VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
The Gasline President’s Message
2012 Club Officers President: Warren Pierce Vice-President: Perry Cross Secretary: Sandi Miller Treasurer: Larry Miller Treasurer Emerita: Esther Carlyle Board Members Vic Carder Jim Eckhart Steve Fields Bruce Gordon Monica Nathan Kathy Pierce Cathy Rippey
This is the last newsletter for 2011 and I want to thank everyone for making this a very successful year for the Pebble Beach Sports Car Club. Thank you to everyone who planned an event and those who! participated in said planned events. A special thank you to Ole Anderson for hosting the club’s Holiday Party, to Sandi Miller and Kathy Pierce for working year long on the planning and purchasing of the raffle prizes for the party, thanks to all who donated raffle prizes to the meeting raffle and a BIG thank you to Bill Kirkwood for the great work on the club website. Thanks to all the officer and board members who take time from busy lives to make the club work, and thank you all for paying your dues which are now due!
Robert Smith Mike Veitengruber web site: pebblebeachsportscarclub.com
Welcome to New Members:
Alex Kirkwood, Glen and Jill Lewis, Kitty Woldow, Tom Dunham and Valerie Kemp, Brian Bliven, Bill Ostradick, Mike and Diane Pinto, Diane and Chuck Elliott, and Mail your dues to PBSCC, PO Box 94, Monterey, CA 93942 or bring former members, Jeff Wright and Leslie them to the next meeting at the Elks Lodge on 9 January. Leslie.
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
RENNSPORT VISITS WEST COAST The largest gathering of Porsches on the West Coast took place at Laguna Seca October 14-16.!! This beautiful gathering of Porsches both old and new,!on and off the track was a spectacular sight to see indeed.! Vintage Porsche races were the highlight of the weekend with PBSCC club member Don Tevini racing his Devin D as the only club member racing that weekend.! He recorded a very fast time and was pleased with his race weekend.! There was a special tribute to
the Porsche 911 history, a Concours on Pit Lane, the North American debut of the new 2012 Porsche 911 and the Porsche Club of America’s largest single marque car corral in Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca history with more than 1,300 vehicles. Larry and Sandi
Miller show-cased their Porsche in the car corral as did Pam Kirkwood and Steve Ponsi.!! Havin g a fu n weeken d: Bata an d Ro se Mataja,! ! Matt Frazuer, Frank an d Tina D'Aquanno, Jacque Booth,! and Dean Craig.! Working, from the track to registration: Bill Kirkwoo d; Pam Shatraw;! Mike and Kathy Hayworth, Linda Ponsi Monica Nathan, Sandi Miller and Kathy Pierce.! Pierce Manifolds was a vendor with the vintage Weber truck with Mike and Warren Pierce selling the goods.
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
CALIFORNIA AUTUMN CLASSIC CONCLUDES WITH GREAT EVENT On Sunday, October 16th, the California Autumn Classic had its final show of a nineteen year run due to high costs to the city of Morgan Hill. The Sunday show was expanded to cover four blocks with nearly two-hundred cars with seven area British car clubs represented.
and visited all.!! The day was warm and pleasant with a good viewer turnout - a shame that this will be the last show.! As we prepared to leave, Tom Gano discovered he had mis-placed his car keys - we all looked everywhere twice!! Bill Highland and his On the Road Again mechanic hot wired the car - Tom made it home safely As always, the event was well attended and then found the keys!! Who said the wiring in PBSCC British car owners were well represented.!! British cars never work?!!!!! And for those who Showing their prized British cars were club are keeping score, the Pierces' made it home members Larry and Sandi Miller, Bugzuki; just fine - the TD is a champ in many ways!! George Jaksha in his newly purchased and ! beautiful Triumph TR3; Bill Gee, Triumph Bill Meade, founder of the Autumn Classic, said, TR3;! Tom and Claudia Gano, Austin-Healy; "Its been a long run of many great shows but Warren and Kathy Pierce, MGTD displayed in the the time has come to retire the Autumn Classic past winners circle; new members Bill Highland, event and name. Perhaps someone will start with his On the Road Again display tent; Tom another exclusively British, year-end show in the Dunham, award winning MGA and Brian Bliven, future but the California Autumn Classic name is Bugeye Sprite.!! Robert Smith and his Jag came now a part of history."
