Road Chatter

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• Car Trivia Questions

• Give Away

• Formula 1

• Bits and Pieces

• Car Trivia Answers

• 10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

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Car Trivia (answers are later in this email)

1) James Bond is going through some changes; first, they downsize his Aston Martin, then they make him a blond, next thing you know, his martinis will be shaken and stirred. This international spy, hero, lover of all beautiful women, could not drive around in just any old car. He has to have something as smooth, powerful, and as good looking as himself. But what was James Bond's first car?

2) Who are Emanuel Rosenfeld, Maurice Strause, and Graham Jackson better known as?

3) What manufacturer patented the H shift pattern?

A- Buick

B- Hurst

C- Mercedes Benz

D- Packard

4) One of the big three was coming out with a hot new car to compete with their number one smash hit of their competitor. But, they still did not have a name. Being considered were Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, Arctrus, Saville, El Tigre and Coronado. What car in production today was almost called the Beaver?

5) All Baltimoreans know Fells Point, the area east of the famed Inner Harbor Baltimore, on the edge of its Little Italy, interesting and charming, a few nice restaurants, and plenty of not-so-pristine bars and pubs. It also has a claim to fame for us Car Guys. What would that be?

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

6) Previously, we asked where BMW got its M3 name. This month, how about Aston Martins DB1, DB2, DB2/4, DB4, up to the DB7? They have been using the DB designation since the DB1 in 1948.

7) The first Chrysler Corporation cop car was the 1956 Dodge 230 Pursuit. Care to take a guess what engine it had?

8) The first Cobra had a Ford Fairlane 260 cubic inch engine; this soon grew to the 289. In 1963, it was called the Cobra Mark II by the AC designers. This had the 289 engine and rack and pinion steering. What engine was in the Cobra Mark III?

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• Give Away

Our regulars know that last month, we were giving away a $25 Gift Certificate from Endless Road. We are happy to say the winner was our friend and customer, Chris J.

For Christmas, we are upping the ante. For every purchase our regular Road Chatter recipients make, we will put their names in our drawing, and the person whose name is drawn will receive a $30 Gift Certificate from Endless Road.

Good Luck.

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Formula 1

There MAY be a new F1 team this year. Aguri Suzuki has put together a team running Honda engines. The name will be Super Aguri Formula One. Aguri has been racing since age 12, starting with Karts and continuing with touring cars and Le Mans. He ran in F1 with Larrousse, Footwork/Arrows and Ligier. He now owns a team in IRL.

You may have heard that when Takuma Sato was dropped, Honda got a lot of flak from Takuma fans. Honda then said they would supply engines to any team that picked him up. This works out great for both team and driver: Japanese team, Honda engine supplier, available experienced F1 driver. And it is especially good for Takuma; if the team looks good, than Takuma's a hero. It the team doesn't do so well, it's the inexperienced teams fault. Takuma Sato can be a good driver if and when he sheds some of his cowboy driving style.

And, there MAY NOT be a new F1 team. Super Aguri still has not submitted acceptable FIA registration documents. And, when they do, the other teams have to vote them in. That means the teams would have to split the money from television 11 ways, rather than 10. Hmm, more competition, less money coming in. Someone is going to have a lot of convincing to do.

2005 Schedule

March 12 Bahrain March 19 Malaysia April 2 Australia April 23 San Marino May 7 Nurburgring May 14 Barcelona May 28 Monaco June 11 Great Britain June 25 Montreal July 2 Indianapolis July 16 France July 30 Germany August 6 Hungary August 27 Turkey Sept. 10 Italy Sept. 17 Belgium Oct. 1 Japan Oct. 8 China Oct. 22 Brazil

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• Bits and Pieces

MY FAVORITE CAR This month is from our friend, Rodger D, a true Car Guy.

In 1968, my wife Karen and I ordered a car to replace our 'used up' 1965 Plymouth Satellite. That car had been subjected to two years of hard drag racing, many Road Trips, and the last year as a tow car.

The end result was a 1968 Charger R/T in Turbine Bronze with black interior. It had the 375 bhp 440 cid engine, a Torqueflite transmission and Sure-Grip rear, no power steering (to minimize front-end weight), and G70x15 Polyglass Goodyear tires (standard for the Hemi cars).

The Charger arrived in mid April, so we broke it in. I had a set of 4.30 gears installed, and we went to my favorite drag-strip, a small strip called Kings Dragway near Savannah, NY. Running time-trials in drive, I was rewarded with a 14.12 ET. Considering that the best I would ever run with my Satellite (383, Torqueflite, headers, 3.91:1 rear) was 14.22 ET. I was very pleased. Later runs, shifting manually, were better. I lost to a 1967 Plymouth GTX convertible; not used to the 4.30s, I ended up floating the valves.

I then put in street hemi outer valve springs (6-pack valve springs), Cloyes roller-timing chain, a Mallory full-mechanical distributor and coil, and full-metal distributor wires. Back to the track in July, I got my revenge on the GTX.

I added Hooker under-chassis headers and 24-inch long header collector extensions. Time trials revealed that the extensions were good for 0.3 to

0.5 seconds ET reduction. I ended up running a best of 13.12, but apparently staged too deep in competition and red-lighted against a good-running GTO.

One Christmas, my wife gave me a B&M valve body and deep sump tranny pan. Really made the shifts crisper; I could hear the slicks chirp in second.

