Gary
Classic Motorsports Rating:
2
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- Member since:
- Dec 14, 2007
- Board post count:
- 17
- Location:
- USA
- Occupation:
- Product Manager
- Classic cars owned:
- Triumph
- Interests:
- vintage and contemporary sports car road racing, classic car shows, classic car tours, reading CM and GRM
Gary's Bio
Been a sports car enthusiast for over 40 years; first car was an almost new '61 Sunbeam Alpine, second car was an almost new '68 Volvo P1800, both long gone now; currently own a '96 Miata and '98 Contour SVT; current project car is a solid '68 Spitfire with factory steel hardtop (a.k.a. the Spitrod) which I'm slowly turning into a streetable clone of a 60s era production racer; I go to races at Lime Rock as often as possible, been to the Monterey Historics in 1999, vintage races at der Nurburgring, Brands Hatch, Mosport, Palm Springs California street races in the early 1990s when VARA was still holding races there, numerous trips to the Coronado Speed Festival, and open track days at Hockenheim and Thruxton (business trips to England and Europe allowed me to indulge in weekend automotive activities there); most memorable automotive experience was driving 3 laps on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 1999 in a VW Golf rental car with about a hundred speed-crazed Europeans with cars and bikes on the track at the same time, most of them passing me ... scary as hell but definitely unforgettable; second most memorable automotive experience was meeting Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss at the Vanderbilt Concours d'Elegance in July 2007 and seeing the Birdcage Maserati they won the Nurburgring 1000 Km race with together in 1960, as well as Dan's 1967 Belgian GP winning Eagle; other than my 3 lukewarm laps on the 'Ring Nordschleife in the rental car, I've always been on the spectator side of the fence; I no longer have aspirations to vintage race, but will eventually do one of those classic tours like the New England 1000 someday when I have the right car (not the Spitrod)
Addendum: was finally able to attend Cars and Coffee on March 1, 2008 during a trip to Southern California