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E N D L E S S R O A D
Road Chatter XLII
Shop: 301-497-0369
FAX: 301-497-3690
endlssroad@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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IN THIS ISSUE
* Grammar Problems
* Car Trivia Questions
* Give Away
* Formula 1
* Bits and Pieces
* Car Trivia Answers
* 10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions
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Grammar Problems
Because of how various browsers treat special characters such as
apostrophes, quote marks, and multiple dots, we will use as few special
characters as possible. We apologize for the grammatical errors this will
cause.
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Car Trivia (answers are later in this email)
1) When Chrysler built the Plymouth Road Runner, they had to find a way to
produce the sound of Warner Brothers cartoon figure Road Runner's famous
Beep Beep. Where did they find a donor for that iconic sound?
2) The Ford Flathead was the hot engine to have when Hot Rods were in
their
infancy. For those of you that were not around during those dinosaur days,
a
flat head engine had its valves in the block beside the pistons. This was
obviously not the greatest layout for producing power. One of the best
modifications to the Ford Flathead was to install Ardun heads. You model
collectors may have seen them on the So-Cal Coupe by GMP. Very few of the
famous Ardun heads were ever produced; they were highly desirable then and
are quite a rarity now. The designer was actually trying to produce more
torque and power for Ford trucks. What made the heads so powerful? And
whatever happened to the designer?
3) What kind of car did Laurel & Hardy drive?
What kind of car did the Keystone Kops drive?
4) The Michelin Man is the star of their commercials; driving fast,
getting
emotional as each tire leaves the plant and so on. Clearly work for a
young
man, but he is actually older than he looks. Just how old is the Michelin
man? 88, 100, 104,106, or 108?
What is his name? Any idea of where the name comes from?
5) Tyrell is one of the F1 Greats, the team that rose to glory with Jackie
Stewart. Ken Tyrell was not afraid to be innovative; his greatest leap
away
from the norm was his Tyrell P34. What was the major difference with this
car from any other F1 machine ever?
--- Retreads ---
These next three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember
them
from before, consider this a memory test.
6) When a major manufacturer is planning and designing a new car, it will
be
given a code name to be used by those involved. What was the code name for
the Corvette when it was first being designed in 1952?
7) What do Iron Butt Association members ride while competing in the
BunBurner 1500?
8) What miles-per-gallon goal were the Chevette, Escort and Lynx the first
U.S. cars to attain?
And the last two are from four years ago.
9) Our first question from our first edition; we started with an easy one:
John Z. DeLorean is known for his famous stainless steel bodied DeLorean.
What other high-performance car did DeLorean bring into production before
he
went on his own?
10) We can all figure out that a Ferrari 512 BB has 5 liters and 12
cylinders, and the 308 GTB has 3 liters and 8 cylinders. But what was
Ferrari's numbering system for the earlier models like the 275 GTB/4 and
the
250 Testa Rosa? (For anyone who doesn't know, Testa Rosa is Red Head in
Italian, for the red valve covers on the Testa Rosa engine.)
==================== ** ====================
* Amelia Island: How The Other Half Lives
We were driving to Florida anyway. Amelia Island is just a couple miles
right off of Rt 95; we were driving right by it. That is just like a
freebie. Yeah, right, only an extra night in a motel, a couple extra
restaurant meals. Plus, about fifty extra miles to and from
right-off-Rt-95.
Plus entry fees. And it was well worth every bit of it and then some.
The Ritz Carlton is the most beautiful place to hold a concours. On
Friday,
the extra parking was on part of their golf course. Our car has never
driven
on such beautiful grass. Just park over there by the silver Ferrari and
the
yellow 300SL convertible. The shuttle busses to and from the hotel were
two
stretch golf carts and a gold Escalade. Lined up at the entrance to the
hotel were the most expensive street machines you could find. Mercedes had
AMGs and three SLR McLarens. The silver paint on the SLR was so deep it
looked wet. They were giving rides in two Maybacks and three Bugatti
Veyrons. Over by the two Gallardo roadsters, a very nice guy tried to
interest us in a new Cobra Daytona Coupe.