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
OCTOBER BLACKHAWK MUSEUM TREK A good turnout of 15+ PBSCC members made the trip north to tour the Blackhawk Museum. Most brought their sports cars including Warren and Kathy Pierce (MGB Roadster), Mike Hayworth (Miata), Steve Fields ( Alfa Spider), Mike Veitengruber and Jen Stenstrom (Mercedes 280SE), and Neil and Myrna England (Cobra). Others followed in more sensible vehicles including Pete and Andrea Tweet, Dean Craig and Monica Nathan, Bill Gee, plus Robert Smith and Kitty Woldow. Kathy Hayworth joined everyone at lunchtime. ! The museum has a nice selection of sports, exotic and classic cars. Lots of Italian cars currently, including a Phil Hill Ferrari that raced at the Pebble Beach Road Races. After raiding the museum gift shop for posters, books and other memorabilia the group split up to have lunch at several spots (The Pear restaurant was one) around the museum. All in all a great day…a surprisingly easy drive, beautiful cars and great people.
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
TOUR OF MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM Our November event got great reviews. Thanks to Bill Kirkwood for arranging and guiding us on a tour of MBARI in Moss Landing. Over 25 members attended. We also gained four new members, Mike and Diane Pinto who assisted Bill with the tour and Diane and Chuck Elliott, Alfa friends of Steve and Wendy Fields. Afterwards some of us went to the Haute Enchilada and others to Phil’s for lunch. Thanks again, Bill! Check out the website for more pictures.
NOVEMBER TOYS FOR TOTS, WINE AND HORS D’OEUVRES On November 12th! PBSCC kicked-off the Holiday season with a wine/hors d’oeuvres! and smores/ dessert event.! ! First stop, Perry and Christine Cross's for wine and hors d’oeuvres.! With over 40 club members in attendance, there was much tasting and talking.! The day was warm so as always, the Cross's beautiful yard was a favorite area to sit in the sun by the pool!and visit.! The club also held their annual Toys for Tots toy drive that day with many generous contributions.! Forty toys were collected and delivered by Larry and Sandi Miller to the Naval Postgraduate School to be given to military families. Next stop, with just a short drive down 68 to Cathy and Mike Rippey's house for smores around the outdoor fireplace or the choice of many delicious desserts prepared by Cathy.! Wonderful food and setting!!! The Rippey's beautiful Christmas tree, festive decorations and outdoor lights gave all a true Holiday spirit.!! Many thanks to the Cross's and Rippey's.
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
DECEMBER HOLIDAY LUNCHEON On Dec. 10th, PBSCC celebrated Christmas once again at the beautiful MPCC Beach House on 17 Mile Drive for a mid-day get-together and luncheon.! As in previous years, the day was picture perfect with fantastic views, surfers, fabulous food and happy times as club members enjoyed visiting with old and new friends. A big "Thank You" to Ole Anderson - and his family - for arranging our day at the Beach House.! This venue is greatly appreciated by all who attend - so, thanks again, Ole.! After lunch, Ole recounted the story of daughter Dea's vintage Fiat and its restoration. Prez Warren thanked everyone for attending this special day, for their continued support of the club and its activities-and the election/continuation of officers in place again for 2012 plus,!new board member Steve Fields adding his expertise. !!! The successful Christmas Raffle brings the happy day to a close.! The Club contributes the majority of the gifts -!race posters, food items, car memorabilia, etc. - but, a big Thank You to Pam Kirkwood, Jim and Sharon Eckhart, Dick Searle, Debbie Smith and Don Tevini for their welcomed gift contributions.! ! Kudos to Sandi Miller and Kathy BusseyPierce for their hard work, shopping savvy and wrapping skills.! What a team!! Thanks to Pam and Bill Kirkwood and Tony Prock for the great pictures posted here and on the web. Make sure you check them out - and all the other events this past year. !!!!! All in all, a great day of fun for a great Club.! See everyone next year!
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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
!"#$%&#' !
