Saturday, February 27, 2010

If Only Life Could Be This Easy

Fellow blog follower Richard Park sent this along to me. It's a waiver for the "Isaac Head and Neck Restraint System" for racing. Great reading for us racers!

Now, if life could only be this easy!

THIS IS A WAIVER OF RIGHTS
You have at least one warm brain cell and therefore know that any kind of racing is dangerous. After all, the idea is to go as fast as possible and then stop. How you stop is something we have no control over.
Safety products are like birth control. Whatever you do, do something, because anything is better than nothing. An Isaac® product is better than nothing, but if you hit something hard enough fast enough, you are going to get hurt. You might die. In fact, if you hit something really hard really fast, you will die and there is nothing we can do about it. You are responsible for your safety, not us. If you don't like it, don't race.
Once we ship the product, it is out of our control. You have to take care of it. If it doesn't look right, or feel right, or act right, don't use it. Send it back to us. If you crash, don't use it again. Send it back to us. Help us make it a better product.
Read the instructions. Use the product according to the instructions. Don't modify it. And don't drill holes in the helmet while you are wearing the helmet. If someone else wants to use the product, it's your job to make sure they use it correctly, not ours.
If you can sign your name you have at least one warm brain cell, so here's the deal: We will sell you an Isaac® product if you promise not to sue us. That's it, pure and simple. Keep in mind that "you" means you, your family, friends, heirs, estate, successors, assigns and anyone else who comes along, including someone you may be buying it for. "Us" means just that: the company, its employees, managers, officers, directors, affiliates, partners/shareholders/members, agents, representatives, etc. In other words, you guys won't sue us guys. We could drag this part out for pages, but you are racers, not namby-pamby whiners who sit up late at night watching TV commercials that have some lawyer telling you to call 1-800-SUETHEM.
That's about it. you guys agree not to sue us guys, you guys agree to use the product like you're supposed to, and you guys understand and agree that the product has no warranties, expressed or implied. If you don't agree to these terms, we guys aren't going to sell it to you guys. Sorry, but that's the way it has to be.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Turkish Historic Championship

Fellow blog follower Ahmet Ongun with his Rally Car!

Ahmet sent me photos of his beautiful 1974 Ford Escort RS2000. It's a 2 Liter, 170 bhp car that weighs 900Kg. He is still competing in this car this year after winning the "Historic Sporting Championship" for 2008 and 2009......Ahmet is located in Istanbul, Turkey.





Congratulations are in order Ahmet!

Ahmet also has other cars that I'll be posting
in the future.


This is very cool...It's fun to make friends all over the world with this blog...There are "Car Guys" everywhere!

Riverside Reunion II

Photo by David Friedman

The Legends Of Riverside, Reunion II is going to be March 26-28, 2010 held at the Riverside International Auto Museum. This Museum celebrates the history of the raceway.

This years program will honor Carroll Shelby. They have a film festival with films such as, "Le Mans, Winning, The Speed Merchants" and more. I understand last years event was a great success.
Check it out at: http://www.legendesofriverside.com/
Riverside International Raceway opened on September 22, 1957 and was closed on July 2, 1989 due to encroaching residential and commercial development. Southern California lost it's most historic race track at that time.
I'll cover more about Riverside Raceway and it's connections to San Diego in future posts.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Two Bottles of Booze

So I'm over at my wife Monique's mother's house and two things catch my eye..."Two Bottles of Booze". They were well placed along with some other car memorabilia on a shelf. Her mom was into car stuff as a young girl...she was a member of the 50's "Hot Rod" car club the "Bean Bandits" that were into drag racing and racing at the salt flats. Many years later her last hot rod was a Buick Grand National. But, thats another story.

What I saw were Jim Beam bottles that her mom had collected when she owned a liquor store.

Jim Beam is synonymous with whiskey decanters. They started making decanters in the early 1950s. It must have seemed like a good way for them to market their product. I often wonder if, back then, they had any idea that this marketing ploy would turn into the hobby and business that it has over the last forty plus years. The first bottle Beam produced was a wood top bowling pin in 1952.

The auto related decanters like other auto related items have become very collectible.

The Mint 400 Decanter 1970.

