Bumpus asked on the OU football page, what exactly is a Jayhawk???

I replied: Bumpus, it is a mythological bird made up as a mascot of the University of Kansas, but it comes from the nickname of an irregular fighting force from Kansas around the time of the civil war (the Jayhawkers). A Jayhawker at that time was said to combine the traits of the noisy contentious blue jay with the sparrow hawk, a quiet stealthy hunter. The Jayhawkers fought against Missourians who raided Kansas (like Quantrill's raiders who burned Lawrence). Later the Kansas Governor raised a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks. When the University's football team took the field in 1890, they were called the Jayhawkers.

Henry Maloy drew the first Jayhawk in 1912, and it carried the school colors of Crimson and Blue which were adopted in 1896. The colors came from Col. John J. McCook who donated money for the original athletic field and who was a Harvard man(Crimson) and from Yale (Blue), which was requested by KU faculty who had attended Yale. The design of the Jayhawk evolved over the years and adopted the current KU font style in 2005.

And "Rock Chalk" was coined to rhyme with Jayhawk, and stands for the limestone rock that makes up Mt. Oread, the location of the University.

Hence the chant, which was created in 1886 by  chemistry professor E.H.S Bailey, and was recognized as the official school yell in November 1887:
ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK, KU!!!

I hope that clears things up a little. LOL

Well it has been quite a week. We have lost Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Karl Malden, and Big Ed and every week we lose someone in the world of sports (this week, Steve McNair).

On top of that, I had the pleasure of seeing Eric Clapton (Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos) and Steve Winwood (Blind Faith and Traffic) perform this week at the Hollywood Bowl. What a night that was. From the Blind Faith repertoire: "In the Presence of the Lord" and "I Can't Find My Way Home". Winwood performed a solo with piano of his Traffic song "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys". Then he joined Clapton for an acousitic rendition of the classic "Layla". A night to remember, no less for the fact that it may signal the last time these two rock legends ever perform together.

And of course (just in LA) Manny Ramirez has returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kobe Bryant has agreed to stay with the Lakers (and Trevor Ariza and Ron Artest have apparently traded places, with Ariza going to Houston and Artest going to LA).

Drugs, Sex and Rock and Roll.

So what does it all mean?

Sex is part of the mix. We miss Farrah, many of us grew up with her poster. And were entertained by her on Charlies Angels. Now she is gone, the victim of a fatal cancer.

Michael Jackson in death is still the subject of controversy for his sexual behaviour and ambiguity.

Kobe and Michael Jackson continue to be dogged by something that may or may not have happened. Out of court settlements have obscured whether either of these legends in their respective areas of genius have done something that we should despise them for in spite of their accomplishments (Kobe on the court, Jackson on the stage and in recordings and videos). What do we make of it???

Drugs, are there too. Manny was sanctioned by Major League Baseball for using a banned substance. Now he is back. But have his accomplishments on the field been the result of steroid use. Is he another Barry Bonds???? Did Michael Jackson OD on prescription drugs of some kind???? Again, the answer may not be clear.

Rock and roll. Although Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood are aging pretty well, would their place in rock history have been more secure if they had died a young and tragic death??? Is it just a coincidence that Jackson and Elvis had parallels in their lives???? Is it just a coincidence that Clapton displayed his virtuousity on the electric guitar Tuesday night playing Jimi Hendrix song "Voodoo Chile"???? Who can forget the night the music died??? Janis Joplin??? John Lennon??? There are so many, who died young.

Little is certain in life. We are born, we die, we pay taxes. In the end, rock gods, entertainers, and sports legends are human beings. They make mistakes, they die, just like the rest of us.

But in the meantime, they can can dazzle and entertain us. Thank God for them. And God rest their souls when they pass to the other side.

Drugs, Sex and Rock and Roll. And Death.

A report on the British Grand Prix at Silverstone as reported by "The Inquisition". Note that all opinions are those of the author, and jayhawk17 may or not agree with them. Nevertheless, all of us on the Formula One comment pages appreciate the author's contributions, and we will preserve these comments for your enjoyment whenever possible. The report by "The Inquistion" follows:

What a race, sure is refreshing to see another car break the Brawn deadlock, but even he did not break a sweat!

RBR

It was was a masterclass of speed and strategy by Vettel, Webber, Newey, and by the whole of Red Bull Racing. Once Vettel got a jump on Rubinho at the start he never looked back, and probably knowing that unlike Button, Barrichello has that tendency to blink first, he just turned on the afterburners and blew him away, at an astounding rate of a second a lap! Webber held station behind Rubens, almost equal in speed terms, but when Rubens pitted, Webber showed the Red Bull's true speed and just blew past the Brawn, and beat him in the strategy. It could have been a manic dash to the flag if Webber had beaten Rubinho at the start. Though Vettel and Webber had troubles on the hard compound tire stints, other teams had it worse!