By Bill Kirkwood Before you get excited, “she goes” is the English translation for the manufacturer of my vintage car, ELVA. Elva is a contraction of the French “elle va” the name the founder of the company, Frank Nichols creator and designer of Elva sports racers and later the Elva Courier, gave his creation. Elva as a sports car is a contemporary of the MGA era from the late 1950’s to mid way through the 1960’s. After a series of great cars and just as many bad business decisions, Elva merge d with McLaren (Elva-McLaren) and eventually the Elva wa s dro pp e d to become McLaren, as we know it today.
Elva cars were all racers in fact. Although the Courier was legal for the street it was built using a tube frame chassis and fiberglass body with a wide stance, front disc brakes and coil over suspension. They were
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OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011 intended to be the club racer for the amateur who would drive to the track, race and then drive home. The real reason for even making the car was to co mpete w ith the Porsche 356 and MGA sales so that ELVA Motorworks Ltd. could get more money for their real love, full race cars. The majority of sales were in the USA and the car was usually purchased with all the options m a k i n g it a v e r y p ote nt weekend racer. Mark Donahue launched his career in a 1960 Elva MkII when he took the SCCA National Championship in 1961. I’ve been reading some of his comments and it was one of his favorites to drive, a very balanced car and competitive right from the factory. The upgrades usually included the biggest MGA motor available in the same year MGA, but at 1400 po un ds the car was substantially lighter. Eventually the Courier was moved from the E Production class up to t h e m o r e c o m p e t it i v e D Production, where the Courier had to race against 2-liter cars and other bigger engine cars. This allowed the Courier to race for many more years competitively as it regularly would beat most C Production racers, like Corvettes of the day. Well, enough history on the Elva Courier but as you can see I’ve become a big fan and a car that most people think is an Alfa Romeo when they first see it. Sorry Alfa guys… I didn’t
say it, the man on the street does. This story is about the second half of the race season with my Elva Courier concluding with a great weekend at the CSRG Finale at Thunderhill. I wrote an article about the first outing back in the spring of this year at Laguna Seca. I’d like to thank everyone again w ho pitche d in w ith th is project, from finding the car all the way through to being pit crew at the CSRG Finale. THANKS EVERYBODY, you know who you are. Except for a select few, ever yone is a PBSCC Club Member and that makes it a great club in my opinion.
The No. 61 Elva had a great year. After racing at the HMSA season opener at Laguna Seca, we took the car to Sears Point (n o lo n g e r I n fi n e o n a s I understand it, there is a new sponsor). At that race we had a great Saturday. Went out in the two session for the day and qualified well enough being a completely stock setup. The first race was great; I moved
VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 ! up 5 places and finished solidly in the middle of the pack (surrounded by Alfa’s and some well prepped MG’s with a couple of Porsche’s in the mix). It was a big field and lots of fun to race at a challenging track. The end of day one was tougher; the last two laps of the race the clutch master cylinder let go so I had to shift without the clutch by matching revs and sli din g the g ear sh ift in carefully. Finally on the last lap I just ran in 3rd gear the entire lap. After a number of folks from the east coast, Cana da an d Huffake r Engineering tried to help after my two runs for parts we g ot the car back together. Unfortunately, the linkage isn’t adjustable and the new parts were not a direct replacement. I made the pace lap for race 2 but the clutch let go entirely right after the green flag. I had to retire from the race. Still, these kinds of issues are expected from a car that is 50 years old and stressing the stock parts. I got the car back to Monterey and Frank D’Aquanno said drop it off at D’Motorsports and he’ll take care of it. With some new parts and a custom rod for adjustment the No. 61 Elva was ready again. The n ext event o n the schedule was the Carmel Concours on the Avenue. I had been accepte d many
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OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011 months before and was really looking forward to seeing the little Elva mixed in with all those beautiful machines. My son, and new member Alex, was able to get the day off work so he was the official entrant. I was working the event with the usual club members as we’ve done for years. The day ended up being beautiful, imagine a sunny day in Carmel during August! Couldn’t have been better weather. The color commentators were looking for interesting cars to bring up on stage during the day to entertain the crowd and with a little finagling on the part of some members the No. 61 Elva was asked to strut on the runway. It was a fun time after all the work to have the car and the boy in the spotlight (the boy was way more work). The fellows knew their stuff about Elva’s too, which made it more fun. I love car week in Monterey no matter what but this was the best so far for me. The next day o ur Pres. (Warren) came over and we fired up Kathy Pierce’s MGTD. I got the Elva out and we drove over Hwy 68 to the Little Car Show in Pacific Grove. It was a little colder and a gray day compared to Carmel, but both cars were put right in the middle of the show. My son had told me the crowd in Carmel was really interested in the car and asked a lot of questions.
