Category: Cars

I am a “car guy”… I love old cars.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen, playing in the mid-day snow.

Oddly, I received a Press Release from a friend the other day. Not something that happens very often! 😉 It included the photo above. That smirking brit on the left trying to look like a Rock Star is our very own John “Mad Dog” Morrow and his PR states the following:

Seattle Mini Owner to Compete in 2009 Monte Carlo Historic Rally Race

Seattle-based Mini Cooper owner, John Morrow will join forces with renowned
British circuit racer, Bill Richards, in the 2009 Monte Carlo Historique rally race.
The team will campaign Morrow’s 1965 1293cc Morris Cooper S. The car is a very
close replica of the fabulously successful vehicles built by BMC Competitions
Department in the 1960s and which won the Monte Carlo outright on three
separate occasions. Richards, who runs a well-known engineering and A-series
engine tuning business in Kent, UK, prepared the car.

The team, comprising driver Bill Richards, co-driver John Morrow and service
crew members John Griffin (also Team Manager) and Adam Cooke, will set off for
the start of the event at Reims, France, on January, 29, 2009.

This Monte Carlo Historique is one of the most gruelling rallies in the world and
the team will have to cover 2500 Km including a number of special stages over
narrow, snow and ice-covered, mountain roads before they reach the sunshine of
the Mediterranean. Richards and Morrow will be competing against 350 other
classic cars including several Minis. This will be third time the duo has competed
in the event; on the 2008 event they were leading their class when a broken
steering rack put them out of the running. Co-driver Morrow says, “2009 is the
50th anniversary of the Mini and there will be a lot of interest in how the car can
perform against its rivals half a century after it was first produced; the Monte is
an extremely competitive event but we are very well prepared and are hoping for
at least a class win”.

So I did what I usually do when John sends me an email… invite him out for a beer!

We’ll have that beer in a week or so, but let’s all wish John & Bill (and the Mini!) the best of luck in their coming Le Grande Aventure!

My favorite Car photo of 2008.

While not as dramatic as some of my past work, this image is my favorite one from the past year. Once again, as in 2007 the chance to make it was afforded to me by Dr. Philippe Reyns. This photo was snapped from the passenger seat of his pre-war SS100 Jaguar as we ambled toward Libby, Montana on the 2008 Going To The Sun Rally.

Merci Philippe!

As I’m considering my plans for 2009 I think I’ll have to skip the GTTSR this year. All of my potential co-drivers have not been able to commit. Perhaps this year instead I’ll grab one (or both) of my boys and just go for a father/son road trip… follow our noses somewhere. I’ve done this before and I think it is time to do it again.

The answer to America’s fuel economy needs: Diesel.


Top gear – Basel To Blackpool

Worth the wait to watch it all. Remember that a UK Gallon is 1.2 US Gallons, so the VW’s 70 MPG is really more like 60 MPG US. Still, name any car available in the USA that gets 60 MPG on average?

No gasoline powered stock vehicle available in the USA could have made this trip… but even the hulking Jaguar, driven with a lead foot pulled it off…. on Diesel.