Dick Marconi: Full Throttle
Dick Marconi was a varsity quarterback in college, Illinois Golden Gloves boxing champion and at 59 a driver in the Long Beach Grand Prix—all despite being blind in one eye. Marconi made his fortune in vitamins and is a lemon farmer. He’s also the founder of the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin and the neoexpressionist proprietor of the new Galleria Marconi Fine Art in Santa Ana, where he displays his abstract paintings, as well as seascapes and landscapes. Marconi sees art as a “two-way road from heaven
to earth and back.”

How do you race in a Grand Prix with only one good eye?
I always looked at being blind in one eye as a challenge, not a handicap. I’ve been blind in one eye since I was 12, but I played college football and was Golden Gloves champion. Boxing with one eye was the dumbest thing I ever did—the risk of losing the other eye for a $12 trophy.

Painting is your great passion now. What kind of painting? Abstract. I stopped doing Impressionist paintings. I don’t do Laguna Beach from the Montage anymore, or Carmel-by-the-Sea. But I did build a Monet-inspired Marconet Pond at the villa.

The villa?
Villa Marconi. Seven miles inland on Ortega Highway, near Caspers Wilderness Park, four miles on an old dirt road. Our border goes south to Camp Pendleton, east to the Cleveland forest. You think John Wayne will come riding through. Then you’re in Tuscany, then in Africa. We have giraffes, zebras, ostriches, emus, elands. Thirteen agility-trained Australian shepherds; 23,000 lemon trees cover the hillside. I originally bought it from [Endless Summer’s] Bruce Brown. This is where I paint. One of [the few] authorized replicas in the world of Michelangelo’s Pietà is also there—the Vatican, the Uffizi and Villa Marconi. Hearst Castle’s got nothing on Dick!

You have a mantra.
“Earn, learn and return.” There is $50 million worth of cars at the Marconi Automotive Museum. We donated all the cars, the building and the land. My wife, Bo, runs the Marconi Foundation for Kids, we net $1 million for kids a year. I often talk to the kids. I tell them five things: Stay in school. Stay off drugs. Watch what you drink. Have a dream—dreams don’t come true unless you have one. And work your butt off—because the harder you work, the luckier you get.

Which vehicle at the museum is your favorite?
Every car there has a story. One car to drive? There are 17 Ferraris there. But if God were going to have a car made, I think he’d say to Enzo Ferrari, “Make me a 550 Maranello in white with gold cloth.” I love that car, at 60 mph or 200 mph.

Where would you take out-of-town visitors in Orange County?
I’d take them to the Marconi museum and, if they’re friends, to Villa Marconi, and they’d talk about it for a hundred years. I flew Oscar de la Hoya in on the helicopter. If we had a second day, a must would be shopping—South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island are two of the most beautiful malls in the world. You want a watch, you go to Bulgari or Traditional Jewelers. I’ve bought a whole lot of watches and jewelry for my “child bride,” Bo [Marconi Foundation CEO Priscilla Marconi], at Traditional Jewelers. For dinner, we’d go to Antonello, the Winery, Il Barone or Bayside. My wife shops at the Neiman Marcus shoe department and Mi Place at Corona del Mar Plaza. If I’m shopping, I go to Costco, Home Depot, maybe Plant Depot. How many shirts can you wear, how many suits?

Details
Antonello Ristorante 3800 S. Plaza Drive, Santa Ana, 714.751.7153 / Bayside 900 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach, 949.721.1222 / Bulgari South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714.751.7833 / Costco 10 O.C. locations, 800.774.2678 / Fashion Island 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, 949.721.2000 / Home Depot 20 O.C. locations, 800.466.3337 / Il Barone 4251 Martingale Way, Newport Beach, 949.955.2755 / Marconi Museum 1302 Industrial Drive, Tustin, 714.258.3001 / Mi Place 916 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach, 949.219.9919 / Neiman Marcus 601 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, 949.759.1900 / Plant Depot 33413 San Juan Creek Road, San Juan Capistrano, 949.240.2107 / South Coast Plaza 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 800.782.8888 / Traditional Jewelers Fashion Island, 203 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, 949.721.9010 / The Winery 2647 Park Ave., Tustin, 714.258.7600