Teacher "Does anyone have their book report finished?" Only one kid in the class, that Murray kid waving his arm frantically. Teacher "on my god it is that kid with "Dys'Les'Xia' Eheh" (love that one Les) but he is the only one with his hand up, now what. "Ok Murray do you want to give the class your book report" Yes!!!!
Now I know a lot of guys under 40 are saying what the h$ll is a book let alone a book report. It has been a long time since I bought an automotive book and frankly I missed reading them. So I bought a few for just relaxing and jogging the memory. Well here goes.
I picked out three chapters and have dedicated them to some of the Members on the CCF.
"Where The Writer Meets The Road …… A Collection of Articles, Broadcast Intros, and Profiles"
Written By Sam Posey ….. Forward by David Hobbs
Published by David Bull Publishing Company, Phoenix, Arizona
Sam Posey has written a number of books, his first "The Mudge Pond Express" which I believe may be the best automotive racing Autobiography written. His second book was called "Playing with Trains" this book covered his passion for model railroading, he is acknowledged to have one of the finest train layouts in the world. This book "Where The Writer Meets the Road" is a collection of stories from Road and Track, his televised introductions to Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 races. His personal introductions of race car drivers and builders into the Motorsports Hall of Fame are very heartfelt and humorous.
Posey's racing career spanned a couple of decades, he was a talented guy racing in Can Am, F1, Formula 5000, Endurance Racing, Trans Am. He was however more than that and some speculate that because of his other talents he did not achieve the success that many did in his era. Architect, designer, painter, writer, musician, broadcaster, Posey could have rightfully been called each and every one of those. For indeed they all apply.
1) A Chapter for Williame 3590, Bearly Flying, All Flash, SmackYYX and all those C7 owners
Jim Hall - Introduction to the Motorsport Hall of Fame April 12, 2012
Jim Hall Chaparral Cars Midland, Texas.
Hall was talented, driving F1 in Europe, competitive against the best there was of his era. An era so many drivers did not survive. Like Posey, Hall was more, a lot more. A talented race car designer he built winning race cars for Le Mans, Sebring and the major European races that are now just a memory. He had his own racetrack, Rattlesnake Raceway where he put his design talents to test.
Hall is credited with some very innovative aerodynamic developments. Some of the devices we see on the new C7's can be traced back to his aero innovations particularly with his Can Am roadsters and Endurance sports cars. Hall learned about those aero dynamic advances from his experience building and flying scale aeroplanes, his other passion. Hall understood what forces were required to keep a plane in the air. The same forces that could be harnessed to keep his Chaparral race cars glued to the track. The ultimate of course was the Chaparral 2J "Sucker" Can Am car that use a snowmobile engine to create a suction under the car that was skirted all around.
Hall competed in all levels of professional motorsport nearly losing his life in an accident durning a Can Am race in Las Vegas. He poured his talents from then on into design winning Indianapolis, Can Am, Trans Am and Sports cars.
2) A Chapter for My Buddy Steamer
It is by all accounts alive. It breathes, there is no question that it can become angry and unpredictable in a hurry. It weighs 185 tons and when its throttle is opened it literally explodes to life. It can pull 1,000 Tons. Posey wrote this article for a Road and Track April Fools edition but Posey was not really fooling around with 1924 Baldwin Decapod Locomotive. He was going to run the beast.
Number 90 is owned by the Strasburg Railroad. Its predecessor The Great Western Railroad put the machine up for scrap in 1967 and sold it for $37,552, today its value is well over one million dollars. It has a top speed of about 55 miles per hour, it was designed as a freight hauling engine, its drive wheels limit it top speed. However if you think these machines are slow, one of them running 80" drive wheels holds the record speed for a steam engine at an astounding 126 miles per hour. 185 tons roaring down a track held in place only by the small flanges inside the drive wheels. Now that is spectacular. Steam, bellowing smoke, this indeed is alive.
Posey drove the Baldwin, rather he engineered it down Strasburg's private railroad line. Pounding drivers, 200 pound per square inch steam pressure. Incredible heat in the cab, coal being shovelled furiously. Posey, soaked in sweat was in love.
