Volume 2, Issue 8 - September 1995

The Other Dino

by: wally clark

fiat dino spider by pininfarina.

the cars were expensive by european standards, not as expensive as a ferrari, but way more than a standard fiat.

the cars were only sold in italy, germany, france, and the netherlands, as these were the only countries where fiat had authorized dealers that could service the cars. the cars were never exported to the u.s., but were all built with a closed emission system and they were all left hand drive. it was not until the early 70's that the cars started showing up in the u.s., and some were even smuggled into this country.

the first series two liter cars were all assembled by fiat at their rivalta plant. there were a total of 1,113 spiders built and 3629 coupes built in 1967 and 1968.

the second series cars featured 2.4 liter motors (the same as the ferrari 246 dino motor) and went to an independent rear suspension and a zf gearbox. these later cars were known as the fiat dino 2400 and were assembled at maranello by ferrari from 1969 to 1972. there were 424 2400 spiders built and 2,414 2400 coupes built.

there is only on book written on the fiat dinos, and it is now out of print. written by mike morris, it is titled "fiat dino, a ferrari by another name", and i believe there are copies available from "the ferrari market letter"/roush publications. mike morris lives in england and runs the world-wide fiat dino registry. the u.s. registry is known as "the other dino" and is run by me. i put out a newsletter as an information source for the cars, as well as lancia stratos and some information on the 206 ferrari dinos. information on subscriptions to the newsletter can be had by calling (714) 633-3185.

fiat dino coupe by bertone.

about the author: wally clark runs the fiat dino registry in the united states and helps organize the annual huntington beach concours car show, which this year featured ferrari as the honored marque.

President's Report

by: judd goldfeder

thursday august 24, we had a business meeting to discuss the objectives of our club, how we are organized and what we want to accomplish. who was there? marshall buck, bill inglis, tino mingori, rose & murray cogan, marshall leib, cris vandagriff (yes he does exist) cy yedor, kevork hazarian, jeff littrell, wally clark, judy givant (jg) and husband don caverhill, don west, shin takei and yours truly.

the surprise of the evening was a birthday cake for cy yedor, one of the great southern california sports car racers during the golden years of amateur racing. cy is a founder of our region and handles all of the treasurer duties--thanks again for all of the help, cy.

the primary objective of our club is to provide members with a wide variety of activities in which they can participate. we recognize that our members have diverse interests, some want to take their car to the track, some want social dinners, some want car shows, some want rallies etc., etc. we agreed that the success of any event is whether the members who participated had a good time and would want to do it again. success is not measured by the number who participate.

financing the club's activities was briefly discussed. over the past 15 months dues have funded all activities. the spirit of volunteerism and generosity of members who have sponsored dinners has enabled our bank balance to grow. it was agreed the club will not sponsor events with the objective of making money. income from some events may exceed the expenses and be added to the clubs treasury to underwrite other events but generally events are to be self funding. the club's major expense is the newsletter, and advertising revenue covers most of its cost.

over the past year we have participated in events, especially at the track, with other car clubs and that will continue in the future. we will reach out to many other car clubs for example foc, alfa, porsche, to invite them to our events and to participate in theirs. do you belong to any other car club? would the members like to participate in some of our events? could we participate in their events? i would like members who belong to another car club volunteer to be a liaison to develop a working relationship. if you can help with this please call me at 619-489-8339 ext 105.

tom brockmiller will again head up the activities committee with assistance from cris vandagriff, judy givant don caverhill, tino mingori, wally clark, don west and cy yedor. our region covers a large area. to make it easier for members to participate in events, we will have members organize events in their area. tino mingori, bill inglis and kevork hazarian will work with the activities committee to schedule activities in the san fernando valley area. wally clark and alan woodard will perform the same function for orange county. ron adams will organize the club in the arizona area and john kiland will do the same in las vegas. we require a san diego chair person. i would welcome a volunteer calling me at 619- 489-8339 ext 105.

membership is critical to the success of our club. marshal leib has agreed to work with murry and rose cogan to handle the membership committee. two small membership forms are included with this newsletter. please give them to friends who you think might like to join the club or keep them in your car and put them on a ferrari when you see one parked--you will be doing the owner a favor.

