Previously on this blog I explained how I backed into my Mercury Cougar from my ownership of my Ford Mustang. I also explained how I love old Ford Falcons (especially the round body models).....so if I remember my least favorite portion of the SATs (which was analogies)....Ford Mustang is to Mercury Cougar as Ford Falcon is to....Mercury Comet! Enough with the nonsense.......I just bought a '62 Mercury Comet.
Unfortunately, there is no need to get excited. Its crappy, rusty, a 4 door, and a 6 cylinder. It was destined for the junk yard and I felt that I couldn't let it go to the crusher without at least trying to salvage the car or at least some of its parts. So now it sits in the garage. I'm going to clean it up a tad bit, adjust the points and clean the carb so it runs. I will vacuum out the filth the mice and God knows what have left in it and take some pics and list it for sale......if I don't get any takers, I will part it out and sell whatever I can and hopefully help out some other Comet owners out there. So if you're interested in a clapped out '62 Comet let me know. It would make a sweet rat rod cruiser (can't fake the patina). If you were really badass you'd slap some Gulf Racing colors on it and go LeMons racing.
Honda has published a video called The Challenging Spirit of Honda which highlights the company's jump from motorcycles to the first RA270 F1 chassis in 1962, to the RA272 chassis that won the 1965 Grand Prix to the current state of the F1 program in order to set the table for Honda's return to Formula One......even though it is still more than a year away.
Unfortunately the video is only in Japanese, but the footage if great and is capped off with the the 2015 engine screaming on a test stand....which needs no translation.
Ford has again spoofed Ken Block's Ford Fiesta ST rampage film Gymkhana (latest is number 6) in order to create an awesome Christmas card. Enjoy Snowkhana Two....
And just in case you missed Snowkhana One last year...
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So things have been pretty hectic around here and I think its obvious with the lack of posts I've been generating. November is here and the car scene in New England is about to shutter up for the winter......so this last weekend featured a final flurry of activity.
First off, before the weekend even started I had an interesting week leading into it. On Tuesday, I took my Cougar for a quick blast on a curvy road near my house in order to play with my GoPro....or should I say what was supposed to be a quick blast. At the end of the run there is a large parking lot (which happens to be where the state's Department of Public Safety is housed). I turned into the lot and went to perform a 'K' turn in order to head back home. While making the turn and turning the wheel lock to lock I heard a pop and then the steering wheel spun freely! The aluminum u-joint that connects my column to my aftermarket rack and pinion setup broke! My car lost the ability to steer and I was in the middle of a crowded parking lot at an awkward angle. My mind jumped into problem solving mode as I had to figure out how to straighten the car out in order to park it in one of the lot spaces. Then the realization of what would have happened if the u-joint broke 2 minutes earlier or later while I was driving like a madman on a sinuous tree-lined back road. Then I went back to problem solving mode. To get the wheels of the car to turn I employed a hunk of asphalt curb I found and placed it under one of the front tires and drove forward a tiny bit to force the wheels to turn to full lock. Once the wheels turned I moved forward to the desired angle lined up with a parking spot and then re-used the curb chunk to force my wheels back into the straight position......and finished pulling into the space (a little before dark).
I happened that on Friday (November 1st) I was moving into a large storage unit which I was going to be converting into a shop and storing the Cougar and Mustang. I already had plans to rent a trailer Friday morning so I could tow my engine-less Mustang to the unit......I simply modified my plans to also tow the Cougar there. So I left the Cougar in the lot for a couple days and hoped for the best (I think it may have helped that I was parked next to a couple state police cruisers).
On Friday I took my Discovery to get the Cougar......and of course it was pouring rain. I used by curb chunk trick to back the Cougar our of its spot and turn it perpendicular to the parking spot and facing the trailer. It was so easy I thought I'd have it loaded in minutes......then came my lesson on how hard it really is to load a steering-less car onto a trailer alone in the rain! The amount of finagling it took to line up the trailer perfectly since I had to be able to drive the car up one-shot without any steering correction was ridiculous. Add in the fact that my Hankook Ventus R-S3's hated the wet steel ramps and I must have put on an entertaining display for the state workers in their cubicles. Eventually, I persevered.