3) Golden Age of Speed
There has been a lot of ages of speed. Griffith Borgeson wrote a book called the "Golden Age of the American Racing Car" in 1966. Borgeson chronicled the heroic age of Motor Sports in America when cars were more like artwork than racers. The cars of Harry Miller, Duesenberg, Frontenac, Louis Chevrolet and many others that were winners on pavement and dirt all over America. Still considered works of art and incredibly successful race cars almost a 100 years after they were built. It was an heroic age for drivers who often paid a heavy price for speed with limited safety equipment.
Agreeing with Posey about his Golden Age of Speed is easy for indeed it was. There was a time in the mid 1960 when all the elements of speed, innovation and indeed danger came together. Huge tires, massive cubic inch motors and of course aerodynamics.
Can Am cars were like the wild west. Come up with any idea, bolt it on and see what happens. Chevrolet, Ford, Oldsmobile motor producing tremendous horsepower and tires that were glued to the pavement made these machines the fastest race cars in the world. Indy cars, Formula 1 you name it they could not hold a candle to the winged monsters.
It did not take long to prove some of these ideas perhaps did not work so well. Australian Paul Hawkins driving his Lola crested the hill on the straight at Saint-Jovite. His Lola lifted towards the heavens and when it finally crashed a long way from the crest there was nothing left of the car. Hawkins survived. It was perhaps a sign of the times. Things were going to get ugly.
Spoilers were constructed out of anything the teams could find, they discovered quickly that you needed to stick these cars to the track or you were in trouble. Innovation was the name of the game. Then Chaparral showed up with their high wing wide bodied 2E. More innovation, more speed and more danger.
The Can Am era really ended in 1973 when Mark Donohue decimated fields at every race track with his Porsche 917-30. The competition was demoralized, soundly beaten. The crowds lost interest. The Penske/Donohue "Unfair Advantage" ended what was another of the "Golden Age of Speed" eras.
Hope you enjoyed the review. I bought another book that I have yet to read. "Bowtie Ferraris". You may be surprised that a lot of these million dollar racing and road machines from the 50's and 60's owe their very existence to the venerable small block Chevrolet. More book reports to come.
Now I know a lot of guys under 40 are saying what the h$ll is a book let alone a book report. It has been a long time since I bought an automotive book and frankly I missed reading them. So I bought a few for just relaxing and jogging the memory. Well here goes.
I picked out three chapters and have dedicated them to some of the Members on the CCF.
"Where The Writer Meets The Road …… A Collection of Articles, Broadcast Intros, and Profiles"
Written By Sam Posey ….. Forward by David Hobbs
Published by David Bull Publishing Company, Phoenix, Arizona
Sam Posey has written a number of books, his first "The Mudge Pond Express" which I believe may be the best automotive racing Autobiography written. His second book was called "Playing with Trains" this book covered his passion for model railroading, he is acknowledged to have one of the finest train layouts in the world. This book "Where The Writer Meets the Road" is a collection of stories from Road and Track, his televised introductions to Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 races. His personal introductions of race car drivers and builders into the Motorsports Hall of Fame are very heartfelt and humorous.
Posey's racing career spanned a couple of decades, he was a talented guy racing in Can Am, F1, Formula 5000, Endurance Racing, Trans Am. He was however more than that and some speculate that because of his other talents he did not achieve the success that many did in his era. Architect, designer, painter, writer, musician, broadcaster, Posey could have rightfully been called each and every one of those. For indeed they all apply.
1) A Chapter for Williame 3590, Bearly Flying, All Flash, SmackYYX and all those C7 owners
Jim Hall - Introduction to the Motorsport Hall of Fame April 12, 2012
Jim Hall Chaparral Cars Midland, Texas.
Hall was talented, driving F1 in Europe, competitive against the best there was of his era. An era so many drivers did not survive. Like Posey, Hall was more, a lot more. A talented race car designer he built winning race cars for Le Mans, Sebring and the major European races that are now just a memory. He had his own racetrack, Rattlesnake Raceway where he put his design talents to test.
