Mr. Wangers

[Tenney]

As conveyed to us by his nephew, Gordon ...

"I received a call around 4:30am last night from the staff at Silverado, informing me that James Wangers, 96, had quietly and comfortably stopped breathing in his bed. Thankfully, we made it down there just under the wire to bid him farewell. He was non-responsive to conversation or even touch, but the nurses informed us that hearing is the last thing to go and that it was likely he could still recognize our voices. The girls were very sweet, giving him goodbye hugs and thanking him for his contribution to their lives. I thanked him for teaching me “the art and science of automotive marketing” as he termed it, which helped immensely with the creation and success of AMCI (Automotive Marketing Consultants, Inc.).

He looked comfortable and at peace when we visited. He had not eaten or drank anything. At first I thought it was just Jim being Jim, going on a hunger strike to let us know that he had had enough, it was time, let him go. The Silverado hospice staff explained that when the body is ready to stop living, does not want to continue, the hunger and thirst impulse also stops to help exacerbate this process. Thus Jim died without pain or suffering. He had finally exhausted all nine lives, plus more.

Who never exercises a day in their life, eats four or five pieces of nearly raw beef for dinner every week for decades, falls multiple times but never a broken bone or even a muscle pull, gets Covid not once but twice and shrugs it off both times at age 94 and 96, all with a rather severe case of dementia and Alzheimer’s for the past 15+ years, but continues to press on regardless? You guessed it, James (NMI for no middle initial) Wangers.

Jim had become something of a celebrity at Silverado Memory Care-Escondido, especially when the staff and patients learned that back in the 60s, he was right hand man to the infamous John DeLorean and had run all the musclecar marketing at Pontiac – being responsible for everything from the legendary “GTO vs. GTO” Car and Driver Magazine cover story; the Monkeemobile; the GTO Thom McAn Shoe; and even the lyrics to top 10 national hit song “GTO” by Ronnie and the Daytonas – a band Jim put together when Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Beach Boys both wanted too much money to record it. Also on his resume are being awarded the coveted “Wally,” the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award; and winning the 1960 and ’63 NHRA Nationals, driving Pontiac Catalinas. I should add, despite being decidedly not athletic, he was the fastest man I ever saw with a 4-speed…back in the day, his arm and the Hurst floor shifter was simply a blur.

We will be planning a celebration of life for sometime in late May or early June, most likely at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Announcement of exact date and time will be made well in advance, we hope you all will be able to join us for this event."