Bad Habits Only Thee and Me Don't Have
By Denise McCluggage

If other drivers never cause you to grit your teeth, pound your steering wheel or tint the air blue with expletives you are not a driver I’m familiar with. Of course, you shouldn’t do that. But then they shouldn’t do what they do, either.

Here are some of the things other drivers do that fire my ire.

Abuse the privilege of turning right on a red light.

They ignore those little stipulations "after stop" and "traffic permitting" that sometimes allows right turns on red lights. Here you are running smartly with the green light and some ninny emerges off a side street, usually at a pace well below yours and seemingly oblivious to your existence.

The point of allowing right turns on red is to avoid the need to sit out the duration of a red light when no cars are coming yet so many drivers take it as a granting of right of way. Indeed, so abused is the privilege of right on red that we could be in danger of losing it.

Meander across several lanes when entering a street.

When making a turn into another street you are supposed to move into a corresponding lane in that street - for instance, if you are in the lane nearest the curb as you approach the intersection you should turn into the lane nearest the curb on the new street.

Making your turns in that fashion give your movements a predictability and makes it easier for others to plan their path. But how rare a sight is such a turn. Even with power steering it must take too great an effort to make turns with sharp edges. Drivers come drifting across every lane as if no one else existed.

Wait and wait and wait at stop signs.

Yes, it can be intimidating to enter the traffic flow from a parking lot or a side street, but when drivers in front of me miss opportunity after opportunity and sit with head aswivel as if they are watching a record volley in a tennis match I feel a scream coming on. Not that I want them to plunge heedlessly into some brake-screeching risk, but there are reasonable limits to caution.

Learn to enrichen quick glances with information. Practice looking left then right then left again then go. Of course, if there’s still no space for you, stay put and repeat the sequence. Just don't keep starring one way and then the other or the car behind me is going to start honking and make us all nervous. Clog a multilane highway by passing with a speed differential of .0075. You've probably come across these clots in the arterial system with one car grinding ever so slowly by another as cars dam up behind. I blame cruise control fixation on much of it.

Please be aware that even with the cruise control on a little right foot pressure can hasten your passage a mite. Then when you get comfy in the right lane ease off and the same cruise setting is there.

It's all a matter of awareness. Check the way ahead and the path behind. When your view to the front is relatively devoid of traffic and your mirror is full of cars and trucks draw the conclusion that you are somehow creating a bottleneck. Do what you can to clear it.

When making a left turn fail to pull into the intersection while waiting out on-coming traffic.

The idea is this: if you are making a left turn lane at an intersection controlled by traffic lights and on-coming traffic prevents you from making the turn, pull into the intersection so that when that traffic is stopped by the changing light you can complete your turn before the cross street goes green. Yes, it is not only legal but encouraged because it aids the flow of traffic. And those of us behind you thank you for it. But many drivers hold back and wait through yet another light cycle. That can double and triple the time it take for those far back in the left-turn line to make their turn.

Fail to close up to cars ahead of them on waning green lights.

The light has been green for long enough to presage a change. The string of cars is moving smoothly and evenly - except for the driver immediately in front of me who has left twice or three times the necessary space between his car and the one ahead. The in-pavement sensors pick up that gap and trigger a light change. He ambles on through the intersection as the amber glows and I get stuck. A curse upon his sluggard soul!

Teen Choices
By Denise McCluggage

A 16-year-old boy lies in a central Illinois hospital with his left arm off above the elbow. This is a matter of choice.

Not that he checked a box to select a car crash that would derail a promising career as an athlete or his desire to be a doctor like his grandfather. One or both was more than likely to happen since he was a brilliant student and he stood a hulking 6'6" at 270 pounds. Already colleges were nosing around his high school football practices.

Of course, the boy did not select this injury from a multiple choice, nor did he specifically request the car crash that wrenched his arm from his body. But he did make choices that led to the bloody scene in the dark ditch. Unfortunately, his were the appalling choices made by many teenage drivers. Drink with the buds (booze is cool and easy to get). And then dash off with a friend to prove that their way to the next spot is quicker than one the others favored.

Alcohol, haste, the impetus of competition and inexperience with the dynamics of a car in a curve. A recipe for disaster. The boy's driver's license was only eight weeks old. Not time enough to learn respect for the ways different cars respond to the demands made on them. Nor was he adequately schooled in how to select the proper demands or how to make them effectively. Not that any skills would necessarily cut through the smog of alcohol. The youngsters did, however, do one thing right: they fastened their seat belts or else lives, not an arm, might have been lost.

The young apparently have an immunity that blocks them from catching wisdom from someone else's experience. Telling them of the dangers, even showing them the maimed and injured, rarely makes a dent in their armor of simply being young. They know that people can get hurt or die if they act in a certain way, but "people" means someone else.