It was a great mix of cars. There were several woodys from a 1919
Overland,
through an early Packard and a 50s Buick to a 51 Ford. A Model A, with
brass
gleaming, had a six-step instruction list for starting it taped to the
dash.
A 1949 Caddy convertible sat next to a black Chrysler 300C. A 50s Hudson
with racing disks and bullet headlight covers seemed right at home with
the
Lagonda, Bentleys, Duesenbergs, and Delahayes. There was an Aston Martins
sharing a grassy spot with a Ghia, Mr. Bond, Mr. Sinatra, your cars are
ready. The pony cars were represented by a couple of Shelbys: one white
and
blue competition and a black and gold 350H. And there was the most
beautiful
1968 Z28 tucked over by the hedge. Jags from XK120s to glass-eyed E types.
Of course, there were Ferraris. How about a 250 GT, a 308 GTB, and an F40?
One 289 Cobra seemed almost plain till you saw that it ran at Le Mans. As
soon as the Stutz Bearcat cleared its throat with a loud rumble, it
attracted guys like a magnet. Cast your eyes beyond all the great
metal-work, and there were palm trees and the ocean. This sure beats Dairy
Queen on Saturday nights.
For those that followed Can Am, it was THE place to be. There were over 20
original Can Am racers. On Saturday, there was a discussion panel with 13
drivers and builders, from jog-your-memory names to Gods of Can-Am. Peter
Bryant, George Drolsom, Vic Elford, George Follmer, Hurley Haywood,
Charlie
Kemp, Oscar Kovaleski, Jackie Oliver, Sam Posey, Brian Redford, and the
great Jim Hall. Even the audience was name-worthy: Denise McCluggage, Rick
Ceppos, Brock Yates to name-drop a few. The large hall contained one each
of
the four most famous Can-Am cars: Chaparral, McLaren, Porsche, and Shadow.
Two hours of Car Guys talking on a personal level about the greatest road
racing in America. Jim Hall said that his partner, Hap Sharp, had an idea
a
minute. Only nine out of ten were no good, but who else do you know that
has
a good idea every ten minutes? Jackie Oliver explained how his name
changed
from Jack to Jackie. Hurley Haywood got in a plug for Grand Am. Oscar
Kovaleski had lots to say, most of it interesting. Charlie Kemp told how
on
his first day driving for Oscar, while Charlie was in the car waiting to
go
out, Oscar leaned in the window and barraged him with rapid-fire Polack
jokes. Sam Posey told the best story; too bad we cannot repeat it.
==================== ** ====================
* Give Away
Our regulars know that last month, we were giving away a $30 Gift
Certificate from Endless Road. We are happy to say the winner this month
was
Wayne from NY.
Again this month, for every purchase our regular Road Chatter recipients
make, we will put their names in our drawing, and the person whose name is
drawn will receive a $30 Gift Certificate from Endless Road.
Good Luck.
==================== ** ====================
Formula 1
Some things are the same this year. Alonso and Renault are still the team
to
beat. Kimi is still super-fast when his mount does not break.
And some things are quite different. New engine size. A new, more
interesting qualifying procedure. The return of tire changes. A larger
field
by two more cars. At least three very competitive teams capable of winning
the championship. Ferrari is back in the action again. There is an
American
driver in F1 for the first time since Michael Andretti in 1993. There is
much more passing than previous years. And, rather frequently, one of the
new V8s up-chucks its parts in the middle of the race. This is going to be
an interesting season!
2006 Schedule
April 2 Australia
April 23 San Marino
May 7 Nurburgring
May 14 Barcelona
May 28 Monaco
June 11 Great Britain
June 25 Montreal
July 2 Indianapolis
July 16 France
July 30 Germany
August 6 Hungary
August 27 Turkey
Sept. 10 Italy
Sept. 17 Belgium
Oct. 1 China
Oct. 8 Japan
Oct. 22 Brazil
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* Bits and Pieces
Do not get rid of your VHS machines; there are many great racing videos
that
are available on VCR tape and not scheduled to be put on DVD.
***
The last few months, we have had a MY FAVORITE CAR story here. They were
well received, and we want to continue. If you have fond memories of one
of
your fine machines and want to tell about it, send us your story, and, if
we
use it, you will have your pick of any one item we have on our web.
