Back in the halcyon days of the invasion of British sports cars in the
early 1960's, there was a Whirling Dervish of a small bore driver in
Memphis and across the Mid-South. Carol Clemens passed away yesterday in
Boynton Beach, Florida, and with her death, Lou Gehrig's Disease finally
stilled one of the most dynamic members ever seen in those parts. With
her husband Al, Carol was a driving force in every aspect of the region.
One of the first women to hold a SCCA competition race license, she and
her green H-Production Sprite were a familiar sight everywhere wherever
those curious little cars were to be found. (Those were the days when
even poor folk could race, and "race preparation" meant removing the
windshield and taping over the headlights.) Carol was a hard-charger in
auto-crosses, and a fierce competitor in rallying and gymkhanas (no such
thing as a concours because the cars were new!). Al ranked as one of
the all-time wizards with the Sprite, capable of getting every last bhp,
rpm, and mpg, and known for tearing down a rebuilding a Sprite engine
without even a glance at any silly manual. When parts were scarce in
the 1970's, Al could rebuild the engine, knowing where gaskets could be
made with thick Yellow Pages' covers, and where the thinner White Pages
cover would suffice. No wonder that until recently, Carol could still
be seen flying around the highways and byways of Florida in that same
Sprite that had long before lost it memory of its mileage.
If anyone knows any of the hundreds of SCCA Mid-South Region during
Carol active competition, would you pass on the information.
Buster Evans
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