Brawn

In the past GPs, Brawn's boys just blow past the RBRs with ease. This time, they got a big chunk of humble pie shoved down their throats. Aside from Rubinho holding off Webber, Jenson did not show much fire to haul himself to glory in front of his home crowd, who of course came to see their new reborn messiah. In fact, he made a bad start, got bottled up by Trulli, and was only passing cars during pit stops! All of the British champions bar Hawthorn and Graham Hill won in British circuits in the F1 calendar. If Button wins it all, this is one achievement he will regret not to have done. Rubinho was on fire, though, he was determined to try to catch Vettel and hold off Webber but the task was too much for him. When his stint on hard compound tires went on he was complaining of a certain lack of overall grip. Jenson was also feeling it, he complained loudly to his crew that the car is skating around some corners. He was also weaving his car around frantically to get some heat into his tires. Damage limitation was paramount, and though he can salvage further glory when he learned that Nico and Felipe were struggling in their last tire selections, he ran out of time.

Ferrari

BRAVO FELIPE! It seems that Felipe has now some knowledge on how to handle that lighter F60 chassis, and together with a blistering start, some canny pit strategy and pitwork, he jumped up 7 places from his 11th starting position! You can always count on Felipe for fireworks. Kimi was solid, not as fast as Felipe, but solid enough to get a point for the boys from Maranello. I could definitely feel that they can go farther than they think. Farther than just "best-of-the-rest". But as for now they are just a few inches away from the threshold.

Williams

Kaz's light fuel load at the start did not propel the young kamikaze pilot to glory. Though he had a good start holding fourth at the beginning, once he came in the pits he just fell off the pace. Battling with Raikkonen must have been a new experience for him. Nico meanwhile was absolutely terrific, the middling fuel load just the right set up for him, and he was in the upper echelons of the points all the race, but he was caught out by the smarts of Rob Smedley, Massa's race engineer. Massa, Rosberg, and Button had a procession at the later stages, Massa effectively holding off Rosberg, and Rosberg effectively holding off Button. It should have been a double points finish for Sir Frank's merry men.

Toyota

The Prius of Trulli had only one major highlight: holding off Jenson Button. But when Jenson beat Trulli the Prius just melted off into the landscape, until Kimi Raikkonen came along. Trulli this time did his rolling roadblock scheme to full effect, effectively locking in Kimi to eighth. Timo however was hassled through the race by a long-stinting Fisichella, and for a Prius, not shaking off a Tata Nano would have given the guys at Cologne nightmares.

Force India

BELLISSIMO, GIANCARLO! A good start, some opportunities seized, and a near-perfect strategy almost gave them points, but its clear that The Force are no longer the boys in the back. A triple-kill in Stowe of Kubica, Piquet Jr, and his old buddy Fernando Alonso capped off a good, if not great weekend for dear old Giancarlo. Sutil was fortunate to start the race, as his mechanics had a herculean job to rebuild the whole car in 24 hours time. Of course, a highlight was him racing with the Mclarens of Kovalainen and his buddy Lewis, but the lost opportunity of a good result when the brakes failed on him during qualifying took their toll.If The Force scored points here, it would have been an upset of Slumdog Millionaire proportions, and Vijay Mallya would be the one singing "Jai ####" throughout the night, even if Nicole Scherzinger was present at Silverstone.

Renault

My jaw just dropped at the final classification: Nelson Piquet Jr has beaten Fernando Alonso. But if Nelson had the result, Alonso got the highlights: an all-out battle with his best buddy Lewis Hamilton. It was 3 whole laps of non-stop action, even Vettel had to tread lightly against these two! That HAS to be some of the best moments of the GP. I can't wait to have them back in winning cars, that would be a riot!

BMW

I also can't wait for BMW to get its bearings right, for Kubica racing Hamilton was another highlight of the race. Heidfeld was blown away as usual.

Mclaren

Ah, what a difference a year makes. Last year was arguably Lewis Hamilton's greatest win. And where is he now, a year later? 16th. One thing I like about Hamilton being stuck at the back is that everything turns into a bar room brawl, as Lewis, being Lewis battles every car in front of him. First was Sutil, then Alonso, then Kubica, then Piquet Jr. His exuberance cost him, yes, but racing people at the back of the grid may have a profound effect on him. I think he's having fun, whipping and caning that Mclaren, and going toe-to-toe with his rivals is sure better than running away at the front. Kovalainen was having another anonymous weekend, only for him to guess wrong about Bourdais' line going to the Abbey chicane, damaging his suspension and ending his race.

Toro Rosso

Red Bull's feast and famine continues. As one Red Bull is at the top of the order, another Red Bull is at the back end. The Force is running away from you.

Three weeks of waiting for the next GP would s-u-c-k. But since Hockenheim is another fast circuit, expect the RBRs to shine. And expect the Germans to go Verserk over Vettel! Its also Merc's and BMW's home turf, and both will be keen to beat to beat each other, though Merc has the advantage of Brawn and the fast-improving Force India.

When I was a kid I often went to my grandfather's house with my parents and my sister. On one visit I noticed that someone had dug thru his neighbors' yard putting in some underground line and there was a dirt mound across the front of the yard by the sidewalk. On this dirt was another boy who was playing with a large number of toy cars and trucks.

Naturally, I was attracted to this. I asked him what he was doing (not that it wasn't kinda obvious, but ya gotta get the conversation started somehow). "None of yer beeswax", he replied. But I persisted and eventually he let me look at the cars and trucks and even play with a couple. Frankly, I had never seen anyone with so many neat toys. I was kinda jealous.