Round two was the opposite story. The Mustang had steering.....just no drive train. This was much less of an ordeal...just some pushing and the creative use of a come-along to winch the car into the trailer and we were on our way.
Cougar in its new home.....more to come.
Onto the weekend....
The weekend featured two of the area's biggest swap meets. On Sunday my brother and I went to a semi-annual event organized by a local club and held in the parking lot of an amusement park. The turn-out was fantastic. There were all sorts of odd and interesting cars there. There were even more odd and interesting people. With regards to deals, there were some to be had, but in general the prices on the cars in the car corral were inflated compared to other years. There was a really nice Comet convertible for sale that was a deal.....there was also a beat 80's Monte Carlo with a built V8 in it that could have been had for about a grand that would have been fun to beat on. We had quite a few conversations about what specific cars/trucks we owned in the past would be worth based on the asking prices we were seeing. In general, the event wasn't productive from a great find point of view....it was just a nice time to get outside on a sunny day before the snow comes and look at cars and people-watch.
One event I missed on Sunday that I wish I attended (and will attend in the Spring when it starts up again) was the final gathering of Caffeine & Carburetors....check out their website. Info on our new shop coming soon.
Every Labor Day weekend I like to take the family to the park......Lime Rock Park that is. In previous posts I've touched on my jealously of automotive enthusiasts who live in regions of the country that have thriving car scenes and/or rich rodding and racing histories like SoCal. However, as much as I complain about being a car guy in snowy, salty New England there is one thing we have that should be on every American car guy's bucket list.
Recognized and revered for its scenic beauty and its place in motorsports history, Lime Rock Park is one of the oldest and continuously operated road racing courses in the country. Since it opened in 1957, Lime Rock Park has played host to nearly every great road racing driver, car and series, establishing a rich tradition as the Road Racing Center of the East.
Lime Rock’s history is inextricably entwined with that of sports car racing’s. In its 55-year existence, almost all of the sport’s greats have raced here: Andretti, Moss, Gurney, Posey, Rodriguez, Hobbs, Hill, Donohue, Ward, Fitch… the list of great drivers who’ve raced here is literally endless, from the drivers in the industry changing Formula Libre race of 1959 through the stars of the 1960s, 70s and 80s in Can-Am, Camel GTP, F5000, Trans-Am and Atlantic.
Lime Rock is not your typical motorsports venue...to call it a 'race track' is a horrible injustice. Lime Rock Park rests on 350 acres of rolling Berkshire Mountain foothills creating a natural amphitheater, delivering a truly unparalleled experience for viewing world-class racing. Lime Rock Park is just that - a park. Fans are encouraged to bring their picnic blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the grassy hillside viewing, an attribute unique to Lime Rock. Without being restricted to grandstand seating, fans take full advantage of its complete access.
Labor Day weekend hosts a very special event at Lime Rock Park.....the Lime Rock Historic Festival. With over 300 historic cars and a top-notch concours (with over 1000 cars), the Lime Rock Historic Festival is one of the premier auto events in the country. Noted not just for close racing, the festival brings together a wide variety of cars and historically significant cars. For instance, a few years ago the event hosted a 1939 W154 Mercedes Silver Arrow that had not seen a track since 1939!!!
Half the fun of going to the Lime Rock Historic Festival is the ride there. Nestled in the northwest corner of Connecticut in the rolling Litchfield hills the venue is surrounded with everything one would associate with the iconic New England countryside. For instance your route may take you over the the picturesque covered bridge in Cornwall a few mile south of the track. What makes the approach to the event so interesting is its pretty typical to come upon (or they may pop up in your mirror) some vintage or exotic sports car as you wind through sinuous roads cutting through colonial era towns and farmland. I can write for ever about how strongly I feel about Lime Rock Park.....but honestly, one really needs to experience it to appreciate what has been called "the secret valley of racing."
