Of course I know what I’m doing??!
I’m a great believer in asking the experts, so I’ve sent a few emails out to men with far greater driving skill and expertise than I’ll ever manage to acquire. The responses so far have added to the enthusiasm and slight concern about our upcoming adventure!
Steve Wheeler, ex-racer, car enthusiast & jolly good chap started the ball rolling………”I suggest be gentle on your little egg at first, until you both become acclimatised to the new regime, let the tyres and brakes ‘scrub in’, be easy on her, always (ALWAYS) change gear like you’re going to Sainsbury’s! If your pedal setup allows it, practise heel & toe on change down, to save both Gearbox and engine stress and avoid locking the rear brakes (If they’re good enough to lock!).
At the end of the first couple of stages, gauge your pace against those in your class, or those against whom you feel the need to compete / BEAT! Then adjust your pace from there, not all of your competitors will finish… and as you know ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’!”
Alain de Cadenet – Alfa aficionado, Vintage car enthusiast & Le Mans racer generouslyoffered the following comments………….”Such a good idea for you to be doing all this; perfect car too. Make sure your people change out your brake fluid for fresh before you go. It’s hygroscopic and can be nasty when it gets hot if it’s old; bit like us too!
I only run a 165 section tyre myself with a 1720cc big bore engine. Have good run on your 195’s to feel the steering isn’t too heavy etc. The folk on the run are a good lot and not in the least intimidating. Also, take plenty of water in the car as it gets bloody hot out there!!! Maybe a quart or two of whatever oil they put in too. I run Pennzoil 20/50 that Dave’s Lube uses. You might seek a GPS on board just in case your co-pilot gets you lost.”
So – on the plus side, I have the right vehicle. On the slightly more negative……I have absolutely no idea how to heel/toe, need to be thinking about avoiding shopping carts every time I gear change, anticipate recurring nightmares of us lost amongst the tumbleweeds desperately looking for cell-phone coverage as the desert sun beats down & feel duty bound not to let these guys down by coming last.
No pressure there, then!!!
Countdown begins….!
Friday Feb 3rd…..email arrived, confirming that I’d been accepted for the 2012 Copperstate 1000. I am soooooo excited, in a couple of months, the Egg and 75 of her newest best friends will be tearing around the scenic roads of Arizona!
Immediate flurry of activity, as the car & mechanical inspection list were dropped over to TRE. Delivered her with my own list of small concerns – passenger seatbelt less than auto-rewinding, constant hot air (eventually) coming into the cockpit which seems to be more than just heater operator error, gears a little sloppy – but hopefully no signs of anything we should have to worry about.
By following mid-week, first question from the garage…..do we replace the tyres or keep fingers crossed that enough tread on 6 year olds will suffice? Quick conflab with my oracle for all things, and new tyres were decided upon. Initial decision may have been easy, but the selection process immediately turned into something slightly more intimidating. As the car already has ’71 Fuchs wheels on her, with 185/65-15 originality wasn’t a requirement and it seems likely from previous event year’s routes that we could be experiencing a variety of different driving conditions…plus I wanted her to feel at least a little racerish (current set are not the most exciting round a corner)! TRE threw out the idea of full blown racing tires as a second set…but with a garage already full of stuff I’ll probably never use, I decided to use a more unscientific approach to my tyre investigations…
- How appealing is the tread pattern?
- What are the reviews like for handling?
Happy that the combination of both points would come up with a variety of options, I started by looking at tread patterns (because aesthetics count for plenty in my world, shallow as that may seem) & then looked at user feedback on a variety of sites. Growing up watching Formula One with my mother dictated that Michelin, Dunlop & Bridgestone were automatically included in the selection process, but after a couple of hours I settled on something completely different; 195/60-15 Kumho Ecsta ASX (ASX for All-Season Xtreme).
By week two, the tyres were delivered, brake master cylinder & heater valve replaced, new passenger seatbelt ordered, bracket for the battery (used one from a later model 911) installed, fire extinguisher fastened, TRE Dave was organising my tool kit & I’d been trying to work out exactly how easy a Le Mans style start is going to be…….!
Hello world!
Last year I came across a great event called the Copperstate 1000 (http://www.mensartscouncil.com/cs/) …an excuse for 75 vintage cars to drive around various roads in Arizona, under the watchful jurisdiction of an organisation called the Men’s Arts Council. It’s been running since 1990, and seems to attract a pretty sensational collection of cars. Four days, 1000 miles…and some great photo opportunities.
As the very lucky owner of a 1964 Porsche 356C, that I affectionately call “The Egg”, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to give her something more inspiring than the usual LA driving we encounter. Not quite confident (yet) to consider vintage car racing, and a little intimidated by some of the more “macho” events that seem to be on offer here; Copperstate seemed to be an interesting option. If nothing else, I could apply and be politely turned down!
So late last year, I sent my application in and then started to run through the information available on their website to work out just what I was possibly letting myself in for. Three things stood out immediately:
- Mechanical inspection
- Co-Driver
- Navigation
Although I wasn’t a girl guide, and I’m not sure I’ve ever dated an ex-scout; these items made me realise that being at least somewhat prepared would be worth exploring. The mechanical inspection was pretty overwhelming, and included lists of requirements that made me question every creak & groan I’ve come to love when driving the Egg. Maybe that wasn’t just a little bit of old age and appreciation as she took the corner for me? Was it possible that differentials were loose, or cables were unthreading? Does she even have differentials or cables come to that?
Fortunately, the Egg has been lovingly looked after by the brilliant team at TRE Racing in Van Nuys. We’re a little lower on the racing evolutionary scale than most clientele, but the Egg holds her own when she’s there, and seems to gain plenty of points for her beguiling rear end. Quick call to Jeremy and Dave, who reassured me that my lack of diff knowledge and inability to select new tyres based on anything other than tread pattern, would not be insurmountable issues to overcome…all we’d need to do was run through the mechanical check list, and address anything that may come up.
I’ve come to look at the Egg in the same way as I’m sure friends and relatives look at their kids. There are no issues, we just have challenges (this is my way of willing the problems to be cheaper; which I’m happy to report has been pretty successful so far) Obviously its helped by the fact that despite her iconic shape, she’s a pretty simple little beastie overall… essentially a VW Bug with pretensions….and there’s nothing wrong with that! I duly crossed my fingers that the trend would continue should we reach the mechanical check list stage and moved on to #2.
Co-driver…..this required some serious consideration.
- Need someone who can drive, obviously
- Not likely to reduce me to cringe position as passenger
- Tolerable for long periods of time, or just as easy to ignore
- A level of mechanical understanding that will make up for my distinct lack of same
- See point #4
- See point #4
I really didn’t that many options, & figured that I’d have to leave this question unanswered until the very last moment……and then a flash of genius occurred over a canapé last September. Auntie Colleen’s surprise 80th birthday resulted in a number of family all coming together for the celebration. The party included cousin Harry. He’s my charmingly nerdy “older brother by another mother”, who just happens to have an impressive history of restoring, building, playing around with and owning old cars. There was a minor aberration when he acquired a mid 90″s Subaru SVX….but we try to skirt around that whenever possible. Clutching my hors d’œuvre I suddenly realised I was looking at the perfect victim….and proceeded to make my pitch.
Moment of thought, eyebrow raised, slight smile…I had him 🙂
Which of course brought me to point #3 – as we both share one very particular family trait. We are absolutely hopeless at giving or following directions.
You tell me left. I will nod in full agreement and understanding….and then turn right. Can’t help it, don’t take it personally….its just an inbuilt inability for the eyes, brain and direction to all work seemlessly together.
Clearly this will need some more planning…..
eggadventures 