The Mint 400 was a annual desert off road race for both motorcycles, buggies, cars and trucks sponsored by Del Webb's Mint Hotel and Casino. The Mint sponsored this event from 1968 until the sale of the hotel in 1988. For the first few years Jim Beam produced special decanters for the race. It was billed as the richest off-road race. A sign of the Mint's importance was the fact that "Speed King", Mickey Thompson, founder of SCORE and promoter of the Baja 1000 was the first entrant every year. In 1970 the event was won by Vic Wilson a British racing driver. He also had participated in two F1 Grand Prix races.
The Indy 500 Decanter 1970

Jim Beam also produced a 1970 Indianapolis 500 decanter. Al Unser, following in his brother's Bobby's footsteps, dominated the 1970 race. He lead 190 of the 200 laps. This matched Jim Clark's total in 1965, and the most since 1953, when Bill Vukovich lead all but 5 laps. Other drivers running were Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, Jack Brabham and Peter Revson. The first 500 was run in 1911 with Ray Harroun winning.

These bottles now are included with my automobilia stuff.



One Lap At Sebring

It was about 27 years ago this coming month, that San Diego Region member, Wayne Baker took his 934 not only to a first in class in IMSA's GTO, but also a first overall at Sebring's 12hr race. More on that subject in future blog post.
Wayne's 934
But now, how about one lap of Sebring with Juan Lopez-Santini in an early 1969 911S. This is a 2.0L vintage car on street tires with a lap time of 2:26.4...no noise limit here!!!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzGt8-VNYmg&feature=player_embedded

Here's some history on Sebring. On the third Saturday of every March the former airfield in Sebring, FL, becomes the home of the 12 Hours of Sebring. The endurance race is part of the American Le Mans Series today. "Back in the day", in 1941 it was built as a training base for the military, called Hendricks Field. In 1950 it was used for the first sports car endurance race in the United States. It was a six-hour race.In 1952, it was expanded to 12 hours. In 1959, it hosted the first Formula One race in the United States but it didn't catch on with the public and the race was moved to Riverside, CA, the next year.

This Guy is a Chevy Guy!

Every Chevy Convertible Ever Made

This is really some collection, worth a small fortune.




Top this one. Every Chevrolet convertible since 1912.... What do you suppose this collection is worth? This collection belongs to Dennis Albaugh in Ankeny, Iowa just north of Des Moines. The personal and private collection consists of 110+ Chevrolet convertibles... all years from 1912 to 1975 and Corvette convertibles from 1953 to 1975. That is a Chevy convertible from every year of manufacture EXCEPT 1939... The reason? Chevy didn't make a convertible in '39 -- and ended its convertible line in '75! His 'boy toys' include his own 18 hole golf course, copied somewhat after Augusta National. He is what you call a REAL Chevy guy, but his passion seems to be convertibles! This billionaire made his fortune selling farm chemicals!

Fellow blog follower and club member, Neil Heimburge passed this along to me to share. I'm not really a "Chevy Guy" other than a few models, but you've got to admire this guys passion. I can just imagine this guy as a kid sitting in his parents car at a gas station "back in the day" when a Chevy convertible pulled up next to them and he thought...wow, what a car, some day I'm going to have one of those!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Coronado Speed Fest is Back

Mark the dates, September 24-26, 2010. The Coronado Speed Fest is back and for the first time in it's 13 year history it will honor a specific marque. This years running will feature Carroll Shelby cars; Cobras, GT350s and more. Last years event drew 300 historic and vintage cars, the likes of Porsches, Ferraris, Covettes, Allards, McLarens, and BMWs, to a wonderful race weekend. You can get up close to the drivers and cars walking through the pits.

We will have the Porsche Club Hospitality Tent in the same place next to the track with plenty of Corral parking and a buffet lunch both Saturday and Sunday. Stay tuned for more info as we get closer to the event...but you're reading it here first. Don't miss this weekend!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Type: 944 GTR Turbo

David and his GTR at the Museum

This could be one of the rarest of the rare, a 944 GTR.

The 944 GTR is the only Porsche race car with it's roots in the US. Al Holbert contracted with Dave Klym of Fabcar to build seven tube frame chassis based on the 944 ...featuring the 2.5L turbo engine. Al Hobert wanted to race the 944 in the US to boost the 944 performance image. Hence, the 944 GTR was born. The GTRs drew parts from Porsche's extensive racing parts bin incorporating parts from the 928, 935, and 956 models. They also included a Hewland racing gearbox.

