The Prince and the Pauper

Remember the Mark Twain novel, "The Prince and the Pauper", a story about two lookalike boys, one a poor street kid and the other a prince, exchange places to see what the other's life is like. Well, that's exactly how the story of "Lucky" the 1965 Shelby GT350R model is beginning to look. This poor little car looks as if it's been to hell and back but I plan on getting him all cleaned up, placing him in a new environment, a lot of refining, a little polishing and with a lot of hard work to details he will become the prince he once was and deserves to be.

Today my trusty dog Nitrus and I went on an 8 hour journey to Fresno California to pick up the Pauper GT350 and now he is safe at his new home at California's Best where the task at hand will begin. Most guys like to name their rides and many give them a girls name as if they were a ship or something but I have decided I am going to name the car "Lucky." Welcome home Lucky.

All I want for Christmas is my....

I remember as a boy when I was impatient and kept asking my father, "What time is it now?" or "How much longer will it be?" as we were on a long trip or waiting for something like Christmas so I could rip into the presents. My father would begin the lecture... "Just wait and see... One of these days when you grow up you will ask yourself where the time went and what you have to do to slow it down."

This week I am going to pick up the Shelby body at my friend's shop in Fresno which is about a three hour drive. I guess I never really grew up because after all these years I find myself with the same emotions that I had the night before Christmas and I can't go to sleep. Where's Dad when I need him? I'm sure he would have something supportive to say like.... "Go to sleep you dumb ass." Since he loved all things automotive himself and had numerous old cars in his collections over the years I'm sure he knew the same anxiety which makes for such fun and anticipation.

What's that old saying about one man's junk is another man's treasure? I used to laugh driving down some highway whenever I saw signs along the highway that read, "We buy junk. Antiques for sale." My new Shelby isn't an antique but to the untrained eye it sure does look like a piece of junk. But to me it's a work of art, something that I will take and massage and work back into the work of art it once was and more. Not at all unlike the Greek Phoenix, which according to legend was a great bird which consumed itself by fire and then rose alive from the ashes to live another period. Once again I will bring life back to what some see as an old car but what I see isn't old at all but instead something to bring life back to a couple of old racers and we too may rise about the ashes and soar not unlike some old legend.

Is it time to go yet? Are we almost there?

In good company

Man, have I ever been busy researching the new race car. It seems that a race car would be a pretty simple thing to build since I have done so many. I can't help but believe there is some special reason that I'm not aware of that I am called on to do this race and I really have a desire to do well. I suppose part of it is due to the fact so many racers from all over the world will be there and I feel as is I need to represent not only America but Team California's Best reputation as well. Then again it is a race of a lifetime, it has danger, intrigue, fast cars, travel, friends, family, adventure and racing not to mention a great racing heritage and tradition all of which I want to be a part of. I wasn't aware until yesterday this is the 20th anniversary of the second time the race was brought back and so there is really a lot of competition of European teams fighting to sign up for it.

In a way it reminds me of my skeet shooting days when all I found time to do was eat, sleep and talk skeet night and day. Just like it was back in my Olympic days I was so devoted and obsessed with obtaining or achieving certain goals that I had set for myself if you didn't share one of those then you got left behind. While it all sounds rude I assure it was never met to be and it's hard to explain how dedicated world-class athletes can become during their quest to something all athletes attempt to find.... perfection. I remember the very first time I sat at a table listening to 6 or seven Olympic athletes as we had lunch. I remember as if it was yesterday as they talked back and forth about how great they were. At first I thought to myself, "How conceited. I have never heard anyone in my life talk with such arrogance or conceit. I would NEVER want to be like these people." Little did I understand that for someone to become world -class he or she must not only believe in themselves but they must know positively beyond a shadow of a doubt that THEY are the BEST in the world and it just becomes a way of life. I realized later in years that they were not boasting or bragging, if anything they were convincing themselves and their own sub-conscious that they where that good.

Now, once again I find myself setting goals and wanting to be the best there is. It's no different than an alcoholic desiring the next drink or a smoker wanting the next cigarette or even a drug addict needing the next fix. I wonder what gas will do if I shoot some up or possibly take a swig since it may be hard to light up?

Some of the best satisfaction I get from racing is sharing all the excitement with friends and family and it doesn't always have to be done in a car. And speaking of great athletes, not too long ago I took one of my favorite nephews with me to a race. It was in a favorite town where I had spent many a summer as a boy and a town where I had many a dream of someday owning or driving a fast car. As we sat in the seats of the grandstands watching the races all evening I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that I had lived across the street from the track long ago before the track was even built and now here I sat with a fine young man who possibly has the same dreams I did at his age. As the cars raced around the track I watched as he kept track of every lap they made never minding the dirt in the eyes as we both cheered for our favorites. During the very last race as the announcer mentioned the names of the drivers he said, "Hey... that's a friend of mine. We played football together. GO CODY!" It made the race even better and it was a good one too with the last two laps making it even more thrilling as the driver's own father was catching him on the track and almost pulled it off. People where screaming, fans cheering, cars crashing, beer that had bugs in it... what else could anyone ask for except to have such a fine young man along to share in all the fun? One of these days I hope to have him along for a race weekend so he can take a bigger part in the excitement and share in the adventure. Good things happen to good people. You may ask what this all has to do with La Carrera Panamericana. It's young people who have the dreams that and desires that send them onto the journeys that lead them to challanges that we accepting or mastering. Without the dreams the adventure means nothing.