Probably, you never really get over something like that. Whether it is toy cars, somebody's girl friend, somebody that has more money than you, a better job, the ability to play a sport better than you can....it's always something.

But, what can you do??? Sometimes you compensate. Certainly I had toys when I was a kid. And I had toy cars (and probably some trucks, too). But at the time the kid told me it was none of my business what he was doing with his toys, I was not a happy kid.

As I grew up I did get some toy cars, and I enjoyed them. I had a two tone grey Dinky Rolls Royce, it is the only toy car I still have from back when I was a kid. I had a bunch of the old promotional models that they used to give away at car dealerships. At some point I got a maroon Studebaker sedan. Later I had some Pontiacs, as my dad used to lease them for his work. And my cousin and I built some kits. Mostly American cars, but I remember having an Allard. But when I went away to college, we gave all my plastic promos and built kits to another, younger kid. I have since gotten another Studebaker similar to the one I had. But some of those promos would be very expensive to replace today. Guess giving them away was not a smart idea. And I had a big toy road grader (made by Doepke, I now know). But it got lost with a lot of other stuff I had when my parents got divorced and my dad's new wife cleaned out the garage. Ah, well.

So later, as an adult, I compensated, perhaps not conciously. It started out innocently enough. We had a 1975 Porsche 911 Targa, and remembering the Dinky Rolls Royce and the Dinky and Corgi toys I had given to children of friends, I happened to see a Corgi Porsche 911 Targa at an airport gift shop. Although it wasn't the same color as our car, it looked very much like it. And that was the start of it. Soon I acquired other toy Porsches, in some cases trying to match a car we owned. I found out about a list of Porsche toys and models, and attempted to find one of everything on the list. It soon became obvious that there were too many new and expensive Porsche scale models being released every year (geared to collectors which I had now become). Although I had done quite well finding some very old and rare models of the early Porsches, I soon gave up on collecting everything on the ever expanding list.

In fact, for various reasons I went for a long time without buying much of anything new. But when I opened an antique business with a couple of friends, I began buying again, mainly with an eye to reselling the toys (and not just cars and trucks, but all kinds of toys), as I was prowling the flea markets for merchandise for the store. Of course, some of them were too appealling to let go of. And soon I had a modest collection of Dinkys, Matchbox and others.  And my interest in Formula One lead to lots of models of racing cars by Lotus, Ferrari, Maserati, and others (I already had some rare Porsche F1 and F2 toys). But financial necessity did dictate that I did sell some things I wish I still had. For example an early tin toy (with some cast iron parts) by Structo. ca. 1910-15 that I found at the flea market was sold at a profit, but I sometimes wish that I had more than just a photo of it. But along the way, the collection did expand.

Aside from Formula One cars, and all sorts of sports racing cars, there are lots of European sports cars and GT's (Ferrari, Maserati, the Porsches, Aston Martins, BMW's, Pegaso, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Austin Healey, etc.), lots of classic cars (Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Packard, Bugatti, Voisin, Rolls-Royce, Bentley etc.) and some American marques (like Ford, Lincoln, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Buick, Chrysler, Cadillac and so on). There are also some trucks, motorcycles, planes and trains.  Ages of the toys go back as far as the 1910-20's. Scales range from around 1/87th (and a few smaller) up to about 1/12th (like the Doepke Jaguar XK-120 and MG TD), with most being in the 1/43 scale (like Solido, Dinky, Corgi, Norev and various collector models) or smaller (like the early Matchbox toys).  Of particular interest are Schuco toys in larger and smaller scales (such as the larger scale grand prix cars made of metal and plastic, but which are hard to find in good condition, as most got played with a lot).

Nowadays I try to avoid putting any thing else into my collection unless I can't stand not to (there are still a few rare old toys on my want list, for example).  And every year I sell some of the old Porsche toys that I don't care so much about anymore at a Porsche/VW Toy and Literature meet at the LAX Hilton. The goal is to diminish the number of items in my collection without buying anything but a few small items and come out money ahead. Sometimes that even works.

How many toys do i have in my collection now? I don't have really have an accurate count but it is in the hundreds (actually it must be well over a thousand, because I counted over eight hundred on display in a couple of big  bookcases and elsewhere in my den). And I really don't feel like getting rid of very many of them. Maybe someday. But I am quite sure I have more toy cars (and scale models for collectors) than that kid who lived next door to my grandfather did.

Several of us were discussing some ot the cars we have owned or currently own. When cvall mentioned driving to the 1961 LeMans race from Paris in his 356B Porsche with a beautiful young lady named Tania, some of us responded. I mentioned three of my favorite old cars I have owned: a '62 356B cabriolet, a 356B coupe (now owned by my son), and the 1960 Austin Healey 3000 roadster (BN7 series) that I had while in college. My cabrio was a Super 90 also. But it was well used by the time I got it. It had been in the Wichita, Kansas area (where I bought it used) since it was purchased from the local VW/Porsche dealer there. Probably one of the stupidest things I ever did was to sell that car. Last I heard, my friend in Kansas City had fixed it up and sold it to an attorney in Arizona (who called me on the phone after finding an old gasoline receipt of mine under the seat).