"It can all happen so fast," an uncle had warned the youngster time and again. "Bam, and your world is changed forever."

"It all happened so fast," said the young man from his hospital bed. And his world had changed in ways yet to sink in.

Though teens are usually at their peak physically - excellent eyesight, quick reflexes - they have an inadequately developed understanding of consequences. If a and b then c escapes them. And they have unrealistic expectations of a car's capabilities verging on denial of the law of physics. For instance, cars do not stop the instant brakes are applied. This is a surprise to them.

Experience can teach the toddler that the stove is hot, that the knife is sharp, that the street holds perils for children. Time, alone, can also bring that awareness. It is a parent's task to intercede in such a way that time is the teacher, not the burn, the cut, the screeching tires in the street. With teenagers, parents can only hope that their adult example, their teaching - even their nagging - can successfully substitute for a youngsters lack of experience until reasoned judgment matures. Sort of figurative training wheels on the car to hold "bam" at bay until maturity takes over.

Here are some ways that might help keep your teenage drivers from ditches and disaster.

Make rules. In discussion with your teenage driver establish some rules for the privilege of driving. Designate consequences for failure to abide by the rules, and perhaps rewards for exemplary behavior. Put it in writing.

Alcohol. Some parents, so relieved that their kids are not into illegal drugs, emit ambivalent messages about alcohol. Make it perfectly clear by your word - and your own actions - that drinking and cars are not an acceptable mix. And that extends to riding with drivers who have been drinking. Forbidden.

Supervised driving. Lessen the risk of a carload of peers egging a young driver into derring-do by forbidding driving with other teens in the car unless accompanied by a parent or an approved adult. Temporary waiving of this groan-producing stipulation can be earned through specified demonstrations of responsibility. Take check rides with your teen from time to time.

Education. Advanced driving schools that teach car control are increasingly available, and worthwhile. Check the classified ads section of car magazines such as AutoWeek.

 

 

Drive "Nicely"
By Denise McCluggage

Years ago in a subterranean parking lot in England I curved down a ramp and as the passageway narrowed a sign overhead read: "Drive Nicely." How very British, I thought, this land noted for orderly queues and "after you" gestures taken to comic extremes, requesting that drivers be courteous and pleasant.

Actually, the sign was advising drivers to mind their fenders and steer with precision in this restricted space, a use of the word "nicely" not common on my side of the Atlantic. But I thought what a jolly good idea, anyway. (Yes, "jolly" was my very thought.) Drive nicely, indeed.

Daily, I see ways in which driving would be more a pleasure and less a chore if drivers drove more "nicely." That doesn't mean being any less enterprising in claiming their space on the roadway, but just driving with greater awareness of how they can make life easier on the road for everyone, including themselves. And, not incidentally, in the process lowering the general tension level that fuels so-called "road rage." Here are some "nice" ideas.

·         Acknowledge signals obviously:
For instance, when the car in front of you signals a turn off a busy street, let the driver know you've seen it by noticeably slowing to allow comfort space. (Checking to the rear first, of course.) The early easing off protects you, too, in case the turn the car makes is into a drive short of the upcoming intersection.

·         Close up on the green:
When you are in a string of cars passing through a green light close up the space between your car and the one ahead. This doesn't mean riding their bumper, but just taking up the slack so that the cars behind you have a fair chance of making the light too.

·         Make room for turning cars:
On a multi-lane highway or city street you notice a car waiting to turn into your street from a parking lot or side street. Traffic allowing, flick your signal and move into the other lane thus freeing a place for the waiting car.

·         "Widen" the road for approaching cars:
If you notice that a stopped vehicle, slow-moving bicyclists or the like are taking up some of the opposite lane and seriously narrowing the path of cars approaching you, move well to the right to give them room to get by without stopping or endangering the cyclists.

·         Pass at appropriate speeds:
On a multi-lane highway when passing another vehicle don't inch past with your cruise control set a shade faster than the car you are passing. That dams up other cars behind you and raises the general level of ire. Without disturbing your precious cruise control setting you can step on the gas, accelerate past your joined-at-the-fender companion and move into the right lane. Then let up on the accelerator and allow the car to return to your cruise setting.

If you don't want to speed up a tad to clear the passing lane, then brake and pull in behind the other vehicle. The point its, get over. Yes, you have a "right" to mosey along creating a roadblock, but this isn't about rights, it's about being nice.

·         Pull into the intersection when waiting to make a left:
The light is green and you are turning left, but you must wait for on-coming traffic. Pull out into the intersection to be ready for either the stream of cars to slacken adequately for a safe crossing or for the yellow light to stop them. Pausing a beat to make certain they stop, you can then complete your turn before the light goes green for the cross traffic. Time saved for you and for the grateful drivers behind you.