Being left behind

A few weeks ago Jon and I went to Sears Point (Infineon) to race in a 3 hour enduro and while there I was supposed to meet up with Gerie Bledso (The North American La Carrera Panamericana director) and meet some drivers and see their cars that had or are going to drive the La Carrera Panamericana. But when we got there on Sunday I found only one race car there and Gerie since the cars that ran the day before had some bad luck or problems and they had all left.

This weekend there was another race and some more La Carrera Panamericana cars and drivers were supposed to attend so I was really excited about meeting them. Jon and I had originally made plans to attend on Saturday but some things came up so we went on Sunday only to find the exact same chain of events happened again. Bummer!

I feel like a little boy that was left behind as the men went to war and now it looks as if I won't get to see any of these cars or meet the drivers for months since they will all be leaving in a few days to run this years La Carrera Panamericana and after that as is the norm, nobody will be attending any races for some time since they will be burned out from a long year of preparation not to mention the thousands of miles of driving and racing involved in this grueling race. But that's ok, because I have more than enough to keep me busy getting my own car ready even though I would have loved to see some of the tricks on their cars and pick their brains for ideas.

On the other hand, no day at the race track is a bad day and Jon and I had a great time and a podium finish as well so not all was lost. I also went for a ride on the track with a friend's car and even took my new pick up out on the track for a few laps (parade laps) to make it an official racing truck since it will be used to tow the car to Mexico next year.

There are many reasons why different guys with different life-styles enjoy racing and Jon and I enjoy cars as much as the next guy and possibly even more however one of the reasons I enjoy his company so much is because when we are in between races or on the drives to the tracks we find ourselves talking about days gone by and experiences we have had along the way and eventually we find ourselves talking about what we love more than anything in the world... Our wives and family. Racing is great but priorities are more important and Jon has them in the proper order.

Precious Metals

OK, so not everything we find here in California is gold but it's close. When my buddy in Fresno California said, "Just wait until you see what I have got for you." and I first laid my eyes on the empty little tub of a car I realized it was love at first site. What I saw was a shell of a 1965 Shelby GT350 that was literally stripped of everything. Besides the doors laying on the ground next to it and the missing front end, hood, trunk lid, ALL the interior, pedals, transmission, engine hood and everything else you can think of (including the paint) I began to look closer at the photos he sent and realized... This car doesn't even have a friggin piece of wire in it! When I began to price out all of the goodies, fasteners, wiring, switches, trim parts, light assembly's and everything else it started becoming apparent this was going to be cost prohibitive. Now it was time to begin looking for a donor car; a car that possibly was wrecked or in need of lots of love so I could pick it up for a song and then use the needed parts as I needed them.

After a few days of searching around the Internet it became clear that even a wrecked 1965 Mustang was not going to be cheap and it was all becoming a bit of a bummer as I continued to find myself making phone calls farther and farther out of my area code. But on a whim today I called my office manager and asked for the phone number of a wrecking yard we use from time to time. My thinking was that since he specializes primarily in Japanese cars he would surely not have a Mustang however he may just know of someone who has one. It was just before closing time and I was surprised that he even answered so late on a Saturday evening but I was even more surprised when he said, "Sure I have a 1965 Mustang and if you hurry I will hang around so you can come and check it out."

I didn't waste any time getting there and when I saw the poor little car and looked it over he began telling me, "Believe it or not it runs great and I think the 289 has just been rebuilt. My son was going to fix it up and drive it around but he just never got around to it. This car was a match made in Heaven for what I want it for and it has almost everything I need so we shook hands on it and it will be towed to my shop next week.

Virtual Reality and Horsepower

I just got off the phone with my engine builder who has built many awesome engines that have won me numerous championships not to mention major races for Team California's Best. Over the years I have had major involvement with small block Fords which is the engine of choice in this car and more specifically this race. Knowing a lot about these engines having built many of them over the years is definitely a plus but in this race there are several major differences that will throw a lot of my experience out the window. The major difference is the high altitude we will be racing in that being anywhere from 4000 to 10,000 feet above sea-level. The high altitude causes multiple problems with loss of compression, power out of the hole, heating and even some braking concerns. This is where having a expert engine builder comes into play. I give them all the information and known facts and they use not only their memory backs and professional experience but they also have some major technological tools and equipment to help formulate the optimum engine for the task at hand.

One such tool is a computer dyno where all of the known information (i.e., compression ratio, carburetor flow, cam angles, head chamber design and flow and more) and a computerized dyno run is performed which enables us to see exactly how well our "Notes on a napkin" will perform in reality. In speaking with my engine builder he tells me his past experiences with this method has resulted in finished products that where within 3 percent of what they had in the computer. That's not bad at all and what a savings it is versus building an engine only to find out on a dyno run that something wasn't quite perfect.

He is leaving this coming week for the SCCA National Championships and in a week when he returns we will begin plugging info into the computer.

Who said there's no more gold in California?

Striking gold!

One thing I have been looking for is a rear end out of a 1975 Lincoln Versailles. This rear end is a large Ford 9 inch rear end with the largest bearings available from Ford and it has factory installed brake calipers. With only a few small modifications it will bolt right in the GT350R. This enables me to have four wheel disc brakes which are a major requirement for the rugged La Carrera Panamericana Race and is far better than using aftermarket rear brake caliper systems which tend to cause brake failures. (Something we don't need.)

Well, the great news today is I struck gold and not only did I find one but in fact it's located in Sacramento California which is only a couple hours drive away and makes for an easy pickup.