A short note on going on my first No Frills Iron Bottom Motoring Tour
(NFIBMT). 1200 miles in 3 days.
Spectacular scenery, un-paralleled, some of the most gorgeous backroads
and scenic settings. Drives in the roadster (top off door-to-door)
ranging from chilly mornings, some mildly warm afternoons, and great
evenings spent 'bench-racing' with some very relaxed and unpretentious
folks.
Sure, the Porsche crowd tend to show no interest in anything non-German,
but the rest were great folk just glad to see more unique vehicles on
the road.
At the worst the roads were just dusty with some thrown pebbles from the
shoulders. The last day along the Cambria/Big Sur area had some looping
treks that ended up on gravel roads, but that was by far the exception
and if one had stayed on HiWay 1 towards home, no bad road surfaces
encountered.
Cars: what a variety, from a Alfa Romeo Z, two burly guys in a dune
buggy and kilts!, a Caddy ElDorado, some beautiful Mercedes (including a
Gullwing 300SL that really had some get-up), a gaggle of Porsches-from
rally trimmed 914's to some very zippy sleeper early 911's to some whale
tale brutes, three Citroen DS-21's, a 61k orig mile Jag XKE coupe,
several Z cars, Fiats ranging from pristine 2000's to a survivor 124
wagon, quite the range. 100+ cars in all, ~150 people.
Les in a beautiful just finished Red 2000, with a killer stereo and a
BIG set of solexes. I followed the 302-roadster of Eric's for all of
the trip, and had got used to the trombone-section exhaust note from his
car, and was surprised to hear the glorious sucking sound of them big
Solex's, over the trombones, come up behind me on the last day. When I
lost Eric due to his better driving skills, I tagged along with a 79
Midget, but even found when the switchbacks got tight that his lower
weight and better (though smaller) rubber left me behind as well. I
have lots to learn, and a 2nd gear syncro to baby along until my budget
permits.
The drives were great, although I wouldn't do it alone (without a
co-driver) for the first time, unless you just plan to follow other
folks (who may be doing it for their first time), or really know how to
use a GPS well. (I had none). That being said, even if you did the
whole trip at a snails pace following someone, it was enjoyable down to
the every minute.
One has to remember that you are in the company of some primo equipment
and drivers, and need to remember not to overdrive the equipment you
have brought along. I have a couple more exciting stories than I
intended to come home with, and let's just say I have come home with a
list of projects as well as an urgent need to incorporate more
moderation in my driving approach.
Fergus O, 69 2000, HB, CA
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