December 2007 - PCA - Orange Coast Region

that handled better. I still had the dirt
bikes, and they of course led to the desire
for street bikes, as I fi gured my quickest
(read: affordable) path to something that
handled better was going to be on two
wheels. My parents had no intention of
signing off on the M1 endorsement for
my driver’s license, but my argument
was that I was going to get it once I
turned 18 anyway!
My persistence eventually paid off
prior to my turning 18 in the form of a
compromise—I convinced them to let
me buy a “project” 1973 Kawasaki Triple
350. It didn’t run and the engine (read:
parts) was literally in a milk crate. The
deal was that I wouldn’t ride it—I would
just fi x it up and sell it for a profi t. Right.
Turns out I ended up selling it for about
what I put into it, not counting labor. I
worked on all my vehicles then because
I enjoyed it, but mostly because it was
a necessity, since it was cheaper than
having them repaired. This included
rebuilding engines, transmissions and
doing occasional body work.
One particularly amusing repair event
occurred when a friend with an MG was
in the neighborhood and developed a
signifi cant rod knock. The poor guy knew
nothing about cars and had very little
money. Given his circumstances, one
might ask why he bought an MG in the
fi rst place…anyhow, luckily for him he
was by our house when it started to die
and we had nothing planned that Sunday
afternoon. His misfortune allowed us to
try to myth-bust an old story we heard
about—using belt leather as a main
bearing. Suffi ce it to say that it worked
like a charm and off he went, probably to
the closest dealer to trade it in!
With Michelle at the Paris Auto Show.
pick up the cars once the owners got to
know us. One particular owner wanted
some pictures of his cars and said we
could take it by O’Neil Park for some
good shots. I then realized that trying to
cure the car bug with adrenaline doesn’t
work—it only fuels it. It also ended up
being another one of those life lessons
where the proper motivation (i.e.,
exposure to nice things) will drive one to
excel so they might attain nice things on
their own. My parents employed this little
trick on occasion while raising me, and I
hope to use it one day on my kids.
No right turns: California Speedway.
My fi rst “sports car” was a 1971 Datsun
240Z which I thoroughly enjoyed. I ended
up pulling the transmission out so many
times I got to the point where I could
remove it in 14 minutes fl at, without air
tools. It was a learning experience that
taught me some valuable lessons, one
of which was that it was easier to work
on things if you had the right tools. I later
rationalized that you should have the
right tool for the job or present conditions,
which I still use to this day to explain why
one should always have more than one
vehicle! I don’t do nearly the work on
vehicles today due to the complexity of
technology. But don’t get me wrong, I’m a
huge fan of technology—especially when
I think about adjusting distributor points
and synchronizing multiple carburetors.
The first of two Skip Barber classes at Laguna
Seca.
Toward the end of high school and prior
to college, after a variety of jobs driving
fork lifts and working at a car dealer, I
began to detail cars with a friend. This
not only provided a few bucks and
allowed us to be our own bosses, but it
also allowed me to broaden my exposure
to more cars. Most people didn’t call it
“detailing” back then, but those who did
typically had nice cars. We focused on
Ferraris and Porsches and would usually
My desire to get on a track and the
budget constraints of being a student
ended up with me getting a Yamaha 500
with a V4 two-stroke engine so I could
spend time racing at Willow Springs.
That was more fun that I have space to
right about. However, I must have been
getting older, as my sense of mortality
and responsibility was kicking in and I
wanted to get through school and start
making a better living. Besides, spending
weekends racing and buying tires didn’t
leave much of a budget for food while at
school.
Playing with our Cayman S at one of the club’s Autocross events at El Toro Fields.
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