In the blink of an eye a month has gone by since my last post! And in that same blink, a chunk of prime New England summer has flown by. Soon enough the days will be getting shorter and the leaves will be changing . I realized I have spent the bulk of the summer wrestling with the suspension on my Cougar rather than driving it. I actually had to replace the front coils again since the set I cut (twice) kept unseating themselves on test drives. I think I eventually traced the issue to the tired 1 inch spring insulators a the top of each coil.
Anyway, the car is just about road worthy again and now the goal is to drive it and attend as many local shows and event as I can while the weather cooperates. Yesterday was a local event called the 7th Annual Sgt. Jeffrey Boucher Memorial Auto, Bike and Truck Show. This show really has become one of the best in our area for a variety of reasons.
First and foremost, the show is for a great cause and completely backed by the local Police department and as a result the debauchery that ensues is sanctioned by the boys in blue. For instance, the event features a burnout contest, rock crawling course and even mud pit racing. The venue this year was at our local municipal airport so the event even offered helicopter rides.
The show is a free for all! Every faction of automotive enthusiast is represented. There is no 'hot rod' club frowning down on every post 1949 vehicle on display. There were vintage muscle cars, new muscle cars, hot hots, low riders, imports, lifted trucks, slammed trucks, sport bikes, choppers, military vehicles, etc!
The organizers of the event did a great job. I hesitate to call it a 'car show' since the rock crawling and mud racing made it feel more like a competitive motorsports event that happened to have a couple hundred cars on display as well. My 8 year old son, upon entering the gate and looking around, asked me if we just arrived at a fair. When I said it was a car show he replied to me with certainty 'No, its a fair.'
Irregardless, the event provided the motivation to get the Cougar out to upcoming events. More to come....and enjoy what's left of the summer.
Just a minor update on the Abarth road test. I took it back to my brother's house (he is flying back home as I write this) but this time my sons accompanied me. I put their booster seats in the back of the car and packed my 8 and 5 year old boys in there with explicit instructions not to touch anything with their grubby hands. They did in fact fit in the back of the Abarth......but adults would be a different story.
On other note, I noticed that the car still has the factory installed protective plastic on the carpets! My brother has had this car for a while and has managed to leave the plastic perfectly in tact! Makes me want to let loose with some stereotypical comments about our Italian aunts who would buy special plastic covers for their new sofas and plastic hallway runners to protect the carpeting in their homes.
We are well through our second straight week of near triple digit temperatures here in Connecticut so working on my Cougar has been daunting. To add insult to injury my brother is gallivanting around Italy while I'm left hear to periodically check on his cat and take in his mail. Today, however, I made the most of the situation. My brother happens to own a Fiat 500 Abarth which is sitting dormant while he is away. And wouldn't you know it, the same set of keys he gave me to feed his cat (Paulie) happens to include the keys to the hot hatch.....what's a guys to do?
While making my rounds today I left my VW in his driveway and sped off in the Abarth. First thing to note, as I expected, my brother left the car with nothing but fumes in the tank! So my generosity continued as I filled his tank. The metallic black (or should I say nero) car was filthy.....so I even washed it! Then I went for a ride.
Is there a cooler emblem out there?
If you read my very first post you'd know that Fiat's are special to me. Heck, while everyone was driving around in American land yachts in the late 70's my mother was driving us around in a Fiat 124A sedan. When I found out that Fiat was coming back to the states a few years back I couldn't wait.....especially since I was in the market for a fuel efficient car at the time. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out (I couldn't wait for the delayed Fiat offering) and I went for the Mk6 GTI.....however as soon as my brother expressed that he was in the market for a commuter car I urged Abarth all the way.
I took the car for a quick spin when my brother first bought it but nothing long enough to really form an opinion about the car. Today I spent a descent amount of time with the car (I actually still have it with me since he isn't due back for a couple days). My brother lives about 25 miles away from here so I spent some time on the highway, in the city and on eventually on some fun curvy wooded lanes. This was my first chance to really compare the Abarth to my Mk6 VW GTI.
