28 replies to this topic

[bespoke]

Does anyone know the story on the company called Steed that sponsored Lola cars in the '70's? I believe it started with the T310 but was also related to 330's (and others)? Are they still around?

[Buford]

It was a multi-level marketing scam for an STP like oil additive that sold distributor levels and nobody ever sold the product and the last guy on the list ended up with cases of the goo in his garage. Eventually it fell in on itself like all ponzi schemes do. Only the top one or two levels that get in early make any money selling distributorships to the suckers who come in later.

[Jim Thurman]

Remember Sta-Power?

[fines]

Sta-Lube Motor Oil?

[Jim Thurman]

No, Michael, if I meant Sta-Lube, I would have posted Sta-Lube

Sta-Power Gas Additive.

Improves mileage!...cleaner emissions!

Another scam, curiously, right around the same time as Steed.

Buford's mention of pyramid schemes reminded me of Sta-Power.

[bespoke]

I just got my hands on an original can of Steed (5 oz) and the performance claims on the can are hilarious. On the back of the can it says:

Increases:

Compression
Economy & mileage
Lubrication
Penetration (?)
Performance & smoothness
Pep & power
Engine life

Decreases:

Acids & heat
Blowby
Dry starts
Corrosion & rust
Frozen rings
Sludge
Sticky valves
Sticky lifters
Engine deposits
Spark plug fouling

And:

Helps maintain a clean pollution valve

[Buford]

Does it say anything about world peace?

[Catalina Park]

It is a kind of oil. It comes from snakes.

[Muzzlehatch]

I almost got burned by the Steed scam back in the mid seventies. I went to a shoe store to apply for a job and had the bad luck to walk in when somebody took his shoes off and I almost gagged. The manager took me into his office for an interview and his halitosis was so bad it was like somebody stuck two icepicks into my nose. Anyway, we had the interview and that evening he called me and invited me to a presentation at a motel. The guy there talked about Steed and how you could make good money selling it and invited the attendees to an even bigger show at the Holiday Inn that weekend.
On Saturday I went to HI and they had the whole shebang set up. A band and a bunch of guys with flashy suits (this was the 70's, you know) and expensive watches bragging about how much money we could make selling Steed distributorships. There was almost nothing said about using it in your car, just talk about selling the selling rights to some other middleman. For a day or two afterwards I thought about buying into it but I came to my senses and called the shoe salesman and told him that I wasn't interested. He went silent on me and finally I hung up.

[arttidesco]

Didn't we have something similar with Herb A Life and Dianetics in the 80's and 90's ?

I remember Herb A life stickers on thousands of Marina's, Maestro's and Metro's and quite a few Formula Fords and the odd F3 car, while Dianetics made it all the way to Group C2 in the mid to late 80's :-)

Edited by arttidesco, 17 August 2010 - 22:19.

[Thundersports]

Dianetics was stickered on a few Rallycross cars as well. It was a strange sect type book apparently. I got conned in to going to a Herb A life presentation 20 years ago and even as a teenager realised there claims etc were very far fetched..........and of course you had to buy a huge supply of these pills etc to sell on and you would be a millionaire Rodney this time next year! A giveaway was the fact the guy running the show was driving a clapped out Datsun which gave me the impression it wasn't going to sponsor my racing ambitions!

[jj2728]

now that someone's brought up steed, does anyone remember 'QUICKOVER FOR HANGOVER'?......i can't remember who they sponsored in the Can Am...anyone?

[Tony Matthews]

does anyone remember 'QUICKOVER FOR HANGOVER'?......

Viagra - 'FROM HANGOVER TO LEGOVER'... Perhaps not.

[Tom Glowacki]

Viagra - 'FROM HANGOVER TO LEGOVER'... Perhaps not.

Wasn't it Mornin' Afta' that sponsored Peter Bryant's car? And did not pay for it?

I also seem to recall, I think from a BRIC program, that back in the day, a couple of Steed "executives" got onto an elevator and were dead by the time they got to the ground floor, without anybody seeing a thing.

[Tony Matthews]

... a couple of Steed "executives" got onto an elevator and were dead by the time they got to the ground floor, without anybody seeing a thing.

'ELEVATOR TO MORTUARY'

[Spitfire]

Dianetics was stickered on a few Rallycross cars as well. It was a strange sect type book apparently.

You couldn't be more right. Dianetics = L. Ron Hubbard = Scientology = Epic Nutjobs = Tom Cruise etc.


you get the idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics


At least I now know the answer to "Who's the wackiest outfit to ever sponsor a racing car?"

[RA Historian]

now that someone's brought up Steed, does anyone remember 'QUICKOVER FOR HANGOVER'?......i can't remember who they sponsored in the Can Am...anyone?

They sponsored the Lola T-192 of Brett Lunger in the 1971 L&M F-5000 Series.
Tom

[jj2728]

They sponsored the Lola T-192 of Brett Lunger in the 1971 L&M F-5000 Series.
Tom

Thanks, I knew it was early 70s, just got the series wrong. Now I'll have to dig up some photos.