In 1986 there were two prominent professional sports car road racing series, IMSA and SCCA Trans -Am, and the SCCA Club racing series(the San Diego based Alan Johnson team ran one of the GTRs in the SCCA Club series competing in GT1 and making it to the National Runoffs at Road Atlanta two years in a row). The Tran-Am series was wildly popular in the mid to late 60's and early 70's when the American manufacturers went head to head with Mustangs, Camaros, AMXs, etc. By the latter part of the 80's the Trans-Am series featured turbo silhouette(looked like street cars when viewed from the side, but pure race car under the skin) racers.

This GTR was owned by Bruce Jenner, not of the Olympics fame and it's crew chief was Max Crawford. Elliot Forbes-Robinson was the driver competing in the Trans-Am Series. The 944 GTR(according to Elliot) was faster then the 935s but was underfunded and under developed, and never reached it's full potential. Al Holbert got pulled off to the Porsche Indy car effort and died in a tragic private plane crash shortly thereafter. However this car did go on to have quite a successful history.

Recently the San Diego Automotive Museum featured a Porsche Race Car Display, this was one of the historic cars invited to participate. It is now owned by David Loynd. He bought the GTR in November of '99 from Jacques Rivard. Rivard has restored quite a few race cars, including the Bob Akin Coca Cola 935. David originally joined PCA in 1990 and started racing a 944 turbo in PCA, POC as well as HSR West. David also ran "Tribute to LeMans" several times winning his class twice and enlisted Steve Livelsberger as a co-driver in several enduros. With the GTR he has raced at Portland and several times with HSR. He says, "To be honest, I never really drove the car very hard, despite two second place finishes. And, I never turned the boost over 1.5 bar, but clearly the engine will take a lot more. I was clocked at 162 at WSIR, the GTR is faster than I am."

He now has the car for sale and is looking for a good home for it. He keeps trying to twist my arm because I know how cool these cars are and boy is it temping.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Two Big Events Not to Miss

27th Annual Porsche & Vintage VW Literature,
Toy/Model, and Memorabilia Swap Meet
Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel
March 6, 2010



This Literature Meet is something to see...there is more Porsche stuff there than you can believe ever exists. The trip is well worth the time!

The 27th annual Literature, Toy/Model, and Memorabilia Meet for Porsches and Vintage VW's will be held again at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton on Century Boulevard near the L A. International Airport. The Los Angeles Airport Hilton is at 5711 W. Century Blvd. The meet will be on the same weekend as last year, Saturday, March 6, 2010 and will avoid all known conflicts with the 24 Hours of Daytona, RetroMobil, 12 Hours of Sebring.

The vendor table charge will be $80 for all advance registrations (must be received in Ontario, CA by February 26th) and $125 at the door. The hall will be open for set-up and vendor buying, selling and swapping at 7:00 am. Non-vendors will be able to enter the hall after 9:00 am and will be charged $10 per person at the door. "Early-bird" shoppers will be admitted with the vendors at 7:00 am for $30 per person at the door. Once again there will be no required pre-registration for Early-birds – just pay and walk in. The meet will end at 2:00 pm. The entire meet will be non-smoking.

You can download the registration form from our website at www.LALitAndToyShow.com. We will e-mail (only!) confirmations to all the registrants whose payment is received by Wayne Callaway in Ontario, CA by February 26th, 2010.

Party Time

European Collectibles will have their third annual open house on Saturday, March 6 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. They specialize in the restoration and sales of European and British classic Sports Cars. They always have a number of early 911s. They are located at 1665 Babcock St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. The phone number is 949-650-4718, e-mail is europeancollectibles@pacbell.net and the web site is www.europeancollectibles.com. They will have all of their cars on display and will be serving light hors d’ oeuvres and soft drinks.


Porsche Parts Swap Meet
March 7,2010

The SoCal All-Porsche Swap & Car Display will again be held on the day after the Lit Meet, Sunday, March 7th, once again at the Phoenix Club, 1340 South Sanderson, Anaheim, CA 92806, about a mile from the old Dunkel Brothers site. If you were there last year, you know it’s a terrific site. See www.thephoenixclub.com for details on this German-American Club. As before, they will have the FestHalle of 11,500 feet under one roof, plus lots of outside room for more vendors and a large grass soccer field for car corrals. Gates open at 8 am. As before, vendors will make a $40 donation per space and car displayers a $20 donation, with all proceeds going to an Orange County children’s charity. For vendor reservations, contact Bob Lee at robert.b.lee@nsc.com or 858-414-3523. For more information contact either Jeff Trask at no911nv@aol.com or 949-697-4499, or Pete McNulty at pmcnulty98@aol.com or 949-400-9319.
For updates on all the open houses to be held on Thursday and Friday before the
Literature Meet, please go to “Related Events” on our website www.LALitandToyShow.com.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

"Seeing is believing"





As a small kid I would sit in my room at night, listen to the radio and build "Hot Rod" models getting more Testor's Cement on my fingers than on the parts I was trying to fit together...but not this guy.

Keith Nelson, a Past President of SDR '85, now living in Arizona and a fellow "blog" follower shot this to me.

These photos are of what started out as an exercise in model building and photography, and became passion for Michael Paul Smith.

You really need to check these photos out to believe it. It's truly amazing and is like stepping back into a simpler time. As you look through his photos you will agree...it's unbelievable!!!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

5 Best Auto Investments in the last 10 Years

5 of the decade's best investments
Rob Sass / 2010-01-12

There’s been a lot of discussion among collector car enthusiasts about the recent 2008-09 hiccup. But lost is the fact that over the course of the last decade, the market has performed extremely well, certainly in comparison to the stock market. In January 2000, the Dow stood at 11,497. As of this writing, it was around 10,400. These five cars, however, have at least doubled and in some cases tripled in value since 2000.

1. 1964 Shelby Cobra 289: Once considered the poor relative to the 427 Cobra, the market woke up and realized that these were the purest Cobras and also the most successful racers. As an added bonus, the leaf spring cars (as the small blocks are called) are rarely faked. On August 30, 2000, a 289 Cobra sold at the Kruse Auburn sale for $120,000. Fast forward to August 16, 2009, and it took $440,000 to buy a similar car at Gooding’s sale at Pebble Beach.

2. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435: Everyone wants a big-block C2 Corvette. While they might not be trading for what they did in 2006, unlike the Dow, they aren’t bringing 2000 money either. Kruse sold one in Phoenix on January 12, 2001, for $49,200. A decade later at the Silver Hot August Nights sale on August 9, 2009, someone paid a hundred grand more — $140,000

3. 1973 Porsche 2.7 Carrera RS: Among the most collectible Porsche 911s, the 2.7 RS was a thinly disguised competition car that offered near Turbo performance without the added complication and turbo lag. Fender flares, loud colors, a duck-tail rear spoiler and big Carrera graphics announced the RS. If you had ignored the Y2K hysteria and concentrated on finding a nice example, you’d have likely paid around $55,000. One sold for that amount at the Coys Monte Carlo sale on May 2, 2000. At the height of the market in 2007, they were pushing $300,000, and a year ago one sold at the Artcurial sale in Paris for $172,461. With the exception of perhaps the deficit and the unemployment rate, few things came close to tripling over the course of the last decade.

4. 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air: The generation for whom the ’57 Chevy is the ultimate collector car is aging and the market is cooling off a bit, but ten years ago, everyone wanted a ’55-’57 Chevy Bel Air convertible and prices soared. In August 2000, Christies sold a ’57 convertible for $37,600 at Pebble Beach. A decade later in Monterey, Mecum sold a mildly customized example for $121,900. If only we’d all owned ’57 Bel Airs instead of GM stock.

5. 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4: In 2000, the Ferrari market was still suffering the after-effects of the crash of 1991. Amazingly, these cars hadn’t appreciated at all in nine years. A four-cam in good condition sold at RM’s Waldorf Astoria sale in September 2000 for $385,000. By 2008, the 275 GTB/4 had re-joined the million dollar club. Even after the market correction of 2008-09, these were still $900,000-plus cars as demonstrated by the Fly Yellow example that sold at RM’s Phoenix sale a year ago.

So while anyone who bought one of these cars in 2006-2008 might be slightly behind, they still would have weathered the recent economic downturn quite well. Is now a good time to buy any of these blue chip cars? Unless you’re looking to flip it quickly, any one of these cars should be a good bet for the long haul if past performance is any indicator.

It's great news to see a Porsche in the mix!!!