·         Consider the splash potential of puddles:
Few streets drain really well and potholes collect tubs of water. Watch for these on rainy days and either dodge them or take them slowly to avoid spraying pedestrians, particularly taking corners where walkers congregate to cross the street. Slow down on inundated roadways as well, not only to lessen the risk of hydroplaning, but to avoid blinding other drivers with a muddy cascade of water.

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Wherein A Fast Son
Maketh a Glad Father
(reprinted from AutoWeek)
By Denise McCluggage

Derek won the Barber Dodge Pro Championship for 1997 and may compete in Indy Lights next!

"And sons" is a common appendage to the names of law firms, hardware stores etc. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that second -- even third -- generation drivers are appearing on our roads and tracks. But what struck me as I watched the Rolex 24 of Daytona last year were those I had known when they were children.

Proud parents Phil & Alma Hill with champion son Derek and his sister Vanessa celebrate his championship

There was Derek Hill, mature beyond his 20 years, calmly being interviewed. "Calm." Can't recall that word leaping to mind to describe Phil Hill, his father, when he was racing toward his World Championship. But then, somehow, I was not surprised by Derek.

I remember him as a baby parked in a carrier on the kitchen counter of his Santa Monica home. Maybe seven, eight months old. A baby double chin, an iridescent bubble on his lips. His solemn eyes followed his mother, Alma, and me. Calmly. None of that herky-jerky baby stuff. "That's a very old soul in there," I said. "He's a little Buddha."

He looked less Buddha-like a decade or more later as he charged down the sidewalk, up through the yard and back again on a go-cart. Intent on being faster than his older sister, Vanessa (no easy task).

Since he was born long after Phil had retired from racing, Derek's association with cars was Phil's vintage racing and the old-car tours, which he loved. I thought he would give racing a bye, his interests elsewhere. (He has, for instance, a notable talent for writing.)


Derek Hill by Tom Burnside

But I was wrong. That intensity on the go-cart won out. And Derek has a notable talent for driving very fast as well as quite sensibly. Even his father is in awe of that sensibility coming so soon. His own came later.

At Daytona that year, Derek shared a beautiful but larded Bugatti EB 110, but did not finish. He then competed in the Barber Dodge series and shared honors as rookie-of-the-year.

I remember Boris Said as a curly-headed terror at 12. Smart, but pure brat. His father -also Boris but called Bob--had brought a motorhome full of folk to Sugarbush, where I then lived,for skiing.

I'd seen Boris over his earlier years, too, when he acted more like the cherub he resembled. And now, fully grown, he's still curly-headed but actually more like the earlier Boris than the 12-year-old. Downright sweet.

Boris has had some impressive drives the last few seasons. David Hobbes was raving about him non-stop while broadcasting some race or other--Elkhart Lake I think. And Boris did right smart at Daytona, too, in the 8th place Mustang.

Brian Cunningham skips a generation in serious motor racing. His grandfather, Briggs, took American racing colors to LeMans a decade before the Shelby Cobra adventure and campaigned Jaguars and Porsches and Oscas throughout the US. Briggs III, Brian's dad, did a little racing, but Brian, now in his mid twenties, has been doggedly pursuing a racing career in England.

I didn't know Brian as a child. I met him when we both tested the evocation of his grandfather's Cunningham C4R, which Larry Black had put together in Seattle. I was struck by Brian's go-anywhere test-anything attitude. (Today's racing scene is not for those lacking in fierce dedication. It takes more energy to get a ride, get a sponsor, these days than it took to do an entire season 30 years ago.

Anyone wishing to follow Brian's progress on this quest can get on the mailing list for his newsletter by sending name and address to: Swift Promotions LTD, PO Box 1163, Danville KY 40422.

Brian Cunningham in his Craftsman series truck

It looked as if Brian might figure in Chrysler's revitalized racing plans (after all, Chrysler powered his grandfather's race cars) but something fell through the cracks. Brian hied himself to Daytona on his own, got a test with the Brix team GTS-1 Oldsmobile (Aurora engine) and was impressive enough to get an offer for both Daytona and Sebring. At Daytona I watched Brian get in a fourth place car and bring it back in third. Alas, that was the car that caught fire with Irv Hoerr driving and burned to the ground. Grist for the newsletter anyway.

 

Rick Cole Lists What's Collectible

As head of California's largest seller of collector cars (more than $200 million worth in 20 years), Rick Cole knows a lot about collectibles. What's hot and what's not.

Each year since 1984 he has issued his "Gold List," cars at a reasonable price that he believes will appreciate in value over the next five years. The list's release is to call attention to his major auction at Monterey (August 15-16, Doubletree Hotel.) That's the weekend of the Concours Italiano at Quail Lodge, Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca and the Concours d-Elegance at Pebble Beach.

