Central Valley Classic Cars - Random Stuff

Monterey Car Week Engines

2010-08-17T19:07:00Z

At this years, events, I found myself snapping pictures of engines this year. Had I put any thought into it a head of time, I would have gone out of my way to get important engines from each of the great marques. But I didn’t. So here’s a somewhat random collection of the expensive metal that was on the Moneterey Peninsula for the 2010 events.

Racing is Doomed: 'Go Like Hell' Review

2009-09-22T19:24:00Z

I don’t want to sound prophetic; to be one of those people who says they know the future and give an exhaustive list of evidence to why they are right. It seems that most of the time, these predictions turn out false. I mean technically, Chrysler still exists despite all who foretold its demise at the beginning of the year.

That’s not what I’m claiming. Doomed is merely the conclusion I’ve come to after reading the history of the Ford GT40 in A.J. Baime’s book, Go Like Hell.

The problem as I see it is progress. The same progress that allows you to read this collection of words on your television like screen thingie. Hold on, let me take you through my thought process.

The world of racing in the mid sixties is not like the racing of today. ‘Go Like Hell’ is a gripping story of brave and talented men risking their lives every time they set out in a race car. And when I say ‘risk their lives’ it is no mere exaggeration for dramatic purposes. It felt like someone died in every chapter of the book. Whether a rookie driver or a world famous star racer, people’s lives ended commonly on the track. And thankfully, for the lives its saved, progress has put all but a stop to death in world class racing. It still happens yes, racing is still dangerous but to put it into context, in the early 60’s there were actual debates about weather or not to put seat belts in race cars. Things have changed.

I’m not claiming then that the progress I’m referring to is bad. It is after all progress. But still, some of the romance is missing. Yes I know that sounds horrible but its true. Men in general like the idea of laughing in the face of death. Of heroes. Of men who succeed against truly dangerous opposition. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the glory. Or something like that. I don’t believe that the safety, the saved lives is a bad thing. Of course it is good, but the loss of adventure is an unfortunate side effect. That said, lets switch gears a bit and I’ll continue with something that sounds less offensive.

As progress in technology has increased two things have happened: Race cars have gotten further and further from cars people can actually buy and drive, and the cost of racing has sky-rocketed.

The first thing has bothered me for a long time. NASCAR used to use a term that meant something. I’m referring to of course the words ‘Stock Car’. That meant that the cars were stock. Or at least were only modified with parts that any old enthusiast could go down to his local dealer and buy. That built a fan base with a marque and allowed fans to identify with the cars they cheered for. I can just picture a marketing person in the 60’s saying, “Why don’t we make it easier on all the manufacturers and make them all race the same car, just with different painted bodies on them. Fans will still cheer for their brands. It doesn’t matter that the cars have nothing to do with the models they are named after.” Had someone actually said that back then, I’d like to think they’d have been drawn an quartered.

But I will concede that NASCAR is very popular today. With its fake cars. That’s fine. Good for it. Can we have then a new racing league for actual stock as in stock from the dealer, cars? Yes they can be fitted with roll cages and harnesses but outside of that. . . .

Trans-Am racing started out on the right track back then too. But it too lost its way. And disappeared.

And to get back to the book, look at Le Mans racing. I still enjoy the GT1 and GT2 classes for having varying degrees of relation to cars I could (if I had money) go and buy. But the ‘prototype’ cars raced in the 60’s would be considered GT1 cars today. There are people who used their GT40’s on the streets. That would never happen with a Peugot whatever its called.

About the only thing I can think of that hasn’t changed is Formula 1 (and other open wheel leagues) but that’s only because they were never ‘normal’ cars to begin with.

And this leads into the second problem. The cost. This to me is the greatest problem. Because it destroys something that though universal is very strongly tied to the American Dream.

When it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to race successfully in a major series, we lose the opportunity for the underdog success stories. For the chicken farmer that has a good idea and a strong commitment and takes on the worlds best. For an aluminum salesman to revolutionize two of the top racing leagues in the world and brings the established racing royalty to its knees. Its that dream of no matter what your status in life, if you have a good idea and work hard you can accomplish anything. Its the tie to the common man and the drama that ensues, the hope, the struggles and finally the win that makes racing great.

