After hearing that lil' V-8 of yours sing it's
song, just the music alone would be enough
motivation to do it! For years and years I
wanted to build a 3/4 size race car using one of
those little Daimler 2 liter hemis that were
built in England until about twenty years ago. I
gave up the idea until I pitted next to you and
heard your car. Now I'm re-infected. It's
contagious, and you're a carrier! ha ha With the
help of the internet, I may be able to find one
of those tiny hemis, and I'm going to do it.
Imagine a Bantam roadster with a palm-sized hemi
weighing in at ohhh, maybe 1400 lbs!
--- Jane McMeekin <jmcmeekin@worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
> The "size of your engine" controversy has
> prompted some interesting
> dialog for us "lurkers" to comtemplate. Funny
> how we see things so
> differently but manage to coexist so peacefully
> in the world of Land
> Speed Racing. One question that has occured to
> me is: Why do we do this?
> What motivates us to build and drive land speed
> cars?
>
> The "need for speed" explains why some of us do
> it, but many of us don't
> even drive. Fame is a powerful incentive, but
> we are known only to a
> handful of friends and enthusiasts. It could be
> a great way to make a
> buck if there were any money to be made. We
> spend thousands of dollars,
> drive hundreds of miles, put in countless hours
> of work, and stay in
> some pretty shakey places to race fewer than 30
> min. a season. Are we
> nuts or what?
>
> Well, for me the urge (disease) stems from a
> silly notion. The idea that
> I might be able to do something better than
> almost anyone else, and do
> it on my terms, is way more than I can resist.
> Its like alchemy - you
> know turning a base metal into gold. If I'm
> clever enough, I can do it.
> I'm going for the moon, I say. Then reality
> sets in and I realize that I
> must play the game within certain parameters.
> Money, time, space,
> technical expertise, all that stuff. So I set
> the stage for my effort by
> establishing some reasonable boundaries. My
> limits are not for everyone,
> there're for me. So if I choose to build an
> elephant or a flea, I do so
> because it makes sense to me. Then I give it
> the gas and hope for the
> best.
>
> And if that isn't enough, just think about how
> much all of us will miss
> those 300 mph blasts down the course that we
> have experienced while
> bench racing with the guys in the pits.
> Don McMeekin, E.C.T.A. Racer
>
=====
Dick J - - ECTA #72
G/FCC - - XF/GR
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