GT40 45th reunion at Road America
- Thread starter John Woerheide
- Start date
Thanks Kevin! So far they haven't come in, but I will look for them.
On this subject, there was a company taking pictures of the cars that were touring...you can view the proofs at party pics network (password = elkhart). The GT40s seem to be on pages 5, 6 and/or 7.
Mike
On this subject, there was a company taking pictures of the cars that were touring...you can view the proofs at party pics network (password = elkhart). The GT40s seem to be on pages 5, 6 and/or 7.
Mike
The first lap is interesting...
I had a terrible time downshifting as I was using a bolt as a throttle pedal.
YouTube - KIC Group 5 2009
and John Burke in a McLaren M8F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBNh8LMShyE
I had a terrible time downshifting as I was using a bolt as a throttle pedal.
YouTube - KIC Group 5 2009
and John Burke in a McLaren M8F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBNh8LMShyE
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My wife and I had a wonderful time and enjoyed our time there. With the exception of Thursday with the light rain and 59 degree temps, It was quite nice. The temps got up to the high 70s and 80 on Fri., Sat., and Sun. Really enjoyed meeting as many of the forum as we could. There were some that we just never met.
I tried as hard as I could by staying up til 3 AM for three days prior to get mine to a drivable state. It was for naught. Working on Monday night installing the axles, I discovered that the Driveshaft Shop had sent me two different size bolts(10x1.5 and 10x1.25). It took me several hours to figure out what they had done. One side went on easy, the other just wouldn't close the space to the axle. After discovering what had been done I thought the driving of the car was finished til we got back from the trek(921 miles one way). I called the shop and complained bitterly to them. They offered to send new bolts to me. I explained I was leaving the next day and all the fees had been paid. They insisted and at 8 AM the next morning Fed Ex was knocking on my door with the bolts(North Carolina to Atlanta in 16 hours!!). My hopes were raised again. After installing the axles and several other items around 2 PM I noticed the fuel line that was the cross over line from the driver's side to the passenger side had been installed incorrectly and would never drain to the passenger side. The line crossed over but on the passenger side they had routed it to the top of the frame rail and back down to the base of the tank. That meant the drivers side tank would have to over fill in order to drain to the passenger side. So at that point I gave up and decided to just take the car and let it be a static display.
Simon graciously allowed me to accompany him on the tour on Sunday morning. He had just bought a new video device for his car a the track. Installing it and getting it operating caused us to be a little late getting in line with the others. As a result we were next to last in line. This turned out to be a good thing in that as the cars got strung out, we were able to crank up the revs and MPHs as well, reaching better than 100 on several of the straights..After driving my truck for the last 4 years you lose site of the speed of the cars from their point of view. It looked as though we were really flying. Three of the fortys also got a tour of the original course of the races that resulted in the making of Road America. They raced a 3 1/2 mile course(later expanded to 6 1/2 miles) over county roads. Some of the roads straights and corners were rather treacherous. The start finish line was in the middle of Elkhart Lake itself. The races were held from 1950 to about 1952 with as many as 130,000 people watching along the road sides, a bit like the rally courses.
Brian Reddman was entertaining at the breakfast.
There was one moment of excitement during the Sunday morning tour. As I stated the speeds got up there in the back of the pack, and one of the SPF cars I believe took a spin at turn 6 and wound up rubbing his nose into the tire barrier. It didn't look like there was any great damage from our point of view(brief as it was at 60 MPH or so), but the car did get some tire marks on the front of the front clip.
I think most would agree that the layout at Road America is definitely one of the better tracks. Good viewing from around the track, large paddock area and a great turnout from the racing community. I counted at least 22 or so replicas there representing all the major brands, SPF, DRB, RCR, Safir, and CAV. There were at least 15 originals there or what I believed to be. Some probably were Safirs or the like finished off rather well.
Any who passed up the event missed a really good one.