Sometimes I think about getting the coupe back from my son, and fixing it up (it needs some work, of course). But I am afraid my wife would have a cow, and right now I wouldn't have the extra money to put into it anyway, to get it looking and running right. Oh well.

cva11
6/11/2009
5:16 AM

Just catching up: from the bottom, redmist, a Porsche Murcielago? ;-) 

Next,  jayhawk, your fuller description of the 928 confirms my view that its concept tracks almost exactly that of my old 365GTC: very comfortable, roomy, large travel-worthy trunk, clear 360 vision, splendid-handling, front-engine 50-50 balance due to rear transaxle GT car.

Uber, what happened to F1 forum? well, we're 'tweeners right now, i.e. between F1 races and anticipating the demise of our beloved Formula. FAF1, right on!

Three years ago as a result of meeting a bunch of the top executives of Cadillac at the Museum's Cadillac exhibition celebrating its Centennial, I bought an STS-V. It has been the very best car I've ever DRIVEN and that includes a top-line Rover sedan, two top-line Peugeots, two top-line BMW's and five ('pre-owned') Ferraris that I've owned and several M-B's, Bentleys, Astons, Lexi etc. Absolutely world-class build quality, better than anything coming from Mercedes today short of the AMG S-class and as good or better than BMW and Lexus. In my view a much better car than the M5 which I find exceptional on the race track but far too 'edgy' , even harsh for everyday driving. I've driven the STS-V on the track at Watkins Glen and it handles magnificently and has all the power, accelration and speed one could ever want in a road car. And it cost $10-20,000. less than than the M5 and AMG E-class. Then I watched the Cadillac ad in which that beautiful woman uttered the classic lines: the real question isn't your nav system or the sunroof, etrc, the real question (with eyes flashing at the camera) is: when you turn your car on, does it return the favor? Hoo! So I had to buy a CTS for everyday driving in our ferocious Adirondack winters. And IT is a sensational value, same build quality, excellent performance and handling and again, $10-12,000 less than comparable 5-series and E-class.

I also had the pleasure of driving a new CTS-V at the year-old Monticello (NY) Motor Club track. Awesome car that I would buy if I didn't already have two too many cars. Probably the greatest single car buy value in the world today for a car guy (male or female!)

Jay how does one find your blog? Delighted to learn that Tania has been immortalized. She deserves it. Actually, I'm in the process of writing a memoire that could turn into a book if I decide to fictionalize it. And chicane, you weren't intruding at all. Time heals. Though four years ago when I became 'de-spoused' I peered into a re-well folder I hadn't looked at in a couple of decades and found our old correspondence and photos, bringing back a lot of wistful memories of the exaltation of being so in love and so beloved - she literally made me feel - not like a prince but like an emperor. Two of her photos are on the bureau in my bedroom, along with those of the aforementioned immediate past spouse, our daughter and granddaughter.

jayhawk17 7/10/2009
7:44 PM

 Ha, ha, sorry uber.

JWray, it is hard to find many places to go 50 over in most of the US. Montana would be one (they didn't even have a speed limit on the highways until recently, it was whatever was reasonable and proper). But I did get one of the 928's up to 50 over on a little traveled highway in Western Kansas a few times, and one night my crazy friend Michael and I probably hit that mark on a back road near Wichita riding two up on the Moto Guzzi.

FAF1
6/10/2009
7:28 PM

Lovin all of the car stories. I have driven many different cars over the years, T/A's, 911's & Vettes, but I have to say that my favorite of all is what I'm driving now. Cadillac CTS-V complete with the manual 6-speed. Rides great, tons of power, decent fuel mileage & my golf clubs will actually fit in the trunk. I have a practical daily driver while still feeding my sports car craving. Added bonus that my wife can't drive a stick shift.

JWray
6/10/2009
7:27 PM

Popster...best thing I ever read! These stories are priceless. My passion for driving has been taken from me so I'm feeling inspired...I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this law up here in Ontario, Canada. But 50 over the speed limit is an automatic roadside suspension, car is towed to the pound for 7 days and a $10,000 fine (yes 10,000 dollars). By time the fees for storage of your car for 7 days, you're paying $1,700 regardless. Days of opening your car up on a highway are over. Next time you see a car with a plate from Ontario or Quebec speeding on your freeways...forgive us, we have no other place to do it...lol!

UberOwnage
6/10/2009
7:18 PM

Jesus, what the hell happened to the F1 forum now?

I only drive the two Hondas my family owns. Hopefully a new truck will follow, so I can stuff my bike in it.

jayhawk17 
6/10/2009
4:28 PM

Hey everyone, these stories are great. I am gonna try to add some more of them to the blog, so they will be preserved for a while.

cva11, there were actually three 928's between the '79 I owned and the '78 and the '81 that my ex-wife had (all five speeds). There were three 1978 928's at the Porsche + Audi dealership in Wichita when they were introduced in the fall of 1977, and we bought one that was Kashmir Beige with the Op-Art velour interior (in brown and black). Our friend who was a psychiatrist bought one that was Talbot Yellow, and another friend who was a cardiologist bought a Red one. I don't know if you remember that Op-Art interior Porsche used when they introduced the 928, but it was pretty wild, especially in the Black and White version that was in the Red car. The Talbot Yellow car had the Black & Brown interior, and all three of the first year 928's had five speeds (some 928's had Mercedes sourced automatics).

