This quote "beware <your-favorite-marque> clubs where people don't work on
their cars" from timke reminded me of my first sports car club experience,
with Virginia Motor Sport Club (VMSC) in Richmond. This was about 1971. I
hunted around to find this thing called an autocross they were running. At
a 1/4 mile dirt oval back in the woods somewhere! First thing I saw when I
finally found it was a Porsche 911 with one rear wheel tucked under like it
had been blind-sided by a linebacker. The guy had spun out on the dirt and
smacked the wheel against the low dirt wall. Fifteen yards, clipping. Also
some heavy repair bills. Next event I went to was a rally, held despite a
surprise snowstorm. All checkpoints but one were thrown out (and I won the
novice trophy), but the memorable item was another 911 stuffed up under an
Alfa Romeo which had slid into a ditch. (I only ran off the road twice but
I didn't hit anything!) My reaction to all this was that these guys musta'
had money to handle this sort of repair, but me and my teacher's salary and
used-but-new-to-me Fiat 124 weren't ready for it. Fortunately those first
impressions weren't accurate for the club in general. In following years,
I never saw that sort of thing again, and I enjoyed my participation with
them. Is there a moral here? Geez, I don't know. I don't even know why
I brought it up, except that timke's posting reminded me of it. Don't be
too hasty to judge a club, but those guys did turn out to be good folk who
knew a lot more than just how to spend money.
Have a safe new year's beginning, and the rest of it too.
Jim Muller
jmuller@stardent.com
work 508-287-0100 ext. 201
home 617 891-0258
Spitfire 1500 (and Triumphs in general)
(I never get SOL mail until a day after everyone else, I think. I never
even get mine until two days after I send it. It's a good thing Dale is
Keeping the Flame now.)
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