So for some perspective...I love my GTI! I've had it for almost two and a half years and have already logged over 70,000 flawless and spirited miles. My daily commute is roughly 130 miles round trip and the GTI has made the hours fly by. The GTI still impresses me in its ability to be (and feel) sporty and yet serve a multitude of practical functions. I use the car to lug my two sons to soccer. I routinely make airport runs to NYC (or all over New England for that matter) with the hatch stuffed to the gills with luggage (and sometimes fireworks). It even moonlights from time to time as a wannabe boy-racer.
The Abarth is not as practical as the GTI due to its size....but then again the Fiat 500 is a smaller class of car. I actually make that statement with a grin since my non-car guy colleagues don't understand how I can drive my turbo'd 'Golf' with low profile tires and stiff suspension as much as I do. However, the result of its diminutive frame is that it is a hell of a lot sportier feeling that the GTI! First there is the exhaust note. Upon start-up the thing sounds like a small outboard motor.....once the idle settles it is fantastic to think that a company would have the balls to build something that sounds like that for 20-something grand. Coming from the GTI I had to get used to the shifter position (and only having 5 gears) and the torque curve of the little 1.4 turbo (the 2.0T of the GTI is much more forgiving when you find yourself too lazy to down shift). It also took me some time to get used to finding 3rd gear.....but once I adjusted to the car it was a blast to drive. The biggest difference in the ride quality between my GTI and the Abarth is you definitely feel the effects of the Fiat's shorter wheelbase...as you would with something like a Mini Cooper S. However, it was very surprisingly tame and comfortable. There was plenty of leg room for the driver (head room would be questionable for a taller driver....I'm 5'9") but the back seats are tiny. All things considered, I'd have no problem battling though my 130 mile commute in this thing.
By the way....my brother is in the furniture repair business and managed to fit 3 4'x8' sheets of plywood in his Abarth......but first he turned them into 8 ottomans:
Its been a while since I posted something on here. I'm making progress on revising the front suspension on the Mercury Cougar so you'll be seeing it on here soon (thanks to my new GoPro). But I wanted to take this opportunity to write about something that's happening that car guys may not pay attention to but probably would appreciate....the Tour de France. The Tour de France is the cycling's most famous grand tour. The Tour goes on for three weeks, during which the riders cover about 3,500km in a rough circuit of the country. It is divided into 21 days of racing, with each day's 'stage' lasting up to five and a half hours and covering up to 225km. Some stages are relatively flat, some tortuously mountainous. Each stage has its own winner and offers points for the first 15 riders across both the finish line and and intermediate line around halfway through. But forget trying to understand what all the colored jerseys mean and the controversies surrounding the riders. The event is a bicycles race.....yet we never talk about the the bicycles. The amount of engineering and design that goes into these two-wheeled wonders is remarkable and could easily be appreciated by any gear-head Perform some web searches on racing bikes over the years and you'll see an evolution on par with F1 technology (and ingenuity). Current models employ all sorts of exotic materials and composites and leverage the most advanced aero technology . Long before swoopy carbon fiber frames became the rage handmade frames made from light steel tubing joined by intricate lugs were works of art. The old two wheeled-racers used the same methods as their 4 wheel counterparts to shave weight...like drilling holes where possible. In my opinion, current and historic racing bicycles have the same purpose-built beauty as any race car because the guys who built them were both part scientist and part artist with the same desire.....to go faster than the other guy. Here's a couple photos illustrating what I'm talking about...
Fast bike tech back in the day (a far cry from you clapped out Huffy)...
Fast bike tech today (these bikes cost more than your car)...
If you haven't heard, Porsche is on a mission to return to Le Mans in 2014 with a LMP1 prototype. With an amazing history in the endurance race I simply can't wait. Porsche has put up a Mission 2014 micro site with tons of awesome videos and news.....see you all next year!
