
Tim Michnay

Thanks Prop, your a gent.
Arie de Best

Prop,

Didn't know Frank, but thank you.

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget

Frank came and stayed with me, along with Buster Evans a couple of years back . I stayed with Buster a year later and sat in the BusterCluster sprite that Frank had organised and rallied the OSH*T troops to restore and rebuilt for Buster (try Googling BusterCluster or The Holy sprite ), 2 excellent projects that Frank organised and donated his time knowledge and parts for. A truly remarkable man

Frank was clever , generous , very generous, very spridget knowledgable , fun loving family guy. The world will be a much sadder place with his passing .

He was the same age as me but packed in much much more in life in the way of restoring spridgets than I will ever manage , I have 3 !

R.I.P. Frank
AP Jones

Just got home from a trip to New Jersey for Frank's wake and funeral. Put almost 2000 miles on the Bugeye as a tribute to Frank. Glad I had my bimini top (thanks again, Rik!) with me for the trip home, since I didn't take the time to round up the real top or the side-curtains and it rained on the way home. In a classic Italian hand-gesture to fuel prices, three of us drove out from Illinois, but not a single passenger. Of course the other two drove a Corvette and an El Camino...

Surprised there weren't more Spridgets there (my Bugeye, Biff Jones' "Frogarri", Father Jack's Holy Sprite, Frank's Speedwell, and Paul Clark's square body, to say nothing of two classic Minis and a KG), but there was no shortage of Spridgeters, including a LOT of the OSH*T gang. Between Spridget folks and family and friends, there were hundreds of people at the wake on Friday. At one point, the line went out the door for quite a distance. The doorman assured me that he had never seen such a crowd in all the years they had been in business. Heck, the place ran out of guestbooks to sign!

Just goes to show how much we all cared for Frank C, although we would rather just have him back.
David "exhausted!" Lieb
David Lieb

Sleep well my friend.
2000 miles in a Bug Eye is a testiment to your repect for Frank.
Thank you for representing us all.
Midget 50 will not be the same without Frank's infectious smile.
Maybe we can find a way to honor his memory.
Phil
Phil Burke

The best thoughts I have come up with are to continue his legacies of "drive it like you stole it", "pay it forward", and "if you love Spridgets, you are my friend".
David Lieb

This thread was discussed between 12/04/2011 and 18/04/2011

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