Monterey notes, part 1

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

After having planned not to go to the Historics this year, my schedule
broke open at the last minute and I made it up for Saturday only.  The
whole day was a lesson in the importance of not letting opportunities
slip away no matter how busy or tired you may feel, because sometimes
the most wonderful things can happen.

As a few of you know, my "other car" (well, actually it's my wife's car
now) is an Audi, and they (plus the other cars produced under variants
of the Auto Union name) were the featured marque this year.  It was,
however, with unalloyed joy and anticipation that I pulled the Spider
out onto the freeway early Saturday morning and headed, top down and
tank full, to Monterey.

I spent the morning in my usual way, puttering around the paddock,
taking pictures of the cars that catch my eye.  Two Giulia TZs were
pitted near one another, the familiar red #7 of Marnix Dillenius and a
French blue car that I later found belonged to ARA member Felix Chiu. 
Felix's car had eight plug wires, while Marnix's (ah, I get it, if I
change my name to something that ends in X, can I have a TZ too? :-)
used what I remember reading was a 1750 with single-plug head.  Gorgeous
cars, of course.  I photographed a few other cars of various marques and
then watched the Audi/Auto Union demonstration laps.

For this list, of course, it's mainly of interest to close the loop on
our collective re-telling of the legend of Nuvolari defeating the Auto
Union and Mercedes teams at the Nurburgring, and to tell the truth the
Type C and Type D cars were most of the reason I went to the Historics
this year.  I'd read so much about these lethal behemoths as a child --
how they were among the most powerful cars ever built, how the handling
was so diabolical that only the very best drivers of all could survive,
and how Nuvolari followed his old rival Varzi into the Auto Unions in
the last years before WW2 -- that it was unthinkable that I'd miss the
chance to see and hear them in action when they were only an hour and a
half from home.

After that, I found the Alfa paddock and visited with some friends. 
Henrik Johansen and I put the strong-arm on someone who mentioned that
he was thinking about getting an Alfa -- for two guys who were not
actually selling any cars that day, we sure put him through the
wringer!  Henrik, Les Fitzsimmons, and a few other of the ARA officers
present were about to leave for the wine-tasting, and invited me; the
thought of getting out of the sun and into a vertical tasting of
cabernet sauvignons sounded immensely appealing.  But once again, I made
the decision to hang out at the track and see just a couple more races. 
It was a good choice.

I happened to be in the best possible spot for the worst incident of the
day, when most of the field in the late-Fifties sports and GT car race
suddenly found themselves stopped in and around turn 2, pointing many
directions other than the desired one, in a cloud of dust and tire
smoke.  I took a series of pictures of the event, snapping off shot
after shot as Ferraris, "Ol' Yellers" and Astons spun and came to a
halt.  When the majority of the field reversed into the right direction
and headed off down track, two cars -- one of the Ol' Yellers and
something green -- were still forming a conjoined capital T just past
the second apex of Turn 2, and maybe 75 yards from me.  The yellow car
drove off first, leaving me to stare at the #5 of... Stirling Moss' '59
Aston Martin DBR1, the car that won Le Mans.  

With a heavily crumpled nose.

Moss nursed it off track to driver's left and climbed out.  What a shame
that he had the misfortune to get caught up in the melee.  The car will
certainly be repaired; I haven't yet heard whether the owner of the car,
from wherever he was stationed on course when it happened, is expected
to recover...

More later, including a stirring race with a couple of Alfas in it!

- --Scott Fisher
  1974 Spider Veloce
  1967 Giulia GT 1300 Junior

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