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My toys... New ...saved from the crusher, a 1969 Renault 10 !
May 18 2008, I finally took Bad Boy to play with the big boys...Destination, an Autocross set up by the Sacramento SCCA in the Mather police training facility...Just think of it: 1200 pounds of metal, 500 cc, twin cylinders, air cooled, 20hp mounted on 12 inch wheels...running laps with/against beefed up muscle cars or modern foreign stock. The Vettes ran in the 40ies, the VW and other Japanese in the 50ies....and my best lap was 68,4 secondes....with a lot of sliding on the hot and slick blact top. That was a fun day everybody will remember!
Watch pictures of the event and Jerry running a lap in his Abarth 850 TC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk36CAf3y5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rhh6-BaHVs
Soon to come....the same but real...to replace the 914....the poor gal died on me on January 1, 2007, on a windy road around G-town, CA. I just blew a valve, that blew a piston, that blew a rod, that blew the crasnkshaft, that blew through the case...removing the powerplant on this car is like a tensil operation in a communist country where one cannot open his mouth....everything comes through and from below, down under....too much work. Project is gone....replaced by a 1959 Renault 4cv soon to look like this Le Mans version! :-)
New 2006 addition to the park: flat 4 and air cooled 1.8l 1974 Porsche 914....
" Bad Boy ", Pixar, Disney and the upcoming movie " Cars "
While surfing the Internet for more information on the upcoming release of the animated picture “Cars”, I stumbled upon the attached rendition of the Fiat 500 featured in the movie. It reminded me of mid 2001 when Pixar studios contacted me to ask me if I could make my car available for a picture shooting session. As per Wikipedia (wikipedia.com, the car's name is Luigi, it is a 59 Fiat 500 and the voice is from: Tony Shalhoub – Luigi - (1959 Fiat 500)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bad Boy is back....and kicking! With only 2 hours on a rebuilt engine, I took it for the April 500 miles Alpine 500 rallye (www.alpine500.com) There was snow in Tahoe (CA), and the car made it up to Kirkwood and Mount Rose (Carson city, NV) both at 8000 feet! Not bad for a 500cc air-cooled twin cylinder!
My latest acquisition to replace the mail Jeep: a near perfect 1988 Renault-Eagle (21) Medallion with only 20,000 original miles on it. It sat in a garage for 15 years before ending up on the road again in Dec 04!
My mail truck "Postal"...I bought it $800, did some work on it and sold it to Michelle, in the Bay Area for $2000 after using it for my rafting job throughout summer 04!
That was my car show once, late 03! Note the 1972 Velosolex moped!
My Route 66 cruiser, a 1986 2CV Citroen (632 cc, flat twin, air cooled) was shipped to the East coast in 94 and driven across the United States in 10 days... According to what the US custom requested, I "destroyed" the French car but the same one made legal in Virginia during the trip is still kicking dust in Missouri...
My imported toy, a 1964 Fiat 500D, 500cc, air cooled, 17 HP ... Jerry is currently rebuilding the engine...
My old project, a 1961 Mini MK1 with flip up hood paid $200 in Folsom, CA, late 03....I parted it....too much work that is already on the way with somebody else!
My old commuter, an 1982 X 1/9 salvaged from a Californian junkyard for $500 in 2000...
...and drove it back to the junkyard a year later after a Verizon van broadsided it....
My remaining car in the old continent, a French military Jeep similar to that one (thanks to Emmanuel that is still storing it!)
My former commuter and X1/9 replacement, a 1979 Renault Lecar bought on EBAY for $600...I drove it for 2 years and sold it to a collector in L.A early 04! It has currently been rented for a movie in Santa Ana along with a R5 Turbo!
My dream car...a Fiat 500 ROADSTER!
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The little Fiat that would not give up. "Bad boy' had a big day ahead of her in order to attend the 2005 edition of the now classic Concorso Italiano of Monterey, CA. For its second time at the show, she was to drive the 250 miles from Folsom, CA, to the famous peninsula, via San Francisco and Santa Cruz. She is far from being a trailer princess and takes pride on simultaneously being a regular driver, one of the 50 oldest cars of the show, and for 2005, one of the three smallest engines on display. Speeding SUVs set aside, the obstacles were numerous but her air cooled twin cylinder heart kept humming through the extreme heat of the valley, what was left of a wooden pallet on highway 50, scrap metal "lost' by a dump truck on highway 17, and the steep mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, more troubles were in reserve and vibrations tore the bolts and nuts of her exhaust. A cure was found in the Watsonville International trucks store, but later on, the death blow came when the extreme vibration of its power plant, again, got the best of its generator/cooling fan combo. Powerless and fanless, any other cars, stronger or newer would have given up on the side of the scenic road. But "Bad Boy" is from another time and another breed! Once its belt was removed, she roared back to life, and back on the road, careful to spare what energy was left on its tiny battery to finally beat the night to Monterey for a well deserved TLC and rest after six and a half hours of hell. Friday morning came to fast but she valiantly left for the show, still running on the battery. Unfortunately, the event was huge, directions were confusing, roadside staff helpless, and traffic bumper to bumper! Smoke started to rise from the rear engine compartment, and the oil pressure warning light glowed a deadly red, indicating that the oil was so hot that it lost all its lubricating power. "Bad Boy" slid to its fourth emergency roadside stop and almost called it a day, a couple of hundred yards from the exhibitors' entrance. No way! Not so close! An extra quart of oil in its case, and a full bottle of Gatorade quickly took care of the heat exhaustion, and she finally entered the green and got to park in front of the entrance, right were she belonged, where everybody could see and enjoy her.
