MONTEREY MUSINGS
“Now hear this .....Now hear this... Peter Giddings to report for
breakfast at the double; and don’t forget to bring tea, knife and
fork and Worcestershire sauce”.
So began my Friday, August 21, 1981, at Laguna Seca with Phil Van
Ek’s stentorian tones echoing across the paddock at the God
forsaken hour of 7:00 a.m.
As I picked my way around the sleeping, shrouded race cars, the
Monterey mist seemed to deny any chance of running our cars, so
bad was the visibility. In the distance I could pick out “Chateau
Bleu”, Phil’s extraordinary motor home, which even features a
public address system, which had so rudely awakened me from my
slumbers.
I had dreamt that my Talbot Lago GP car had not broken at Sears Point a
few days earlier, and that in fact it was here at Laguna Seca
running better than ever.
The cold morning breeze quickly got me
back to reality, but I cheered up with the thought that at least I would
be racing my Ferrari Competition SWB later in the day.
Passing a few other stirring bodies, who were either amused at
me clutching my cutlery and sauce, or cursing at the unrequested
wake up call, I sat down to a wonderful feast of sausages, eggs,
toast, tea and yogurt.
Phil’s Renault was still recumbent on its trailer, and I was
amused to note the use of a long pole strapped athwart the
cockpit with red flags hanging from either end which, in turn,
are visible from “Chateau Bleu’s” rear view mirrors.
Clearly with this precaution, together with additional tie downs, Phil
was not going to chance another heart stopping lost vehicle
adventure. Even so, to make triply sure, his race car now
features a sign reading “If found, please return to .....”
In no time at all we were out making our practice runs. The
sun had burned the fog away, and conditions were perfect. Groups
A, B and C practiced twice in the morning, as their races were to
take place later on that same afternoon.
The Group A race (GT cars 1956-62 small displacement) meant yet
another run away for Stan Huntley of Portland, Oregon, in his
Austin Healey Sebring Sprite.
Several CSRG members showed up well in this race,
including Dick Gale in his Fiat Abarth 750 and Bob Green in his,
as always, spotless Lotus Elite. Bob, by the way, should get
tne “good turn of the weekend” award as he was able to help
another immaculate Lotus — the Mark 15 of Jay Foreman — run
again, after it had broken something vital in its rear axle.
Unfortunately, Jay then proceeded to ‘lose it’, to the detriment
of coachwork and rear axle/suspension. Before this he had been
lapping at around 1 min. 25 sec.
Franz Benjamin also ran well in Group A, and in fact we are about
to see two O.S.C.A. GTs being run by “Benjamin’s Eccentric Sport
Team”, the other car to be driven by Tony Guinasso, Franz’s very
able and helpful right hand man.
A “sleeper” in Group A was Lawrence driving a
Rudd-Speed AC Aceca. Even “true green” Morgan owners might not
realize that this gentleman is “Mr. Morgan” himself, the one and
only Chris Lawrence who, until recently, was running his own Morgan
emporium in London.
The Rudd-Speed Aces and Acecas featured the English Ford Zephyr 6
cylinder engine, with Raymond Mays head and triple side draft
Weber carburetors — a potent package indeed. In Lawrence’s capable hands, my money is on him to give the likes of Stan Huntley
a good run for their money in the future.
In the meantime, we have welcomed Lawrence to our CSRG ranks who
along with Ed Swart, means that we now have some very experienced
international class drivers from whose superior driving we
will all be able to learn.
The Group B race (CT cars 1956-62 medium displacement) was another
Humdinger.
Unfortunately, car attrition was fairly high
throughout the weekend, and an Austin Healey that was due to run
in this race was reduced in height by a couple of feet during the morning
practice.
It was in this race that Ron Grable showed us how to take the
corkscrew. An unbeatable combination of super fast, and well set
up car, together with an extremely competent driver. Brian
Howlett was his usual value in the yellow and brown Morgan +4
and CSRG members Chuck Weber, Dean Watts and Bob LaRoque all
had great fun.
In fact, Dean Watts landed the most valuable prize of the
weekend — a free week’s course with the British School of Motor
Racing.
Dean, with tongue stuck very firmly in his cheek,
remarked that this was the first time he had not damaged his car in
quite a while, so perhaps his prize was no longer entirely
appropriate.
Group C cars (GT cars 1956-62 large displacement) featured an
extremely quick 1966 Lotus Elan, the aggressive Morgan SLR of
CSRG’s Bill Finks (yet another example of Chris Lawrence’s ingenuity), Ed Swart’s welcome new 250 GT SWB Scaglietti lightweight
Ferrari, along with Chuck Reid’s indecently fast, identical looking model.
Ferrari enthusiasts will note some very clever
changes to the front suspension, six carburetors, and what can be heard rather than seen — some very special engine modifications, all carried out by Bill
Rudd.
This results in Chuck possibly owning the fastest
Ferrari 250 GT of this type in the world!
Various CSRG members were giving their Alfa Romeo TZs an airing.
in fact, no less than seven were on the grid, sounding like an
angry storm of killer bees. Clearly this
race was going to be a knock out, drag out race between the large
Aston Martin DB4 GTs (reputed to have some 400 bhp on tap!) with Chuck Reid’s and Ed Swart’s 250 GTs in contention, with perhaps
Jerry Gamez in his “all bells and whistles” Marnix Dillenius
prepared TZ in the running as well.
Despite qualifying well myself in the ex Phil Bronner short wheel
base, I was asked to start from the back of the grid which, in
retrospect, was more fun than being fourth or fifth on the grid.
Suffice to say that as I trickled down behind the pack and
approached turn nine, I espied out of the corner of my eye the
starter waving his green flag! As anticipated, the duel was
between the cars of Reid and Goss, with Swart hovering in the
background waiting for the accident to happen!
Sure enough, after a few laps, Reid got very light coming
downhill into eight and spun off. Thankfully there is lots of
room for error in this area of the track, and Chuck was thus able
to regain the track in third place without any damage to his
delectable car. Based on his lap times, he could even give a
Ferrari GTO a good run for its money.
From my position at the back I was able to watch the magnificent
road holding, acceleration and square braking of the Lotus Elan,
finally passing it, and numerous other cars, including some TZs,
and CSRG member Joe DeMartino, who was going very well in his
nicely turned out SWB.
Unfortunately, in this group C race, yet another car ran afoul of the
tires on the infamous corner nine.
Other CSRG members in this race included Michael Cotsworth in his
extremely fast and well driven Ferrari California. (Michael is also now
the proud new owner of Dave Birchall’S rapid Climax engined
Canadian special), and the ever ebullient Boone Crow was moving along
quite effectively, in what is, after all, a “fairly standard”Aston
Martin DB4.
By 8:00 a.m. Saturday our breakfast was accompanied by a
cacophany of sound, composed of the factory Mercedes-Benz W196,
Bob Sutherland’s fabulous Fl Ferrari 625, the bellow of Don
Orosco’s Aston Martin DBR2, augmented by the screaming of various
small capacity, high revving Siatas and Porsches.
Thoughout this day, Sandra Griswold could be seen
dispensing wine, restoration shop propaganda, T shirts and insightful chat,
with her usual elegant aplomb to her husband’s new friends
and customers from Europe and Japan. As a result of this,
doubtless east/west relations will be particularly good in the
future: at least in so far as historic car restorations are
concerned. The Japanese now have some incredible vintage / historic racing cars
in their collections, but as far I can see, hardly anyone over
there knows how to even fire them up!
In Group 1 (sports racing cars 1963-69) we had the amazing sight
and sound of two Porsche 908s, one driven by Mr. Matsuda, a
wealthy collector from Tokyo, Japan, who has a museum containing just about one of every important Porsche race car ever built.
Alongside Matsuda was the one and only Ritchie Ginther, seemingly
lost in that bathtub of a car, but clearly so totally in command,
and with quite the largest grin from ear to ear that I have ever
seen!
Unfortunately, there were costly mistakes in this race also. Mr.
Matsuda understeered into the tires on turn nine, and Les Lindley
sustained a good $50,000 worth of damage to his Ford. Bud Romak, on the other hand, ran flawlessly, and clearly had the legs on everyone else.
At least one Cobra retired during the race, much dented down one
side, and it was quite evocative to see Carol Shelby walk over
and offer his condolences (mostly to the car) as he ran his hands
over the now rippled body — the driver did receive a word or two
as well!
Bud Romak finished a fine first in his Lola T160 coupe,
with Walt Maas in a Porsche 910 in second, Terry Jones in a 1968
Lola T70 Mark III B-GT an excellent third, with a hairy looking
Dick Smith in his Cobra 427 fourth.
Group 2 (pre 1948 sports and racing cars) brought a lump to my
throat as this was the race that I was supposed to be running in
with the Talbot Lago GP. Last year my Talbot had expired in this
event due to the previous inhalation of some Mt. St. Helens dust.
I must say that I was looking forward to doing much better this
year.
My frustration, however, could not begin to compare with that of
poor Bob Sutherland, one of our hobby’s most enthusiastic and
loyal supporters. The first year that Bob’s Type 37A GP Bugatti
ran at Laguna Seca it spun out on turn nine, lost its exhaust
and was narrowly missed by the new/old Frazer Nash of John
Sebert, and my other Talbot Lago GP. The next year while
in the lead, the Bugatti again spun out in turn nine. This year Bob was determined to do it right, and many hours had been spent
on the Bugatti, and it was running better than ever before. With John
Sebert’s Frazer Nash running a little off tune, and Phil Hill’s
4CM Maserati in the pits with oil pressure problems, the race was
definitely Bob’s as he steamed into the lead, driving oh so
carefully every time around turn nine. On the
seventh lap a large flame accompanied by much smoke and a
tremendous explosion emitted from the rear end of Bob’s Bugatti,
and as he slowed to a halt under the bridge by the start/finish
line, his two hands were held up in the agony of the moment.
Once again he had been deprived of a certain win, due to the
magneto slipping around in its housing!
Another tragedy in this race was the fact that Jack Breconis was
missing in his superb 1928 Alfa Romeo 6c l500S. Poor Jack had
a fuel feed problem, and tragically on the way up the hill to
the circuit the night before, his car caught fire. The sight
of Jack and his friends around his badly burned pride and joy, is
one that I will not forget in a hurry. When we see him next year,
(as we undoubtedly will) with a once again resplendent cherry red
Alfa, we should all remember to shake him by the hand.
George Wingard, all the way from Eugene, Oregon delighted us in his 1908 Mercedes-Benz GP car complete with riding mechanic
to me one of the most entertaining drives of the day and an
incredible sixth place overall.
Once again John Sebert in the
Frazer Nash inspired special won, with the silent running
Delahaye 135M of Richard Adatto in 2nd, with our own Rodney Smith in
his delectable Riley Brooklands 9 a very excellent third with
Richard Rawlins in his 1922 Ford Model T in 4th place.
CSRG member, David Willis, caused quite a sensation,
particularly amongst the Japanese visitor contingent, by turning
up with his fresh, high chassis 4.5 liter Invicta. David has
restored this car to its former glory, and is to be conqratulated
because when this particular dynosaur was unearthed, it was
missing many important items, including most of its body!
David did a ”Sherlock Holmes” on the body, affixing holes in the chassis,
etc. and came up with some spectacular Monza Alfa like coachwork,
which almost certainly matches one of the three or more bodies
that this car has sported throughout its long competition career.
Winner of the “Die Hard Trophy” for the best restoration, David
paid a nice tribute to his wife, Lou Ellen, to wit: “All I did was
restore my Invicta. Lou Ellen put up with me, whilst I restored my
Invicta”!
The Invicta will now feature in a forthcoming issue of Car
Graphics, Japan’s (and I would say the world’s), most prestigious
auto magazine, particularly in so far as graphics, color
separations and general lay out/quality.. There is
also a strong possibility that David and his two loves (i.e.
Invicta and wife) will be demonstrating this tricky handling
vintage racer in Japan at one of the forthcoming events at the
spectacular Mount Fuji circuit. Let’s hope they do not get
tempted with a large bag of yen, as we have all too few real
vintage racers left in our ranks.
The restoration of your Invicta, David, surely warrants an
interesting “barn” type story, either in our CSRG newsletter, or
Steve Earle’s “Vintage Racer”.
One of the wonderful things about Laguna Seca is the way it
equalizes us all, and allows historic car owners and enthusiasts
alike to meet and chat in an open, friendly way. I have already
mentioned Phil Hill, who found the time to come over and
commiserate on this Talbot-less day, and then go on to describe,
along with some wonderful Italian like hand language, how he
could get the W-196 around Laguna Seca even faster “if I was
allowed a little tweak here and a little tweak there”. Likewise,
Ritchie Cinther, who I have only met on a few previous occasions,
instantly recognized me and reminisced about the Ferrari 410
Sport, (oh for a tape recorder on these occasions!) Walt Maas also
got on a microphone and told us how much he enjoyed running these
historic cars.
One of the many wonderful vignettes that I witnessed, and will
cherish from here on in, was Briggs Cunningham chatting and
reminiscing to a group of enthusiasts surrounded by his glorious
Cunningham liveried cars, yet, when later on he was presented with
an autographed picture from us all, he was too bashful und
retiring to even talk to us over the microphone. Instead, his
cars, his drivers, and his special guests bore vivid witness to
what we all owe this amazing sportsman.
The grid for race 3 was quite unbelievable. The superbly turned
out HWM Chevrolet, the one and only Sterling Edwards in his 1952
Edwards America coupe, Phil Hill straight out of the Maserati and
into a Cunningham C-2R, CSRG member George Newell in his pristine
Aston Martin DB3S; driving so well and courteously, and John Harden
all the way from Oklahoma City in a Hiliborne injected Allard
JTX, which is an absolute rocket ship!
By this time my good friend Jack Hagemann had knocked back a
couple of cokes with me. However, despite’ requests over the
public address system, Jack would not go up to the announcers
booth in order to be interviewed. He was even a little bemused
at the appearance of some of his “Hageman Specials” in this
race. Surely if Sutton was the “Scaglietti of Hollywood” then
Hageman is the “Touring of Danville”!
At the start of the race, George Newell was side by side with the
Sutton Jaguar special on which much midnight oil had been burnt
in order to get it through scrutineering. As the two cars roared
down to turn nine, evidently something or someone would have to
give, and sure enough George Newell peeled off slightly to the
right and vanished behind the tires, scattering marshalls left,
right and center. Unscathed, George reappeared and rejoined the
race a little further down!
Harden in his very fast Allard J2X took first place, Gordon
Keller in his Allard J2R second, Dave Smith coming third
in the Hagemann Jaguar Special, Phil Hill rowing the Cunningham
along as well as he could in 4th place, and Ron Laurie in the
second Hageman Jaguar special in 5th.
Yet another well known driver was due to participate in Group 4
(GT cars 1948-55). However, for some reason Pete Lovely, while
appearing in person with his charming wife, was Lancia Aurelia-less, more is the pity, because he certainly does know how to get
this car around the circuit at an amazing rate of knots.
CSRG members in this race included Martin Swig in his always
reliable 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900SS, and Jim Cesari similarly mounted.
In the race for Group 5 (1945-55 sports cars under 2 liters) the
“brothers DeBoer” as they were so announced, had clearly worked
long and hard into the nights preceding this weekend to transform
their blood red Siatas into the white and blue of Cunningham
heraldry. What a wonderful gesture, and how well the cars
looked! We also had several MG TC and TD specials in this race,
plus John DeHaan’s nicely turned out MG TD (congratulations on
your fine Bentley article in the “Vintage Racer”, John). Also John
Brookman in his well known blue MGTD was running. The Brookmans
have quietly supported every kind of racing for years, and
therefore it was particularly appropriate that they won a special
award at the end of the day, for their wonderful help and
enthusiasm.
Phil Van Ek had discussed with me over breakfast his chances
against the “flying DeBoers” and the fact that they had a game
plan whereby they would swap places and run two or even three
abreast for a few laps, prior to going “all out”.
In fact what happened was that when they stopped “playing to the gallery”, they still had not got out of the tight pack they were
in.
Phil driving the race of his life took second place after
John DeBoer had gone straight on with a locking rear brake (which
problem had already shown up at the Portland event). Phil,
according to my watches, also made fastest lap at 1 min. 33 seconds,
which would be an excellent time for a car of twice the
Renault’s capacity!
Another CSRG driver in this race who was
driving very well, and cornering and gear shifting to perfection,
was Ernie Mendicki, who subsequently was in the running also
for the “broadest grin of the day” award alongside Ritchie
Ginther.
CSRG member Sid Colberg, perhaps still a little shaken at his
practice accident in the “Birdcage”, decided not to run his
very pretty Maserati A6GCS, which car probably received as
many compliments as any other sitting in the paddock. Another
car that ran extremely well in this race was Don Baldocchi’s 1954
Nardi Crosley.
The final outcome of this exciting duel was Jarl DeBoer in
1st place; the inimitable Phil Van Ek in 2nd; Bob Ashmore in his
Porsche 356 coupe in 3rd; John DeBoer with a flatted tire and
locking brake in 4th; Heiser in the Nardi special in 5th and Eric
Gluesenkamp 6th — phew! Definitely one of the best races of
the day.
With hardly enough time to catch our breath, the race for Group 6
(sports cars over two liters 1956 through 58) was upon us. This
race featured probably the smallest grid of the day. Nevertheless, it was a quality one. Super enthusiast Bob
Sutherland was out again, this time in his Ferrari 625.
Bob has gone through all
kinds of trials and tribulations to get this car running and
reassembled again, but believe us, Bob, it was worth it!
Alongside Bob Sutherland we had Ted Gilred in the yellow Porsche
RSK. I have previously dueled against this car up at Portland
and can testify to its great speed.
CSRG member Stephen Block was in his glorious Maserati 300S, even
more resplendent than ever with a new paint job. CSRG member, Don,
Orosco was also quickly getting to know his Aston Martin DBR2, a
booming, torquey monster which when mastered will, l am sure,
beat everything in its class.
Of particular credit was Bill
Chizar’s Ferrari Testa Rossa. Painted in silver and red, the car
looked fabulous, and is a great credit to Bill and his tight
budget tenacity. In fact Bill went on to win second prize in his
class at Pebble Beach the following day.
In Stephen Griswold’s first drive of the day he was exercising
Howard Cohen’s fearsome Ferrari 410 Sport. Notorious in its day
as a fairly evil car, and only really showing well on airport
circuits with long straight aways, Stephen looked very tired
after his grapple with this Ferrari “Hans Tanner concours” winning
car, so ably put together and restored by CSRG member Nino
Epifani.
In this race we had yet another star in our midst — one Darryl
Greenamyer. As all of you flying enthusiasts will know, Darryl Greenamyer has held a number of records, including prop and jet
low altitude world flying records at the same time. You would
think that with Darryl’s flying escapades (which have included at
least one forced jet plane seat ejection) nothing would faze him.
Nevertheless, it was a subdued Darryl Greenamyer who climbed out
of his awesome Ferrari 3l5S.
In my opinion, having the best drive of the day was CSRG member
and founder David Love in his 250 Testa Rossa Ferrari. Dave
makes everything look so smooth and simple — so much so that turn
nine appeared to be taken at a walking pace. Nevertheless, the
gap between David, and second place man, Don Orosco had lengthened.
A fine drive, particularly as David was still not fully recovered
from back surgery.
Back in third place Stephen Griswold was having a very hard time,
and afterwards remarked that the 450S Maserati (another monster
with a grim record) was a “lot easier to drive”.
The final outcome of group 6 was, of course, David Love in first
place; a rapidly improving Don Orosco in his Aston Martin DBR2 in
2nd; and a breathless Stephen Griswold a fine third in the Ferrari
410 Sport; Ted Gilred in the very fast yellow Porsche RSK in 4th;
Stephen Block driving a very sensible, tidy race in his
covertable Maserati 300S 5th; and enthusiast par excellence Bob
Sutherland 6th, in his magnificent 1955 Ferrari 625 Formula One
car.
Race 7 (sports cars under two liters 1956 through 58) featured a
slew of Loti with a sprinkling of Porsche 500, Dolphin and Ferrari. “Scuderia Casado” members were all wearing attractive
black and yellow T shirts to compliment John’s and Micki’s, his pretty
and enthusiastic wife’s, four cylinder 500 TRC Ferrari,
refreshingly painted in yellow, a la Ecurie Belge. John’s lap
times were a model of consistency, and here we have the perfect
example of a new CSRG member, sensibly getting himself up to speed during his first season, with a total lack of heroics and funnies! Another Ferrari 500 TR in this race was Thor Thorson’s
— surely a top contender for the “Hans Tanner concours” award if it
had been shown the following day. Thorson’s car was rebuilt by
Mike Dopudja, who also received an award for his outstandinq rebuild of the special Cobra coupe Type65 of Peter Brock design.
It is interesting that two of our three CSRG driver observers
started on the back of the grid this weekend as in addition to
myself, Walt Mathewson in his lovable “Pooper” was the tailgate
of a very large grid indeed, and really had his work cut out to
take a very fine second place overall, just pipping Felix Brunot
in his Lotus 11. Porsche 550s made first, fifth and seventh
places in this race, and it is clear that the Lotus 11 brigade
are not going to take this lying down!
Race group 8 (sports racing cars 1959 through 1962) was run at a
very fast pace indeed. Don Orosco in his sweet handling Porsche
RS60 managed to stay ahead of Ted Peterson’s “Ol’ Yeller” Mark 10,
one of two varieties of “0l’ Yeller” running in this race, neither
of them, according to the experts, conforming that closely to
original specification.
Jim Luckman drove to an excellent third
in this race in his 1959 Cooper Monaco two liter, while another
Cooper Monaco, with 2 liter engine, was enthusiastically
driven by Bruce Owen, who has just rejoined the CSRG. Yet
another Cooper device came 4th in this race — a Cooper Monaco
Ferrari, previously campaigned by Pete Lovely, and now driven with
some abandon by Bill Cammarano. 5th in this race was CSRG’s Jim Tracy
in his immaculate and well prepared Porsche RS6I, while “Sideways”
Roger Downer was 6th in his early two liter Cooper Climax, giving
us shades of Jack Brabham in his beginning Cooper years.
In no time at all Group, 9 (GT cars 1962 through 65) were on their
warm up lap. Stephen Griswold was out again, this time in the ex,
Lumsden/Sargent E Type which originally was a conventional
lightweight. Over the months/years this car went through a number
of changes, including a Malcolm Sayer inspired body, similar to
Dick Protheroe’s “Cut 7”. Automotive history buffs got a kick
out of the fact that this special E Type circulated in the race
with organizer Steve Earle’s Ferrari GTO, thought to be the self
same GTO that duelled with it back in 64! This magnificently
proportioned Jaguar is now owned by another soon to be CSRG
member, Richard Crebs who did a fair amount of nail biting as Griswold circulated, particularly as Stephen and Jaguars
have shown quite an affinity to Armco of late! Sure enough, it
was a start1ed Richard Crebs who, following the “oohs” of the
crowd, reluctantly directed his attention to turn 8, beyond which
Stephen Griswold was valiantly fighting a now almost brake-less E
type in a cloud of dust, less than a foot away from the armco!
With a concerted sigh of relief we watched Stephen get his unruly
steed back under control, while Steve Earle slipped through to
take a fine 8th place!
Up front, Don Roberts, driving one of
the most successful Cobras of all time, roared into first place,
this particular Cobra, just looking, Sounding and handling so
much better and tighter than any of the other Cobras out on the
circuit. A commendable second place was taken by Chris Gruys in
the Cobra 427 prototype. Bob Paterson in the Corvette GS,
very untidy on turn 9 -- but oh how the crowd enjoyed it - was
3rd. In 4th place was enthusiast Gordon Gimbell who did well in
his Cobra, and in 5th place CSRG’s Lou Sellyei, upheld the honors
in his yellow Ferrari 250 LM.
And so, all too soon, another Laguna Seca historic was over. The
first and last places all received prizes and it was a proud Phil Van Ek
who collected a “Die Hard” award, which hopefully won’t encourage
him to revert back to old knicker elastic again for tie
downs!
Once again — thank you Steve Earle; thank you Peter Talbot; thank
you Mercedes-Benz and Phil Hill for that awesome W196
demonstration; and thank you SCCA workers, et al.
Next year’s Laguna Seca will be a tribute to Porsche. That gives
us a whole year to nag Porsche into bringing over their V16 Auto
Union — I can hardly wait!
(Written in 1981) |