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THANK YOU ALL!!!! A HUGE thank you to all the folks who took time out to try the website through various browsers and confirm that we've pretty much got it fixed. For awhile, anyway, until some evil techno-geek with nothing better to do decides to strike again. If you're so damn clever, why don't you go out and solve world hunger or cure cancer or build an electric car that SOUNDS exciting or take all the salt and nitrates out of bacon without spoiling the taste? In any case, the response was quite literally overwhelming, and I can't tell you how humbled and gratified it felt to learn that so many of you actually give a shit. Thanks a ton. Make that two tons. And now go out and buy a copy of The Last Open Road or the Potside Companion for somebody who's never even heard of them! I promise to squander the money on fast, interesting cars to drive on the racetrack. Wonder what it feels like to drive your own damn car for a change?
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An Apology: Last e-blast included some typically excellent pictures of the TVR Tuscan V6 I drove in a couple sessions at Mid-Ohio a few weeks back (shown again below since it's such a wicked-fast, sinister-looking car) and I neglected to credit my friend and ace lensman Daniel Mainzer for snapping the pix. I promised I'd put it right since Daniel makes part of his living this way, shooting pictures that make you and your car look fast and selling them to racers who want to be able to say: "See that? That's ME in there!" to everybody who's not quick enough to get away.
Taught "high performance driving" at Blackhawk Farms last Friday for the local Alfa club (love the cars and especially the people Alfas seem to attract) and then again this past Monday for Hooked on Driving at Autobahn. Everybody played nice and had a good time, and I find myself thoroughly amazed at how hard and relentlessly you can flog a modern sports, GT or "Performance Sedan" these days without running out of brakes or blowing something sky-high. Truly amazing. On the other hand, how did they all get so damn HEAVY? I remember when I used to think that 2300 lbs. was about the limit for a "real" sportscar (and under-2000 was even better!) but you're hard-pressed to find anything nowadays that's less than a ton-and-a-half. And just shy of two tons is more like the norm for anything with a back seat. That said, they go like hell and take vicious beating without complaint. Although you do have to wait for all the bowling balls to roll to one side as you enter a sharp turn and then wait for them to roll back the other way if it's a switchback.... |
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UPCOMING "BS" SIGHTINGS & BOOK EVENTS: NOTE: NEW STUFF ADDED!
7/11 (Thursday) 6-9pm: Book Signing at the Cruise Night on Burlington Rd. in Riverside, IL. A relaxed, eclectic and community-supported, once-a-month local summer event that really impressed me when I dropped by a few weeks ago. Everything from MGTCs to Model As to Ferraris to Fifties Cruisers to Hot Rods & Detroit Musclecars. Good food, great people, lotsa fun. Free, too! Would like to get a few "Last Open Road" types out to show off their cars & shill for me by spreading the "Gospel according to Buddy." 7/12-7/13 (Fri-Sat): Millers at Milwaukee, State Fair Park, Milwaukee. If you haven't been, you need to go. Proper old front-engined Indycars filling pit lane & out on track having fun. Offies bark, Millers wail, alcohol fumes fill the air, lotsa wizened old USAC geezers with fabulous stories to share & you might even get a ride around the track in an old racecar...a great time! 7/14, 11am-4pm: Book booth at the excellent Legends & Legacies Barrington Concours at the Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington, IL. Fabulous cars, including a couple rare, flamboyant & magnificent French Voisons from the Mullin collection courtesy of my friend David Cooper at Cooper Technica. 7/19-7/21: The HAWK vintage extravaganza at Road America. Signing books at the Vintage Motorsport magazine booth, mouthing off again on the PA (the statute of limitations has apparently expired), judging at the racecar concours Friday evening and maybe even a little driving (I hope) on the Thursday test day. And why the heck do they have the HAWK and the similarly unmissable Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix on the same blessed weekend????? Whoever's in charge, let's FIX that! 7/28: 9am-12 noon: Book signing with Round Table Books (572-B Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, IL.) during the highly informal Coffee & Classics street show promoted (more or less) by Fuelfed. This is essentially a flash-mob assemblage of nifty old sports cars and classics and their owners (most of whom are old classics in their own right). I've never been, but I grew up in Winnetka and it comes highly recommended. 8/2-8/4, Road America: Book signing with my longtime friend Bob Woodman of Bob Woodman Tires along with "guest instructing" for Team Stradale at the three-day, track-day portion of the 50th-anniversary Ferrari Owners' Club National Meet in Elkhart Lake. This is going to be the biggest and best Ferrari Owners meeting EVER, and I'm really thrilled that I'm going to be part of it. Good news is that I'll meet a lot of new people who've never heard of my books (and can certainly afford to buy them!) and I also may get to drive some REALLY neat cars. Downside (hey, I've coached at Ferrari meets before) will be sitting in the passenger seat trying to get somebody who's already scaring the crap out of me to go faster! Is this any kind of occupation for a nice Jewish boy? 8/15-8/18: In California for Monterey Historics/Pebble Beach. I'll be hawking books in the Vintage Motorsports booth (except when Bob Bondurant is there...that's one too many schmoozers in a small space) and maybe dropping in on the PA booth. Should be a biggie (Corvette's 60th, Porsche 911's 50th). See you there? |
If you've never read the utterly hilarious He'll be hearing from our lawyers shortly.
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Don't Forget our piggy banks! |
Catch the latest poop & pictures, the Jay Leno interview, Finzio's Store and the lurid & occasionally embarrassing "ride with Burt" in-car racing videos on the website at: |
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