Just about every day I read comments, generally made by young male drivers, which seem to try to justify street racing. Let’s be honest… Most of us have been in the same shoes as the kids are doing all the tough guy talk. The difference is, most of us got over ourselves and matured. Yes I was young, too, and yes the wheel had been invented. If memory serves me correctly, we somehow thought we were impressing others with our arrogance, thinking we ooed and awed when we told our girlfriends and pals what great drivers we were, how skilled we were, and even sometimes just because how cool we were. Then there is the typical, "If they want us to take it off the streets they should build us a track." How dumb is that? That’s makes about as much sense as saying, "If they don’t build a supermarket in my neighborhood we’re going to eat our lunch in the school playground." Nobody owes these idiots anything. If they want to impress anyone use their head and learn how to really impress someone. Find a way to get their sorry butt to a track where it’s safe, professionally run and don’t give me the lame excuse it cost too much because I know what it cost and it’s a lot less than tickets, lawyers and higher insurance rates and that’s assuming they don’t wreck the car.

Continue reading "DragNet" »

Just about every day I read comments, generally made by young male drivers, which seem to try to justify street racing. Let’s be honest… Most of us have been in the same shoes as the kids are doing all the tough guy talk. The difference is, most of us got over ourselves and matured. Yes I was young, too, and yes the wheel had been invented. If memory serves me correctly, we somehow thought we were impressing others with our arrogance, thinking we ooed and awed when we told our girlfriends and pals what great drivers we were, how skilled we were, and even sometimes just because how cool we were. Then there is the typical, “If they want us to take it off the streets they should build us a track.” How dumb is that? That’s makes about as much sense as saying, “If they don’t build a supermarket in my neighborhood we’re going to eat our lunch in the school playground.” Nobody owes these idiots anything. If they want to impress anyone use their head and learn how to really impress someone. Find a way to get their sorry butt to a track where it’s safe, professionally run and don’t give me the lame excuse it cost too much because I know what it cost and it’s a lot less than tickets, lawyers and higher insurance rates and that’s assuming they don’t wreck the car.

Continue reading "DragNet" »

Racing can be and is dangerous and running in La Carrera Panamericana is no exception. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have read comments on various message boards saying things like, "It’s not really a race" or "It’s a race where CEO types compete in cars that really don’t go all that fast." The best reply I have to those types of comments is to invite them down to watch, and then afterwards I’ll ask them if they still feel that way. Then there are those who make the argument, "They stopped that race back in 1954 and now it’s just a rally format." This time I would ask them if they knew what in the hell they are talking about. The fact is, the cars today are a much faster than they were back then, not to mention in those days they couldn’t corner worth a damn, had very poor tires, and the roads were mostly unpaved. And back in the 50s the race continued at high speed right through the villages and towns, whereas today the only city we race at speed trough is Mexico City, with thousands of police on hand.

Continue reading, with tons of pics from the race after the jump!

Continue reading "La Carrera Panamericana 2008" »

I don’t know about you, but often when my wife and I drive down some quiet street, my wife comments how beautiful the houses are, but all I can ever think is, "What’s parked in that garage?" It never ceases to amaze me how many exotic, classic, or antique rides get locked away and all too often are forgotten about. But then every once in a while someone opens their garage door and you get a glimpse that can make your heart stop.

This weekend, as I rode my bike by my friend’s house, just such an event took place. When he waved at me to come on inside his open garage I could see him working on a friend’s car, one that was just the sort of car that grabs any gearhead’s attention–a 1 of 15 built 1958 Devin SS. If you think fiberglass body kit cars are a relatively recent development, think again.

Continue reading after the jump.

Continue reading "Think Kit Cars Are Something New? Think Again" »

Here’s a nicely done trailer for "La Carrera Panamericana – Rebirth of a Legend," a soon to be released HD DVD that documents the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana. Quite a bit of footage is devoted to the build of Gary Faules’ beautiful 1965 Shelby GT350R. The film will make its debut next month at the Concurso de Motor Sports in the Mexican city of  San Miguel de Allende.

Starting some years ago my passion for speed led me to become an active member of the North American Eagle, which has been built to take back the supersonic land speed record from the Brits and return it to the United States. Our goal is to break the existing record of 763 mph by reaching 800 mph! The main power plant for this awesome machine is a J-79 turbojet jet engine that was originally used in the F-4 Phantom. There is also the possibility of utilizing a small 6,000 pound thrust liquid propellant motor for added boost. The car weighs about 13,500 pounds, but instead the North American Eagle’s jet engine produces 39,000 hp!

