I don't know how many are interested in F1 racing
(or even know what it is), I just want to piss and
moan a bit.

For what it's worth, it has been a Ferrari season
with one or the other of their drivers (Schumacher
or Barrichello), usually both, on the podium at the
end of the race. And, during the race, blowing away
the rest of the teams.

So what's the solution? “After what has happened with
Ferrari this year, we have to put a cap on it,” Bernie
Ecclestone told The Times. “We have to do something to
keep the sponsors and the viewers happy. If Michael
(Schumacher, 5 time World Champion) runs away with
things in the first two or three races next year, we
have to be prepared to do something to protect the
sport.” That 'something' being weighing down a great
driver in a great car so that the rest of the compet-
ition can keep him in sight!

Protect 'the sport'? You must be kidding! All dear
Bernie wants to protect is the TV revenue, mostly
from the US, where F1 isn't the biggest thing going
and it isn't a 'real' race unless you have a couple
of multi-car pileups while running around in circles!

Okay ... Got it off my chest.

Wait... and Michael Jordan hurt basketball viewership, didn't he? And no one wanted to watch Tiger Woods play golf, since he ruined the whole sport by being so much better than everyone else, right?

Uhh... this guy needs a clue. Many people only watch sports when some fantastic player is around to put on a good spanking.

- Warren

But how many guys 'on the street' or even 'around the water cooler' in the US have heard of Michael Schumacher or know that he is a five time World Champion F1 driver?

- John

F1 technology is advancing so quickly that soon the "drivers" might as well be replaced with a dude in a tower with a joystick---like slot-car racing. They've got to deal with this soon or it will become practically impossible to even go into a controlled skid without disabling some computer control or another. I say, give each driver a 67 VW bus with a mopar 440 plant dropped in back and let the chaos begin! Parnelli Jones would probably love it!

Funny you should say that, airdog. Brought to mind a couple of
things ... I've never forgotten these words from an age past:

"It's no thrill blasting down the straightaway at 180 miles per hour.
What's really thrilling is taking a 70 mile per hour corner at 72,
coming through it at the absolute limit of tyre adhesion with the
nose pointed perfectly down the straightaway and the throttle flat
on the floor. Then you feel like an artist who has spent his life
trying to paint the smile of the Mona Lisa, finally gets it right with
a flick of his brush, and says to the rest of the world: 'There, you
bastards, match that!'"

Kind of like the way I felt the first time I put a VW Microbus into
a full drift during a rally, part of which ran through Zoar Valley (a
sort of mini-Grand Canyon in Western NY).

Oh, it was Sterling Moss who spoke those words.

Take care :cool:

PS The bus had a Porsche '59 1600 Super engine pushing it along.

Chagur, I could listen to Sterling Moss on racing for...ever, I think. Talk about an artist! I sure miss Speedvision the way it was before Fox got its hands on it...
I had a '67 bus. Man, it's over 25 years now, but I'll always remember that shifter feeling like a broomstick handle stuck in a vat of thick oatmeal. I can still recall a wild run from Berkeley to Coal Creek Canyon (Colo.), where my wife and I were living. We had about 8 or ten passengers, total. There was a safe option to our cabin that would have added 4 or 5 hours to the trip. A far more direct route involved driving up several thousand feet in a series of tiny straights and about 7,000 hairpins. At the top of these switchbacks was a small town called Wondervu. From that vantage point, if you looked west, you could swear you were somewhere in the Alps. We lived only a few miles from there, and the view was so spectacular--one snowy peak after another, that it never ceased to amaze---no matter how familiar the view became. It was a borderline psychotic run up that road in the dementedly over-loaded bus, since ANY loss of momemtum would have meant full retreat; a few hours back west, and then the other 4-5 hour loop from up north. We made it (I still don't know how), winding that thing out in a way I never thought possible. Of course, with that load and the layout of the road, I doubt if we ever hit 30 mph! So coming unstuck was impossible...but a flying endo followed by an impromptu barbecue was quite likely!
So, tell me, Chagur...how in hell did you pull out of that drift?
Rock On,
Airdog

I know what you mean, airdog. I've switched over to the net for
the F1 races. The BBC gives excellent, same day, coverage.

Those buses were something else. The only thing it would beat
before I put in the Porsche engine was the 600 Fiat I previously
owned. 28 hp. 4cyl., inline, water cooled, rear engined. Knew it
needed a tune-up whenever I got less than 40 mi. to the gallon.

Having the ex. along gave it an almost 50/50 wt. distribution and
the drift would scrub off enough speed to have it grab when it was
heading in the direction I wanted it to be heading. A little tricky,
but great fun.

Take care :cool:

Chagur. thanks for the tip on BBC coverage...a good laugh laugh on that line about the FIAT. I was really looking forward to seeing how Earnhardt Sr. was going to do in road racing mode. If memory serves, he placed third in a Petit LeMans just before his death, and was well behaved in doing so! To see him go on that last turn while looking after his son is just such an ugly damn twist. I think the "old-timer" had a real future in making more than left turns. I thought the respect accorded Junior Johnson at Goodwood a couple of years back was a cool deal...
Just curious---what kind of bicycle tires did you have on that bus?
My favorite rubber of all-time: the Semperit M-401's of old. They did everything well, and did it in a most indestructible manner. I bought a '72 Corolla wagon new, set it up with Konis and the 401's, and I swear the thing outhandled my 'BGT (!)...
Still Rollin',
Airdog

You're welcome, airdog.