Although the crowd was smaller in PG I got a sense of what it was like for him. From the time we got there, except for when we left for lunch, the people stopping in and asking questions never sto pp e d. Even o nce the awards were given out, folks were still coming around, ta k i n g p i ct u r e s, a s k i n g que stio ns, an d g en e rally enjoying the Elva. It was an interesting crowd of car e nt h u s ia st s, b ut t w o questions dominated the day. The second most common question was do I really race the car. They thought it looked too good and rare to take on the track.
By far the mo st a ske d que stio n was abo ut the aluminum racing seats, which are not padded and sit very low. People were amazed that someone would sit their rump in a solid bucket and race.
VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 ! It’s obvious they are too young to remember or so old they don’t recall the kinds of things people used to race and how they were prepped, or lacked prep might be more correct. Anyway, the Little Car Show was great and both Kathy’s TD and the Elva won awards. What a great two days.
After the car shows I noticed a little rust trickle that ran down around the distributor. After checking carefully it looked like a freeze plug was starting to weep. I ha d boosted the radiator cap pressure trying to keep the coolant in when racing. The cap pressure was bumped from 5 to 10 then up to 14 pounds so I figured the extra stress of racing was again showing a weak component. Well “who you gonna call?” Frank of course. With travel, my day job and my side gig that pays for racing it was by far the best solution and Frank knew where to get the good plugs not the cheap material most places sell these days. So Frank and his guys did the freeze plug and lo oke d the car over. He
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OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011 noticed a weep on the rear axle seal and so he tightened that up too and just checked the car overall after racing. After a few tightened nuts, a leak test there, a fluid level here, we were ready to go again. The little Elva sat for a couple months at this point while I attended to putting beans on the table. I had w a nte d to race at t h e Charity Challenge but I had decided to race in SCCA in a Spec Racer Ford (SRF) instead and do the season ender in the Elva mostly because I was asked to be on the Miata team for the Enduro. The SRF was a hoot and I did pretty well for my first time. I’m not a natural so I have to build up to getting the most out of a car. After reading I’ve learned this is common in engineers who race… as a group we tend to build up, test the limits bit by bit and this usually is rewarded with a finish and often a decent one. Once I get used to a car and feel a “trust” in it I can be a mid-packer pretty quick. I’m generally not a f r o n t- r u n n e r ( la c k o f experience mostly and a real big desire to not damage a rented car – that costs real money!!). I did however get two 2nd place finishes in June driving a Miata in Improved Touring X (ITX), which got
me the invite. I wish I could say it was superior driving but I’ll take ‘em when I get ‘em. Miata’s are another great car right off the floor, very well balanced. The same weekend as the SRF I raced the Miata as part of a 3-man team in the Illgen 4 hour Enduro to end the SCCA season. We took 3rd place in our class and moved from 28th at the start to 17th overall and this one was truly earned. I had a great battle for about 20 laps but that’s another story. I can see why they are so popular and since racing one I’ve quit makin g joke s abo ut the owners. ! TO BE CONTINUED NEXT TIME......
VOLUME 59, ISSUE 4 !
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2011
Calendar January 2012 9
Membership Meeting
30
Board Meeting
TBD Polar Bear Run* February 2012 5
Super Bowl
6-12 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 11
Valentine’s Day Passport (wine tour)*
13
Membership Meeting
14
Valentine’s Day
27
Board Meeting
March 2012 11
Daylight Saving Time Begins
12
Membership Meeting
17-18 HMSA Spring Event, Laguna Seca *Club Event - more information to follow as the events get closer
Contributors Kathy Pierce Sandi Miller Steve Fields Pam & Bill Kirkwood Tony Prock Debbie Smith If we’ve missed anyone at an event, we are truly sorry. Please let us know and we will acknowledge you in the next Gasline.
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