Richard,
My friend, who had a Healey 100/6, and I went over Snoqualmie pass in
Washington in the snow with the top down in 1969 in my Healey 3000. Yes, we
got lots of looks, but at that time we felt that driving was serious
business and anyone who didn't understand that fact just plain didn't get
it. Every on and off ramp was a chance to go all out on a smooth surface.
We were really gung-ho on high speed driving over back roads. While almost
every other guy in our high school was into drag racing, we were turned on
by the whole performance package, including regular testing of our cars'
braking capabilities. One of my friends' dad had a string of very nice
sports cars which he let us drive when we were teenagers, including a 1966
Ferrari 330GT 2+2 which, among other things, we crazily drove around Lake
Sammamish at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. That car was so fine to
drive. It had loads of torque, exemplified by the fact that the throttle
pedal travel was quite long and you got more oomph every bit of the way. It
was stable at speed, kind of like an E-Type, in that you whatever speed you
were going, it always felt like you were going slower than you really were.
Looking back on our "let's race whenever we feel like it" attitude, we are
lucky to have lived through those times, or at least to not have got into
serious trouble, which should have been the case when I accidentally raced a
State Patrolman at night on I-5 until I backed-off at an indicated 100mph,
but that's another story and now I'm rambling.
Gary
'73
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Seaton" <rsh17@msn.com>
To: "R. Ashford Little II" <ralittle2@mindspring.com>; "'Sally or Dick
Taylor'" <tr6taylor@webtv.net>; "Web_disscusion List" <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 3:01 PM
Subject: Re: Driving comfort
> Top down temps of about 78 degrees, yeah or less! Even though I don't
have
> the 6 done yet I do have quite fond memories of driving my Bugeye, to High
> School when it was snowing, top down of course. It had a good heater and
> tonneau cover. Talk about strange looks. Most of them didn't understand
> anyway, because if you didn't have a Z-28, you weren't in the in crowd.
> I had many of conversations about TRUE SPORTS CARS, and not what
Americans
> called sports cars, that does include the Vette too. I remember once when
I
> was working on it in Auto mechanics, One guy was inquiring about the side
> draft carbs. Not to miss an opportunity to take advantage of ignorance, I
told
> him it was a turbo and with the heater intake it kind off looked like one.
> I actually had some of the guys wanting to race, but on the road of my
> choice, no takers. Thank goodness. Talked the talk of power to weight and
> handling of the car, which must off scared some off. Yeah, about 48 horses
and
> 1800 lbs, still not enough.
>
> Sorry for the rambling, but you know how memories are sweeter, when the
mind
> fails. Buy the way that was in 1984.
>
>
> Richard
> '69 in the work w/ the top down, well no top.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: R. Ashford Little II
> Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 3:19 PM
> To: 'Sally or Dick Taylor'; 'Paula J. Graffam'
> Cc: 6-Pack
> Subject: RE: Driving comfort
>
> I hope everyone realizes the "hit" and not intended rudely. Although, I
> do tend to get a bit grumpy at times; a major contributor to this is
> what I see on a regular basis in Atlanta.
>
> I'm not sure what the perfect temperature for dropping the top is, but
> here in Atlanta in must be something like 78.3 to 81.7 degrees F. Or
> maybe it's 81.7 to 83.1 degrees, but it infuriates me to see these
> Miata's, Mercedes, Porsches, and every other car driving along on a
> BEAUTIFUL day with the top up.
>
> I understand that most will drop off when the temp drops, but most
> modern convertibles are shaped such that wind buffeting is minimal and
> the heaters work fantastically.
>
> So, to cure me of an admitted bit of the grumps right now, I'm venturing
> forth tonight to the XMAS party for our local Triumph club. The temps
> will be in the mid-40's and beautiful.
>
> But I guess I better go put the passenger seat back in so my wife can
> accompany me.
>
> Cheers,
>
> R. Ashford Little II
> www.geocities.com/ralittle2
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sally or Dick Taylor [mailto:tr6taylor@webtv.net]
> Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 2:54 PM
> To: R. Ashford Little II
> Subject: RE: Driving comfort
>
> ...and poor Al takes yet another hit. Whap!
>
> ; ^P,
>
> DT
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