Cameron Greig wrote:
> By the way what is a Pantera (Hi Shane)?
Pantera, Italian for Panther. Ill-gotten child of Alejandro DeTomaso
and Henry Ford II, designed as a "poor-mans" Ford GT40 1971-1974, but
never able to live up to the lofty ideals set by the GT40. Probably
because they use Lucas electrics..... :) For more information, please
see my web site at www.horizon.com/pantera
I figure this is a good lead in for my write-up on the Historic Races
held this last weekend on Coronado Naval Air Station. Superbly
organized by Chrysler and the Navy (and many more folk), we had 2 days of
racing for 150 historic race cars, from the 1940s through late-60s
TransAms.
If any of you have not had the chance to watch historic racing, please do
so. This is automotive racing at its best.
Pam and I drove the Kitty to the event on Sunday (the TR6 battery died -
end of obligatory Triumph content :). As a member of a auto-club, we were
treated to VIP tickets and had our own parking area. It was a straight
shot in and out, no queues! Upon arrival, I was greeted by some fellow
Triumphisti who said "Oh, why did'nt you bring the quality car?" In the
Club Corral were at least 6 Triumphs, 6 Jags, 4 Aston Martins, 2 Lotus',
7 Cobra repros and Shelby Mustangs, a Sunbeam Alpine, 4 Panteras
and a gaggle of Corvettes. There were also at least 50 Miatas! As I ran
into several members from the Triumph Club, we all noted that there was
but one lone MG in the Corral. Yes! Triumph snobbery rules, OK!
After milling around the Corral and kicking tires, it was but a short walk
to the track. The 1.2 mile circuit had been laid out on airstrip and access
roads. It was amusing to listen to the old cars as they would sometimes
hit the larger lumps in the road and starve/flood the float bowls
as they took "a bit of air". No EFI here!
Chrysler had the whole thing mapped out, as we were all forced
to walk through a large pavilion of their cars before we could get to
the stands and the pit area. No matter, I could smell castor oil in the
air and was following my nose.
The beauty of historic racing is the ability to wander through the pits
area and get up close to these cars. You can talk to the owners
and drivers who are most appreciative of people showing an interest
in their cars. Thirty years ago the closest you could get to a TransAm
car was on TV. Now you can stick your head inside the roll cage and
and see the same view as the driver. Awesome. I had some fascinating
discussions with the drivers of a Lister, Maserati Tipo (Birdcage), DB3,
FIA Cobra and a Devin SS. I hope that this does not change.
We missed the first few races because we spent so much time in the pit area
but were able to watch from a distance of 2-feet as the Ferraris were
cranked and brought to life. The sound of a Ferrari 6 is one that
sounded most like our 6-cylinder TR. The Jag 6-cylinder sounds very busy
by comparison. Unfortunately, there were no Triumphs racing.
You have to hand it to these fellows. Some of these cars are worth
significant $$$, and in one race watching a great dice for 1-2 between
a Ferrari GTO and Ferrari 250 SWB, pedal to the metal and all, is
cheap entertainment for us. Not for them if they break something.
How much for this entertainment? $12. Cheaper and more deafening than
a movie-theater! Sight, sound and smells! We had grins a mile-wide
when we left. Exiting Coronado was as easy as entry. This was one
very well planned event. There are discussions of doing this again
next year, but increasing the length of the course to 2.5 miles and
doubling the number of entries to 300 cars for 3 days of racing.
The only downside of the day was when we were leaving the Club Corral.
Being a Chrysler event, the Viper Club had there own parking area.
They all seemed to leave at once on an access road, and I attempted
to merge into the line. They were traveling nose-to-tail at about 15 mph.
Do you think any of them would allow me to merge? Noooo. At least
20 cars passed before someone was courteous enough to allow me to merge.
All I can say is that if those 20 cars were representative of the members
of the Viper Club, I have no wish to spend any time with a group that
after such a great day of bonding with automotive history, were
unable to demonstrate kinship, simple courtesy or respect.
Had it been me, I would have wanted to observe the back-end of a Viper.
After all, that does not happen too often as they are usually left
watching the back of a Pantera!
Shane Ingate in San Diego
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