Bill
I tried as hard as I could by staying up til 3 AM for three days prior to get mine to a drivable state. It was for naught. Working on Monday night installing the axles, I discovered that the Driveshaft Shop had sent me two different size bolts(10x1.5 and 10x1.25). It took me several hours to figure out what they had done. One side went on easy, the other just wouldn't close the space to the axle. After discovering what had been done I thought the driving of the car was finished til we got back from the trek(921 miles one way). I called the shop and complained bitterly to them. They offered to send new bolts to me. I explained I was leaving the next day and all the fees had been paid. They insisted and at 8 AM the next morning Fed Ex was knocking on my door with the bolts(North Carolina to Atlanta in 16 hours!!). My hopes were raised again. After installing the axles and several other items around 2 PM I noticed the fuel line that was the cross over line from the driver's side to the passenger side had been installed incorrectly and would never drain to the passenger side. The line crossed over but on the passenger side they had routed it to the top of the frame rail and back down to the base of the tank. That meant the drivers side tank would have to over fill in order to drain to the passenger side. So at that point I gave up and decided to just take the car and let it be a static display.
Simon graciously allowed me to accompany him on the tour on Sunday morning. He had just bought a new video device for his car a the track. Installing it and getting it operating caused us to be a little late getting in line with the others. As a result we were next to last in line. This turned out to be a good thing in that as the cars got strung out, we were able to crank up the revs and MPHs as well, reaching better than 100 on several of the straights..After driving my truck for the last 4 years you lose site of the speed of the cars from their point of view. It looked as though we were really flying. Three of the fortys also got a tour of the original course of the races that resulted in the making of Road America. They raced a 3 1/2 mile course(later expanded to 6 1/2 miles) over county roads. Some of the roads straights and corners were rather treacherous. The start finish line was in the middle of Elkhart Lake itself. The races were held from 1950 to about 1952 with as many as 130,000 people watching along the road sides, a bit like the rally courses.
Brian Reddman was entertaining at the breakfast.
There was one moment of excitement during the Sunday morning tour. As I stated the speeds got up there in the back of the pack, and one of the SPF cars I believe took a spin at turn 6 and wound up rubbing his nose into the tire barrier. It didn't look like there was any great damage from our point of view(brief as it was at 60 MPH or so), but the car did get some tire marks on the front of the front clip.
I think most would agree that the layout at Road America is definitely one of the better tracks. Good viewing from around the track, large paddock area and a great turnout from the racing community. I counted at least 22 or so replicas there representing all the major brands, SPF, DRB, RCR, Safir, and CAV. There were at least 15 originals there or what I believed to be. Some probably were Safirs or the like finished off rather well.
Any who passed up the event missed a really good one.
Bill
To Bill,Mike,Kirby,Mike,Johan,Evan,Rick and all of the others that have posted on RA:
Thank you for sharing the excellent time that you had and for the great photos. For all of us who could not attend, we are green with envy and proud at the same time.
This is one of the reasons that I look in on this forum daily. The great camaraderie amoung GT40 users is a great thing to behold and makes me feel special just hanging with you guys. I'll be at the next reunion God willing.
Garry
Thank you for sharing the excellent time that you had and for the great photos. For all of us who could not attend, we are green with envy and proud at the same time.
This is one of the reasons that I look in on this forum daily. The great camaraderie amoung GT40 users is a great thing to behold and makes me feel special just hanging with you guys. I'll be at the next reunion God willing.
Garry
Bill, It was great to meet you and I'm so glad you were able to get your car there even with the problems you were dealing with . We were right behind you and Simon on our high speed touring laps Sunday morning. What a thrill to be at speed with another GT 40 replica. First time for me. I assume you would still like pictures or should I just post the good ones on the web site?
John Houpe, Thanks again for making the nametags. I wish our paths had crossed during the weekend but there was so much going on and Road America is such a big place. Maybe you weren't wearing a nametag?
Spidermike: I wanted to visit with you about your trip from Oregon to California but the closest we got was a quick wave while you were in your car leaving the Superformance parking area. I tried to keep my blue CAV a safe distance away so there was no trouble but the Superformance people even made me feel welcome. Its too bad you couldn't have stayed one more week for the Experimental Aircraft show at Osh Kosh. 10,000 airplanes come to town.
Ian Clark- Thanks for letting me tag along with you during the weekend. Im glad we were able to overcome the language barrier between our countries so we were still able to communicate quite well. (Canadians deserve our respect too)
I can't imagine another gathering as great as this again.
Steve Salasek
John Houpe, Thanks again for making the nametags. I wish our paths had crossed during the weekend but there was so much going on and Road America is such a big place. Maybe you weren't wearing a nametag?
Spidermike: I wanted to visit with you about your trip from Oregon to California but the closest we got was a quick wave while you were in your car leaving the Superformance parking area. I tried to keep my blue CAV a safe distance away so there was no trouble but the Superformance people even made me feel welcome. Its too bad you couldn't have stayed one more week for the Experimental Aircraft show at Osh Kosh. 10,000 airplanes come to town.
Ian Clark- Thanks for letting me tag along with you during the weekend. Im glad we were able to overcome the language barrier between our countries so we were still able to communicate quite well. (Canadians deserve our respect too)
I can't imagine another gathering as great as this again.
Steve Salasek
Lessee,
I am an SPF dealer, we had Ian Clark (CAV Canada) staying with us at our rented lake cottage, Johann Keyser (CAV North America) next to our display, sharing cleaning towels with him and a very nice RCR GT next to that.
Yes, I guess we can all get along! Different strokes for different folks! The best GT40 for anyone is the one thay want and can buy. There is no "wrong choice" when it come to 40 inch motoring!
Ron McCall
Supporter
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Being a native of South Africa, a relative small African country, last weekend was absolutely wonderful and mind blowing for me. The road trip from NC to Road America was fantastic. My first time to see more than just NC, and surely can say that this is a beautiful country. Road America is more than what I can put in sensible words and on top of that we had all the wonderful GT40's, original and replications to enjoy. I was told by a friendly onlooker that a Ford GT40 is like a young girl in a very small bikini, You just can't help looking. That statement was so true last weekend, I just did not know where to look.
I also got to meet a bunch of really wonderful guys. I had our Gulf CAV next to Rick and his very nice SPF and was flanked by 2 New Ford Gt's. What a picture!
Thanks to Rick for helping with fresh towels after the rain we had on Friday.
My CAV traveled to Road America in the Olthoff Racing hauler with the first SPF GT40R. (The green with yellow stripes) What a nice car.
Thank you Dennis and crew for the ride and great time that we had the weekend.
I also got to meet a bunch of really wonderful guys. I had our Gulf CAV next to Rick and his very nice SPF and was flanked by 2 New Ford Gt's. What a picture!
Thanks to Rick for helping with fresh towels after the rain we had on Friday.
My CAV traveled to Road America in the Olthoff Racing hauler with the first SPF GT40R. (The green with yellow stripes) What a nice car.
Thank you Dennis and crew for the ride and great time that we had the weekend.
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What really was impressive was the way George Stauffer share his Amon, McLaren P1046 Le Mans winner with everyone there on Thursday evening. George pulled it out of the pavilion parked it on the pavement in front of the drivers dinner and let all lookers enjoy it up close.
He even allowed the SPF guys Lance and Dennis to pull their 1046 continuation replica cars up for a group shot(s).
It was truly a great time. It was nice meeting you guys that attended from GT40s.com. Chris Melia showed up with his buddy from England. You guys probably get the furthest travelled award of the 40 boys. First you went to VIR, stopped off to see Fran, then on to RA. What a trip, and you guys are pretty good blokes too!
It was great getting to meet the famous "Chuck and Ryan"! Chuck immediately presented me with a spiral bound copy of his build manual. I felt like I should have had the guys autograph it! Thanks most kindly.
Ray Maserang your car was the pride of the fleet! Bill and Lynn Musarra thanks for sharing your living space and hanging out with us, the time went too fast. John, Vicky, Ron and Faith you guys are the best guys for hanging out with, thanks for let me join in the fun.
It was a treat being able to meet the gaggle guys and their better halves from GT40s.com
I have attached some of the 343 pics I took in three days. The first three are the big stars of the show, the Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren car, the Foyt Gurney car and the Miles, Ruby car. Some of the other pavilion cars, then details of the Amon, McLaren car after George brought it out. I have included a couple of shots of the boys from the club cars in front the SPF hauler. Finally Lance's and Dennis' cars hanging out with P1046!
What a fantastic vacation!
He even allowed the SPF guys Lance and Dennis to pull their 1046 continuation replica cars up for a group shot(s).
It was truly a great time. It was nice meeting you guys that attended from GT40s.com. Chris Melia showed up with his buddy from England. You guys probably get the furthest travelled award of the 40 boys. First you went to VIR, stopped off to see Fran, then on to RA. What a trip, and you guys are pretty good blokes too!
It was great getting to meet the famous "Chuck and Ryan"! Chuck immediately presented me with a spiral bound copy of his build manual. I felt like I should have had the guys autograph it! Thanks most kindly.
Ray Maserang your car was the pride of the fleet! Bill and Lynn Musarra thanks for sharing your living space and hanging out with us, the time went too fast. John, Vicky, Ron and Faith you guys are the best guys for hanging out with, thanks for let me join in the fun.
It was a treat being able to meet the gaggle guys and their better halves from GT40s.com
I have attached some of the 343 pics I took in three days. The first three are the big stars of the show, the Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren car, the Foyt Gurney car and the Miles, Ruby car. Some of the other pavilion cars, then details of the Amon, McLaren car after George brought it out. I have included a couple of shots of the boys from the club cars in front the SPF hauler. Finally Lance's and Dennis' cars hanging out with P1046!
What a fantastic vacation!
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PS. Guess which car is the real McCoy in the last picture? Unless you were there it a little hard to tell. :huh::huh::huh:
How about the black #2 in the center with the hood splitter.
Ron McCall
Supporter
And the "MK1" front fenders!
I didn't notice that, I guess there are a couple of noticeable details.
What can I say, overall it was an unbelievable event. It was wonderful to meet so many people in person, previously only known through the forum and phone calls. It was a really big deal, more than enough to see especially if you ventured into the paddock. Iconic cars everywhere. Wow!!!
Breakfast with Brian Redman was one of many highlights, a weekend that probably won't be repeated ever again. Also the GT40 lapping session on Sunday morning was fantastic. I have to get more track time at Road America! Thanks Steve for letting me drive your CAV on the track.
I know I didn't get to meet every GT40s forum member there but we shared one great weekend for sure. The GT40 community is very tight knit and it's refreshing to see vendors of several brands not only displaying side by each but sleeping together too (oh wait, that doesn't sound right - staying together, sharing accomodation...
.
Pictured below is the very brave Steve Salasek to the left of Brian Redman, I'm on the right proving that 55spf sunblock actually works. My thanks to all involved in making this event happen.
Cheers
Breakfast with Brian Redman was one of many highlights, a weekend that probably won't be repeated ever again. Also the GT40 lapping session on Sunday morning was fantastic. I have to get more track time at Road America! Thanks Steve for letting me drive your CAV on the track.
I know I didn't get to meet every GT40s forum member there but we shared one great weekend for sure. The GT40 community is very tight knit and it's refreshing to see vendors of several brands not only displaying side by each but sleeping together too (oh wait, that doesn't sound right - staying together, sharing accomodation...
.Pictured below is the very brave Steve Salasek to the left of Brian Redman, I'm on the right proving that 55spf sunblock actually works. My thanks to all involved in making this event happen.
Cheers
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Hey Steve,
Sorry I missed meeting you! Oshkosh would have been a given if I didn't have to get back to business. I haven't been in quite a few years, and consequently, my kit plane is not done. It has been languishing at the paint stage for 2 years.
The wife, dog and I will be heading back to Oregon in a month or so - looking for deer the whole way....
Kind Regards,
Mike
