Road Chatter

E N D L E S S R O A D

Road Chatter XXXVII

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Car-Guy Trivia Questions

• Formula 1

• Bits and Pieces

• Car-Guy Trivia Answers

• 10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

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Car-Guy Trivia (answers are later in this email)

1) So .. What do an average of 20 people do each year while staring at a Goodyear Blimp?

2) The first Mustangs rolled off of the assembly line with a mistake that is still part of every Mustang today. What is it?

3) The Duke boys have brought their Dodge Charger, the General Lee, to the big screen. And Chrysler has come out with their reincarnation of the Charger. The 1969 Dodge Charger was one of the most famous and most powerful muscle cars of the sixties. A 69 Charger also starred in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry with Peter Fonda. It's anybody's guess what the Charger sells for now; the price goes up faster than you can say Barrett-Jackson. But how much did they cost when they new in 1969?

A) $3500

B) $4000

C) $5000

D) $5500

4) A- What 1964 convertible did Nick Nolte drive in '48 Hours'?

B- What make of car did Charlie Babbit import from Italy in 'Rain Man'?

5) His food organization has made over $200 million over the years, and his face is on every product he sells. He didn't do all that well in golf, tennis, or several other sports. But once he tried racing (in his mid 40's), he was hooked. In an ex-racecar from one of Virginia's local guys that made good, he went on to SCCA championships, Daytona 24 hour wins, and racing in Baja. He was one of the first to use a HANS device, his name is in The Guinness Book of Records, and he is now involved in a Champ Car team. Who is he?

--- Retreads ---

These last three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember them from before, consider this a memory test.

6) In England, there were many Cottage Industry Automobile Manufacturers: the TVR, the Berkley, the Fairthorp, to name a few. A Mr. D. H. and his brother had built up such a company with a fine reputation in the 50's, but their products were falling behind the times. They found what they needed when they bought out the Tojiero, a British racing sports car with a clean, simple roadster body on a crude ladder frame. The brothers' only body change was to raise the headlights to meet international minimum height regulations. The original engine produced a measly 40 HP at 3000 RPM. However, this body style is now famous the world over. Why?

7) What rock group got its name from a fire engine made by the creator of a popular American automobile that recently went belly up?

8) Many that remember the Blues Brothers on the big screen remember their personal ride. What car was the Bluesmobile?

Last month, we had a question about the speed of the first auto race in the US. We said be the first person that tells us what cars were raced and where, and where we could confirm that information, and you would receive a $25 Gift Certificate.

....

Tim P from MAMA sent the correct information, but could not confirm it.

Rick S gave us the correct information and the web-site to confirm it. Tim, we do appreciate your quick response, you definitely know your Car Trivia. Congratulations Rick, we hope you enjoyed the videos you chose with your Gift Certificate.

Rick's response was:

"The race was run at Chicago, IL, from Jackson Park to Waukegan and back, 90 miles roundtrip. The only contestants on Nov. 2, 1895, were Frank Duryea, of Springfield, Mass., in a car he built based on designs by his brother, Charles, and Oscar Mueller in a Germanbuilt Benz owned by his father, a machine shop operator in Decatur, Ill."

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Formula 1

Last month in the trivia questions, we said: There are only three Formula 1 drivers that had the pole position in their first F1 race. Who were they?

We mentioned Mario Andretti as one of the drivers. Thanks to our friend and F1 Guru, Jack N, for sending this to us:

Regarding the pole position in his first drive in F1, Mario got pole in his "first" race in the 1968 U.S. GP at the Glen, but he had actually "qualified" in the preceding Italian GP at Monza. In Mario Andretti, the Complete Record by Mike O'Leary, he relates that Mario (driving for Lotus) and Bobby Unser (for BRM) qualified for the GP, flew back to the U.S. to participate in a USAC race, and then back to Italy for the GP. On their return, they were told they would not be allowed to race due to the rule that a driver could not compete in two international events in a 24-hour time period. Mario says in the book that, although he can't prove it, he believes Enzo Ferrari was the one who made sure the rule was enforced, even though the race stewards had ensured Unser and Andretti before they left for America that they would be allowed to race, and the cars were ready on the grid before the start.

2005 Formula 1 World Championship

Sept. 4 Italy (Monza)

Sept. 11 Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

Sept. 25 Brazil (Interlagos)

October 9 Japan (Suzuka)

October 16 China (Shanghai International Circuit)

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• Bits and Pieces

Cumberland, Maryland

To most DC folks, it's just the place at the other end of the C&O Canal. But, from 1953 to 1970, it was the place to go once a year for the great road races at Cumberland Airport. This was back in the days when spectator safety was chicken wire between you and the track. Then, for a lot of those years, the honchos were threatening to drop it for so long that I remember going to what we called the third-annual last-ever race.

Great names ran in Cumberland: Carroll Shelby, Briggs Cunningham, Dr. Dick Thompson, Walt Hansgen, John Fitch, Denise McCluggage, Bruce Jennings, Bob Holbert, Hap Sharp, Don Yenko, even Roger Penske.