It would take about $10,000,000 dollars to build the car today, which includes developmental, engineering and non-recurring costs. Someone once asked, “Can you drive this car on the street?"The answer is no. For some reason the state highway patrol has problems with cars that shoot 70 foot flames from the tailpipe! You think you gave fuel economy problems? In full afterburner this car consumes about ten gallons of jet fuel every second! In one mile it burns fifty gallons. Do the math. That works out to .02 miles per gallon, or about 105 feet per gallon. Continue reading…

Continue reading "North American Eagle" »

One of my good friends and fellow NASA driver instructor Dave Brown and I have raced together with NASA for years. Lately Dave has been having a little fun helping Mitsubishi with a program called "Epiphany Project." Customers who have recently purchased a Mitsubishi Eclipse get to take the car for a drive around a "test track" with Dave riding in the passenger’s seat, and the new owners are led to believe that Dave is simply a Mitsubishi rep. After their little ride around a closed course, Dave asks them if they would like to swap seats and let him show them a few of the car’s features they might not be aware of. What they don’t know is that Dave has been racing since the beginning of time, not to mention that he is a two time U.S. Touring Champ. Thanks to the in-car camera, we get to witness some of the unforgettable reactions on their faces while Dave calmly flogs the car around the track. Great job Dave!

They say history repeats itself, and I must concur. Figuratively and literally, I’ve been around the block and seen it all. Back in the early ’70s, I owned my first service station, which coincidently was when the first oil embargoes took place. They lead to long gas lines and short hours of operation for all of us, but I kind of liked the way and it left me with the rest of the day to do what I truly loved—working on cars. And doing it for profit made it all the better.

What stands out in my memory the most is remembering the "average" cars everyone drove. Everything on the road had a V8, and we’re not taking low compression, low horsepower mills either. There were so many 396, 428, 427, 390, 396  cubic inch high-compression engines in use that it was easy to see why there was a need for a gas station on every corner. And why not? Gas was only 30 cents a gallon, and that was full service with stamps and even some steak knives and those awesome little Hot Wheels that every one loves so much!

It was the Muscle Car Era and life was good, there were places to go, things to do and awesome cars to do it in—not to mention the fact that even granny’s car would burn rubber from one stop light to the next. Literally! The Mustang was (and still is) the most popular car on the road, everyone had their preference of what was the baddest ride in town, and if you didn’t own or drive a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge you were some  sort of freak. Nobody would admit publicly to owning more than one, and everyone held a torch for one or the other. As soon as someone said their brand was faster or better than yours there was either going to be a fist fight or a race, and yes, even the grannies would take on all comers.

The truth is, today is a replay of exactly how things were back then. There were performance cars for everyone’s taste and lines were drawn in the sand (or on the asphalt) much like they were back then. Everyone chose sides and it’s all started all over again. What did the oil companies learn from all this? Basically, they learned they don’t have to make up lies about gas shortage in order to raise gas prices,  because people will pay for gas regardless what  it cost. They could raise it to $10 a gallon next week and the freeways will still be a parking lot.

Continue reading…

Continue reading "Stock Brokers, Performance and Gasoline" »

For most automotive buffs the fascination began in the sandbox. I have many memories of pushing a toy car around a make-believe race track while making engine noises in the back of my throat. We are older now, but the reality is many of us still have that same childlike desire to have those toy cars and trucks. Had I only known how much I would miss the wooden logging trucks, bulldozers and cars that I enjoyed as a kid–let alone known how much they would be worth today–I surely would have kept them in a safe place. Hind sight… only dreams now.

But wait, maybe there is a way! One of my good friends, Paul Chenard of Nova Scotia, might be able to help us turn back the proverbial clock. Take a look at his post Collecting Toy Cars: A Healthy Addiction. And if you’re too young to appreciate it, at least it’s not too late for you to begin stashing your favorites away in the attic, because believe me, the day will come.

Continue reading "The Day Will Come" »

Besides spending a wonderful Mother’s Day with my beautiful wife I also got to spend a day with the mother of all garages. This weekend I attended a private get together at a friend’s home in Pasadena, where a bunch of us who have or are going to compete La Carrera Panamericana got to meet up and chat. Our gracious host was Ron Lee, and on display were some of the cars in his private collection that he keeps in the garage in his back yard. I found it almost impossible to keep drool from dribbling off my chin all day. Ron drives these cars on a regular basis, and I am not talking about parades or cars shows. These are the kinds of cars that really need no introduction–you just long to hear them start and feel them under your butt. Lots more pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Mother of All Garages" »