[mwphoto]

Didn't we have something similar with Herb A Life and Dianetics in the 80's and 90's ?

I remember Herb A life stickers on thousands of Marina's, Maestro's and Metro's and quite a few Formula Fords and the odd F3 car, while Dianetics made it all the way to Group C2 in the mid to late 80's :-)

Herb A Life provided sponsorship for John Marconi in the ARS (Indy LIghts) series back in 1991

[arttidesco]

Thanks Mark looks like they were sponsoring Townsend Bell in IRL as late as last year ?

Maybe Herbalife is not so mickey mouse after all ?

[BRG]

What about Amway - another pyramid distribution set-up. I looked at them years ago but couldn't see how to make any money from it.

Did they ever sponsor anything?

[Tim Wilkinson]

Herb A Life provided sponsorship for John Marconi in the ARS (Indy LIghts) series back in 1991

And also LA Galaxy in American Soccer-ball.

Apparently they aren't called pyramid schemes anymore, it's now "Multi-Level Marketing".

[Cynic2]

Dick Marconi, a major figure in HerbaLife (owner? CEO? Partner?) is John Marconi's father. Dick Marconi has an automobile collection and museum in southern California.

[grimeheel]

What about Amway - another pyramid distribution set-up. I looked at them years ago but couldn't see how to make any money from it.

Did they ever sponsor anything?
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Yes. Amway sponsored Scott Brayton in Indycar racing. Amway of Mexico was a major sponsor of Adrian Fernandez.

[Sisyphus]

I believe the Marconi's manufacture vitamins/supplements and Herbalife was a customer. They've obviously done well.

John is a nice guy and raced a DB1 in SoCal club racing and in vintage in the early 90's when my friend was running his Titan Mk6. He was quick.

Dick (the father) also raced some of their extensive collection of vintage cars. John would jump out of one vintage car at the end of a race and sprint to pregrid to hop into another car for the next race. Quite something to see. But my friend did beat him at Palm Springs in 91 after John spun in the early laps. One of my favorite races.

[Marc Sproule]

Re: Dianetics

They sponsored a Camel Lights car in IMSA sometime in the mid-80s. I had the misfortune to be cornered by some of their proponents in the press room at Del Mar. Very strange bunch.

They weren't very appreciative of my actions when I laughed at them and walked away.

Equally as strange was Werner Erhard...Mr. est...and his F/Super Vee program in '79 or '80. He conned his minions out of millions to pay for his racing, using the pretext of a movie "Today is for the Championship, How to Make the World Work,."

I eventually saw it. Hilarious it was, totally so clueless about racing.

Lots of the drivers detested Erhard. Probably had something to do with the fact that he was an atrocious driver and on more than one occasion, after being accosted by someone he had run off circuit, he would say something like "I accept full responsibility" and then turn and walk away.

He was a con/scam artist of the highest order. His real name was John Paul Rosenberg. Got his start as an encyclopedia salesman. He made a ton of cash, proving once again that there's more than one sucker born every minute.

He beat feet outta the US when the IRS came after him for unpaid taxes. IIRC he was last reported to be in Russia, teaching the communists all about capitalism. Story was that he somehow managed to cross the Russian mafia and has not been heard of since.

Not much of a loss.

I have some snaps of him on-track in testing at Sears Point and at some point I'll post any that are decent

[mwphoto]

What about Amway - another pyramid distribution set-up. I looked at them years ago but couldn't see how to make any money from it.

Did they ever sponsor anything?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes. Amway sponsored Scott Brayton in Indycar racing. Amway of Mexico was a major sponsor of Adrian Fernandez.

Beat me to the answer about Scott Brayton, both he and Amway were Michgan based. Amway of Mexico answers the question of why they sponsored Fernandez back in the Indy Light series. From 1992@Mid-Ohio...


Amway was also an associate sponsor of the 1998 and 1999 West Michigan Grand Prix. Trans-Am, Barber Dodge, World Challenge and Spec Ford, races run in the streets of downtown Grand Rapids, Mi about 10 miles from their headquarters in Ada, Mi. Daniel DeVos from one of Amways founding families served as Chairman of the Board for the the West Michigan Grand Prix Association.
Part of the street course ran past the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, which, if my memory serves me correctly, where the flags are located is one of the entrances to the hotel.


I have no first hand knowledge of the company or their products other than my wife has used a few of their products and said they were very good but a little on the pricey side. Amyway has been around for some time and has been very involved with the Grand Rapids area. Dick DeVos, was the Republican Party nominee for governor of Michigan in 2006, but was defeated by our incumbent governor, Jennifer Granholm.

Just some info about Amway from Wikipedia.

[mwphoto]

Re: Dianetics

They sponsored a Camel Lights car in IMSA sometime in the mid-80s.

Dianetics on the Camel Light Spice of Philippe de Henning in 1987@Columbus.

[hlfuzzball]

Quote: "You couldn't be more right. Dianetics = L. Ron Hubbard = Scientology = Epic Nutjobs = Tom Cruise etc. "

I remember that Mario Andretti refused to have Dianetics as a sponsor on his car, due to being a devout Catholic.