In a message dated 1/2/2004 10:10:31 AM Eastern Standard Time,
vinttr4@geneseo.net writes:
> I challenge you all to ONE LINER car memories....
OK, I know these are a bit longer than one line each, but how about:
Discovering that one of stunt driver/coordinatorRemy Julienne's techniques,
seen in an old Fiat commercial -- that of hands next to each other on the wheel
and swinging the wheel with both arms through nearly 360 degrees -- actually
worked! The discovery came during an autocross run in a '67 Corvette Sting
Ray, 427 engine, all stock except for more modern tires!
Having the weirdest premonitions all weekend (during a Regional) at Limerock
Park's false grid that a car would run up on the "berm" that separates the
track from false grid...and then having that premonition come true? I did get
out
of the way in time (having rehearsed it in my mind several times, and it's
the only time in my life I can ever honestly remember having such premonitions)!
Watching the end of the 1980(?) USGP at Watkins Glen after having worked grid
there as well, seeing the crowd begin to stream across the track after only
about the first six cars crossed the finish line(!), almost being run over by
an on-foot, fleeing Alan Jones sprinting from his Williams, and then (with
several other grid workers) doing our best to rescue the Williams F1 car and
push
it off the pit row entrance and back towards the Kendall building. (If you've
ever had the opportunity, you probably know how difficult it is to push a
larger open-wheel racer...there's no easy place to put a hand on and then get
leverage to push. I was at about a 45 degree angle; very awkward.)
Best of all, and most appropriate to this list as well (bear with me, those
of you who have heard this before):
As if meeting Ken Richardson, Kit Heathcote, Peter Bolton and Satch Carslon
during the 1989 VTR Convention weren't enough for me, I was approached at the
autocross by a certain someone (Hi, Mordy!) who said his father-in-law was
intrigued by my Spitfire 4 autocross car. To make a long story short, within a
few
minutes, we'd managed to get one Mike Rothschild fitted into the car for a
run! Despite Mike's shoes catching on the pedals early on and causing an
inadvertent mid-course dead stop, he quickly regrouped and finished an
extremely
creditable run! (Probably would've beaten my time if those darned dress shoes
of
his hadn't been so wide, and he did "place" in the Prepared class.)
Mike, being the consummate gentleman that he was, was almost apologetic about
his run. (I wouldn't have cared if he'd managed to duplicate his unfortunate
wreck in the 1964 Le Mans 24-hour race!) I still have his business card
somewhere. He gave it to me with a standing offer of "help" at any time. Wow.
--Andy
Andrew Mace, Vice President, Member Services
and 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Vehicle Consultant
The Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org>
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