Or maybe that’s just how I see it. Luckily there’s books like ‘Go Like Hell’ out there to thrill me with stories of the Golden Age of racing. I highly recommend picking it up.

It's British Car Week!!!

2009-05-29T19:01:00Z

May 30th through June 7th is officially the British Car Week of 2009. British car clubs around the world encourage you to get out and drive your British automobiles this week.

In honor of this week of awareness and appreciation, I’ve collected together some of our favorite British car shots from the CVCC photo collection. You can click through them in this article, or browse the corresponding gallery.

There are no specific British car events in our immediate area, that we know of yet. But people are encouraged to be out on the road in their examples of British class and style and we’ll keep our cameras on us and try to snap pictures of what we see.

If you’re down in the south valley or SoCal, you might want to check out the California Healey Week event down in Paso Robles.

If you’re in the Fresno area, keep an eye out for members of the Valley British Auto Club enjoying their vehicles on the open roads. You can bet some British representatives will stand out at the The Belmont Concours d’Eleganza on June 7th at the Belmont Country Club in Fresno.

Speaking of cool British cars, check out what the engineers of Warwick University have cooked up with some chocolate, carrots and potatoes:

As the Tumble Weeds Blow By

2009-05-20T23:46:00Z

It seems a bit like a ghost town around here lately, but we are still here and we are still busy chronicling the California Central Valley classic car experience.

Well, really we’ve been busy with a lot of other stuff like day jobs and non-car family stuff. But Ben is still saving for another Lotus and the Jaguar XK8 is still in the garage waiting to be worked on (and there are some updates on that are in the publishing queue). And we’re finally going to get around to implementing Emma’s original layout & design for the site.

We missed the Springtime Reunion Car Show out at the Castle Air Museum this year, but I hope to have a report and pictures via a friend.

We hope things will pick up as the car recreation of the summer kicks into high gear.

More Photos from ALMS at Laguna Seca 2008

2008-11-09T18:01:00Z

Here are a couple more photos by Les Ellis from the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca 2008 races.

American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca 2008

2008-11-09T17:49:00Z

Les and Ben were at the Monterey Sports Car Championship featuring the American Le Mans Series at Leguna Seca in October. Photos by Les Ellis.

Les sent me these pictures shortly after the race, but I’ve been swamped with “day job” (software engineer) and “night job” (proud father of two, honored husband) work…

Here’s a summary of the event:

Short of taking a trip to France, the best way to see the high-speed, high-tech Le Mans Prototypes and GT cars of the American Le Mans Series, patterned after the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, is in this four-hour endurance challenge. The Saturday afternoon race into the darkness race concludes the season with Le Mans Prototypes from Audi, Porsche, Mazda, Acura, Dodge and Ford battling on the same track with production-based GT cars from Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari and Panoz.

~ from http://www.laguna-seca.com/pages/2008_MontereySports_Car_Championships

For more on the American Le Mans Series check out the ALMS web site

Smoke in the Valley

2008-07-01T01:00:00Z

It’s been some tough days for breathing in these parts this past week. But the air is beginning to clear. Big “thanks” goes out to all the fire fighters, national guard, and other volunteers who have been working to contain the wild fires.

Last weekend, thunder storms started over 800 fires burning around us, in the coast range mountains to the west and the Sierras to the east. It’s unusually dry and hot this June and the fires spread quickly and have been challenging to contain.

Needless to say we’ve had less than ideal air quality in the central valley. It’s officially “unhealthy” for us to breath. Looking across the street from our Atwater, CA residence, even the neighbors’ trees look hazy. I took these pictures looking across the golf course behind our house on Friday. I’ll take some more as soon as the air returns to normal and add them for comparison.

But the good news is that the brave fire fighters, national guard men and women, and various other super hero volunteers have got many of the fires close to being under control. The air around our place is already beginning to clear. Special thanks also to fog rolling in from the coast – and to you, if you were praying with us for such external forces to come into play.