The Radnor Hunt Rally & Concours

We’ve been invited to attend the Radnor Hunt Concours & Rally in Malvern, Pennsylvania. So we are off in the morning with a first stop at Auto Turismo Sport for a quick oil change and then we head to the Main Line of the Philadelphia suburbs. We will be participating in the rally on Saturday and although it isn’t a Time/Speed/Distance event, it will be somewhat challenging. So our featured cars might get a little scarce until Monday morning. Unless of course we see some cool stuff for sale in the parking lot. Then you’ll be the first to know.

A Long Day at Sunday in the Park Concours

We left Mint Mountain at 0-Dark-30 shrouded in fog that turned into a deluge. RainX was invented for people with old cars, I think. We were smart enough to apply a fresh coat on the windshield the night before. It cleared up as we approached the track and the Sunday in the Park Concours. We were in an eclectic class with a BMW 2002, a pair of Fiat wagons and a Ford Ranchero. There were many others to round out the crazy class. The Mercedes attracts an interesting class of people. It’s fun talking to people about the project and our future plans for the car. The judges seemed to like it too. We were awarded 3rd place. That’s 2, 3rd places out of 3 tries.

The Historics at Lime Rock Park

We are excited because today begins an exciting weekend when historic racing returns to Lime Rock Park. Tomorrow evening we will be part of the opening Parade of Pre-1970 cars that will be part of the weekend activities. Since we have been accepted to be in the Sunday Concours in our Mint Mercedes 230S, we get to participate in the Parade driving through the bucolic small towns of the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. We encourage any reader with intention to go to the races, to visit with us on Sunday. We are Class 19 at the very end of the Sam Posey Straight. Vroom!

The Dead Guy Car

We didn’t find any great cars that spoke to us today. Partly because we were at Lime Rock Park part of the day while the Ferrari Challenge races scheduled for Saturday came together. But we’ve been pondering a throw-away line from Jerry Seinfeld. In Jerry’s 2nd season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, available online, Jerry describes the ’73 Porsche Carrera RS he picked Meyers up in, as a dead guy car. Seinfeld says about the RS, “this car doesn’t change hands without somebody dying.” Jerry bought it from a dead guy and he’ll be dead before he let’s it go to the next owner. Funny, yet spot on.

There are some cars that are just perfect for you. It cannot be improved. You never want to be without it. Unfortunately for us mortals without syndication money (Jerry earned that), life gets in the way. Some cars become College Tuition cars. Others, New Kitchen cars. Life sucks when that happens. Seeing your ’65 Mustang 289 Hi-Po Fastback’s tail lights go over the curb is a sobering sight. If you haven’t seen any episode of Comedians yada, yada, yada, see this one. But there are others that are worthwhile too. The Letterman episode happened a few miles from Mint Headquarters at one of our favorite lunchtime eateries. Our favorite is the Mel Brooks episode. Not because of the car, a Rolls, but because of the unexpected visit to Carl Reiner’s home. Touching and funny. If you need a convenient link to Jerry’s website, this is it.

Win a Ferrari

We received this notice from one of our loyal readers and friend, Judy Stropus. We think it is a good cause and you might win this almost new 308GTSi. We are sure the Magnum baseball cap is somehwere in the trunk.

1982 FERRARI 308 GTSi IS CENTER’s 2013 RAFFLE CAR

A 1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi, from the family of the most recognized of all Ferrari models, is being offered by the Racing Research Center as its 2013 raffle car.

Ferrari-red, this icon of the 1970s and ’80s was generously donated to the Center by Governing Council member Greg Galdi. The car has been driven fewer than 1,500 miles. The mid-engined, targa-topped 308 GTS was introduced in 1977 and was well-known to most Americans as the car driven by Tom Selleck in the popular ’80s TV series, Magnum PI. The GTS was produced through 1985, with only 1,749 produced in 1981 and 1982. The steel-bodied, Pininfarina-styled two-seater has a 2.9-liter Bosch Jetronic fuel-injected V8 engine and five-speed transmission. It has tan leather interior. In 2004, Sports Car International named the 308 series number five on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s.

Raffle tickets are $60 for one or two for $100. Only 2,308 tickets will be sold. The drawing will be on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Center. Ticket holders do not need to be present to win.

Tickets can be purchased at the Center; by calling us at (607) 535-9044; or by emailing research@racingarchives.org.