cris vandagriff will work with me and the pacific region to plan events during car weekend at monterey next year. these will probably include a car show on friday, a viewing box and parking at the vintage races, an awards dinner and, hopefully a day to drive the laguna seca track. more on this in the future.

it wa

Upcoming Events

these are old. click here for a current calendar of events

2nd annual botanical gardens picnic

you are invited to the second annual south coast botanical gardens picnic on sunday, september 10th. enjoy the beautiful setting with cars displayed on the lawn, a view of our city and a casual "fun concours." you bring a picnic and we'll supply the drinks. call tom for details and a reserved spot.

november meeting at penske

the event will include dinner and will only cost $20.00 per person so be sure to reserve tuesday, november 28th at 6:00 p.m. now. more details will follow in next month's sempre ferrari.

il giardino moderno

tom brockmiller has planned a group dinner. we will order from the restaurants menu. if you cannot join us try them! - tell them you are with the ferrari club of america.

the group dinner is scheduled to take place at the restaurant (il giardino moderno "ristorante", 8925 olympic blvd., beverly hills) on tuesday, october 3rd at 7:00 p.m.

please call kat to make your reservations by october 2nd at 800-477-7166 ext 100!

yosemite trip

if ever there was a time and place to exercise your italian horse at your own pace (fast or slow) on back-country, two-lane black-top roads that even the "black and whites" don't know about; roads created by god, some would say, especially for enzo's creations... well, now is the time, and just wait 'til you hear about the place! think about taking three whole days out of your life for the purpose of having more relaxing fun than you've ever had with your ferrari (or any "iron") driving through some of california's most scenic by-ways, offering touches of fantastic fall foliage! are you listening? well, we've got it all for you!!!

the dates are october 6th, 7th, and 8th at where else but yosemite. while getting there is half the fun, the first week of october is heaven in this region of unusual beauty, the crowds will be long gone, and the weather will be perfect, for yosemite is at its best before it sleeps the winter away under a blanket of snow.

we'll bid farewell to the l.a. area on friday morning for the beginning of our backroads blitz. following "r & r" on friday night, it's onward from our "halfway station" on saturday morning... destination somewhere between 8,842 foot high half dome and 7,569 floor high el capitan. but, never fear, oxygen is not required because our accommodations are on the valley floor. the choice is either the beautiful and historic ahwahnee or the yosemite lodge, located near the foot of yosemite falls. regardless of choice, we will gather at the ahwahnee for an 8:30 p.m. dinner, in the main dining room. the dress code for dinner at the hotel is "coat and tie" for men (jacket required) and dress/nice<

Oldtimer's Corner - "Balena"

by: ed niles

most of them, i confess, by writers more witty than i, in language more flowery than i can summon up.

it was in 1986 or 1987 (i forget; the memory is the second thing to go. i forget what the first is). i received a phone call from someone named bill jacobs who wanted to take me to lunch. we ended up in beverly hills, where jacobs, a very nice man from illinois, explained that he was a car dealer outside of chicago and that, among other things, had just acquired the ferrari 500 mondial that i had owned and restored a year or two earlier. we had a nice chat, and a nice lunch, after which jacobs told me that he also owned another 500 mondial, not quite so nice, that he had entered in the upcoming mille miglia. would i like to join him as his co-pilot?

well, i was dumbfounded. i was being asked to spend three days and nights in a cramped car and cramped hotel rooms with someone that i had only known an hour! my brain went on full stutter and stammer! it took me what seemed like hours to come up with any response at all. my mind simply would not accept this surprise question as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. finally, i made some excuse about being too old, or too busy, or too something.

i regretted it as soon as we parted company. my regret continued when i read, after the event, that he had finished successfully. my regret was not even dampened by reading that it was one of the wettest mille miglias in recent memory.

so it was that in early 1989, when my pal mark dees cooked up a scheme to get into the event, i was a little more receptive to the notion. mark had been reading an obscure book on the history of the mille miglia, and he had learned that the famed driver and journalist, paul frere, had won his class in 1953 driving a chrysler sedan. it seems that the great belgian driver had hoped to run the event in a jaguar sedan, but when the jaguar turned out to be unavailable, he acquired a chrysler, with its early version of the famed "hemi" engine, and showed the rest of the crowd the way to go.