Am I the only guy this happens to? When I walk by a magnum of champagne in a liquor store I immediately have visions of shaking it and spraying it all over the place? I can't be just me! This silly tradition started (or at least was popularized) at Le Mans! The 24 Hours of Le Mans was the venue for the first known instance at a major race of a winning driver celebrating by spraying champagne instead of drinking it. When Dan Gurney won the 1967 race with co-driver A.J. Foyt, the two drivers mounted the victory stand and Gurney was handed a magnum of champagne. Looking down, he saw Ford CEO Henry Ford II, team owner Carroll Shelby and their wives, as well as several journalists who had predicted disaster for the high-profile duo. Gurney shook the bottle and sprayed everyone nearby, establishing a tradition re-enacted in victory celebrations the world over for the next 40+ years. Gurney autographed and gave the bottle of champagne to a Life photographer, Flip Schulke, who used it as a lamp for many years. He later returned the bottle to Gurney, who keeps it at his home in California.
Another silly thing Le Mans gave us. The races traditionally began with what became known as the Le Mans start, in which cars were lined up alongside the pit wall. The starting drivers would stand on the opposite side of the front stretch. When the French flag dropped to signify the start, the drivers would run across the track to their cars, which they would have to enter and start without assistance, before driving away. This became a safety issue in the late 1960s when drivers would ignore their safety harnesses, a recent invention. This starting method inspired Porsche to locate the ignition key switch to the left of the steering wheel. This allowed the driver to use his left hand to start the engine, and his right hand to put the transmission into gear.
June 22 will mark the 90th year of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans in French). With the the current cable providers, streaming over the internet, and social media it shouldn't be difficult to follow the race. Just like with the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans is more than just a race. The machines, location, history and pageantry make it an event.
The whole drifting thing is somewhat of an enigma to me. Don't get me wrong, nothing puts a smile on my face like getting a car stupid sideways. But I still haven't warmed up to the progression of good ol' fashioned hooning to Formula DRIFT (Formula D) in which competitions are subjectively judged based on 'style'......are we racing or figure skating?
But this video literally made me start scouring the internet for a used 240SX to flog. What's better than sponsor laden Formula D cars in high production events? Beater missile cars in New Jersey! Leafless trees, brown grass and crappy lighting due to the position of the non-summer sun.....perfect!
The Monaco Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, May 26th. The Monaco Grand Prix is generally considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. Monaco, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans are often considered the Triple Crown of auto racing. Formula One races are already a spectacle unto themselves. But when you bring the show to one of the most glamorous places on earth in conjunction with a massive dose of history and tradition the experience is just off the charts. That is why simply attending a Monaco Grand Prix as a spectator is on my bucket list.
Below in the pre-race intro aired by the BBC last year.....from birth to Monaco:
I last wrote about my business trip to Las Vegas and my experience renting a convertible Camaro SS from Fantasy Car Rentals. An amazing thing happened while tooling around Vegas in the SS....
I was driving around soaking in the scenery and weather. Periodically, whenever I stopped somewhere to look around, I would check my email via my smart phone. And that's when I saw an email from my buddy Frank. Frank and I used to work together over six years ago. When our company relocated he moved to Pittsburgh while I remained in Connecticut. It had been about a year since Frank and I have exchanged an e-mail, but historically, every now and then, Frank and I will shoot each other an email to check in on each other and see how things are going. The second question is typically 'what are you driving?'
So why did Frank e-mail me after all this time?....to show me his new car of course. Frank is a car nut, and even more dangerous, he's an extremely impulsive car nut. So in the few years I worked with him he owned cars like a 98 Camaro SS, a Supra, a SVT Lightning, an Impala SS, etc. We used to go test drive cars every other day during our lunch breaks (I'll write about this later) which was a riot. So whenever our stables change we fire off an email to share the news. Here's Frank's new 2013 SS/RS with 1LE package...
So I immediately fired back that it was pretty ironic that I was literally in a Camaro SS when I received the email. I also sent him this photo...
And these two next emails were priceless. Within minutes I received this:
Shortly followed by this email (diagram and all)
I couldn't help but smile when I read these (especially the second one). Also, makes you appreciate the availability of information and how quickly it can be shared. He obviously found the information and diagram on a website/forum somewhere and was able to share it with me a few thousand miles away literally sitting in my car via a smart phone.
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