And the cars! How's this? Birdcage Maserati, Ferrari Testa Rossa and 250MM Spyder, XK120 Jag, D Type Jaguar, Lister Jag, Porsche 356 Speedsters and coupes, Porsche RS 61, Porsche RS 550 Spyder, Cobra 289 and 427, Mustang, Camaro Z28, Sunbeam Alpine, MG TC's, TD's, TF's, A's, B's, Midgets, every flavor of Austin Healey, Triumph and Corvette, Cunningham C61R, Morgans, Bristols, Cooper Ford, Minis, Siata, OSCA, Fiat Abarth, Cooper Climax, Lola Climax. If I didn't mention your favorite from that era, it probably ran there, too.

Roger Penske took his SCCA driver's test in Cumberland in a 283 Corvette in

1958. Roger passed, but the Vette blew its engine and then fell off the trailer on the way home.

Bob Tullius and his Group 44 were always big winners there, racing everything Triumph brought out. Then, when TR and MG merged with almost every other Brit brand, they raced all of them, too. Remember Bob's screaming Dodge Dart? He raced that there, too.

In May of 1968, the Cumberland Airport saw automotive history in the making. The Howmet Turbine Car, a futuristic prototype designed around a turbine helicopter engine, finished a race for the first time and burst upon the international motor sports scene. By the way, it ran in Marlboro, Maryland that summer.

Now, the guys in Cumberland are at it again. Mostly, now, they are doing rallies and autocrosses. Cumberland is only about two hours away from the DC, Baltimore area. And if you are there on a Friday night, stop by the main street through town to hear the free music on the bandstand.

Even if you don't go, at least check out the photos on this web site to see what racing was like in the 60's and 70's.

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Did they do it on purpose?

You have probably seen the Volkswagen commercial where the little symbol of a guy wearing a seatbelt is having a great time being thrown from side to side while the VW handles the curves. Cute. But now, every time I turn on my car, I see that little guy on my dash light up, and I think of the commercial.

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Women Drivers

(Source Unknown)

Driving to the office this morning on the Interstate, I looked over to my left, and there was a woman in a brand new Mustang, doing 65 mph, with her face up next to her rear view mirror, putting on her eyeliner. I looked away for a couple seconds and, when I looked back, she was halfway over in my lane, still working on that makeup. As a man, I don't scare easily. But for some reason, she scared the heck out of me. So much so that I dropped my electric shaver; this knocked the donut out of my other hand. In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, it knocked my cell phone away from my ear, which fell into the coffee between my legs, splashed, and burned "Big John" and the "Twins", ruined the darn phone, soaked my trousers, and disconnected an important call. Darn women driver

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Car-Guy Trivia Answers

1) What do an average of 20 people do each year while staring at a Goodyear Blimp? They shoot at it.

(Thanks to Trivial Pursuit Genus IV)

2) The first Mustangs rolled off of the assembly line with a mistake that is still part of every Mustang. The Mustang in the grille emblem is running in the wrong direction. The grille emblem horse was to appear as if viewed from the grandstand at a horse race track.

(Thanks to our friend, Tim P, the Webmaster for Maryland Automobile Modelers Association, MAMA

3) The 1969 Dodge Charger cost brand new $4000.

4) A- Nick Nolte drove a 1964 Cadillac convertible in '48 Hours'.

B- Charlie Babbitt imported Lamborghinis in 'Rain Man'.

5) The food honcho? His food producing organization contributes every cent of profit to charity; so far that's over $200M. Did we mention he is also in the movies? Once Paul Newman starred in the movie 'Winning', racing was his love. From then on, he only scheduled films out of racing season. He bought the Group 44 TR6 from Bob Tullius and soon moved on to become lead driver in Bob Sharp's Datsun. His name is in The Guinness Book of Records as the oldest man to win a professional auto race. Well, yes, coincidentally, we do have the movie on DVD.

(Thanks to Sam R for this one)

--- Retreads ---

6) The brothers, Derek and Charles Hurlock, were doing well producing their AC Ace when they were approached by a Texas chicken farmer who wanted to stuff an American V8 in it. You know it as the Cobra 260, which became the Cobra 289, and then morphed into the ground-pounding Cobra 427.

(From 'The Great Book of Sports Cars' 1988 by Dean Batchelor, Chris Poole and Graham Robson.)

7) The rock group is REO Speedwagon, who can thank Ransom E. Olds for their name. We all know Mr. Olds as the creator of the Oldsmobile.

(From Trivial Pursuit Genus IV.)

8) The Bluesmobile was an Ex-Mount Prospect, Illinois 1974 police model Dodge Monaco 440.

(From 'Dodge, Plymouth & Chrysler Police Cars' by Edwin Sanow and John Bellah.)

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10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

We want to thank Tim and Sam for the trivia questions. Remember, you both will receive a 10% discount on your next purchases.

Send us an interesting fact on just about anything on wheels: cars, trucks, F1, Drags, Muscle Cars, weird obsolete car thingies, whatever, and if we use it, then you get 10% off all purchases on everything on your next order.

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Thanks,

Dave Payne