Glad you got a laugh from the Fiat bit. Now you know why I chuckle re.
'improving gas mileage' ... Took forty years for them to accomplish what
I was enjoying back in the mid '50's for $1,200. Talk about a hoot: Towing
a crapped out Cadillac to a garage in downtown Buffalo with the little old
Fiat (1st gear all the way and a little clutch slippage to get things moving).

Ugly though it be, he went out doing what he loved. Better than most.

Let's face it, the Europeans, even the English, are decent sorts ... Though I'm not
so sure about the Italian taruffi. Well, at least they're not like soccer hooligans.

As for the rubber: Same as on my '57 Porsche Speedster ... Michelin X radials.
And ... Oh, the memories ... Marshal headlamps to light up the night and Konis
to keep it, and the Speedster, on the road. Those were the days, lad.

And, as for a wagon: How about a '56 Simca Aronde before a couple more kids
and the first of two buses.

Take care :cool:

A Simca Aronde? That's one I can't even picture! A couple of cool wagons I never got around to adding to my stable: The Volvo PV 544, and a 122 with the B-18 motor. Some I did have: a '48 Caddy Hearse (mint---from a small town in the Rockies in Wyoming); a '68 Buick SportWagon---also mint, and with the 400 cube monster under the hood; a '73 Dodge with the 440; that '72 Corolla; a 78 Cressida with the Supra drivetrain (true stealth--the fake woodgrain seemed to absorb all radar---I never caught the interest a of a single cop in that one!) When I had the 'BGT-almost a wagon, (for some reason, actually for many reasons!) I often found myself borrowing my neighbor's VW Squareback to get around in. Just a Bug variant, but fun as hell. But a '56 Aronde? Chagur, you've actually stumped me on that one! I will now do a google search and get educated!

Found one! Was it also known as the A-90 Swallow? It was a French website...could Aronde be the French name for the bird we call a Swallow?
(upon further review...) OK, I see where this was the Simca we all came to know, manufactured in many guises from '51 through '64. Over a million sold! How many ponies in your '56, Chagur? Where was the shifter? Was it a three speed? I'm guessing...post-war France...not all that much gas available...probably several updates by '56...was it a 1 litre, or thereabouts?

I just realized that we transitioned from F1 to Simca wagons of the 50's in the space of a few posts! Thoughtful deliberation leads me to conclude that we may be a couple of car nuts!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, compadre!

Re. The Aronde:
Remember that it was gray, had faux woven bamboo seat covers, 3 on the
column (H), not particularly fast but could keep up with traffic even on the
freeway. But the thing I remember best was a sticky starter solenoid that
I'd 'bounce' with a rubber mallet whenever it didn't kick in every so often
(mounted of top of the starter). And then there was the day I was along
when my ex. was driving: Solenoid didn't do it's thing, ex. grabbed the
mallet, got out, and began banging away. Curious, since generally a single
tap was all that was needed, I got out and practically rolled on the ground!
The ex. was pounding on the exhaust manifold on the opposite side of
the engine! "But it always worked before ... " Dear, dear Betty.

Thee may be a 'car nut', but not me (says he who has a Subaru SVX, an
Escort wagon, a Yamaha Seca II RD-600, and a Yamaha RZ-350 'crotch
rocket' - Yellow, Kenny Roberts signature model)!

Take care, and have a decent Thanksgiving with yours, mate!

Hey, Chagur...is your SVX an automatic? if so, how has the tranny held up? they've always intrigued me...can you pay tolls w/o opening the door? i've seen a few for sale lately, and the thought of an affordable all-wheel performance machine induces a primal drooling response...

you've got me "out-cylindered" at the moment...somewhere, R & T, maybe, i read a column about adding up all the cylinders under your control...i've been stuck at 16 for some time: a six-banger maxima; a country squire with the 5.0 eight, a lawn mower and a leaf blower: one each, of course. certainly, this will change when i win the lottery and add an F-40, a VW Thing, and a TVR Vixen!

The tranny is an automatic/manual which can be locked in gear. In 68,000
miles it hasn't been a problem. And yes, tolls can be paid without getting
out, particularly if a toll collector is present ... Who inevitably asks 'What
kind of car is that?' and expresses surprise when I reply 'A '92 Subaru SVX.'
Mine is gray and black and has the 'wing' on the back.

I guess what grabbed me, in addition to its looks, was Road & Track's Oct.
'96 'Spotlight' comment by Douglas Kott:

"Go ahead, fly in the face of convention with a 230 bhp flat-six-powered
all-wheel-drive futuristically styled sports coupe with all of Subaru's
inherent ruggedness."

If only there were a bolt-on blower for it!

Take care. Oh, how was Thanksgiving over your way? :cool: