46 replies to this topic

[buddyt]

Back in the days( before job, wife or should I say ex wives, kids) when I hung around with friends with race cars we did what is called in the US, bench racing, after working on the car, a cold beer in hand we would sit on or lean against the work bench and talk racing. These days I have a MGB GT to work on and you people to bench race with. HAPPY EASTER.

[Ray Bell]

One day you might get lucky and I'll tell you about my ultimate design for a winning Clubman...
When I was driving round Sydney in a courier van I used to have a lot of time to think while stopped at traffic lights. There I would come up with the great ideas... if only I'd had the money to build it, Mike Lance could have driven it to stardom...

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Dennis David]

Buddyt that's just the feeling that we are trying to reproduce here. Happy Easter, Passover and any other holliday I might have missed.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[Keir]

ZippyD and I never worked on the Vee without having a few beers, and then some!!!
Some of my fondest memories came from bench racing and the endless volleys of "who is the best driver?"
Our forays into racing on our own city streets is firmly locked in the past.
I can still remember the local policeman waving his nightstick at us as we tried to outbrake each other into Lexington Ave.

BENCH RACING, YES!!!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[desmo]

Bench racing. Is that term used outside the US and Canada? Two of the best parts of racing are having a couple of friends over to "help with the car" and you end up spinning more tales than wrenches and that brief party with a cold beer and replaying the race with the other drivers just to squeeze one last moment from the weekend before it's time to load the trailers and make the long drive home. That, to me, is bench racing. I don't think the F1 drivers get to enjoy that. I hope they do.

[Ray Bell]

Somewhere deep in the heart of Texas there's a tech college teacher named Quinton Weaver. He came from West Virginia, originally, but spent five years in western Sydney as a teacher on an exchange program. He bought and raced an old Clubman while he was here, wrecked it and built a new one. He had a good shed to work in and I had none, so my Clubman lived in his shed and we spent endless hours working on the cars together.
The stories were long and well told, the racing was plentiful and the repairs thankfully few... Quinton hasn't raced since he went back to the States in 1976, but he's dabbled in a few projects and no doubt told a lot of stories about trips to Surfers Paradise (to race in the rain), Phillip Island and other places.. He's in Dickerson, I think... found him on Yahoo once, must get back to him...

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[ZippyD]

I remember the incident with Keir like it was yesterday. I with my Fiat 128 minus a tail pipe and Keir with his Datsun B210 minus the entire exhaust system aft of the headers. Dicing down Ave. C in Bayonne, NJ trying to get to the left hander at 1st street, the Fiat screaming at 6200 RPMs the Datsun sounding like a big lumpy V8. With the superior brakes of the Fiat I got to the corner 1st("I am the master"). After that it was a quick blast up 1st street, a sharp left hander onto Lord Ave. followed by a quick right into Keir's driveway. Keir had to submit to superior driving that night. I often imagine the cop waving the night stick is actually Tex Hopkins, the lavender suited starter of the US GP at the Glen.

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[ZippyD]

Beer is also useful while working on a car. Like putting out a fire when my 63 Corvette started belching flames out the carburetor. A little bit o'Molson Golden goes a long way.

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 04-24-2000).]

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 04-24-2000).]

[ZippyD]

Desmo,
It's hard to imagine Schumy and Mika or any of the other drivers for that mater pulling a few pints after the race. Well maybe the Edies: Jordan and Irvine.

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 04-27-2000).]

[Keir]

What those boys need is a little Innes with their Guinness!!!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[Keir]

Back to Lexington and 1ST.
Well, you know those pesky street circuits,
really hard to pull off a clean pass. That Datsun was really marginal in the brakes dept. Yes, the Zip got the best of me that day. It's a shame we couldn't do it at least once a week!!!! But I don't think the cop would be waving a nightstick the second time
around!!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

Keir,
Tell them about the time the wheel flew off your Honda at the hard right hander on the back highway near the dye factory.
Again you fall victim to the pressure of the Fiat and the great Zip!!!!!!!!!!!
"I have you now young Skywalker"

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 04-27-2000).]

[Keir]

The Zipper has gone quite mad.
MAD!!! I tell you!!!!

My Honda Civic and I were dusting the bejesus out the great leaning tower of Fiat,
driven by the always challenging Zippster,
when a faulty ball joint caused my front wheel to part company with the car. Needless to say, my almost godlike driving skills prevented any mishap. The only pressure I felt was in my bladder, which I also controlled in a godlike manner.

