E N D L E S S R O A D
Road Chatter XXXV
Shop: 301-497-0369
FAX: 301-497-3690
endlssroad@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
IN THIS ISSUE
* Car-Guy Trivia Questions
* Formula 1
* Bits and Pieces
* Car-Guy Trivia Answers
* 10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions
======================= ** ======================
Car-Guy Trivia (answers are later in this email)
Let me start by making a correction. In the last Chatter, I said: "The
Indy
500 winner must run 250 laps of two miles each." I reversed the two
numbers.
It should have been: "The Indy 500 winner must run 200 laps of 2 1/5 miles
each." Once a Marine told me, "It is all right to make a mistake; it is
not
all right to make excuses." So, I won't. But I do appreciate John F, James
P, and Hoodoo for bringing the mistake to my attention.
1) In the movie Stroker Ace, what's the name of his sponsor, who is his
rival, and what late NASCAR driver appears in this movie?
2) Le Mans was just run again, the world's most famous 24-hour race. Why
did
they choose this weekend? Not because Sunday was Father's Day, and not
because Saturday was Paul McCartney's birthday.
3) In 1955, Ford had a great show car, the Lincoln Futura. A long, low,
slinky convertible. It reappeared later as . what?
4) We all know the Mustang Mach I (Roman numeral one), but what is Mach I?
5) In 1984, Renault F1 driver Patrick Tambay suffered leg injuries in the
Monaco GP. At the following Detroit GP, what driver did Renault ask to
stand
by to take Tambay's place in case he was unable to race? (In the end,
Tambay
was fit enough to take part in the GP, and the standby did not drive).
--- Retreads ---
These last three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember
them
from before, consider this a memory test.
6) Dr. Dick Thompson, the famous Corvette Driver, was once banned from
racing for three months by the SCCA. Why?
7) There is an old saying:
"How do you make a small fortune in Race Cars?"
What is the rest of the saying, and who was the first to say it?
8) In 1950, a few enterprising sports car enthusiasts turned an old
military
air force base in the middle of Florida into a racetrack. It was over four
miles long and brutal on the cars. But, somehow, the race always coincided
with Spring Break, and it has been going strong ever since. Do you know
what
car won the first '12 Hours of Sebring'? Careful, it's a trick question.
======================= **======================
Formula 1
F1 at Indy
The U.S. is not F1's strongest audience. It would seem that FIA would want
to look good in the one F1 race held here to compete against NASCAR. Who
looked good at this year's Indy race?
Max Mosley and the FIA did not.
Michelin did not.
To most people, the Michelin teams did not.
Because of a few, the fans did not.
The winner, Michael Win-At-Any-Cost Schumacher did not.
Rubins Barrichello did for discreetly not saying how he felt on TV.
Third place Tiago Monteiro did for letting out the enthusiasm screaming
inside him.
If it had been NASCAR, somehow they would have raced.
2005 Formula 1 World Championship
July 3 France
July 10 Britain (Silverstone)
July 24 Germany (Hockenheim)
July 31 Hungary (Hungaroring)
August 21 Turkey (Istanbul)
Sept. 4 Italy (Monza)
Sept. 11 Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
Sept. 25 Brazil (Interlagos)
October 9 Japan (Suzuka)
October 16 China (Shanghai International Circuit)
======================= ** =======================
* Bits and Pieces
Politics and F1 make strange bedfellows
October 15th 2001
"He told me just recently one of his ex-teammates is no longer in Formula
One because he was too nice a guy. If you apply that logic, I reckon
Irvine
is here for life."
Jordan owner, Eddie Jordan, on Eddie Irvine's F1 future, AutoWeek
Currently
Although Eddie Jordan has sold his team, he remains with the team as an
employee in a "commercial and sponsorship capacity."
Friday, 20 May, 2005
Eddie Irvine, a multi millionaire, was spearheading a group looking to buy
the Jordan team. Although denied, rumors still persist that this is a
possibility.
"Whatever anyone says about him, he is a dynamic guy, and has done
enormously well with his business outside of Formula One," said Jordan of
his potential boss.
I wonder if Eddie Irvine remembers Eddie Jordan's opinion of 2001.
***
Joe's Toys
Two friends and customers of ours got together and put some great
machinery
out there for us to enjoy in the June 6 AutoWeek issue. Jan Tegler wrote
two
great pages on fantastic machines owned by Joe Willenpart. One page
described Joe's Lotus transporter, the first transporter built
specifically
for carrying F1 cars, their parts and crew. What a great piece of history.
Jan also did a page on Joe's 1968 Lotus 49C F1 car. This beast was
originally driven by Graham Hill. After a wreck, Hill was given a fresh
Lotus, and this one was repaired and passed on to Jochen Rindt, making it
a
car driven by two world champions. Joe is a great fan of Jochen Rindt and
a
great F1 enthusiast; he drives this and several other of his F1 and F2
cars
in vintage races.
***
Ralph's Toys
Ralph Lauren has taste. Yeah, yeah, he does some clothes and stuff, but
he's
got some great cars, great enough for about sixteen of them to be on
display
in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (http://www.mfa.org).