Here's the Cole Gold List for 1997. (Prices are based on cars in excellent condition):Volkswagen Bug Convertibles-- The Volkswagen Bug from the 60s and 70s returns to the Gold List after many years on hiatus for several reasons. There is a full four-seat convertible with plenty of room for four adults. The more people that can come along, the more that can share the fun. Next year's reintroduction of the bug is a modern, retro design to further call attention to the original model. The bug is back! Current value = $6,000 - 7,000

Mid-60's Pontiac Bonneville Convertible-- The Pontiac wide-track convertibles are great six-passenger vehicles. Bonneville models are one of the most underrated yet most stylish of the models produced during the highpoint and love affair of convertibles. Current value = $10,000 - 11,000

1960's Mini Cooper S-- The original micro-car, Mini Cooper S is coming back into vogue again as people re-discover the joys of the 60's. From England's comedic Mr. Bean's television series to the new "Austin Powers" movie, the English Mini is attracting quite a bit of attention. This combined with the higher horsepower S models prove that small and sporty do go together. Indeed, a new generation of micro-cars is now debuting in Europe and the Mini started it all. Current value = $9,000 - 10,000

308 GTB Ferrari-- Now may be the time to buy the dream Ferrari you always wanted. The eight-cylinder 308 GTB's are well under $30,000. Only in production from 1976 through 1985, it is anticipated that these prices won't always stay at this level. However, be cautious and look for the best one your pocket can afford for fun does not come without a good deal of annual maintenance costs. Current value = $25,000 - 30,000

1964-1966 Ford Thunderbird Convertibles-- At under $20,000, a great example of stylish birds from the mid-60's are riding a wave of resurgence, especially among kids in their mid-20's and early 30's. You get maximum "cool" for minimum dollars in comparison to other four-passenger cars sold today. The cost is 1/3 to 1/4 the price of current models and you get the 'retro' feel, without wrecking your wallet.Current value = $14,000 - 17,000

Late-60's and early 70's Chevy Pick-up Trucks-- These are ripe for the growing trend of lowering and customizing full-size trucks. They are relatively cheap base vehicles for the custom pick-up of your dreams. The fact that they have a utilitarian genesis or beginning does not take anything away from their collectibility. This is a sleeper that should find some slight appreciation over the next few years, as base vehicles become scarce. Current value = $5,000 10,000

1961-1964 Lincoln Continental Convertible-- Everything you read these days glorifies the Kennedy years when Camelot was alive. This car was the mobile version of the Camelot years. The Kennedy car has been linked to that era since it was new. Now that the 60's are back, this car may well be the '59 Cadillac of the Lincoln family. Current value = $15,000 - 16,000

1968 Dodge Charger-- These are the cars the baby-boomers wanted in high school but could not afford. If they were not the big man on campus then, they are now. Lots of power from Mopar's glory days. Current value = $7,000 - 10,000

1969 Road Runner-- Vehicles of the late 60's make another appearance on the Gold List. A Mopar classic that is a real barnburner right off the line. Current value = $9,000 - 15,000

1970-72 Nissan 240 Z's-- Nissan is currently doing ground-up restorations on a select number of the first generation Z's and is selling them through specially appointed dealers. What does this mean? They are rediscovering the excitement of their past. Others should take note. They're fun and they're available...but not for long. Current value = $5,200 - 6,200

Cole's advice to those looking to buy a collector car is simple and direct. "Buy only what you like and in the best condition you can find it," he says. "Enjoy the car, exhibit it, drive it. This helps keep the interest alive; it stimulates the market and allows future collectors to become aware of the variety of vehicles out there. Join a car club that represents your vehicle. There you can find people who not only share a like interest in your car, but also know where to find parts, advice on service, and know the problems of these older autos."

Car Color May Be
the Color of Money
by Denise McCluggage

At least you can hang it in the back of the closet or pack it off to Good Will when that impulsive choice of an off-beat color in a blouse turns into "what-was-I thinking."

Even the turquoise-and-orange bathroom that seemed like such a good idea at the time can be repainted with relative ease when you are weary of it. But if it's the color of your car that starts setting your teeth on edge you're in for some serious rectifying money. A car is a long-lived major appliance. (And remember how long you suffered that avocado refrigerator after it had passed its moment in high fashion.)

The severity of the penalty for out-lasting fashion is probably one reason that good-old white has returned as the country's favorite color for trucks, vans and intermediate-size and larger cars this past year. Rather a way of clearing the visual palette after a surfeit of eye candy.

Remember the ranges of purple and amethyst and plum along with the teals and aquas that provided the perkiest look on wheels only an eye-blink ago? Now, their freshness had paled. (Literally paled when it comes to the greens; a lighter shade of green has gained in popularity as the dark tones receded.) Only sporty cars and compacts still favor the dark green of the previous year.)

white carSo white is back. So is black, gaining for the second year in a row. Both black and white are always near the top in popularity, but they hit the charts this time as one and two. That means nearly a third of all the larger cars and the trucks and vans sold in 1995 were white. White often is the choice for commercial buyers of pick-ups and vans because it is easier to put fancy graphics and business logos on white.

