Pictures and the eclectic writing of an Ohio gearhead.
Monday, October 31, 2005
odd ball
I am saving dates in the side bar of events I would like to go to next year and the first four show the usual problem, conflict!
The big drag racing event, just a few miles from my house, is on the same weekend as the American Le Mans sports cars visit to Mid Ohio.
The AMA Superbikes are racing on the same weekend that thousands of hot rodders are going to nearby Kentucky.
Now I know there have to be conflicts in schedules when it comes to motorsports but why is it regional? Why are big events held on the same weekend in the same region?
I first noticed this back in 1974 or 75. I wanted to go to Hershey but I also wanted to go to the Canadien Grand Prix at Mosport and they were on the same weekend.
You would think that they would have sorted all this out in 30 years!
But, I guess it's not really much of a problem. There aren't too many odd balls like me who like everything!
Just about my favorite magazine of all time was Supercar Classics. It was a short-lived British magazine, well written, great photography, good ideas, a keeper all around.
The theme revolved around the supercar and perhaps that was the problem as there are a limited number of supercars you can write about. Sooner or later you run out of them and then you are writing about some very fine automobiles that aren't supercars.
Late in its life Supercar Classics was featuring cars like the MGB. I guess interest began to wane and the partners who started the magazine closed it down.
There wasn't anything to replace it until now.
Hemmings Motor News is now publishing a magazine called Sports & Exotic Car and it is very similar to the old Supercar Classics. They have put out three issues so far and this is what you will find in them.
Each of the first three issues had three drive reports and they cover a wide variety of cars. Model years have ranged from 1936 to 2005, there has been the extremely rare 1938 Peugeot 402 DSE Darl'mat Special Sport Roadster to the more familiar Toyota Celica GT Liftback and Audi Quattro.
You will also find auction reports, a biographical piece, a restoration piece, an article on model cars and book reviews in each issue, just like Supercar Classics.
One thing I have really liked so far is an article in every issue on an old car that has been in continuous service for all of its life.
Pros: This could shape up as an honest replacement for Supercar Classics. They are establishing a wide range of cars to draw from right up front and they have all the bases covered.
Cons: The photography, good as it is, just doesn't measure up to Supercar Classics.
When the ISMA super modifieds come to Ohio I want to be there!
This is super fast super exciting super racing!
Here is a Jim Feeney photo from the ISMA website. It shows two of their top stars, eventual winner Chris Pearly (#11) and Pat Abold (#1) at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway on October 1st.
Lots of pictures at the IMSA website but I didn't spot a page describing the cars! From the Midwest Supermodified Association website here is a description I culled from the rulebook. American V8 power of either 481 cubic inches (8 litres) for big blocks or 412 cubic inches (6.8 litres) for small blocks, no transmission, weight 1850 pounds for a big block car, 1650 for a small block, weight is offset to the left up to 68%, wheelbase of 100 inches or less, 24 square foot wing.
It compares a modern bike to an older one, one near and dear to my heart, the once mighty Honda CBX.
And he asks the pertinent question, why can't cars lose weight the way that bikes have?
I've been wondering about this myself of late. I've been day dreaming about building a little car for commuting. Something that I can strip down to 2000 pounds or less. But everything recent that can get that light is really small.
I go to the races to see the cars racing each other. Sure I get to see crashes too but if that was all there was to it I wouldn't bother coming back.
I saw a number of cars get banged up at Mid Ohio this year but in most cases the owner probably has a number of spares in his back yard and the car will be repaired or a new one will be built. He will be back at it as soon as he can, racing again, going door to door through tight spots and accelerating as hard as possible over and over again. When he does this he will be in a car that has crash and fire protection built into it, he will have a fire suit on and there will be help for him if he needs it. On top of all that the driver is trained for high speed driving and in practice.
That's a lot more than you can say for the people who modified their cars at this website. In most cases these people have money and not much of anything else. Take a tour and marvel.
I was too busy watching to get any really good photos. I only have small lenses on my digitals and will have to consider something with better glass for next year. We have some Formula Vees here strechting as far as the eye can see.
The rest are production classes which provided the best racing everyday.
Here is a picture of the Mercedes and my tent in the campgrounds at Mid Ohio.The interesting collection of cars belong to my neighbors who moved in on Thursday night just before a severe thunderstorm moved in.
There were other interesting cars there, but not in the camp grounds.
