Another Good Day! Specifically, I have secured the scalp of a seriously cammed small block Chevy and that scalp is un-contested under the universally accepted Code Of Woodward Avenue! Here is the story. I am driving down one of our few four lanes and I am in the wrong lane. I am in the left, fast [55mph] lane, and the wrong lane. And snappy rumbling shiny black pickup 'Rod' is up my tail. The moment I pull over to let him pass (quickly) I hear the unmistakable crackle-pop of a cammed small block Chevy from my left rear behind the truck! This is the universal challenge. "Ok kid, show me what you HAVE." By the time the truck was past I was already had third gear waiting to see who was making all that racket. It was a Caddie CTS with a great big 6.0 on the fender skirt. I ran up next to him as we both slowed down for the truck and I gave him a big thumbs up. Then we both fell back one or two hundred yards. These sorts of contests are generally decided in three seconds. Since I was challenged I got to start the 'contest'. I fully expect to be WAY dusted but that did not happen! I jumped one, then two, then three or more car lengths ahead! Why, you might ask. That is easy to answer. When he challenged me I sifted down two gears and got on my cam. He did not. When he nailed his throttle there was a full second of pop gasp fart! The next second he was running smooth, and in the third second he was charging up like an F-15 and would have passed me like I was stopped in a fourth second. But the truck was four seconds right in front of him so not a chance in hell he had that extra second. THEMS THE RULES! We both know his car is faster and we both know I won the challenge. Thats all there is to it. We gave each other a second thumbs up, I pulled behind and off on my beer run. Sometimes you take a challenge simply because you need to uphold the honor or your ride, regardless of the odds. And in this particular case my adversary will remember the run against my Ferrari. He will describe the Ferrari driver as a player, that I jumped him many car lengths and that he himself screwed up and lost. And I doubt he will describe my Ferrari as slow. NOBODY who is beaten by ANY car in such circumstances is going to describe his adversary as SLOW! Our rolling start was probably 55 or 60 mph. I probably had another second or so before needing forth gear.
David really just turned 21, but his refrigerator is completely filled with chocolate milk and cookie dough. That's why he always making so many of these, now famous, Rapalyea Beer Runs ! Boy, you would have enjoyed Van Nuys Blvd. back in the day. Cheers, Hank
Van Nuys Blvd. on Wednesday nights, I was there in my 69 Mach 1. Oh God now I am showing my age again.
Yeah. Van Nuys.....sigh. And I do a lot of beer runs but never drive that day after have procured the daily allotment. But I have fun with my Ferrari. I did not expect to win this little three second contest. But some guy thought my Ferrari was worthy of a test. So I accepted the test fully expecting to have been smoked. I WAS NOT SMOKED. I took the guy fair and square. Everyone knows that. Everyone around hear LIKES the Ferrari. However, I now have an earned reputation. Not that I ever expect to do it again. I have the luxury of QUITING while I am ahead. I recommend the movie American Graffiti. These sorts of things are part of our national mythology. These things matter. And in this particular contest I have a scalp. Fair and Square. Plus I continue to wear out tires at 5,000 mile intervals so its not like I drive the interstates looking for 'Fonzie".
LOLOLLLL ....... and in 56, I had just finished installing the full race flathead in my 48 Ford coupe. Had to run the Blvd - - just to make sure it was all good and proper ! Hey Howie, the longer we live, the more we can talk about - - just as long as we remember it all. Cheers, Hank
Hank? Hats off! I know full well I am an arrested case of development. In fact I knew that when I was a kid and decided to do stuff in order to grow up. Well, I did lots of stuff but never grew up. However, as you point out we are all an accumulation of what we have done and what we have been subjected to [stories!]. I am satisfied enough. Plenty of things I might do differently, plenty of things done properly. However, it is the entire sum total that I look back on. And to my great surprise? Its not all in vain. And my Bucket List Ferrari! What a gas. As for stories. One reason I tell my recent Ferrari Stories is there is little assurance I will remember them next week!
I do not have a lot of heads on my library wall. But there is one other one of which I take pride. WAY back in about 1975 I was running test & tune night at the Manasses. I was changing out carb jets on my 1974 Vega station wagon. It was fully autocross prepped, had Linartti Cam and headers, but otherwise I was just running times. For whatever reasons some guy in a Chevy small block pick-up truck had decided to descend upon me. He actually waited at the right hand side of the drag strip start till I got on line in the left lane. He pointed at me and I simple nodded in supernatural indifference. I left the line in my normal manner: 4,000 rpms, full throttle and drop the clutch. Took him in all three useful gears! So twice I have been challenge by one or another Goliath and twice shut each one down. I do not expect to accept single combat by any more Goliaths! My lifetime bag limit is two....
Hi Rapalyea, I'm 100percent with your first thread starting post all the way! It's summer hereand Kato the 3.0 is always our weapon of choice over our 3.2 since he is now the faster car. Generally I won't race just anything, we only go for worthy apponents just because it's not worth the effort and the more races you get in the more chance there is of attracting the wrong kind of attention. We have had many scraps with Porsches, Lotus, Astons, Lambos, Nissans, Lexus, Bentleys and the like. The trick is that being an ex racer I've learned how to play to the Ferraris strengths, I know that by todays standards the old Ferrari is vunerable on the power stakes. However very few 'players' are ever as committed as me and Kato in the twisty bits or in the roundabouts/circles and under very late braking. As a result I hunt only in areas that have short straights with lots of corners and roundabouts/circles, long power straights I avoid when taking on powerful Astons, Lambos and Bentleys, but big cars like them are very weak against the old lad in the corners and under braking. In short the word has gone out about the old Ferrari sharking the area and now I get quite a few folks come over for a chat and ask for a ride out, which is nice. Most come back surprised at what an old Ferrari is actually capable of and many say the've not been as quick in anything, ever. I think the massage is, yes you can have computers and traction control, abs, and paddle shift gears but at the end ofd the day that old Ferrari is actually rather good once given some personal tweaking. This means that in the hands of anyone with a reasonable degree of ability, it's actually a bit bloody fast even by todays standards, and it's wonderful fun. All the best Bell.
Ha ha the police here love people posting their exploits on video...... ;-) Know what I mean. All the best Bell
Other precautions include, a piece of black card that blanks out the speed because everyone one who I take out on a demo run seems to start filming and next thing you know it's all over the damn place ;-) I've been out with a couple of the guys from the UKs Top Gear, I too filmed it on the condition it was never used....and in my personal archive it shall remain, always. It's cool to look back on but a promise is a promise. All the best Bell.
PS: Do you find a downshift to 4,500 or 5,000 rpm is enough to clear the waters? A Ferrari spewing forth warp drive noise seems to have a magical effect on many an unsuspecting driver.
Yes 4,500rpm downshift on Kato is about perfect to hit that power band, but generally I don't have to try that hard, I also don't like to sound like I'm trying that hard. Depends on the situation I guess but ultimately a downshift to 4,500 is gonna get you moving. 'Racing is like chess with wheels on' There you go that's one of my quotes and what I always say to people when describing what it's like to race. I love the strategy, sizing up your opposition, seeing where they are vulnerable and exploiting it whilst hiding where you are vulnerable. It's a battle of horsepower, handling, and the head. All the best Bell
I have done lots of autocross but that is timing against ones self. Turning laps at Summit Point reminded my of the computer games of the era. Lots of tunnel vision concentration and repeat after repeat exacting repetition till something changed in my favor. But frankly, 30 laps was enough to tire me out some! I to not know how long distance racers manage. Sleep walking? Perhaps!
PS: I was given a Porche Caymen at Skip Barber School Road Atlanta. I threw in the towel after five laps. Why. First of all with my helmet one I did not fit in that topolino! I had to cramp myself over the steering wheel. Second, my group of drivers would not go fast. By fast I mean Miata Fast. THATS what we were following. Finally, I did not like the track. I found it, unlike the user friendly Summit Point, intimidating. Mostly way way way to many Jersey Barriers to slide into. Summit Point off road was just dirt. Atlanta was reinforced concrete. And of course a blind high speed drop without sight line to the road below. So I am cramped up in this Fiat 500 sized cockpit. Everyone is going slow. And I do not have any chance of learning all this crap in any sort of realistic way at all. Mostly I was getting motion sickness. I just told the instructor time to leave. My real regret is I had permission to run the MAXX but I said MAXX? Here is a Porche! They were going to run me and my MAXX as separate exercise. What I did not know is I could have run with those itty bitty Miatas in my MAXX. Perhaps head to head! THAT would have been something to do. Oh well. A good enough time was had by all. ESPECIALLY on the Autocross. After my extended run the entire class came up to the car to ogle it. The instructor was surreptitiously examining my evenly worn front drive tires. I was getting strong rotation in all the curves at full throttle. Who gets power drift in a front wheel drive car? Sometimes cars and tracks just match up. Thats all there is to it.