So there, Darth!!!!!


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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

Bullocks!!!!!!
It was the relentless pressure my boy that forced you loose that wheel.
"long live the zip"

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[Keir]

"Double Bollocks"
I needed a telephoto rear view mirror just to see you!!!!
"Touche"

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

Boulderdash!!!!!!
You and your car just couldn't take the pressure of the Zip and the mighty Fiat!!!!
Forza Fiat!!!!!!

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[Dave Ware]

Dear me, how can I follow Keir and ZippyD? Well, I guess only by being next.

I've been getting my Formula Vee ready for the season, and one of the things I have to get done is an SCCA Annual Tech. That's where an SCCA tech guy looks at the car and stamps the logbook and declares the car safe to race.

Friday I'll do a test day and then a race weekend after that. So I've been wondering, should I stay late on Friday and get the car teched then, or should I try to have it done Saturday morning and hope that they can do it before my first practice session? Or, should I borrow Dad and his V6 and tow the machine 1/2 hour to the home of the guy who does the teching?

Don't worry, bench racing is coming up soon.

To make an already long story a bit shorter, the tech guy and his wife wanted a night out last night so they came to me (and they also made a couple of other stops to tech cars along the way.) Awful nice of him to do that and save me the trouble. You do meet the nicest people in racing...

So the tech inspection consisted of about three minutes of glancing at my car and 25 minutes of "bench racing". A very pleasant evening.

I should ask if he has a scanned image of the Formula Vee he and two friends built in 1969. He calls it "the ugliest FV ever built". Not the most graceful-looking car you've ever seen, but a nice paint job; dark blue with a big white arrow, like that which graced the cars of a certain world champion.

Dave

[ZippyD]

Dave,
Good luck in the new season!!!! Do you ever make up to the North East? Lime Rock is a nice Vee circuit.
As far as the ugliest Vee goes you should have seen the cooling ducts I made for the DG83. The rest of the car was good(black, black and more black) but the ducts were made from air conditioning ducts that stuck out about a mile from the body work. It was about as aerodynamic as a barn door.

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[Keir]

Dave,
You'll have to get teched at every race regardless. My car did put quite a big hole in the air after the ducts were first attached, but the Zip and I would cut them a little at a time to move them a bit more out of the airstream. I've never seen a truly ugly Vee, but I'm not dead yet!!!
You should get over to Lime Rock, I think you'll enjoy it. At the climbing turn, the car will actually get a little air under it!!!
Good Luck this season. It's always good to hear about Vee.

VEE 4 EVER

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

Keir,
To prove that you could not stand the pressure from the mighty Zip why not tell our good listeners about the slot cars races at the New York Auto show held at the old Coliseum? Fess up boy!!!!!
"Yield to the power of the force"

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 05-02-2000).]

[Keir]

Yes,
I did choke once at the vaunted slot car track, but that had more to do do with the power of the beer than the force!!!!!

"Back at you, blackguard!!!!"

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"I Was Born Ready"

[This message has been edited by Keir (edited 05-02-2000).]

[ZippyD]

TWICE....TWICE..... you choked under the pressure!!!!! That's why I have the 2 flags at home. And how many do you have at home? NONE!!!!! Let me tell everyone. Keir did a great imitation of Jack Brabham at Monaco. Last lap he's in the lead with the Zip breathing down his neck and then all of a sudden: "OH NO.... HE'S IN THE WALL.... HE'S IN THE WALL..."(think of Murray Walker) I would breeze by into lead and finally victory. HA HA HA HA HA !!!!
Stop trying to deny the truth!!!
"I am the master"

PS - I had as much beer and other substances as you so that's not an excuse.

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 05-02-2000).]

[buddyt]

THE OLDER I GET THE FASTER I WAS.

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"Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"

[Keir]

Yes, the Zipster is the master of the "autoshow slotcars".

He's also Mad!!!!, MAD, I tell you!!!!

I am the only true master.

"Pay no attention to the Zip behind the curtain."

I am the great and powerful OZ!!!!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[This message has been edited by Keir (edited 05-03-2000).]

[Ray Bell]

Settle down lads and get back to the topic... I raced slot cars once, too.
But none of the grog and even less of the 'other substances.'
In other words, I was still there to enjoy it!

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 05-03-2000).]

[Keir]

What Topic?
I don't remember any TOPIC??
We don't need no stickin' TOPIC!!!!

Ray,
How can you enjoy an auto show without a few beers??? Are ye daft???

