Rancho Santa Fe couple to serve as honorary chairs for car rally

Rancho Santa Fe couple Perry and Judith Mansfield will serve as honorary chairs of “Shifting Gears,” a car rally that will be hosted by the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park on Oct. 10.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many other notable car events were canceled.

“Because of that, we actually had an opportunity to do something, and we came up with a car rally,” said Judith, CEO of Precious Metals, which specializes in sales, restoration, consignment and service of vintage automobiles.

She added that they weren’t sure if they would be able to sell 50 tickets because of the pandemic. But they quickly reached 150 and closed registration. Half the auction items have also been sold.

The event will start at 8 a.m. with check-in and a tour of the museum. Then the participants, driving cars of all makes, models and vintages, will drive from the museum to the Sycuan Casino Resort in El Cajon. There will be a few stops along the way. At the casino, there will be lunch, trophies, prizes and other forms of entertainment for participants.

“It’s bringing all these people together,” Judith said. “We’re really excited, and we just see this growing and growing.”

One of the other highlights included in the event is a raffle for a 1968 Dodge Coronet, which started Sept. 1 and runs through Dec. 18.

Her husband, Perry, said the car rally “creates the safety that people were comfortable with when many car events were unable to continue.”

“I like to drive, and I like to really enjoy the open air of a car,” said Perry, director of skull base surgery and head and neck oncology at Senta Clinic. “For me, the most outstanding part of any event is very simple: It’s driving the car and enjoying the people. It’s actually in many ways more about the people than it is about the car.”

Perry said one of the goals of the event is to help “develop and evolve what I would consider a national presence” for the auto museum.

“We are really honored to be part of that and really be part of the very first springboard of this effort,” he added.

The Mansfields have been collecting cars for more than 30 years. That hobby evolved into Precious Metals, which they started together. As it grew, they hired longtime classic car dealer David Young, who will also serve as an honorary chair.

“I am so excited to have the community get involved in supporting the museum as we shift gears and build towards a brighter future,” Lenny Leszczynski, executive director of the San Diego Automotive Museum, said in a statement. “I am humbled and honored to have Perry and Judith Mansfield and David Young of Precious Metals as chairs for our event.”

The car rally is sold out. Options for attendees included a $90 VIP entry, which includes two individual basic annual memberships to the automotive museum, and $50 standard admission. For more information, visit sdautomusuem.org.