There's a Ferrari
Testa Rosa as a teaser before you even get into the display itself. You
see
a light sensuous Bugatti face to face with a hulking Blower Bentley. You
will recognize CMC's Mercedes 'Count Trossi', the 'Black Prince'. There
are
at least three other Ferraris, two Porsches (550 and a 959, nice
comparison), the only McLaren F1 (the street version) I have ever seen, a
few Jags, and a Morgan, to name only a few. We spent an hour and a half
there and I could have stayed twice that long. But if you're considering
going, it's a long haul, and the show will only be there through July 3rd.
***
Shelley's Toy Shop
You will remember our friend/customer Shelley, the guy with a Nash
Metropolitan in his rec room. I told you that he got bored being retired
and
was going to open a car modification shop. It's up and running now;
they've
done a '34 Roadster, they're working on a '55 Nomad, and their next
project
car is a '69 Camaro. Plus, they do lots of wheel and tire packages, lift
kits, body kits, etc. They are at Rt. 140 (Baltimore Blvd) and Bethel Rd.
Check their website: http://www.410motoring.com.
***
Last Run
Our friend Warren sent us this news clipping:
It's just been reported by the NTSB that a number of American automobile
manufacturers have been placing 'black boxes' in 4x4 pickups in order to
determine the number of fatal accidents and their causes by recording the
last 15 seconds of the driver's conversation. In 47 of 50 states, the last
words uttered by 4x4 drivers, in nearly 83% of fatal accidents, was "Oh
Sh**!" However, in three rural states, in nearly 90% of the cases, the
last
words uttered were "Hold my beer and watch this!"
======================= ** =======================
Car-Guy Trivia Answers
1) In Stroker Ace, the sponsor was Clyde Tuttle's Chicken Pit Special;
Stroker's rival was Aubrey James played by Parker Stevenson, and the late
Dale Earnhardt appears in the movie.
2) Le Mans was run last weekend, as it is run every year, on the weekend
closest to the Summer Solstice, the day with the most hours of sunlight
for
the 24 hours of racing.
3) TV had a new show coming and they had to have a spiffy car. George
Barris
had the old Lincoln Futura lying around. And within three weeks, an oval
grille opening here, large swoopy wings there, hooded headlights, dual
cockpit windshields, orange trim on glossy black paint, and voila! The
Batmobile we all know and love!
4) Mach I is the speed of sound at sea level.
5) Patrick Tambay's best year in Formula 1 was a fourth in points in '83.
This race, he had as his stand-in: Daytona 500 Winner, Sebring Winner,
Indy
Car Champion, Formula 1 Champion, Mario Andretti.
--- Retreads ---
6) There is an interesting story of why Dr. Dick Thompson was temporarily
banned from racing. After the AMA (Automobile Manufacturers' Association)
banned racing participation in 1957, Bill Mitchell bought the SS Corvette
from GM for $1.00. He could race it, but only as a private citizen, and
with
no obvious association with GM or Corvette. GM styling came up with the
idea
that if they made the body like an inverted airfoil, it would be sucked to
the ground. This new car was named Sting Ray. Good idea but terrible
execution. At speed, the car wanted to fly; the front end became so light
that it was almost uncontrollable. The SCCA had no way of knowing that the
car was at fault and assumed it was Thompson's driving, hence the
suspension. Dr. Dick Thompson was a local guy that made good. He gained
national recognition racing the competition Corvette, but he was a dentist
in the DC area and raced often at Marlboro, Md.
(From 'Corvette From The Inside' by Dave McLellan, Corvette chief
engineer.
Thanks to our friend Jeff M.)
7) "How do you make a small fortune in Race Cars?"
"Start out with a large one."
Briggs Cunningham, the creator of Briggs Franks and Cunningham Sports Cars
as quoted by D. Randy Riggs, editor of Vintage Motorsports on The History
Channel.
8) The first '12 Hours of Sebring' was run with an Index of Performance.
Cars were evaluated by miles finished compared to their power. Someone
figured out that the under powered, slower cars had an advantage over the
larger and faster cars. With this in mind, they entered a 26.5 HP Crosley
Hot Shot and won. They ran flat out for the entire race in third, the
highest gear. Briggs Cunningham almost did the same thing at Le Mans in
'51,
but the car retired with electrical problems.
(From 'The Great Book of Sports Cars' 1988 by Dean Batchelor, Chris Poole
and Graham Robson.)
***
We try to choose these trivia questions from several groups and still be
interesting. This month, we have movie stars, a NASCAR star, weather
facts,
the speed of sound, a couple F1 drivers, a local dentist, a hot dog mavin,
an underpowered winner, and a guy with a cape. Not too bad.
======================= **======================
10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions
Send us an interesting fact of just about anything on wheels: cars,
trucks,
F1, Drags, Muscle Cars, weird obsolete car thingies, whatever, and if we
use
it, then you get 10% off all purchases on everything on your next order.
***
Thanks,
Dave
|