Hall is credited with some very innovative aerodynamic developments. Some of the devices we see on the new C7's can be traced back to his aero innovations particularly with his Can Am roadsters and Endurance sports cars. Hall learned about those aero dynamic advances from his experience building and flying scale aeroplanes, his other passion. Hall understood what forces were required to keep a plane in the air. The same forces that could be harnessed to keep his Chaparral race cars glued to the track. The ultimate of course was the Chaparral 2J "Sucker" Can Am car that use a snowmobile engine to create a suction under the car that was skirted all around.
Hall competed in all levels of professional motorsport nearly losing his life in an accident durning a Can Am race in Las Vegas. He poured his talents from then on into design winning Indianapolis, Can Am, Trans Am and Sports cars.
2) A Chapter for My Buddy Steamer
It is by all accounts alive. It breathes, there is no question that it can become angry and unpredictable in a hurry. It weighs 185 tons and when its throttle is opened it literally explodes to life. It can pull 1,000 Tons. Posey wrote this article for a Road and Track April Fools edition but Posey was not really fooling around with 1924 Baldwin Decapod Locomotive. He was going to run the beast.
Number 90 is owned by the Strasburg Railroad. Its predecessor The Great Western Railroad put the machine up for scrap in 1967 and sold it for $37,552, today its value is well over one million dollars. It has a top speed of about 55 miles per hour, it was designed as a freight hauling engine, its drive wheels limit it top speed. However if you think these machines are slow, one of them running 80" drive wheels holds the record speed for a steam engine at an astounding 126 miles per hour. 185 tons roaring down a track held in place only by the small flanges inside the drive wheels. Now that is spectacular. Steam, bellowing smoke, this indeed is alive.
Posey drove the Baldwin, rather he engineered it down Strasburg's private railroad line. Pounding drivers, 200 pound per square inch steam pressure. Incredible heat in the cab, coal being shovelled furiously. Posey, soaked in sweat was in love.
3) Golden Age of Speed
There has been a lot of ages of speed. Griffith Borgeson wrote a book called the "Golden Age of the American Racing Car" in 1966. Borgeson chronicled the heroic age of Motor Sports in America when cars were more like artwork than racers. The cars of Harry Miller, Duesenberg, Frontenac, Louis Chevrolet and many others that were winners on pavement and dirt all over America. Still considered works of art and incredibly successful race cars almost a 100 years after they were built. It was an heroic age for drivers who often paid a heavy price for speed with limited safety equipment.
Agreeing with Posey about his Golden Age of Speed is easy for indeed it was. There was a time in the mid 1960 when all the elements of speed, innovation and indeed danger came together. Huge tires, massive cubic inch motors and of course aerodynamics.
Can Am cars were like the wild west. Come up with any idea, bolt it on and see what happens. Chevrolet, Ford, Oldsmobile motor producing tremendous horsepower and tires that were glued to the pavement made these machines the fastest race cars in the world. Indy cars, Formula 1 you name it they could not hold a candle to the winged monsters.
It did not take long to prove some of these ideas perhaps did not work so well. Australian Paul Hawkins driving his Lola crested the hill on the straight at Saint-Jovite. His Lola lifted towards the heavens and when it finally crashed a long way from the crest there was nothing left of the car. Hawkins survived. It was perhaps a sign of the times. Things were going to get ugly.
Spoilers were constructed out of anything the teams could find, they discovered quickly that you needed to stick these cars to the track or you were in trouble. Innovation was the name of the game. Then Chaparral showed up with their high wing wide bodied 2E. More innovation, more speed and more danger.
The Can Am era really ended in 1973 when Mark Donohue decimated fields at every race track with his Porsche 917-30. The competition was demoralized, soundly beaten. The crowds lost interest. The Penske/Donohue "Unfair Advantage" ended what was another of the "Golden Age of Speed" eras.
Hope you enjoyed the review. I bought another book that I have yet to read. "Bowtie Ferraris". You may be surprised that a lot of these million dollar racing and road machines from the 50's and 60's owe their very existence to the venerable small block Chevrolet. More book reports to come.
Last edited:
