Brrrr...it's getting COLD around here!

A few weeks ago was the official end of the 2011 E@RTC season. As luck would have it, we had a sunny and dry morning but it was darned cold. Many people braved the cold and made it out.



A little later in the morning, this beautiful 1984 512BBi showed up. When I was growing up, the 512BB was another one of my dream cars next to the 308. However, the BB is so far out reach of a poor working stiff like me that I'll never own one.



Another cool car is this Aston Martin in a color I'd never seen before. It seems like all the Astons I've seen are some shade of silver and this one in Maroon was gorgeous. Another car I'll never own...



Lastly, a new car that few will see and fewer will own -- a new BMW 1M. Not to be confused with the BMW M1 of the 70s, I guess BMW needed to keep with their M designation and ran into a problem with the One Series. Very few of these cars will make it into the States. The owner of this one had to go to Oregon to get it. According to him, it's a blast to drive and a really fun, high powered good handling car.



Two weekends ago, the local Ferrari club chapter had a tour of a local fabrication and restoration shop. I wasn't sure what to expect since I'd not heard of this shop before. As I neared the shop, I saw a red 308 roar by and followed it in. It turned out to be friend and fellow 308 owner TV. The shop was near his house and despite threatening rain for the day, he risked bringing out his F-car to the tour.

Walking in to the main part of the shop, it was apparent what these guys did. There were metal working machines all over. Everything from welding gear to an english wheel to lathes and mills. Their clientele were mostly sport and club racers and this shop did everything from ground-up fabrication to race preparation.

This is an example of the work these guys do. This old racer was pretty sad under the paint and basically needed a new body. Just like the artisans of a time gone by, this body was fabricated by hand from sheets of aluminum. Wow, what workmanship. Next to the raw aluminum body was a frame jig where a tube frame was being fabricated.



This shop was huge and had lots and lots of cars in it. I found out that these guys also do most of the restoration work for Richard Griot (of Griot's Garage). I believe that this white Porsche is one of Richard's newest cars, sent to the shop to be checked over.



Here's a cool little racing detail I didn't know. These brake rotors are painted with three temperature sensitive paint stripes. Each color would burn off at different temperature so the crew could tell at glance how hot the rotor got. Red paint gone? Driver needs to be easier on the brakes!

Just about ready to park the car for the season

It's Friday and the "official" end of the 2011 season of E@RTC is tomorrow. It doesn't look too good though with a forecasted 20% chance of rain. In fact, the past 2 have been called due to rain. I think we may be done for the season.

Here are a few cool things from the last event. A Noble M12 GTO-R3. It's powered by a twin-turbo Ford Duratec V6. It reportedly puts out 415 bhp and can propel this 2380 lb car 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. From what I've heard, Noble's can be a handful because they have a tremendous power to weight ratio, but don't have any of the really advanced electronics to keep the car from killing you. I briefly talked to the owner and he said, "it's faster than a Lotus Elise. What more do I want?"



Have a look at this really cool Morgan Aero three-wheeler. I think it's from around 1925 and it's powered by a V-twin in the front. The coolest thing about it is that the engine valvetrain is almost completely open. You can actually watch the rocker arms and valve springs move. Very cool.



Of course there's the obligatory Ferrari shot:)



I've been on vacation for the last two weeks. TK and I jumped in the camper and drove down South then East in a big loop. It was a fun trip and there was one thing that really stood out. In Lincoln City, OR we met up with TK's parent for dinner. We stopped off at a restaurant called the Pier 101 Bar and Grill. As I was thumbing through the menu, I realized it was Friday and that they served prime rib on Friday and Saturday. Since we had a fridge, I decided to get the "Big Cut" and we could eat the leftovers later. When the waiter came by, the conversation was like this:

Waiter: What can I get you sir?
Me: I'd like the Big Cut of prime rib.
W: Have you been here before sir?
M: No, I haven't.
W: Well, our regular cut of prime rib is two pounds.

(silence)

M: Hmmm...ok then. Thanks for letting me know. I think I'll have the Regular cut then.

Two pounds? Was he kidding? When it showed up, it was apparent that he was NOT kidding. This thing was massive. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly, but I could only eat about 1/4 of it. We took the rest with us and ended up eating on it for the next four meals. What a bargain? Locally, you'd pay the same amount and get 1/3 the portion. So, if you find yourself passing through Lincoln City, OR on a Friday or Saturday, I highly recommend the prime rib. Regular Cut or Big Cut -- your choice.