Fon Portago

Fiction by Greg Glassner
Read Part 1

After Chub Olsen determined that the notorious Fon Portago 335 S Ferrari had found its way to a storage garage owned by his employer, Carlo Ludovico, he decided try to restore it.

One Friday night in May, Chub went all out and brought a jug of Jack Daniels Black and a bucket of KFC to the body shop. After they wolfed down fried chicken and biscuits and made a big dent in the bourbon, Chub brought out his research and told Carlo he knew the car under the tarp was the one involved in the Mille Miglia crash. “Is that why you say it’s cursed?” he asked. [Read more…] about The Curse of Fon’s Ferrari Part 2

A fictional short story by Greg Glassner

Rodney “Chub” Olsen managed to get through four years at Slippery Rock State College with a BA in marketing followed by two years in the Army. He returned home to Milledgeton, Pennsylvania in 1975 to decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Lacking direction and prospects, he latched onto a temporary position as a car salesman and “go-fer” at Carlo’s Used Cars, Towing and Body Shop, a modest multi-purpose enterprise loosely run along the lines of a fiefdom by Carlo Ludovico the hardworking, albeit mercurial proprietor.. Chub and his old high school buddies had hung around Carlo’s and Olson continued to do so through college.

Chub rented a room by the month at the rundown Lakeside Motel, which was at least a mile from the lake. His job as a car salesman included use of a “demonstrator” for transportation. This translated into whatever car no wary customer would touch with a ten-foot pole. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” Chub reasoned.

Carlo always had a few interesting imports and sports cars on his lot, which had originally attracted Chub and his pals to adopt the business as their hangout, but the bread and butter was quick turnover of cheap rides and “E-Z Financing.” These cars started out as wrecks that insurance companies had totaled. They were then resurrected by the boys in the body shop between customer jobs.

One day, in the deepest recesses of the out-building, he discovered a mangled wreck under a brown tarp with assorted fenders and bumpers piled on top.”

[Read more…] about The Curse of Fon’s Ferrari