no, mark did not own a chrysler. mark has owned a great number of interesting cars, but a chrysler hemi was not among them at the time. but mark got ahold of an entry form and sent it in anyway. on the parts that called for the serial number of the car and a photo of the car, mark simply responded "the car is in the paint shop". the organizers of this extraordinarily popular event are usually pretty careful about screening the entry forms. but they have stated a preference for cars that will give the event a broad range of historic automobiles, and their desire for variety must have overcome their normal caution. the entry was accepted.

ed and mark beside the hemi-powered 1952 chrysler saratoga, pretending to be the car paul frere drove in 1953..

mark then started scouring the country for an appropriate chrysler. he found one on the east coast. an original car, unrestored, in overall average condition. it was a 1952 chrysler saratoga, powered by a 5.4 liter, 180 horsepower hemi v-8. mark concluded that it was possible - just possible - to get the car back to california, do a fast rebuilt and paint job, and put it on the ship for italy.

but mark is not a man who can leave well enough alone. well, while the engine is out, let's hop it up a little bit. and those brakes really ought to go; maybe i can fit som

Monterey 1995

by: judd goldfeder

ah, in the middle of summer on the left coast (why is it called that?) the mind turns to monterey where we can participate in car worship during that most famous of weekends. for the ferrarisitas nothing will ever compare to last year but it is still a feast for the eyes and ears.

the fca pacific region sponsored several events. the first was a concours within the concours italiana. there were over 60 ferraris at the event and over 20 of these competed in the vintage ferrari concours. congratulations to michael yedor for a second place (nearly a first) with his 250gt lusso, judd & jan goldfeder for a 2nd place for their 365 gtc and cris and jeff barney for 2nd place with their 330 gt. this was followed by a delicious barbecue dinner at the lovely carmel valley winery.

the pacific region's viewing tower at the laguna seca vintage races was oversold. next year it will be bigger and better.

thje sunday cocours at the lodge at pebble beach is always spectacular and this year was no exception. ferraris are always well represented. lorenzo zambrano's 166mm touring berlinetta was awarded first in class. his 212 inter vignale coupe (the carrera pan americana car which was displayed at rodeo drive) took 2nd in class and was awarded the hans tanner memorial trophy for best overall ferrari. congratulations to member steve tillack who prepared mr. zambrano's vignale coupe.

we have already begun planning, with the pacific region, to jointly organize the fca events at monterey next year. if you have ideas please call cris vandagriff.

Ferrari Announces Service Facility in Southern California

gian luigi buitoni, president and ceo of ferrari north america, announced that ferrari is currently engaged in a national dealer restructuring program, the express purpose of which is to strenghthen the north american dealer body in order to support improved levels of representation and servicr for ferrari clients. this program has resulted in the recent withdrawal from san diego county and the dealership which had been servicing orange county closed.

to provide service for owners in those areas fna has expanded service facilities at their vehicle preparation center in cypress to provide capacity for customer and warranty service. he said that this is a temporary measure until a new ferrari dealership is established in southern orange county at a location to be announced shortly.

the facility in cypress has a highly experienced staff and is fully stocked with equipment and parts to care for your ferrari's service needs. operations began on september 5th at 6780 katella avenue in cypress. call (714) 898-7028 for information or to make an appointment.

From the Competition Chairman To all FCA Members

the track event committee is dedicated to planning events that represent the interests of all fca members.

as we look back on 1995, we are proud to have offered driving school and competitive programs aimed ar safe and easy participation. plans for 1996 include our continued participation with the alfa club, as well as porsch and foc events.

we will also have fca driving schools at willow springs with driving instructor, danny mckeever. this event will allow you to compete with your own car, or rent one of willow springs' race-ready cars. we are committed to planning events that meet the expectations of our club members. there will be an fca track committee member at each track event.

we would like to thank jeff littrell and his close group of racers for continuously supporting our track outings.

we hope that you join us at our track meetings or send us your ideas for future fca track activities.

