Cars – Page 44 – chuck.goolsbee.org

2009 Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally: Day Two

Remember when I pulled the yellow tape off the top of the Jaguar and stuck it to the nose of the car? All night at dinner I had people asking me “What’s that yellow tape on your car for?” At first I answered truthfully, but as it involves a long explanation after the third time I just started making things up:
“It is holding the headlights on.”
“Oh, that is to increase visibility.”
“Without it the engine falls out.”
“I put it on to confuse people. It is Confusion Tape. It is working!”

I have to admit, this was enjoyable. It became something of a mental exercise to come up with good ones all day today.

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2009 Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally: Day One

My father and I have been Vintage TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) Rallying now for eleven years and three months, and you would think we’d have it figured out by now. Our first rally together was in May of 1998, and I flew back to the USA from England, where I was working at the time, to join him in his newly restored “retirement project” E-type Jaguar. We won our class and had a great time driving all over Maine in this amazing car. Since then we’ve rallied all over the country, and once even all the way across it. We’ve done stately tours, and insane regularity rallies where we’ve fallen into almost every trap. The one thing I’ve learned in that time is that when we’re on, we’re on. But… when we’re off, we’re REALLY OFF!

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Car Photo of the Day: Still Life with Bonnet Prop

As a “Car Guy” I love looking under hoods and bonnets. It is always fun to see something unusual, which here in America means something OTHER than a pushrod V-8. Or these days, ANYTHING other than a plastic engine cover. I delight in finding straight sixes, vee-fours, and flat-anythings. Bonus points accrue for side-draft carbs, dual overhead cams, slanted engines, and wild manifolds. This car is a dog’s breakfast of almost all the above (the less said about the bonnet prop the better however!) I could spend an hour staring at it, and in fact did so when I snapped this photo.

This car belongs to an occasional commentator of on this website, so he’s ineligible to ID it, but do any of you other reprobates know what car this is?

It’s Official… itineraries are being arranged as we speak.

The route of the 1999 Cannonball Classic.

A few weeks less than a decade ago my father and I drove the 65E in what was the looniest adventure we’ve ever done, the 1999 Cannonball Classic. We missed the 2000 run, and vowed to do it again in 2001, and even found a car specifically for the event, but as we were the sole entry, it was cancelled(!) Oh well, it was too crazy an idea to survive.

I found out this morning that the two of us are going to be moving that very car coast to coast almost 10 years to the day after that amazing week in 1999. The start and finish points are different, and we’re going alone instead of in a group, but we’re still driving the entire breadth of the USA in a matter of days.

Stay tuned for more!

Car Photo of the Day: Composition is everything.

The Whole Shot.

I’m posting this image for two reasons. One is because it shows one car from a different angle that appeared in the last CPotD… and I’m not talking about the Jaguar in the foreground. The white car behind it is the subject here. I had thought it was a Turner, and Paul ID’ed it as a Triumph. I was going to say he was wrong, but I looked again. I REMEMBERED a Turner being in this rally (The 2007 Monte Shelton) and just assumed it was this car appearing behind the Jaguar. I looked closely at my pics of the Turner and this car is NOT a Turner. I looked for any other white convertible from that weekend and could only find these two photos. It very well could be a TR, but I’m not sure enough to call it.

I also looked at this photo and saw two photos. One was just a record/snapshot sort of thing to make note of the cars and people, the other, more likely what I was looking at while I was peering through the viewfinder was this:

The shot within the shot...

This is the photo in my minds-eye whenever I see an XK. That luscious bonnet and fenders, with all those light-capturing curves. These cars are a photographer’s dream for this feature alone.

Car Photo of the Day: Rally Check-in.

No. This is not this year’s check-in for the Monte Shelton NW Classic, but a past year. It always looks the same though as it happens in the exact same spot, and many of the same cars participate each year… so I could have lied to save face. I’m too honest for my own good sometimes. So here’s a little distraction to while away the day while I work… at work, on my deck, on making BioDiesel, or whatever else is keeping me from writing up the story of our rally.

Can you name all the cars in this picture. SIX are visible enough for an ID from an expert car-spotter. Try your hand in the comments.

Car Photo of the Day: What’s German for “go-kart?”

Not really a grand tourer, so seeing a 914 in a Vanishing Point like highway setting is a bit odd, but otherwise I’ve always had a like for these little mongrels from Stuttgart. Or was it Wolfsburg? (will that debate ever end… Porsche people need to lighten up!)

I can think of few better (vintage) weapons for carving up a wildly twisty roads or an autocross course…. beyond perhaps a Lotus 7, but at least you’ll stay relatively warm, dry, and comfy in the 914.

It is a shame that few cars like this are built anymore. Small (in size and displacement), affordable, sporty, fun, raceable and streetable. Yes, there is the Miata, but that is more akin to a modern MG B or other SBC Roadster than a 914. It would be neat if VW put the blue-sport concept thing into production, as that would certainly fit the bill. Diesel too!

In other news, I painlessly completed the WP upgrade of the blog software, so all you folks whining to me behind the scenes about security risks can stop whining and comment on fun stuff now! The deck work is nearing the end so hopefully I can write up the Monte Shelton tale soon. Stay tuned.