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

GROG? GROG?
I don't remember any GROG!!!!!! Do you Keir?
I remember many libations in The Weary Traveler but no grog.
"I'm so weary. We must stop and rest."
Long live the coliseum!!!! To hell with the Javits center!!!!!!

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[This message has been edited by ZippyD (edited 05-03-2000).]

[ZippyD]

Ray,
We are staying on topic. This IS bench racing at it's best or worse depending on your perspective.
"I am the great and powerful Zip!!!!"

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[Keir]

The auto shows really lost something when they left the "Coliseum".
I just attented the NY Show at the Javits Center, and whlie it was an OK show, it's wasn't like the old one. Very sad!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

Any slot cars at the Javits center yet????

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"I want to tell you something, not about the others but about myself."
"When I saw something like that I used to go to pieces."
"But I'm older now. When I see something really terrible I put my foot down. HARD! Because I know the other person is lifting his."
"What a terrible way to win."
"Cher mademoiselle, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning."

[Keir]

Sadly, NO SLOT CARS!!!
Remember when we could walk right into the "Weary Traveler", sit right down, have a couple of brews and BS without any crowd??
At the Javits, Ian and I got there an hour before the place opened and already there were lines everywhere. We got into the cars we wanted, but it just wasn't the same.
NO CHARACTER!!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[ZippyD]

I agree.
The Javits center is much too antiseptic. And you can't stroll over to central park after the show and enjoy yourself like you could when it was at the Coliseum. Although the prostitutes are better and more plentiful at the Javits.

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"Yugo, you must come and settle an argument we are having about the 1933 Targa Florio. He's the only one old enough to remember."
"Now there is a dubious distinction."

[Ray Bell]

My ex used to call the slot cars zip-zips - for logical reasons... but you surely are a depraved pair!

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Keir]

Ray,
Lost souls, maybe?

Better to be depraved than deprived!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[Ray Bell]

Do you prefer the blue slot or the red slot?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Dennis David]

Slot Cars, My favorite hobby. I've been racing since the 60's and I still love it. Go at least once a month to local tracks in my area. There are three plus I'll set up my own track up on the floor every so often and race my brother or son.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[ZippyD]

Lost souls?? Lost souls???
Who's lost? Lost!!!
Where am I? Who am I?
Oh, the humanities!!!!

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"Yugo, you must come and settle an argument we are having about the 1933 Targa Florio. He's the only one old enough to remember."
"Now there is a dubious distinction."

[Keir]

DD,
You actually have more than one track in your area!!! That's amazing!!!
We had a track in my town in the sixties, but it only lasted a year or so.
I used to race a Ford GT40 Mk2 and a Ferrari 330P2 in the 1/24 class. Great stuff!!!

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"I Was Born Ready"

[This message has been edited by Keir (edited 05-04-2000).]

[Ray Bell]

C & D Raceway were still going up in the loft of a shop in the main street of Parramatta in the late eighties, but Geoff and Daphne were getting pretty tired of it... they were our 'place to race' in their first shop round 66, 67.
Zip - at least get your quotes right! "Oh, the humanity!" Too famous to get wrong, that one.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[buddyt]

I use to have a Stromberg 1/32 race set with a Tessa Rosta and a D-Type Jag. Being of the Stock Car blood type this is where I learned what a chicane was. I have seen some radio control cars racing in a parking lot, do not know if they are gas or electric powered.

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"Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"

[Ray Bell]

They come in both types..

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[ZippyD]

Quotes?? Quotes??
What quotes?
"Oh the humidity!!!!"

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"Yugo, you must come and settle an argument we are having about the 1933 Targa Florio. He's the only one old enough to remember."
"Now there is a dubious distinction."

[Ray Bell]

Where are you, in the Everglades? No slot cars there, are there... but those boats look like fun.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Dennis David]

I also raced at a track in Downtown Sydney while I was in Australia.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[Ray Bell]

There was a big place down around Central Station in the sixties and early seventies. They had three layouts... was that the one?
The one I really liked was the 'mountain' track at the place that was at Crows Nest (Nth Sydney), and when they went bust that track went to C & D's at Parramatta... ironic, because the C & D team were soundly trounced on that track in a 24-hour race... they sprayed the track with some really grippy stuff the night before the race and turned it into a real place for the Russkit Porsches.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Dennis David]

It's near Darling Harbour and shares a building with a small auto museum.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[Ray Bell]

That must be a different one, in a more modern Sydney than I know...

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Life and love are mixed with pain...