Out on Time

by: katalin olasz

we really appreciate all the nice comments we've received about our newsletter, but we thought you might enjoy a brief, behind-the-scenes look at how this fine piece of literature, facts and fiction actually ends up in your mailbox each month.

although most of the credit goes to jeff littrell, we wanted to "thank all the little people" who put hours of work and care into making sure that you get to enjoy reading about your favorite people, cars and events. margie, our master proof reader, lisa, tammy, juli, sheri, ron and our under 4 foot helpers - scott and brian, who are eager to help and always have a story or two to entertain us.

the sweatshop at the customer connection as even the "under four footers" get into the act to get sempre ferrari out on time.

while many of you might enjoy a relaxing chat with our president, judd goldfeder, on the phone as his beautiful tropical fish swim lazily in their 1200 gallon tank - in the other offices you might find staff, family and a friend or two (some of them under 4 feet) furiously assembling 6,750 pages of text into 450 copies - hopefully in sequential order. we don't want to bore you with all the glorious details but after hours of organizing, proof reading, pasting, folding, tagging and labeling, eyes are hurting from hours of computer monitor glare, fingers are cramped from intense folding sessions, and it's all summed up with one big group sigh of relief - "out on time".......well, more or less.

thanks for all the nice comments, we appreciate your input!

about the author: kat is a crazed over worked, under appreciated "master of getting things done" at judd goldfeder's company, the customer connection. she and juli have been able to coach the editor along and turn his electronic mess into a printed masterpiece on a monthly basis. everything i know about printing i learned from them.

Get on the Info Superhighway

by: jeff littrell

while a whole treatise on the internet is not possible here, suffice it to say that the internet is the current incarnation of the much touted "information superhighway." started many years ago as a way for government and education researchers to share information, it has recently been exploding in size and reach. today many mere mortals have access to the internet and its vast array of information. heck, even my mother is on the internet.

there are a number of basic things one can do on the internet:

1. send and receive electronic "mail" messages
2. use programs on other computers by "logging onto" them
3. get and put computer "files" from/to other computers
4. view "information" (text, pictures, sound, etc.) on other computers

popular providers today include america online, compuserve, the microsoft network, prodigy, etc. the fees are usually monthly or based on the amount of time spent "online" with the service, or a combination of the two. in addition to facilitating electronic mail, these service providers offer a wealth of online information and ways to interact with people of similar interest. for example, there are very active "forums" of people discussing things like formula 1, autocrossing, racing, etc.

if you like to stay in touch with these sorts of things and own a computer with a modem, you might want to give one of the providers a call and establish an account. the $10-20 per month could be a good investment. if you buy the new version of microsoft windows, windows 95, you'll already have access to the microsoft network, which is one of the newest and most technically advanced services.

if you have an account on one of these types of services (or get one in the future), inquire as to how to send mail to the internet and send me some articles for sempre ferrari. my internet address is: sempre_ferrari@msn.com and i'd love to hear from you. i've also established an account especially for the club at: sempre_ferrari@msn.com.

if all this sounds interesting but you're still confused, be sure to attend this month's general membership meeting on september 26th at microsoft's offices in santa monica. get that account and next month i'll tell you how to access a whole wealth of online information about ferraris!

Formula One Update

the 1995 german grand prix at hockenhiem was won for the first time ever by a german (guess who?).

not to begrudge michael his due, but it has to be said that this was a race of a most tedious nature. if ever there was a race that anyone could point at and say, formula one needs to change, this would be it.

basically, the race started cleanly and all the cars got away without issue. hill pulled out a good lead into the first corner and increased it over the whole first lap. however, going into the first corner on the second lap, hill lost it and ended up in the gravel. "i was pitched into oversteer very early.... i wasn't overdoing it in the corner, and.... i was pitched into oversteer and i was off.... its pretty devastating for the championship" said a crestfallen hill.

schumacher led the entire rest of the race and rubbed it into hill afterwards when he said: "to be honest, i thought about the first corner, after the start. i know that when you take off and make the first start, everybody loses a lot of oil. so, when i came around i knew the corner was going to be quite slippery. i braked early and i just saw damon going sideways."

as far as our guys are concerned, berger started from 4th on the grid and alesi from 10th. both drivers got off well and were charging along until lap 6 when gerhard berger received a jump start penalty (the only one of the race). he came in for his undeserved 10 second penance and reappeared in 14th position.

at this time, alesi was battling for 6th position with blundell, panis and herbert but on lap 12, he came in for a very early pit stop. atypically, the ferrari pit crew was not ready for him, and the stop took an agonizingly long and disorganized 25 seconds. it didn't matter though because he was back in on the following lap, and pulled into the garage with an engine problem that caused a lack of power.