After an aborted shot at serious racing, I eventually detuned the car, but I did continue racing in pure stock. One Sunday at Kings Dragway, I beat a 427 Chevy Impala through the traps by a bumper. Pure stock hemis were never a real problem to beat, since they generally were not geared properly. One Sunday, there must have been 30 cars in the class: a mix of Mopars, a couple of GTOs and 442s, and even a Z-28. My fellow racer in the GTX was there, as well. Obviously, the top of the class, we "conspired" not to race each other until the final round. I ran the Z-28 and simply blew his doors off. I then beat the GTX in the final round.

In 1973, I had the Charger repainted, all the R/T emblems removed, and a

6-pack hood scoop added. Looked pretty neat. In 1974, we moved to California. One evening on Route 280 (a beautiful highway), a 1968 or so Corvette came up behind, indicating he wanted to play. I hit the pedal and pulled away from him. When I felt the front end starting to get a bit light, I noticed we were doing 120 mph, and the speed was still rising. By then, the Corvette was quite a ways behind. So, I came back down to more reasonable speeds, and we proceeded on home.

In 1977, when gas prices were at the unheard-of level of $0.75/gallon, I decided it was time to sell the car. I bought a 1969 Jaguar E-type coupe, which I had for the next 22 years. But, that is another story.

Rodger D.

Thanks to Rodger for bringing back so many memories of my own 1964 MOPAR, with a Chrysler 440 engine that we picked up at a junk yard.

Let us know about your favorite car, and, if we use it, you get 10% off all of your next purchases.

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65th Greater Washington, D.C. Soap Box Derby June 17, 2006: Area youth 8 to 17 will be racing their gravity-powered cars down Capitol Hill from 9 am til 5pm (setup begins at 6am).

The three DC SBD division winners go on to race in the July international event in Akron Ohio. Over 500 champs from 150 US and a few international cities will be competing for limited college scholarship funding. Parents of the winners will receive funding to help lower there expenses while attending the 69th All American Soap Box Derby.

The SBD organization is looking for new entrants to participate in this great family sport. They also need SBD car sponsors. A great way to get involved with some very enthusiastic kids, pure Car Guys in the making. And you do not even have to leave town.

Stop by the SBD display at the 2006 Washington, DC New Car Show or come see their float in the DC Saint Patrick's Day parade.

Contact: Mike Harrigan Director, Greater Washington Soap Box Derby Association

Web

snipped-for-privacy@dtkm.com

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Car Trivia Answers

1) James Bond has driven many great cars. Look at the machines he has manhandled in his movies:

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish Die Another Day

BMW Z8 The World Is Not Enough

BMW Z3 Golden Eye

BMW 750iL Tomorrow Never Dies

Aston Martin DB5 Thunderball and Goldfinger

Citroen 2CV For Your Eyes Only

Aston Martin V8 The Living Daylights

Lotus Esprit The Spy Who Loved Me

Alfa Romeo GTV-6 Octopussy

Ford Mustang Mach I Diamonds Are Forever

Toyota 2000GT Convertible You Only Live Twice

AMC Hornet The Man with the Golden Gun

Aston Martin DBS On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Bentley 4 1/4 litre VDP Tourer From Russia With Love

Sunbeam Alpine Dr. No

Author, Ian Fleming, first had his man, James Bond, driving a Blower Bentley. It was a monster of a car of mythic status, with its huge supercharger protruding out of the front. A tall imposing brute of a car, it looked like a stripped down MG TC on steroids. It dominated Le Mans with five wins in seven years.

2) Emanuel Rosenfeld, Maurice Strause, and Graham Jackson are better known as Manny, Moe, and Jack - The Pep Boys!

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

3) The H pattern was patented by Packard in 1902.

(Thanks to Car Crazy on Speed TV.)

4) After Ford considered Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, Arctrus, Saville, El Tigre, and Coronado, the name Thunderbird was finally suggested by a company employee, Alden Giberson. He got a new suit worth $250 in today's dollars for his inspiration.

(Thanks to Car and Driver's 'Car a Day' calendar.)

5) Fells Point's bygone shipyards, famous for building the 'clipper ships', is also believed to have built the very first car ferry in the US, according to the menu of Slainte Irish Pub & Restaurant in Fells Point, MD. (I'll tell you, you don't know the trouble I go through gathering all this stuff.)

--- Retreads ---

6) Aston Martin had struggled since their inception in 1914, not selling their first car till 1921. But in 1947, the company was bought by industrialist David Brown. They immediately renamed their car on the drawing boards DB1 in his honor, and the series was begun. The company still was not profitable, but that didn't matter, David Brown admitted later he bought it just to "have a bit of fun".

7) The 1956 Dodge 230 Pursuit cop car had Chrysler's hot 315 ci Hemi engine. To quote Car and Driver's Pat Bedard: "Cops have all the fun. Not only do they get to write tickets, they ride around all day in trick cars."

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

8) The familiar Cobra Mark III with the wide wheel arches, alloy wheels, and revised nose for better breathing had Ford's most powerful 390 BHP 427 engine, a close relation to Ford's NASCAR and GT40 engines.

-But they also came with Ford's more tame 355 BHP 428 engine, as used in the Galaxies and Thunderbirds of the time.

-And the Mark III's sold in Europe retained the original 289 cubic inch engine.

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10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions

To Tim P of MAMA, thanks for the trivia question. Remember, you will all receive a 10% discount on your next order.

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.

Thanks,

Dave Payne