We took the '78 to some Porsche club events locally and in Oklahoma (I was President of the Wichita Region of the PCA at the time) and compared notes with the owner of a '78 911 Turbo. Both the Turbo's and the 928's had the newly available Pirelli P-7 tires (but as would soon be demonstrated quite vividly, the Turbo was much faster).

We took the Kashmir Beige car to the 1978 Porsche Parade in Aspen, Colorado. We participated in the concours and the rally. As a region President, I was invited to a reception where Dr. Fuhrman (who developed the Carrera racing engine  that cva11 menttioned that was used in the 550 Spyders, Carrera Abarth GT's and in high performance versions of the 356, and was then Chairman of Porsche AG) was attending. We told Dr. Fuhrman that we loved the 928, but that Porshce needed to test their air conditioning systems in Kansas in August (humidity and 100 degree plus) instead of the Sahara (where the heat was dry).

The last event (aside from the rodeo, where I volunteered to ride a horse in a barrel race) was the timed laps at the Aspen Raceways course. The format was to start out half a lap behind the earlier contestant, run one flying timed lap, and then a half lap cool down and return to the pits. The 911 Turbos and the 928's were assigned to the same class because the both had the hot new Pirelli P-7 tires. The problem was, we were running at high altitude on the boulder strewn raceway, and the turbocharged cars could breath easily, while the non-turbo 928's were down on power. By the end of my timed flying lap, the Turbo behind had almost caught up. LOL

The Porsche + Audi dealership changed hands, and when a 1979 Silver Blue metallic 928 (with black leather interior we had discussed with Bruce Brown, the former owner) came in we ended up buying it, and it became my daily driver. But we were not happy with the new dealer after having had a great experience with Bruce Brown. Eventually, the new dealer (who had been a lawyer before becoming a VW dealer) wrote me a nasty note that I had made "salacious" comments about him to someone that asked me whether we had our car serviced at the dealership. I can't imagine the guy had been a very good lawyer as he was trying to suggest that I had slandered him, when in fact "salacious" means "lewd and lacivious", which my remarks were not.

Finally, we traded the '78 on a White 1981 928 with Tan leather interior and sun-roof (we bought the '81 in Kansas City, to avoid buying from the local dealer who was being such a pain). We took some pictures of the three cars together before they took the '78 away. But I think my ex got all the photos that we took that day (along with all of my vinyl LPs) when the marriage broke up a few years later. LOL

All in all the 928 was a wonderful car (not counting that the AC was not adequate in August in Kansas) and was fantastic for traveling for long distances, in comfort and at high speeds. It was a little more of a grand tourer than a sports car.

But the 928 had excellent balance, and with the 4.5 liter V-8 in the front and the rear transaxle (similar to the old Pegaso's) it had a 50/50 front/rear weight distribution. So it handled very well until you went in too deep and then it would understeer. It would handle a slalom pretty well, transitioning left to right and back with a minimum of body roll.

However, after having some experience driving the 928's, I did get some revenge on the VW dealer/lawyer. I went to a SCCA autocross event held on the vast unused taxiways at the old municipal air terminal between the Air Force Base and the Boeing plant. And on my last timed run I beat all of the A Stock entrys which included a guy in a 911 coupe and the dealer/lawyer in a 928 automatic. Not long thereafter, the dealer/lawyer died of a heart attack. Too bad for him.

redmist
6/10/2009
10:59 AM

Guy's these stories are great! Working at a porsche dealer I also have a few stories..... 07 black murciealago coupe, driving back from downtown chicago, the car was a trade, owner would not drive it down to me. The car was easy to drive, but everyone would basically stop in there tracks to get close to it! I was so nervous it wasn't fun at all.
We once built a car for Carlos Lee, when he played for the white sox. We did so many mod's to the car it pumped out something like 750 HP. At an interview on a local TV station he mentioned my and my partner at the dealerships name. The interviewer asked him about his new car, and he said "car, that things a spacecraft!"
Driving with Hurley Haywood in a Carrera GT at speed, that day I learned what an art , driving was.
And last, we took a trip to California motor speedway, for the 2005 911 launch, one of Porsche's factory drivers was running an autocross track event. Anyway ,I had turned some very good times for the day, and the guy's in my group asked me to race the factory driver. I knew I would lose, but here is what he did. I went first , posted a great time. Then.... he went out and put three people in the car with him! Smokes me by 3 seconds. Amazing!

cva11
6/10/2009
10:43 AM

7K, I loved Paris and France in general; my experience was different: I saw and heard almost no anti-American behavior other than an occasional, joking "sale 'ricain'" comment (dirty american), said amongst friends. It is unquestionable that the French are amongst the world's most egocentric people. France is the center of the world and anything not French must not be of an adequate quality.

7K66
6/10/2009
10:29 AM

digit - back in '68 while living in Germany there was a VW bug on a used car lot, can't remember the year it was built - maybe late 40's. Anyway, the asking price was $1,000 and when I inquired why it was so expensive the salesman pointed out that it was a four door model (suicide doors).

cva - I was in Chateauroux France (about 100k from Paris) from '60 to '63 - junior high and early high school days. Don't know how you liked it there but the first day we arrived an old French lady spit on me and said 'Yankee, go home'. Besides my father having to change to yellow head lamps, he had an Oldsmobile that had fender ornaments and the French authorities made him glue tennis balls on the front of them so as not to impale anyone.

crunch52
6/10/2009
10:14 AM

digi- I had a Vega when I was in college, not a GT, silver, with a manuel shift. I think it was the only Vega ever built that never gave it's owner any trouble. I did the round trip from Richmond, Va. to Flagstaff, Arizona each year, and drove the thing all over the Rocky Mountains and the southwestern desert, even down to Mazatlan a few times. It wasn't an exciting car, but it never let me down. Great car.

cva11
6/10/2009
8:43 AM

didge, more laughs from your last than I've had in a week. especially dug the jacked up swing axles. VW reminds me (hope I haven't already recounted this here, guys) of leaving NAS Alameda near the crack of dawn with the group with whom I used to race my TR-3, and running up US 40 toward the little road circuit in Vacaville where we used to practice and race. We're tooling along in line formation at around 80mph; I'm the rearguard, not expecting to be overtaken by anything. Then, drawing alongside and gently passing me at - let me guess - 85+ miles per hour - is a VW microbus! And he's towing a trailer!! And on the trailer is a Porsche 550 Spider!!! 20 minutes later in the paddock at the track I see this bird and ask him what the hell he's got there? Well he's dropped into the back of the Microbus an original Porsche Carrera 4-cam, Hirth built-up roller-bearing crankshaft engine, transmission and half-shafts! Unbelievable.

digitalis
6/10/2009
8:05 AM

Gotta chime in on "worst car ever" -
1973 Chevy Vega GT. Mustard color (more like Guldens than French's) with a big fat black "racing stripe" down the middle. Automatic transmission. Why in Senna's name did I own such an automobile? *chuckle* It was my father's car. Yeah, I think dear old Dad went through a bit of a mid-life crisis and needed a car with a racing stripe. Or something like that.

I went from that to a 1979 Ford Pinto (silver with red racing stripe!), and bought that because it was 1980 and the dealer almost paid me to take the sucker off the lot. Tried to teach my ex-wife to drive a stick in that car, but oddly enough she didn't figure it out until we got an '83 Scirocco ("I can't shift that car, so I'll take the VW, OK?"). That by itself explains the "ex" in "ex-wife."

Favorite car? My first. A '65 VW bug. Top speed with windows shut, 72 MPH. Top speed with windows open, 68 MPH. 6 volt electrics (bugs didn't get 12 volts until '67), so the headlights were more like flickering candles in the dark. I used to drive it up to Syracuse from Princeton, and running through PA and NY in the winter was always a trip. The defroster air volume depended on engine RPM, so when it got really cold and snowy, the only way to keep the windshield clear was to pop it in third and drive with the engine wound out. But with a set of snows in back, it would climb most any snowy hill, as long as I had the ground clearance. Learned the meaning of "oversteer" in that car, as well as the meaning of fear when I had to take an evasive manouver at 60 MPH and those lovely swing axles jacked up under me ... fortunately without incident. I'd love to have that car again, but I think my teenage memories are probably a lot fonder than reality.

 roadracingfan
6/10/2009
7:05 AM

It's great to read all these stories from and about car freaks. I'm glad I'm not the only one. My history includes a 356B Coupe, a Healey 3000, a tri-power Pontiac GTO, a '69 Camaro Z28. Lots of trips to Watkins Glen for the USGP, weekends at Bridgehampton and Lime Rock, trips to Indy for the USGP and visits to the Monterey Historics. Currently have a 944 Coupe and a 944S2 Cabrio.

F1freak
6/10/2009
6:06 AM

Jayhawk and Cva11 - flipping channels last night, landed on a program titled "On the Block" with Alain de Cadenet hosting an auction.....

356B Super Cab, original sale price of $4,000.00 - auction price of $68,000.00
And - while not quite a $12m Ferrari, an awesomely beautiful 1955 Maserati 300s with Le Mans history went for a mere $1.75m....

Jayhawk - you may want to get that 356 back from your son....

 cva11
6/10/2009
6:06 AM

jay, tell a little bit about your 928. I loved the specs on that car, very much akion to the 365GTC Ferrari that I bought used 30+ years ago. But I heard that they were a beast to maintain. I brought my Super 90 back to New York after the year in Paris but it was too expensive for me to pay to garage it and it hurt too much to park in New York City streets so I sold it. Great regrets.

Chicane, Tania and I were engaged, she came back to NYC to meet my folks who also fell in love with her, a wonderfully warm, caring young woman in addition to loveliness that literally caught you by the throat, took away your breath and set the carotids and temple a-pounding. The bad thing was she was not a balanced person emotionally and I was just too much in love to see it. She went back to Paris for six months to arrange her affairs prior to our wedding and the distance permitted me to see that it would not be a happy marriage. I ended our engagement and the correctness of that decision showed 20 years later when her Mom, with whom I had stayed in touch and exchanged Christmas and holiday cards, wrote to tell me that she had died of anorexia. Heartbreaking.

Dr. B, I'm certain that if GM had produced the Fiero GT in the second year of Fiero production the car might well have become the kind of icon that the Miata ultimately did, even tho' not a drop-head. It might still be a feature model today. Ah dreams!

Dr. Beaker
6/10/2009
4:49 AM

Popster - you are correct - it does get very hot & humid up here in NJ. My Citation was my last car with no A/C. I went to school in DC, so I know what it's like down there in the summer, as well.

jumpinugly
6/10/2009
2:47 AM

You guys are the best!

Speaking of the best, '71 Cuda 340 4-Speed. Best straight line car I ever owned. Wish I still had it, like an idiot I sold it right before I got married and the muscle car boom set in...worth a ton now!
I truly loved my Slant 6 Duster. 278,000 miles! Got me through college and beyond. No other reason to truly love it.
Just like my '93 Suburban when my 3 kids where small. Oddly enough at 199,978 miles the tranny let go. Got that fixed. at 200,018 miles the engine blew. NO Lie!!!
GM's planned obsolesence?

As for my worst... my TR7, especially after my girlfriend (at the time) drove it into a pond. No one was hurt, but the front end was submerged...Yet, I still have a soft spot for the car. Not sure why?

I have a '74 Barracuda with a "tweaked" 318 now, that is my current love. Like the 340 it's best if only going in a straight line.
The similarities end there. Miss the 340!

P.s. When I "mean straight" line it's because of the torsion bars. Mopars didn't turn like 'Stangs or Camaro's or AMX's for that matter! To this day I remain convinced that Colin Chapman was the only man who could get something out of torsion bars. Well, I'm not Emmo either. ;-)

Dr. Beaker

6/9/2009 5:44 PM

cva11 - I really liked my little Fiero - I think if GM had done the car right from the beginning, it would've been around for a lot longer.

Popster - I feel for you in Northern VA with no AC - I got the diesel Jetta (with a 5-speed) for the mileage - it gets 43 real-world MPG, which is OK until the price of diesel starts going through the roof!

jayhawk - lucky the spark plug landed where you could find it! My ITS car started life as a '72 240, but had lots of different parts on it by the time I got hold of it. The worst vehicle I ever owned was a Dodge van (don't remember the year) which I bought used from a guy in my SCCA region to use as a tow car. It had a rudimentary bed in the back, which saved on hotel bills. One day I was driving it (without the trailer attached, thank God!), and it started pulling hard right every time I hit the brakes. When I looked at it, I found that one of the control arms had rusted through, and the right front tire was flopping to the right & whomping against the wheel well whenever I hit the brakes. I was extremely greatful it happended while I was home & not at the Glen, Bryar, Lime Rock or Summit Point! With help from my crew chief & a part from a Dodge store, we fixed the suspension. It finally died on me a couple years after that while I was leaving the parking lot of Giants Stadium after a Giant game (causing much traffic congestion & dirty looks, gestures and cursing from the assembled multitude as they drove past). I had it towed home and donated it to one of those charities that takes dead cars, whatever their condition.

CHICANE
6/9/2009
5:40 PM

Popster 86'-89' Integra best transportation ever made.Sold my 88' a couple of years ago and did i miss it when the gas prices went out of control...that thing could stretch a tank of gas.Gave it to my younger sister to go back and forth from college for 4 years...took it back when she came home,should never have sold it.

cva11
Don't leave us hanging...what happened to Tania?LOL!!!

jayhawk17 
6/9/2009
5:20 PM

Popster, nothing wrong with your rides, but it sounds like you might have some deferred maintenance issues (like I did on the '88 Range Rover I had for a long time). I am usually driving an '01 Miata to work now, but I need to get the power antenna and the remote door locks working again if I want to take full advantage of it's features. And we have an Audi A-6 which is getting up there in miles, but still a great machine. LOL

Dr. Beaker, I guess my worst car would maybe have to have been the '61 Ford coupe with the six-banger and "three on the tree" that I had one year in college. For a while I used to have to either park on the side of a hill or offer a bunch of college girls a ride home. The starter was out, and I would make the girls push start me before I could take them back to the dorm or sorority house. Most of them never asked for a ride a second time. LOL  When I drove it home from college (on various different trips) I had to reattach the muffler with barbed wire scavenged from a fence beside the road; screw a spark plug back in that popped out the side of the six banger and landed on top of the wheel well: and finish the drive home with gasoline squirting out the side of the fuel pump (lucky I didn't get killed, but didn't find out what it was doing until after I got home)! LOL

Or maybe it was the four door '62 Corvair Monza with a screwy little automatic transmission. I probably spent more money on repairs on that little thing (compared to it's value) than anything I ever owned. Of course, it repaid my kindness by trying to kill me a couple of times in the rain. That was the car that I traded in on the Healey. LOL

