Owning and taking The Bluesmobile to events has enriched my life in every way possible except financially 🙂 Which is okay, because I never did get into this because of dreams of making money.
I have been able to meet great people that I have since become friends with. I have been able to bring smiles to grown kids as they recall how The Blues Brothers was their Dad’s favorite movie as they stare at The Bluesmobile, and I have been afforded the opportunity to help people all over the world as they build their very own Bluesmobile.
One of the most serendipitous encounters actually happened at the very first show I brought The Bluesmobile to back in May 2017 at the Cars & Cops Car Show. This was the first annual show put on to benefit the Chicago Police Memorial Fund, and I remember my wife signing me up (without telling me!) thinking that it would be the perfect venue to debut The Bluesmobile.
The organizers actually put me inside of their building hoping other squad cars would show up and there would be a themed section. While I was sitting inside this garage, all by myself, an older gentleman comes over to the car, smiles, and just walks around quietly looking at all of the details. After about 5 minutes he turns to me and asks me if the car is mine.
I respond that it is and that I hope he is enjoying looking at it.
He introduced himself to me as Nick and that he was a retired officer who worked near downtown while they were filming The Blues Brothers. He said that while he had functioning role in the movie itself, his district happened to house the neighborhood Belushi & Aykroyd spent their off-hours. He saw their comings and goings, and eventually got a rapport with both of them.
As we begin to say our goodbyes, he mentioned that, “yeah as a matter a fact one night I see Belushi and a friend coming out of a bar. I called out his name and told him to come over here”. Thinking he’s in trouble Belushi meekly approaches officer Nick, that’s when Nick asked for his autograph. The only paper Officer Nick had at the time was his Chicago Police issued ticket book. Belushi signed the book and Officer Nick continued writing tickets until all that was left were the carbon tissues used at court dates.
He asks for my number and says that if he ever finds the book he’ll give me a call to look at it. Maybe even possibly sell it to me.
Sometime goes by, and once and awhile I think about the encounter I had with Nick, but since I never heard from him, I figured he must have forgotten about me.
Fast forward to March of 2018 and out of the blue I receive a call from Nick!
He told me that after we met, he lost my number, couldn’t find it anywhere, and looked all over for it to no avail. One day he goes out to his garage to get something out of his classic car and what do ya know?!?! There is my phone number sitting between the seat and center console. And immediately calls me up.
We start talking about the autograph, and over the course of the month start negotiating a price. Each time we spoke Nick was throwing something in to sweeten the pot! One time it was a pair of limited addition Blues Brothers figures. Another time it was 2 pictures of Dan Aykroyd on Officer Nicks police motorcycle, taken by Nick himself!
Eventually both Nick and I came to the conclusion that it was meant to be with me. There was no way I could turn down the opportunity to be it’s caretaker.
I am honored to have such a unique piece of history that was not only signed by John Belushi, but is tied to The Blues Brothers movie because it was signed while they were here filming back in the summer of ’79. The fact that it is on a Chicago Police issued ticket book is the icing on the cake.
Nick and I will be meeting up again at this years Cars & Cops Car Show May 20th, 2018. Come out and see some great cars, hear some good stories, and support a good cause!
Enjoy the pictures!