***
Jeff H sent this note:
I remember a movie way back in the early 70's that was almost all
car-chase.
I can not remember the name and I have been looking for years. I have
asked
several movie buffs, several motor heads and no one has been able to help.
Your section in your latest newsletter sparked the interest again and
maybe
you can tell me. As I remember there was a white 70-73 Camaro, a 69 Road
Runner with the vacuum hood scoop, and a wicked little Gremlin. I thought
Steve McQueen was in it but his web site mentions nothing of it. I really
don't think it is a figment of my imagination but who knows. Can You Help?
Jeff, if anyone out there knows what film it was, we will try to find it.
And if anyone does tell us, we will give them 10% off on their next order.
***
Two of our favorite license tags this month:
Our friend, Dave M, sent us this:
VW New Beetle: LDY BUG
And our friend, Patrick, owns this one:
2001 Vette convertible: RAINH8R
==================== ** ====================
Car Trivia Answers
1) When Chrysler searched for a Beep Beep-sounding horn for their Plymouth
Road Runner, the closest they could find was the horn from the Volkswagen
Beetle.
(Thanks to Speed TV's Barrett Jackson Auction.)
2) When Zora Arkus Duntov first built the Ardun heads (Arkus DUNtov, get
it?
Huh?), he was building the first engine head with hemispherical combustion
chambers, a Hemi Head. The head design went on to fame and fortune with
MOPAR. Duntov, a poor Jewish immigrant, went on to launch Corvette on the
path to becoming the accomplished performance car it is today.
(From Hot Rodders Journal, issue #23. Thanks to our friend, Jared, for
this
one.)
3) Laurel & Hardy and the Keystone Kops drove black Model Ts. If you are
over 40, this one was too easy for you.
4) The Michelin Man is actually 108 years old, having first appeared in
April of 1898.
His name is Bibendum. The name comes from their original slogan of Nunc
Est
Bibendum, which translates as quote: He Drinks Nails
(Thanks to our friend, Jeff, for this one.)
5) The Tyrell P34 was the only Formula One car to ever run four wheels in
the front. They were ten inches tall, putting lots of rubber on the road
while having a very low profile. It was the center of attention in the
Kendall Garage in Watkins Glen in 1976.
(Thanks to our friend, Mike H., for reminding us of this one.)
--- Retreads ---
6) The code name for Corvette? To quote Completion Corvette - From Street
to
Strip to Speedway Star by the Editors of Consumer Guide:
In the fall of 1952, a Chevrolet public relations executive named Myron
Scott struggled to come up with a name for a new two-seat sports car being
developed under the code name Opel. The Project Opel was cloaked in
secrecy.
The name was chosen perhaps to confuse outsiders, since Opel is the name
of
GM's German subsidiary, Adam Opel, AG. Knowledge of the secret sports car
effort was limited to those with a need-to-know. If an employee was not
directly involved on the "Opel" project, odds were he would never have
heard
of it.
(Thanks to our friend, Warren.)
7) Iron Butt Association members ride motorcycles, driving many, many
miles
in a day, such as the SaddleSore 1000 (1000 miles in 24 hours), BunBurner
1500 (1500 miles in 24 or 36 hours), and the 50cc Quest (50 hours
Coast-to-Coast).
8) Chevette, Escort and Lynx were the first U.S. cars to attain a heady 30
miles-per-gallon. You know, after all these years, there are still not
very
many cars that get more than that now
(From Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition.)
9) DeLorean was one of the fair-haired boys at GM. He is known as the
Father
of the Pontiac GTO.
10) Originally, Enzo used the number of Cubic Centimeters (cc's) in one
cylinder as part of the name of a car. Hence, the 275 GTB was a
12-cylinder
car, 12 X 275 = 3300 cc's or 3.3 liters; the 250 Testa Rosa was 12 X 250 =
3000 cc's or 3 liters. (Actually, they were 3286 and 2953, but close
enough.)
===================== ** ====================
10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions
To Jared, Jeff, Mike, and Warren, thanks for the trivia questions.
Remember,
you four will each receive 10% discounts on your next order.
Send us an interesting fact on 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 Payne
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