Some other pretty nice cars that I have had love/hate relationships with include a couple of 1940 Fords (one driven by my mom when I was a kid, and another owned by a friend that I learned to drive a stick shift on),  '49 Chevy 5-window pickup six banger, '54 and '56 Oldsmobile 88's (I rolled the '54 end over end with a half twist, the car was totalled, but I barely had a scratch- used up one of my nine lives that day), '63 Chevy El Camino ( red with 283 V-8, bucket seats, and four on the floor), '72 Datsun 240Z, several 70's vintage Volvo 245 wagons (damn near indestructable, and could carry almost as much as a pickup truck), various Porshe 914's, '75 Porsche 911S Targa, 1975/6 Alfetta GT, '77 Porsche 924, '77 Mercedes 450 SEL, and '79 Porsche 928 (five speed). Oh, and also had a 70's Moto Guzzi 850-T3 that was about as fast as I could handle (wish i bought the 850 LeMans version instead, think I would have hung onto that).

I am afraid I have loved cars since I was a wee lad, and like many of you I have never gotten over it. LOL 

 cva11
6/9/2009
5:01 PM

jayhawk, my 356B was a white/black Super 90, wonderful little car that I bought from Max Hoffman, US importer at the time and picked up at Stuttgart. Paid $3,300US!

Dr B., I always LOVED the Fiero once Pontiac built the GT, your car with the 6, better box and tauter suspension. There's a Maryann in my history too!

Popster 
6/9/2009
4:16 PM

Doc - your cars are much cooler than mine, my daily driver is a 1989 Acura Integra 4cyl/5-speed with broken AC in hot, humid and muggy northern Virginia (93 degrees today) and my other ride is a 1965 Ford F250 with a dead battery and a collapsed valve lifter.

Dr. Beaker
6/9/2009
4:08 PM

jayhawk - Many thanks again for presiding over the prediction league - I know I couldn't keep all that straight. Apart from my 2 race cars, I am lacking in the cool car department - my best ones - '99 Mustang SVT Cobra, '86 Fiero GT (the one with the V-6 and the butresses that sort of looked like a midget Ferrari if you squinted really hard) & a '92 Datsun 300ZX roadster. Worst one - 1980 Chevy Citation w/ 4-cylinder & manual gearbox - my first new car (dad worked for GMAC & I bought it on the employee plan). Current ride - a very boring '05 VW TDI Jetta.

Popster - I join my voice to the "very cool story" chorus.

cva11 - Amazing stories, as well. I was always a "Maryann" guy, myself. :)

In the category of the ones that got away here are a few more: my step mother had a cool late 60's Oldmobile 442 convertible. It was baby blue, and I borrowed it for a trip to Colorado one summer. My grandpa had a really neat '30's Diamond T pickup (red and black) that my brother-in-law ended up with. But then he sold it before I had a chance to put in my two cents worth. and it was gone forever. That was the grandfather that once drove Packards when he was a tobacco salesman in Oklahoma in the early fifties. The other grandfather favored Buicks and Pontiacs. My dad drove Fords, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, and once leased one of those Mercury Turnpike Cruisers with the strange reverse angled rear windows. I have seen pictures of his first car, a Ford jalopy that he called "Little Henry". Dad always kinda liked cars, when he was a kid he asked for the following for Christmas: an Austin Bantam convertible and a Baby Ruth candy bar. Needless to say, he didn't get the Austin. Then there was the 3500 Maserati coupe that a friend was trying to sell when I was is college (but it was just a little more than I could scrape together back then). Or then there was the Porsche 910 Bergspyder (hillclimb car) that was for sale back in the late seventies, and we almost made a deal on it (it was about the same price as buying a 911 or a 928 then).  Or the old Mercedes Benz Gullwing that always used to be parked in the parking garage at work back in the early seventies.

Two of my favorite cars I have ever seen were in Alf Francis' service garage at his Ferrari/Aston Martin dealership in Wichita. Alf was Stirling Moss's racing mechanic and had a worldwide reputation so someone sent him the Lola GT to work on that was used as the testbed for the Serenissma GT that Alf had helped develop for Count Volpe in Italy. I have several models of the Lola GT in the bookcase in my den, along with a Cooper/Serenissma F-1 model, a Dinky HWM formula one toy(like the HWM Alf worked on for Stirling Moss early in his career), and my autographed copy of the original edition of "Alf Francis, Racing Mechanic". I understand that the book was reprinted in 1992, I need to find a copy of that edition. 

The other very interesting car that made its way to Alf's shop in Wichita was a Pegaso racing roadster that he restored for the owner. A photograph of this car in Alf's shop appears in the Spanish language book  Ricart *Pegaso: La Pasion del Automovil. This is about the only Pegaso I have seen in the US, the other being Jack Vopal's Touring bodied "panoramica" coupe, which he has shown several times at the LA Concours next to the Rose Bowl.  I enjoyed talking to Jack and when I learned he had never seen the plastic Pegaso toy that was made by Ideal back in the 50's I sent him a spare one from my toy collection. I thought it was a good trade off, I got to see his car and talk to him about it, and he got the toy Pegaso to go along with his real one. LOL

Well we all have stories about the ones that got away. And lots of storys about the Tania's, Tina Louise's, MaryAnn's, Annie's, the Betty's, and the Caroline's that got away, too. LOL