Canseco Castoff Finds a Place in San Marcos Collector’s Garage
At 67, Bill Byrom, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel-turned-successful San Marcos machine shop owner, knows what he likes.
And he’s got the money to do something about it.
So he didn’t hesitate when he heard that the candy-apple red 1989 XJS Jaguar owned by baseball bad boy Jose Canseco was for sale at an auction in Woodland Hills.
Others were interested in the Rolls-Royce that Zsa Zsa Gabor was driving before she slapped her way into infamy. But Byrom, who lives in Escondido, had eyes only for the Jaguar with the custom paint job and symphonic stereo system.
Byrom likes Jaguars.
He already had two of them. Along with an Aston-Martin, six Cadillac convertibles, a ’67 four-door Lincoln, three Zimmers, a BMW, a Corvette, a Trans-Am and a Mercedes.
“Some people say there’s nothing more beautiful than a racehorse,” Byrom said. “To me, there’s nothing better to look at than a great car, not even a good-looking girl, except for my wife, of course.”
Byrom doesn’t haggle. He opened the bidding at $75,000. Sold to the man with the cowboy hat and the San Antonio twang.
It was no surprise that Canseco decided to unload his beauty.
Police in Miami, Oakland and Arizona had developed a special feeling for the Jaguar and its “40-40” license plate (for 40 homers, 40 stolen bases). Last spring Canseco was accumulating speeding tickets faster than base hits.
“If I drive it at all, I’ll keep it strictly legal,” Byrom said. “If I want to crank it up to 120 m.p.h. like Mr. Canseco, I’ll go out to a track or something.”
The car came with an unexpected accessory: a little black address book, presumably from Canseco’s days as a major league bachelor. Byrom has it in his briefcase.
He’s quite willing to return it. He may be a little hard to catch, though.
He’s already chasing his next automotive acquisition. He’s narrowed it down to a Maserati, another Aston-Martin or maybe a Jaguar roadster.
“I just have a weakness for cars,” he explained.
Call for Help
Just between us:
* Put this in your “Only in Southern California” file.
A young woman was driving along California 78 near Escondido when she provoked the wrath of two roughnecks in a pickup truck by making a lane change.
One roughneck waved a shotgun out the window. The woman stayed cool enough to use her cellular phone to call the CHP.
The truck was tracked down, a shotgun was found in the back, and the driver and passenger were booked on felony charges.
* John Steadman, sports columnist for the Baltimore Evening Sun, says Jim McMahon should be suspended without pay for blowing his nose on a San Diego sportswriter.
“After all, this is supposedly a civilized society,” he wrote.
By the way, it is not true that writers these days put on slickers and rain hats before approaching McMahon for interviews. But they do hope he doesn’t get a sinus infection.
Musical Excerpt
If you attend a reception for the Soloists of Leningrad, don’t be surprised to see two well-dressed San Diegans peering into the mouth of violinist Sergei Zakurin.
When Zakurin, 41, arrived in town Tuesday night, he was in the full throes of an agonizing tooth abscess.
“He looked like he had a mouth full of chewing tobacco,” said Les Smith of the San Diego Symphony, which is sponsoring the Soloists.
Smith arranged for Zakurin to be taken immediately to the Rancho Penasquitos offices of husband-and-wife dentists Richard Wilson and Julie Novotny for an after-hours extraction.
Wilson and Novotny will now be guests of the symphony both at Friday’s joint performance with the Soloists and at a reception afterward honoring the three musicians.
It’s good timing. By Friday, Wilson and Novotny want to inspect Zakurin’s stitches to see if they’re ready to come out.
