Volume 2, Issue 2 - February 1995

Oldtimer's Corner - So Cal Racing in the 1950's

by: ed niles

jeff has asked me to write about the ferrari culture, dealers, owners, and racers of the 50?s and 60?s. but first, where did all that racing take place?

at the end of world war ii, most of us were relegated to going to gilmore stadium (beverly and fairfax) on thursday nights to watch the midgets on that great old 1/4 mile dirt track. of similar ilk was carrell speedway, which began to accommodate a few sports car events, mostly featuring jaguars and mgs of around 1950 vintage. but with the sports car owners and drivers multiplying like rabbits turned loose in aunt tessie?s backyard, these venues rapidly became inadequate. officials of the scca and the cal club (remember from last month?s sempre ferrari?) soon started working their magic to appropriate parts of public airports and parks to lay out so-called road courses. examples of well-tested courses that survived for many years on airport runways were santa barbara, santa maria, palm springs, and glendale. (yes, virgina, there was actually a glendale airport, now an industrial park, west of colorado blvd. and san fernando road.)

temporary race courses were also designed to fit into the topography of other semi-public and private properties, including the pomona fair grounds, stardust international raceway behind the stardust hotel in las vegas, torrey pines located in a park near la jolla, and paramount ranch in the augora hills area. finally, purpose-built race courses eventually showed up at willow springs (still in existence in the antelope valley), riverside raceway (now a residential development), and ontario motor speedway (which has also been redeveloped into residential property).

it is hard to realize, in this day when there is such a paucity of race courses, that the great number and variety of venues was a part of what made sports car racing so exciting in the 50?s and 60?s. at one time, there were at least a dozen active race courses being used within a few hour?s drive of los angeles.

willow springs, palm springs, and to some extent stardust, ontario and riverside, had a common feature: it was either blazing hot or freezing cold, and when the wind blew there would be sand in every orifice or car and man alike. as a former turn marshal, i can tell you that there were not enough clothes to protect one who had to stand out on a lonely corner for an entire weekend when the wind was blowing at palm springs.

back in the days when the drivers were fat and the tires were skinny, we were slow learners. if there was something we could do to lay out a race course so as to make it unsafe, we did it, with innocent alacrity. especially on the airport courses, which were for the most part flat, the courses were laid out by injudicious placement of hay bales and snow fencing. try to picture a little wire and a few slats of wood stopping a 1500 pound out-of-control vehicle and you?ll get the picture. hardly a race weekend passed without several serious accidents, often involving injuries to drivers or sometimes to workers or spectators. it soon became apparent even to the slowest of us that snow fencing was not much help. the hay bales, which started out being placed two or three at each corner, soon were stacked double high and triple thick around the outside of each corner.

there seems to have been an unwritten rule that we would not speak of these accidents outside of our little circle, and that the automotive press would play them down. but now, with the perspective of decades, it is easy to see that our iqs were no greater than our waistlines when it can to safety considerations. i can?t tell you how many injuries and fatalities i have witnessed which could have been prevented under current-day thinking.

a few examples: at pomona, i once saw the driver of one of the many iterations of "ol? yeller" lose it on the exit to the first ha

President's Corner

by: judd goldfeder

the january club meeting at the brockmiller?s house was attended by 20 members and three significant others. tom and linda impressed us with their knowledge of mexican cuisine by serving enchiladas with rice and beans. michelle lynn displayed great will power by limiting her enjoyment of the new york cheesecake to visual lust. viva brockmillers!

a lengthy discussion was held regarding final approval of the proposed bylaws which will be presented at the february meeting for ratification by the members. if you would like to have a copy to review before that meeting please call me at (800) 477-7166 x105.

in accordance with the bylaws, a nominating committee composed of cy yedor, ed niles, judd goldfeder, jeff littrell, tom brockmiller, and marshall leib as an alternate, was appointed to recommended candidates for 9 members of the board of directors. the candidates will be announced in the next newsletter and the election will be held at the general membership meeting in march. if you would like to be a candidate for the board please call one of us.

1995 is going to have lots of activity for those who like to drive their cars on the track. marv landon, michael lederman and frank carlone of the competition committee have arranged for our members to participate with the alfa romeo owners club in five track events this year, plus two driving schools. marv received over 50 responses to a questionnaire mailed to the membership to determine what is wanted in the way of track events and they plan to schedule events which will respond to what our members want.

steve tillack has started the planning wheels in motion to have a concours in long beach this summer. we hope to make this a yearly event. if you would like to help with this major event call steve at (310) 318-8760. mark dees is arranging a ride a drive, train ride, and picnic in moorpark for memorial day weekend. this event will include a big screen tv for those who want to catch the indy race.

dr. bill cryan has generously offered to host the march meeting at his new racers private motor sports club in the arco tower building in long beach. see page 4 for details.

our club is fun because the members participate. come to the next meeting at beverly hills ferrari and plan to come to the march meeting to vote for the first board of directors.