Third in popularity for larger cars was a light brown; fourth was a medium red.

Silver, another constantly popular color, gained strength in all categories of cars and trucks, but has not regained the peak it once held.

Here are a few things to consider when it comes to selecting the color of your next car:

-- The greater the immediate impact of a color the steeper its decline on your "love-it" scale. If you plan to trade it in quickly, go for the gusto.

--If you have several cars, you can treat one of them like a pair of red shoes, not an everyday sort of thing, but a pick-me-up.

--If a car of a dramatic color has remained unsold in a showroom overlong the dealer might fear it will never find a buyer at full price and may cut you a get-it-outta-here deal. (But you had better be prepared to live with it.)

--If you live in a particularly sunny area be leery about changing from a light-colored car to a darker one. You will certainly be surprised at the extra demand made on the air conditioning system and you could be overwhelmed. Dark cars are heat sinks.

--Make sure you see the model you are considering in the color you want before making your final choice. The lines and bulges and swells of some cars are set off best by certain colors so don't assume that just because you like X car and you like Y color that you will like X in Y.

--Some colors seem destined for certain cars. Conservative colors - black, white, burgundy, dark green - are always appropriate for a luxury sedan. Red is a suitable uniform for a sports car. The off-beat colors like lime green, orange, violet - are best on small coupes or roadsters.

--Dark colors show dirt more readily than light ones.

--Car color is not only a matter of esthetics it is a matter of safety, too. Visibility is a function of two things: contrast and reflectance. A red car will stand out against a snow bank but red and other dark tones reflect less light than white, silver, pale blue, tan and other lighter colors. That means they are less visible in fog or rain and in the twilight hours.

--Generally speaking, small cars should be light in color so that they are more easily seen in low-light situations. A light color may make up in reflectance, and thus visibility, for what the small car lacks in bulk. (Nonetheless, dark green is currently a popular hue in compact and sporty cars. So keep an eye out.)

Incidentally, test have shown that if you really want to be seen a multi-hues car may be best, say orange hood, light blue fenders, yellow body. But the question remains, would you really want to be seen in a car like that?

 

 

Kjell Qvale Celebrates
a Half Century of Cars

by Denise McCluggage

Kjell Qvale at the wheel of a Jensen Interceptor which was on display along with a number of other cars significant in his 50-year-career in the automobile business when the anniversary was celebrated in San Fransciso April 4.

This is a story about a spread in Life magazine, the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca and AutoWeek magazine. If it weren't for Life's three-page spread - one picture particularly - the last two items on the list might never have existed.

Oh yes, and three of the people who saw those pages would not have figured in a gala event in San Francisco March 6 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd.

In those mid-century years, Life magazine was the arbiter of all that was hot (and cool) in the US. If Life didn't come to your party it was not a Party. The three-page spread showed the latest in fun-with-cars (a startling concept in the days so soon after WWII). In Life's spread, people in tweed caps and knit-back gloves were having one dandy time with a little lone-roller-skate of a car called an MG-TC. A top-down one was being driven through that gap beneath a tall lumber carrier.

The MG-TC in question

That picture fixed an image for the car: small, new, great fun. Not words associated with American cars of the day.

When Kjell Qvale saw the picture he knew for certain that the MG would be a hit in the US, especially in California where the young man from Norway and his wife, Kay, were just starting out in the car business. The Life spread lit his fire.

When Leon Mandel (now publisher of AutoWeek) on the East Coast saw the picture in Life he pinned it on his wall and decided then and there that California was the place he wanted to be if people had fun with cars that way.

When I saw the picture I figured the TC was the closest thing to the beloved pedal car of my childhood that I would ever see.

The consequences: Several years later, when I was working for the San Francisco Chronicle I visited Kjell Qvale's showroom and my heart was lost to a little black TC. Within days (and due to my yearning) the English pound dropped in value, the car's price dropped to $1795 and my parents back in Kansas advanced me the money. And the TC was mine. Mine! Only later did I discover my car was the very car that ran under the lumber carrier on the pages of Life.

A few years later than that one Leon Mandel finally fulfilled his Greeley destiny and header westward. In California it came to pass that he went to work for Kjell Qvale.

So that's why I was in San Francisco on a March evening in 1997 in the palatial BMCD showroom (not the same one as yore) sitting at a fancy dinner between racing's Joe Huffaker and golf's Jim Colbert watching Leon Mandel on videotape tell how his boss, Kjell Qvale, had confirmed in him the notion that cars belong "not just in the garage, but in the heart."

Hey, sentiment can be as rich as sachertorte and better for the arteries.