meanwhile, berger was fighting like a champ and by lap 23 he was already back up to 4th. on lap 34, hakkinen, who was running in third place behind schumacher and coulthard, retired with a smoky engine so berger inherited his podium spot.

the final finishing order was:

1.schumacher 222.120kph 2.coulthard 3.berger 4.herbert 5.boullion 6.suzuki 7.katayama 8.montermini 9.irvine

the hungarian grand prix is a very tight twisting circuit where overtaking is difficult and qualifying position is very important it was vital that damon hill win here if his championship hopes, which were already fading, were to be kept alight. with a 21 point difference and six more g.ps to go it was to be a decisive grand prix for the championship race.

ferrari came to hungary with a revised rear suspension and a different engine mapping for more traction. the cars were setting competitive times, berger in third was less than half a second off schumacher. alesi was back in fifth place 0.8 seconds off the pace and 0.4 seconds off team mate berger. despite ferrari making it public they had put in bids for hill and schumacher, alesi, at the moment, is the fall guy.

in the first day of qualifying, damon hill blitzed the opposition by taking pole from david coulthard by 0.7 seconds. but more importantly he beat schumacher, who was back in 4th, by 1.1 seconds.

ferrari put up a good effort, with berger on the second row and just off the front row. alesi, under massive pressure to match berger after ferrari's bids, crashed heavily trying to get up from fifth spot. he hit the barriers at 100mph and had a whip lash injury. he was flown to the hospital for a check up and was later released.

damon hill stayed in front for final qualifying dispite a hard charging david coulthard snatching pole from hill twice. schumacher came up to spearhead the second row saying that the car was "very unstable" and that it was "not easy." berger said that he had gotten the most out of the car to put it on 4th place - one second slower than the pole time. alesi again<

Physics of Racing - Part 2: Keeping Your Tires Stuck to the Ground

part 2: keeping your tires stuck to the ground

in last month's article, we explained the physics behind weight transfer. that is, we explained why braking shifts weight to the front of the car, accelerating shifts weight to the rear, and cornering shifts weight to the outside of a curve.

weight transfer is a side-effect of the tires keeping the car from flipping over during maneuvers. we found out that a one "gee" braking maneuver in our 3200 pound example car causes 640 pounds to transfer from the rear tires to the front tires. the explanations were given directly in terms of newton's fundamental laws of nature.

this month, we investigate what causes tires to stay stuck and what causes them to break away and slide. we will find out that you can make a tire slide either by pushing too hard on it or by causing weight to transfer off the tire by your control inputs of throttle, brakes, and steering. conversely, you can cause a sliding tire to stick again by pushing less hard on it or by transferring weight to it. the rest of this article explains all this in term of (you guessed it) physics.

this knowledge, coupled with a good "instinct" for weight transfer, can help a driver predict the consequences of all his or her actions and develop good instincts for staying out of trouble, getting out of trouble when it comes, and driving consistently at ten tenths.

it is said of tazio nuvolari, one of the greatest racing drivers ever, that he knew at all times while driving the weight on each of the four tires to within a few pounds. he could think, while driving, how the loads would change if he lifted off the throttle or turned the wheel a little more, for example. his knowledge of the physics of racing enabled him to make tiny, accurate adjustments to suit every circumstance, and perhaps to make these adjustments better than his competitors. of course, he had a very fast brain and phenomenal reflexes, too.

i am going to ask you to do a few physics "lab" experiments with me to investigate tire adhesion. you can actually do them, or you can just follow along in your imagination. first, get a tire and wheel off your car. if you are a serious autocrosser, you probably have a few loose sets in your garage. you can do the experiments with a heavy box or some object that is easier to handle than a tire, but the numbers you get won't apply directly to tires, although the principles we investigate will apply.

weigh yourself both holding the wheel and not holding it on a bathroom scale. the difference is the weight of the tire and wheel assembly. in my case, it is 50 pounds (it would be a lot less if i had those $3000 jongbloed wheels! any sponsors reading?). now put the wheel on the ground or on a table and push sideways with your hand against the tire until it slides. when you push it, push down low near the point where the tire touches the ground so it doesn't tip over.

