[Written for 2008 Pebble Beach magazine] Dan Gurney was on my judging team at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours. Along with veteran judges Miles Collier (of the Miles Collier Museum, Naples FL.) and Ed Welburn (head designer at General Motors.) The cars we were to judge were scattered widely among the neatly ordered classes, as they usually are for us Honorary Judges.
By Beetle with Hill and Gurney.
[AutoWeek, February 2011] So it might seem unlikely for a Ferrari team driver to choose as his road car a black VW Beetle. But this was 1958. The driver was Phil Hill, not yet in Formula One but a reliable victor in sports car endurance races.
(Written for AutoWeek’s 50th anniversary in 2008)
As much as race cars have changed in the past 50 years what drivers wear to race them has changed as dramatically.
Modena: Automobiles Vinaigrette
Aceto balsamico. All the rage now. Everything but ice cream has balsamic vinegar in it. (Actually on ice cream it is rather nice.)
The subject today, dear drivers, is merging. Drivers on freeways or limited access highways do it many times a day. Merge, merge, merge. Given that fact the wonderment is why are so many drivers intimidated by the process and why are so many doing it ineptly?
Merging cars into an already moving stream of traffic keeps traffic moving more quickly and more safely than the take-turns routine enforced by stop signals. That’s why limited access highways were invented — to smooth the general fl ... Read more >>
The enemies:
IDLING: if your engine is running and you’re not moving you’re getting ZERO mpg.
Ergo: Do not idle an engine to warm it up or to cool down the interior. Move. Appropriate speeds warm an engine quicker than idling.
When stopping while a passenger “runs in” to buy a paper or a latte to go, turn the engine off. (A minute was once the break-even time for fuel to be saved but with new engines it’s ... Read more >>
Aceto balsamico. All the rage now. Everything but ice cream has balsamic vinegar in it. (Actually on ice cream it is ...
Read more >>
I’m going to invent a new steering wheel.
The top segment of the wheel will be computer controlled so that when the car is headed straight that part of the wheel will be too h ... Read more >>
Subaru conducted a survey a few years ago trying to discover the public perception of four-wheel drive. They found that most people thought 4WD was a good idea but that they didn’t need it themselves. Who needed it? Those who lived 100 miles farther north.
This was the response whether the survey was taken in Dallas, Chicago or Alaska. Said an Anchorage driver: “We don’t need it here but boy do they ... Read more >>
All 'How to Drive' Articles
All 'What to Drive' Articles
All 'Where to Drive' Articles
All 'Miscellany' Articles