Kjell and Kay's two sons, Jeff and Bruce - now running BMCD - had arranged for the 50th anniversary tribute to their parents, and a fine party it was. Life should of been there.

Oh yes, the corkscrew at Laguna and AutoWeek I'll get to that.

Let me dash through just a few of the car things Kjell Qvale has done in the years since I bought my TC from him.

Brought the VW Beetle to the West Coast and later added distribution of Porsche and Audi. And much later, Maserati. (Not to overlook the British marques, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lotus, Rover and Triumph.) The company also owns dealerships in Nissan, Dodge, Subaru and Honda.

Having done a bit of racing himself he helped start the Sports Car Club of America in California. And assisted in the development of Laguna Seca Raceway. He was the one who said: "Hey, lets make the course go down here!" and that became the famous Corkscrew.

He entered Huffaker-prepared cars at Indianapolis (1965-1965) for Bob Vieth, Walt Hansgen and Pedro Rodriguez.

He bought Jensen Motors, Ltd. in England and with Donald Healey developed the Jensen-Healey. In the early 70s he brought the Jensen Interceptor III to the US. He owned Jensen for six years, but the labor problems, endemic in Britain at the time, brought it all to an end. (At the dinner, Kjell showed around the table a blow-up of a cartoon. Scene: the Jensen factory. Legend: "We've changed the name from 'Interceptor' to 'Receiver'." )

Real estate, banking, thoroughbred horses are among his other interest. And golf. He and Senior Champion Jim Colbert have paired at pro-ams for more than a dozen years ("dressed just a like so they won't know who hit the good shot.")

In 50 years in the car business, Kjell - who looks about as old as his company - has done it all: building cars, racing, retailing, selling, distributing, servicing and financing. And abetting me and Leon in our wheeled ways.

And if it hadn't been for that TC, and another to follow, and a Jaguar and Alfa and Porsche etc. I would not have brought "Competition Press" to New York and kept it going until it, too, went west and then meandered back to Detroit and segued into AutoWeek.

Three pages in Life. Three people. And a lot of cars. Golly!

Operation 850, introduction of the Mini to California in 1961. Kjell Qvale on far left. Back row: Juan Manual Fangio, Stirling Moss, Denise McCluggage, Pedro Rodriguez, Innes Ireland. Front row: Rodger Ward, Jack Flaherty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Smallwood described my laughter as "maniacal." I had thought it more a charming chuckle, but the truth is I did laugh with overtones of I-told-you-so when he said he had asked Howard Paterson of Hull, England to drive his car in the next rally with him. That would be the February 1988 "Shield of Africa" (africanrally.com) historic marathon rally and the car is the same, or nearly the same, 1965 Alfa Romeo Giula TI in which John made his rally debut in the 1995 London-Mexico City historic.

Maybe that was the occasion on which I chuckled because John, sheathed in seriousness, had explained that his wife, Dot, had given him the rally for his 40th birthday. He wanted to try some great car adventure "just once" before he devoted himself entirely to being a serious Santa Fe innkeeper (Ft. Marcy Hotel Suites) and confine his car fixes to being president of the Santa Fe Vintage Car Club.

Oh yes, I thought, the old one-potato-chip syndrome. "I would just like to finish", he said. Ah, the one-peanut affliction as well.

Sure, gape out dirty windows at a strange new world, enjoy the battering drive through unpronounceable outposts. Then revel in the fact that you finished. Come home and narrate the video to bewildered friends.

But watch out for the "what ifs" to start buzzing in your brain. Those "nearlys" and "almosts" replay and as the script rewrites itself you see you might have had a chance for a top-dozen, hey, top-ten finish. And "if-only" segues into "why-not?"

So I had lunch with John and the Patersons on a bright Santa Fe day. Howard had come to look at the Alfa down at Gordon Self's Performance Imports in Albuquerque. Gordon had built the car and could do any modifications Howard's experience might ordain (for instance that large wide aluminum oil pan is vulnerable to hard driving over crusty near-roads). Changes are sketched and sent into realization.

Howard is a good choice for a marathon rally. He has a number of victories and high finishes to his credit, but more important, he is also known for an ability to avoid trouble. (Just finishing may no longer be John Smallwood's goal but it is an essential part of doing well.)

For the past ten years Howard Paterson has run a rally school in England called "RallyDrive." The words written on the take-me-serious rear end of the RWD Ford Escort, one of the school's quickly portable classrooms are: "Probably The Best Rally School In The World." It's in the Midlands about 2 1/2 hours north of London.

Howard has a collection of able instructors - rally and race winners on their own - so he can take time to do the odd London to Sydney, London to Mexico (where he and John met), Paris to Marrakech.

The names fall like leaves over the blue corn enchiladas - Delhi, Nepal, Malay, Brazil, Portugal. And there is that shared stretch of a swooping roadway near Tuxla in Mexico, pronounced by Howard to be "The best tarmac stage I've ever done, anywhere."

