Automo-fun Archive

BOSS!

Posted September 18, 2011 By jack

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of stopping by the 55th annual Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance with my camera. The range of cars was incredible, but one in particular caught my eye:

Beautiful plumage!

A Night with Derek Bell

Posted August 29, 2010 By jack

Last night, my dad took me to a dinner at a local car club he belongs to. The featured speaker of the evening was Derek Bell, the famous British racecar driver. In case you’re not familiar with him, here’s a little background. Derek started racing a Lotus 7 when he was twenty-three, and quickly worked his way up to racing Formula 1 cars for Ferrari. Among his most impressive achievements, he has won Le Mans (the oldest endurance car race) five times, and 24 Hours of Daytona (an American endurance race) three times.

We arrived towards the end of the dinner, because my parents were attending their friend’s fiftieth birthday party, which also marked his fifth year as a cancer survivor. Derek hadn’t spoken yet, so we inhaled our Caesar salads and short ribs (which were excellent) while introducing ourselves to the others at our table. After dinner was cleared, the president of the club introduced Derek, who began by talking about some of his experiences racing. He started by showing us what it was like to race in Le Mans; he narrated as we watched some video taken from a camera attached to his car on a qualifying lap. I cannot begin to describe how exhilarating it was watching a POV shot of him doing 234 m.p.h. on the Mulsanne Straight. Moving on, he spoke about the making of the 1971 movie Le Mans, which he starred in with Steve McQueen.

After he finished with his presentation, he opened up the floor to questions from the audience. Although I don’t remember all of them, they brought up some interesting topics, such as why he was so successful with some of his teammates, especially Jacky Ickx, with whom he won Le Mans three times. He also talked about his son, Justin, who decided he wanted to become a racer. When the questions were finished, Dad approached him after the event and asked if he could sign a few books (of course, he brought four). Mr. Bell thought it was great that Dad and I are rebuilding an old muscle car, and he gave me some advice on driving a Mustang (they handle terribly). He was incredibly nice, and he showed a lot of interest when you were talking… he wasn’t always babbling about himself. I was glad to have an opportunity to meet him.

Just in from my friend Stephen Claassen, of Tropical Sportscar Center in Ft. Lauderdale, (an absolute wizard with tools in hand):

A guy walks into a bar with a pair of jumper cables, the bar tenders says “Alright I’ll serve you, but don’t try to start anything”.

Last night we ended our car maintenance and emergency procedures clinic (see Order Restored 8 March) with the delightful young ladies from the National Charity League before they had the opportunity to try changing a tire.  We did so for a very important reason: they had to hurry home to catch the 82nd Annual Academy Awards show. (Jack and I recorded it so we could “time shift” and start watching it at 8:30 while we inhaled a late dinner).

Our friend G (who coordinated the session at the three lions garage) stayed long enough to practice changing her tire (which she did flawlessly).  It was interesting to learn in the process that the standard lug wrench supplied with her very cool Mazda 3 (ZOOM ZOOM) was too short for her to apply sufficient leverage to loosen the lug nuts. And I wouldn’t call G a wimp.  She is a multi-sport athlete and a terrific skier.  The OEM lug wrench was so short that even when she tried jumping up and down on it, she couldn’t get the lug nuts to budge.  If it wasn’t for our practice session, she never would have realized it and could very easily have been stranded somewhere as a result.

Happily, G learned about the shortcomings (literally) of the OEM lug wrench *BEFORE* an emergency arose in which she was dependent on it.  She easily loosened said nuts with the longer lug wrench we gave her.  I think she’ll be purchasing a better, aftermarket lug wrench to include in her Automotive Emergency Kit.

Then, we threw down the guantlet. We encouraged (OK, we straight-out challenged) the other ladies in her group to try changing a tire in the comfort of their own driveways on a sunny day with a cold (non-alcoholic) drink within reach.  Doing so when you’ve removed all the stress-inducing conditions typically present when you are forced to change your tire  is the best way to learn.  You should first practice a tire change when (1) the weather is optimal, 2) the lighting is good, 3) there is no danger from nearby car traffic and 4) there is no time pressure.

Jack and I offered a brand new digital tire gauge to the first young lady to send us photos confirming she has successfully completed a practice tire change session.

Will any of these talented young ladies will pick up the gauntlet?

what a mess!

Posted March 3, 2010 By dad

 

I’ve been traveling too much and our work space needs some serious attention.  No pressure, but Jack and I are hosting 14 ladies this weekend for auto maintenance and emergency procedures 101.  This will not cut it–major cleanup planned this weekend.

Not quite ready for prime time…