Great Roads - The Autobahn

by: ron adams

i had the opportunity to not only live in munich for several years, but to live in munich and own a ferrari testarossa. so my favorite road is in germany. my pick is the autobahn between munich and garmish, about 50 miles to the south. but first, some background about my choice. it is a misconception amongst most americans that in germany there is "the autobahn." this implies there is only one. in fact, autobahn is simply a term that means "highway" and in germany no two autobahns are alike. some have speed limits (speed limits?!?). yes, speed limits. some parts of the german autobahn system are limited to 120 km/hour. the whole system carries a 130 km/hour recommendation. what makes the munich/garmish autobahn different? it has no speed limit, it has very light truck traffic, and it isn?t just a straight jaunt from point a to point b. that?s not to say that there are any challenging turns or switchbacks, but there are broad sweeping turns and gentle hills as your drive leads towards the alps.

what should you do if you too would like to experience one of the best sections of the german autobahn? first, plan your trip in spring or summer. in winter there are just too many pebbles and rocks and puddles all over the road. when you leave munich, drive around the city ring towards the autobahn sign that reads "garmish." as you make your turn onto the autobahn you will first see that there is a speed limit. don?t worry. this is only valid for the city portion of your drive. besides, i always used this time to properly warm the engine. as you leave munich you will see the tell-tale "no speed limit" sign - a black circle on a white sign with a black diagonal slash. then, for the next 20 minutes or so, you can legally scream down the road. but remember a few tips. people in slower cars may not see you coming. other german drivers will turn on their driving lights, flash headlights, and use their left blinker - all in the hope that those 45 mph trabbies will stay to the slow lane. i personally saw 310 km/hour (about 192 mph for those metrically-challenged) on my testarossa. i know those ferrari speedos are a little optimistic, but hey, i was going downhill with a breeze behind me, so you never know....

about the author: ron adams resides in scottsdale, az and munich, germany. he is a member of the ferrari club of america as well as the ferrari club germany and prides himself in having been caught speeding over 100 mph in at least six foreign countries.

Ferrari and Alfa at Willow Springs

ferrari and alfa at willow springs

february 4th and 5th saw the club?s first track event of 1995. this event at willow springs international raceway was only our second track event ever (the first being the one we hosted along with the 348 challenge last july) and was the first test of our collaboration with the alfa romeo owner?s club. by all measures it was a great success.

the alfa club runs an organized, safe, and fun event with something for everyone. we had a good showing of a dozen ferraris (plus some unmentionable marques) with members participating in all levels of activity except the race group.

some members came out just for the fun of being at the race track and talking with other ferrari owners and race enthusiasts. others took advantage of the very fun and economical "introductory group" which allowed them to take their street cars out onto the track at fairly high speeds without the need for any special equipment beyond a helmet (borrowing one is fine).

this intro group works in a "lead follow" fashion where an instructor sets the pace (speeds up to about 100 mph) and shows the racing line, with the participants following behind. no passing is allowed, except in a scheduled manner to allow everyone to run directly behind the instructor?s car so that the correct racing line can be observed. this is a great way to exercise your ferrari without fear of mishap and without requiring any modifications to the car. of course, it also helps that it only costs $60 for the weekend!

the more adventurous members bolted 5-point racing harnesses and fire bottles into their cars and participated in the time trials. this group offered six 30-minute practice sessions all day saturday and on sunday morning, culminating in 5 timed laps on sunday afternoon. the results are shown below. note that phil zercher really motated his 365 gt 2+2 "queen mother" around the track in a quick 1:53 on original michelin xwxs. that?s an average speed of almost 80 mph around a course with 9 turns. way to go phil!

sempre ferrari editor, jeff littrell, cooked the brakes on his mazda rx-7 while doing 140 mph coming into turn 1. fortunately, he just ran straight off the track into the desert with no drama. a good friend then offered the use of his acura nsx for the time trials and jeff was able to hop in with no prior experience in the car and turn a respectable 1:41.7. jeff thanks doug hayashi for his generosity.

ogner motorcars made the event particularly enjoyable by bringing out a 348 from their showroom, as well as a table, chairs, umbrella, and munchies for the tifosi. michael lederman from ogner ran a race-prepared "bathtub" porsche 1600 in the time trials but he was properly punished when it broke down saturday with an oil leak.