Accepting that competition driving is always a compromise between speed and safety, Howard practices what his school teaches which can be boiled down into three guidelines:
(1.) Don't go into a bend too fast.
(2.) Use all the road.
(3.) Look for the traction.

With that, plus a sturdy car, a redone oil pan, good organization (a Smallwood specialty) and a little bit of luck - who knows? Finishing, an expectation; finishing well, a goal and winning? Hey, someone will.

(If a tough 21-day, 15,000 km rally around southern Africa appeals to you get in touch with John who is the US representative as well as a competitor: e-mail smalwood@rt66.com, phone 1-800-561-0898. Then again if a day or so of rally training is the attraction try Howard's RallyDrive. The phone in the UK is 01-482-588891. The Fax: 01-482-323943.)

 

Driving in Europe.

If you really like driving you'll like driving in Europe.

Much is made of the American love affair with the car but I think that's mistaking dependency for love. Americans count on the independence and flexibility a car gives them. Many do, indeed, dote on the automobile itself, but to appreciate true car love one must be, for instance, in Italy during the running of the Mille Miglia. Now that's a love affair with the automobile.

There are Europeans, of course, who look upon their cars as household appliances on a long tether as most Americans do. However, after many years of observation and thousands of miles of driving in Europe and the US, I've concluded that more Europeans than American looks upon driving as a sport.

If you are of like mind, and you've planned a European trip then look forward to your time at the wheel on the Continent and in Great Britain.

Be prepared for some differences you will encounter, however. Here are a few.

SPEED: No longer can you dash about at will in European roads-Italy imposed a summer time speed limit a number of years ago, Britain's motorways have speed limits and even parts of Germany's autobahns have posted speeds-but in general Europeans drive much faster than Americans do.

I have cruised along at 150 miles an hour on the autobahn (still darting an eye to the rearview mirror for someone maybe moving faster). This can be done because of the strict laws-keep right, pass left only--and the discipline of the drivers.

When you drive the autobahns stay in the right lane, keep an eye out for slower vehicles ahead of you and faster ones coming up behind and choreograph your passing accordingly. Use your turn signals to indicate your intention to pass, complete your pass and return to the right lane (again with blinkers.)

It can be difficult for drivers who are not used to really high speeds to judge the closing time of a fast-moving car coming up behind. If you turn on your blinkers to pass a truck, for instance, and a car coming up behind in the left lane answers with his left blinkers then delay your pass. The driver overtaking you is better equipped to judge the timing and his blinker is stating his right to that left lane.

Up until a few years ago headlights were flashed to lay claim to the passing lane or to chastise cars loitering overlong in their passing, but then that became considered rude. Now just the blinker is used. If an autobahn denizen does flash headlights at you then you are doing something truly egregious. Figure out what it is and don't do it again. Courtesy and discipline make the autobahns work. (And when you do see a speed limit posted-a number in a circle, usually near busy exits and entrances-obey it. That's also what makes the autobahns work.)

SPACE: Perhaps because Americans were used to driving big cars whose outer limits were difficult to judge and Europeans had almost dinky cars, Europeans often drove closer to other cars than American drivers did. Even though European cars have grown and American cars have shrunk it is still acceptable in Europe to take what space is available, never mind the lines. Roads marked with two lanes, for instance, may become a temporary three lanes and all parties accommodate to it quite naturally. Be prepared.

Roads through villages and city streets are generally much narrower and more crowded in Europe. In some villages people step right out of their front doors onto a street. They are used to making a wall-hugging turn. Give them room, but not too much or you'll crowd the other side and cause even more congestion.

In parking, take your cue from the other cars. In some places it is not only acceptable but necessary to park with one side of the car up on the curbing. Cars often nose in wherever they can and park facing any which direction.

GREAT BRITAIN: Getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road takes some drivers longer than others, and can be more difficult if you have brought a left-hand drive car along. If you are driving a car appropriate to the country's driving habits remember that you, the driver, are always closest to the center line.

Never assume that you have become accustomed to anything which is different about where or what you are driving. Consciously run awareness checks every so often so that you will not bumble off into old habits. Being keenly aware is especially important when you approach the frequent roundabouts (rotaries or traffic circles) in Britain. If there isn't a model to follow think it through before heading around the circle.

 

DOT... DOT... DOT.com
a column of opinions by the editor

As the gag goes: "I went to an IRL race and a hockey game broke out," or something like that... AJ is a legend, yes. So is his lack of self-control. He is probably as ashamed of his mugging of Arie as he deserves to be...But there's enough embarrassment for everyone, including the inept scorers...I like to watch cars mixing it up whatever initials they are racing under, but I have to turn the sound off to tolerate those IRL cars...they sound like leaf blowers from Hell.