the question is, how hard did you have to push to make the tire slide? you can find out by putting the bathroom scale between your hand and the tire when you push. this procedure doesn't give a very accurate reading of the force you need to make the tire slide, but it gives a rough estimate. in my case, on the concrete walkway in front of my house, i had to push with 85 pounds of force (my neighbors don't bother staring at me any more; they're used to my strange antics). on my linoleum kitchen floor, i only had to push with 60 pounds (but my wife does stare at me when i do this stuff in the house). what do these numbers mean?

they mean that, on concrete, my tire gave me 85/50 = 1.70 gees of sideways resistance before sliding. on a linoleum race course (ahem!), i would only be able to get 60/50 = 1.20g. we have directly experienced the physics of grip with our bare hands. the fact that the tire resists sliding, up to a point, is called the grip phenomenon. if you could view<

Tech Tip - Gasoline Information

i found the following article on tulane university's internet site and thought it could provide some basic information on gasolines that might be of interest to ferrari owners. it is adapted from a very lengthy and fairly technical description of what gasoline contains, how it is specified, and how the properties affect the performance in your vehicle. note that it does not discuss the relative advantages of specific brands of gasolines, it is only intended to discuss the generic properties of gasolines. all in all, this article represents less than 1/50th of the original article. the original can be found on the internet at: http://ram.chem.tulane.edu:8080/f-body/trivia/trivia.html

where does crude oil come from?

the generally-accepted origin of crude oil is from plant life up to 3 billion years ago, but predominantly from 100 to 600 million years ago. "dead vegetarian dino dinner" is more correct than "dead dinos". the molecular structure of the hydrocarbons and other compounds present in fossil fuels can be linked to the leaf waxes and other plant molecules of marine and terrestrial plants believed to exist during that era.

when will we run out of crude oil?

it has been estimated that the planet contains over 1.4 x 1015 tons of petroleum, however much of this is too dilute or inaccessible for current technology to recover. the petroleum industry uses a measure called the reserves/production ratio (r/p) to monitor how production and exploration are linked. this is based on the concept of "proved" reserves of crude oil, which are generally taken to be those quantities which geological and engineering information indicate with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. the reserves/production ratio is the above reserves divided by the production in the last year, and the result is the length of time that those remaining reserves would last if production were to continue at the current level. it is important to note those definitions, as the price of oil increases, marginal fields become "proved reserves", thus we are unlikely to "run out" of oil, as more fields will become economic as the price rises. if the price exceeds $30/bbl then alternative fuels may become competitive, and at $50-60/bbl coal-derived liquid fuels are economic, as are many biomass-derived fuels and other energy sources. the current price for brent crude is approx. $18/bbl. the r/p ratio has increased from 27 years (1979) to 43.1 years (1993).

are gasoline brands different?

yes. there are specifications intended to ensure that minimal quality standards are maintained, however, the manufacturers add their own special ingredients to provide additional benefits. a quality gasoline additive package would include:

octane-enhancing additives (improve octane ratings)

anti-oxidants (inhibit gum formation, improve stability)

metal deactivators (inhibit gum formation, improve stability)

deposit modifiers (reduce deposits, spark-plug fouling and preignition)

surfactants (prevent icing, improve vaporization, inhibit deposits, reduce nox emissions)

freezing point depressants (prevent icing)

corrosion inhibitors (prevent gasoline corroding storage tanks)

dyes (product color for safety or regulatory pur-poses)

Classified Ads

for sale: 1990 348ts top. excellent condition. list at $3,592.30 - make offer. also, luggage - never used - make offer. call tom at (909) 606-1061.

for sale: harness bar, $195. with grade 8 bolts to attach to 308, 328, brackets for submarine strap, instructions. have model for daytona and others available too. marshall buck (310) 559-3947, fax (310) 836-3763.

for sale: 1990 348ts. black/black, cd. excellent condition with only 6,000 miles. $76,000. call helena at (818) 854-088 days or (213) 255-2288 eves.

for sale: 1972 bmw 3.0 csi. blue/blue, original, injected, 4 speed. good running car, needs paint. $8,000. call jeff at (310) 449-7384 days.

for sale: 1989 ferrari testarossa! red with tan interior, exceptional condition, only 13,000 miles. id#: 0082197. all services performed texas car - now in southern california. $89,000. call jess at (714) 562-1139.