Yes, your new found treasure did bring back many memories. I used to run
those "First Friday Niters" and the "Flirt" rallyes and many others back in
the '63 to '65 time frame. I have about 35 of those plaques on a board in my
garage. I usually was the navigator for my friend, Harlan Holmes', MGB. I
had a Bugeye and later a TR-3 (is your TR "BRG" with two white racing
strips...? Might be my old car...!) which I ran in the "Slaloms" (like
today's Solo II events) all over the LA/Orange county area. Typically, I'd
run a rallye on Friday night and a slalom on Sunday...every weekend! If
there was no slalom on Sunday I'd run another rallye. The "Friday Niters"
were usually short events...maybe 2 hours at most...usually 3 to 4 legs.
They started in some shopping center parking lot and finished at some pizza
place. We always ran "SOP" (Seat-of-the-pants). All you were allowed to use
was your car's speedo/odometer, a stop watch and paper and pencil. We got
pretty good at it, often coming in under I minute total error. Got lots of
trophies. These short rallyes were sort of like trainers for the longer more
serious Sunday events. Many of these were 6 to 8 hours. I even ran a 12 hour
one once in my Sprite. This sort of thing seems to have gone out of style
these days except for the really serious SCCA type events. I live in the San
Diego area now and never hear of anything like this. I still run the SOLO II
events, mostly at the Stadium (Qualcom Stadium now...used to be Jack
Murphy), but it would by fun to do a rallye now and then.
Thanks for the memories!
Bill Oker
-----Original Message-----
From: N197TR4@cs.com [mailto:N197TR4@cs.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2000 4:47 PM
To: fot@autox.team.net; vintage-race@autox.team.net
Subject: Memorabilia
The following e-mail was found on a Triumph List...Someone
out there might be
interested in the dash plaques this guy found in his
restoration proect.
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Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 09:20:47 -0600 (CST)
From: Gary Nafziger
Subject: interesting stuff found in tr-3
I am currently de-building!! a tr-3........stuck inside the
glove box
door.......never seen by me because there was no glove box
compartment
behind it......so no need to use it.......i found half a
dozen plaques....
these are self sticking metal things....
two plaques from can-am races at road america
two plaques "first friday niter" from the santa
monica sports car
club with no dates......one has a desert scene and the other
just type.
These are only 1 and a half inches long by an inch wide.
one "flirt" twighlight tour january 1969
one "Lubyrinth 1" 4-18-69 USC Alpha Phi Omega,
red border with
crossed checkered flags.
one "spirit of 69" DORC April 26, 1969. showing
feet....two
pointed up with two pointed down between!!
one "canyon capers" showing a car driving along a
cliff beside the
ocean almost falling in!! lower right hand corner very very
small letters
pc scc
two "krud syndicate" one with silver and the other
with blue
background. 4 persons caricature standing facing look like
mobsters......(one peeing)!! standing in line up........
anyway....i thot these were interesting......I plan on
mounting/framing them
.......these are small....the largest is maybe three inches
long and one
inch wide.
I thought these might bring back memories to anyone who had
lived in
california and been involved in the sports cars scene in the
60's or 70's.
does the santa monica sports car club still exist? and what
was the
lubyrinth? canyon capers? krud syndicate,first friday niter
and spirit of
69?? do we really want to know??LOL
anyhow interesting........am wondering what else I will find
in this old
car!! Does anyone else have a story of treasures found in
old cars??
Gary, Frances Nafziger
Box 25
Wellman, Iowa
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