Well Doug, I went back over my e-mail several times to see what I had
said that warranted the put-down from you. I expected to get the kind
of answers that I did from Mike in LA and Dick J., but not a put-down.
Sorry if I offended you, I won't let it happen again as I learned a long
time ago that if I'm going to be offensive to someone and be frustrated
in the process, that it's best that I don't become involved with
them...so I'll be gone.
But let me share with you a couple of things before I go.
Fifty years ago when I got my first car in 1951, it was a 48 chev, 6
cyl. I have had a love affair with sixes ever since. I lived in a town
that had 10 flat motor powered hot rods for every six cyl. Even the
local
car club was dominated by flat head powered cars. The name of the club
was the "Head Hunters"! The club plaque was in the shape of a finned
Ford flathead. Needless to say, I took a lot of ribbing being the only
6 cyl. guy in town, far from the fastest but definitely the loudest!
(With split manifold and straight pipes) Well, to this day that good
natured rivalry still exists. The guys I run with still tease me about
having only 3/4 of a v-8 and I tease them right back about it taking
them 8 pistons to do the job of 6 and all the other clichés that go
along with racing. Since 1964, I've followed the flat motors and sixes
at B-ville. Having friends that were running on the salt since sixty, I
finally started building my car in 1967. It's been a long journey,
every single piece of this car I built with my own two hands-except for
the front wheels,tires, engine block & head and 3rd member and some
other parts-like the fire bottles, etc. This doesn't make the car any
better than yours, or anyone else's. It's what I chose to do. I even
ran it on the drag strip for several years before getting it done enough
to run on the salt. Finally made it to B-ville in 9/98. First pass at
116 mph. Four passes later, we managed to go 125. I was in heaven!! The
times didn't really matter. After 32 years of working on the car, I
finally got there. That same year, I got to go to El Mirage in
November. Three runs later, we got it up to 138 mph. Finally felt like
I was learning how to make the injection work. Got to go to Muroc last
year and got it to 150 for 4 passes. Went to B-ville last year and the
best was 138. Then I managed to make it run slower every pass!!..that's
life. But if you re-read my e-mail, you will find that this is what I
said... "It does not matter how fast I go, it's about having fun with
people that enjoy the same thing that I enjoy."
Last year, my son, Cedric, drove the car and this year my daughter wants
to drive and try to get Ced's record. The neat thing to me is that my
kids are getting to enjoy this too.
Maybe you just didn't understand what I was saying. I don't know..but it
won't happen again cause I'm gone.
I wish you the best of luck in your racing, Doug, and to all those going
to Muroc - drive safely but have fun and go fast.
RM
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