2014 Spa Classic: Short Video

One of the things that keeps me going in the off-season is artistic YouTube videos.  Here's a nice, short, flavor-of-the-event video that combines two of my favorite things: Spa-Francorchamps and classic race cars.  One of my minor regrets is that I never heard a Formula 1 Ford Cosworth V-8 at full song.  This vid supplies that deficit, barring hearing one "live."  The McLaren Can-Am car is just as I remember it: get it around the corner and straightened out before applying full throttle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njVYkjy98p4

Smitty

Early 1960's Ford school bus.  We weren't cute little elementary school kids, we were rowdy high-school kids.  And I
never saw Smitty in a tie.  He favored plain shirts with collars, open at the neck, and work pants.

An acquaintance of mine recently took a job driving school busses.  Her training and experience is teaching in a Montessori school, but she lost her job and couldn't find another one in her field.  A few weeks ago she said "I'm going to swallow my pride and take a bus-driving job."  Yesterday she was wearing an authentic smile and seems to like it so far.

She put me in mind of Smitty, the bus driver who got me to and from high-school.  Not that they look anything alike: Smitty was a wiry 50-something guy with close-cropped grey hair and a bald spot.  We never messed with him.  I think it was as much because we liked him as much as it was fear of consequences.  Smitty had presence, and a quiet dignity.  But he was also a sunny guy who liked kids. Even teenagers.

I usually sat right behind him, watching him handle the bus.  His route was a long one that went up and down the hills of the river valley it wound through.  He wrangled a 4-speed box behind the 352 cubic inch (I suppose) Ford gasoline V-8.  He had, and needed, a tachometer: Smitty wound the hell out of that engine to get up hills, and to make time on the state highway his route centered around.  The tach had green, yellow, and red zones on the dial.  Smitty kept the needle in the high end of the yellow zone. He was a master of matching the gear to the (varying) load, and of smooth shifts with a truck clutch that was either in or out.  It was a joy to watch him work.  If we had thought to nickname him, it would have been "A Gear Lower Smitty:" always a gear lower than the rest of the fleet's drivers.

Dragon Envy

"Roof cam," Tail of the Dragon Store, date and time as shown.

There are times when I envy Dragoneers who live in Atlanta, Nashville or Lexington.  The picture above shows why.  Last week the road was a mess and the weather was unpleasant.  The weekend forecast was for dry roads and light-jacket temperatures.  Look at the place on Sunday (above)!

If you live in Atlanta or Nashville or Lexington you can be on the Dragon in three hours.  That's a looong day-trip, but doable.  A two-day overnight trip doesn't bust your budget or burn vacation time.  If it weren't for the fact that my roots and branches are all in the Great Lakes area, I'd consider moving to Knoxville or Asheville.

"Oversteer? Got it covered."

This HD vid has some good sound.  But what struck me most was Patrick Long tossing the car into corners and catching it.  He has no problem getting the car to rotate--staying on top of it is the problem. Early 911's, including the race cars, were notorious for oversteer.  "Not a car for the unwary," as the Brits say.  (For 1969, Porsche increased the wheelbase by 2.25 inches, making it less tail-happy.)

Long has years of experience with modern Porsche GT 3's.  He chases this "In The Beginning" 911 S through corners with quick hands and fistfuls of opposite lock.  An added bonus is his helmet cam: we're looking where Patrick is looking.  The video runs 15 minutes, and he doesn't lose it, so click out when you've seen enough:

http://www.total911.com/video-patrick-long-shows-how-you-hustle-a-67-porsche-911s/

Patrick Long.  Let's say you're a Porsche factory driver (the only North American
so-employed), with 10 years of experience in GT 3's, have won your class in just
about all the major endurance races, including being a 3-time ALMS champion.
What could make you a very busy boy for an afternoon?  A 1967 911 S racer.

"Market Price" At Auctions

Duesenberg SJ Dual Cowl Phaeton: $750,000 at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2015.

In 1960 I tried to persuade my father to buy a Duesenberg out of the classified ads in Road & Track.  The asking price was $12,000, about the same as a new Ferrari 250 GT, and six times what he paid for the Plymouth he was then driving.  I justified the proposal as an investment.  He chuckled and declined. If the proposal had come--seriously--from someone other than his adolescent son, he would have laughed and laughed.

But if he had had the interest, facilities, and knowledge to maintain a Duesenberg,  Dad might have made out OK on his $12,000 investment.  In the 1980's and later, Duesies were going for north of $1 million.  Some had less than perfect provenances and were not previously owned by Clark Gable or another famous person.  Nor were they the most desirable SJ (supercharged) dual-cowl phaeton model like the one above.  Duesies just aren't bringing the money they used to.  Quite a few other classics from the '30's failed to meet their reserves at the same auction.

On the other hand, I never thought I'd see muscle cars from my youth go for $500,000 or more.  Or an Amphicar go for $100,000.  Or Fiat Jollies go for $60,000.  Some of us Baby Boomers are rolling in money, and voting with our Letters of Credit.  What 60-something of today remembers Duesies fondly? Classics from the '30's have not just peaked--they're seeking a new floor.

The TV guys who cover car auctions like to speculate about the next "coming cars."  Gen 3 Camaros?  Gen 3 Mazda RX-7's?  Of course the point of this speculation is to get in on the ground floor and ride the market up.  Buy that immaculate Gen 3 Camaro or RX-7 for $20,000 now.

Whatever the "comers" turn out to be, I doubt that 60's muscle cars will be going for the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $500,000 in 2035.  We Boomers will have shuffled off this mortal coil.  What 60-something, then, will remember COPO Camaros and Hemi 'Cudas fondly?  A Super Mario Brothers game still in its shrink-wrap might be a different matter.  Apparently many people now in their 20's aren't even getting drivers' licenses unless they must.  My guess is that Gen 1 iPhones will go for big bucks in 2045.  Maybe pristine Teslas too.  Aston Martins, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis, not so much...

Off Topic: Birds Of A Feather

Mark Twain

Kurt Vonnegut

Joseph Heller

These guys have a lot in common, and not just their hair or the fact that they lived in New York City.

I'm reading Volume II of Mark Twain's Autobiography with delight.  It's not for the faint-of-heart: 600 pages, the same as Volume I.  But it's easy to see why Twain was Kurt Vonnegut's favorite writer.  He shares a sensibility with Vonnegut and Joe Heller, both of whom I read--and still read--with the same delight.  And it's probably no coincidence, either, that Joe Heller and Mel Brooks were friends.

Purdy Car, Purdy Picture

Olivier Gendebien in the Ferrari 250 TR 59 he shared with Phil Hill, Karussell, Nurburgring 1000 Km, 1959.
Not that it matters to this lovely shot, but they finished 2nd.  If it weren't for the competition numbers and
his helmet, Olivier could just be out for a fun run in his fast car.