If we were giving awards--well, why "if", let's do it. The Roadrunning.com award, The Best Use of Music in Car Commercials goes to Mercedes-Benz and Lincoln.

Mercedes-Benz current ad campaign is generally wonderful, but the prize goes to "Falling in Love Again" because all the racing drivers, factory workers, passengers and passers-by mouthing words to Marlene Dietrich's classic rendition of that song best express the theme: a long distinguished history continues renewed.

And another award winner: Watch for the new Lincoln Navigator ads, particularly the one with this grand new, brand new SUV going about its everywhere route while an operatic tenor sings "Home on the Range" in Italian. If there is a better, briefer, nail-on-the-head way to express the Navigator's theme of go-anywhere luxury I would like to see it.

Speaking of commercials...one might gather from some recent car ads that driving American luxury cars makes one rude...how else to interpret the Bonneville driver who yawns hugely at a dinner party and insults his host?...And the STS driver, blessed with OnStar and thus knowing where he is and how to get where he's going, refusing to show the way to a benighted driver of a luxury import. The question that comes to my mind: does ownership of the Pontiac and the Caddy render one rude, or is rudeness a prerequisite for buying these cars? Ah, communication. Be careful with it.

 

Thoughts... Yellow Fever
By Gregg Miller

Motorsports has a problem. No, it's not the CART/IRL controversy (had my fill of that. thank you). This is not an in-your-face type of chasm yet it could harm the sport more than Tony and Roger ever did.

Call it "Yellow Fever". It's the increasing use of caution periods to make racing into entertainment - to "put on a good show.' When a race gets a bit dull, TV commentators start screaming for yellow. In some situations a yellow, even a red, flag is warranted, but it's ridiculous when the yellow comes out with an on-air cue like: "That hamburger wrapper is in a very, very dangerous position. I'm sure they'll go full-course yellow." When race teams strategize: "If we can just slow down and get another yellow, we can win the race'' it's not racing anymore.

I don't know who first contrived this racing-as-entertainment chant, but everyone is mouthing it. The concept was heisted from the NBA. A few years ago, the NBA consciously made their game of basketball more entertaining - but it's still a sport. Let's illustrate by applying what goes on during a typical motor race to a hypothetical NBA game:

Say the score is 100 to 80, the Bulls lead the Knicks in the 4th quarter. With two minutes showing on the clock the referee blows the whistle and awards the Knicks 18 points (yellow flag). Presto, the score is now 100 to 98. When this thrilling game is over, we slap ourselves on the back and say "What a finish!''

Can you see NBA fans accepting such a scenario? Then why do race fans accept it?

How did we get in this predicament? I think race sanctioning bodies and fans have an inferiority complex. Deep down, we don't feel our sport is as TV-worthy as baseball or football. We resort to cheap stage tricks in an attempt to snag the channel-surfing TV audience But they couldn't care less. Real fans watch the race regardless of the theatrics. Not every NBA game is close. Not every NFL game is close. In fact, the Super Bowl (most watched sporting event in the country) is often a three-hour cure for insomnia! This may be the reason for elaborate half-time shows, but they didn't fool with the game itself.

Motor sport has arrived at a fork in the track. Right now we're on the ''Hulk Hogan Straight" to entertainment parading as sport. We need to take the 180 right-hander to join the NBA, NFL and others who garnish their sport with entertainment. I'm hoping we'll brake hard and turn-in early.



COUNTER-THOUGHTS
By Denise McCluggage

Well, Greg, how we got in this predicament - though I'm not sure it is one - can be summed up in one name: Bill France. That's the late Bill France. Senior, the Tall Man. The one who set NASCAR on its path from a scruffy regional racing group into the most successful racing organization in the world. And, over-simplifying here, he did it with the NASCAR Yellow.

Say what you will about "real" race fans, they will not watch races forever without the hope of - dare I use the "e" word? - entertaining competition. I agree that trying to lure the casual channel surfer into watching racing is wasted effort. (I can do without a surfeit of shots of lip-biting wives in the pits for "human interest.") However, I think that NASCAR grew to the power it is because its races are close - and sometimes are kept that way by a zealous official spotting a suspicious glint of debris in turn two. Grab a yellow!

The answer, of course, is if your team has the hot set-up and a killer engine on any given day, lead by all means, but don't go lapping the field on a super speedway. If you do, you'll sure get a flurry of yellows before you see the checker.

That's the way the game is played. And racing is a game complete with rules and out-of-bounds. The attempts of the enterprising to push those rules are part of the fun. Surely you've heard the stories of Junior Johnson increasing a car's gas capacity by including in the fuel system the roll bars. Or Smokey Yunick's famed 7/8ths race car. Someone wondered why the number looked bigger on his doors than on others. That trick brought on the use of tech-inspection templates. Those barn doors were closed. (Somehow, cheating today doesn't seem quite so inventive.)