I lost my little 2003 Toyota Echo a few weeks back. Crunched while sitting at a red light, rear-ended by an idiot who admitted she was on her cell phone. Still pissed about this. She pushed me into the SUV parked in front of me, he sustained a tail [...]]]> The Steering Column
April, 2012

I lost my little 2003 Toyota Echo a few weeks back. Crunched while sitting at a red light, rear-ended by an idiot who admitted she was on her cell phone. Still pissed about this. She pushed me into the SUV parked in front of me, he sustained a tail light bruise. The Prius that hit me had front end damage. My 2000 pound Echo had the trunk pushed up to the rear window. My passenger and I were roughed up, but an attorney laughed at us, because we were’nt injured seriously enough. The accident is one thing, but I’m sure all of you would agree, it’s the process of cleaning up after the mess that gets to you.

First off, I have had Farmers Insurance for 30 years. The lady who hit me had Amica, the number one rated carrier in the country. The guy ahead of me had State Farm, number 2. In dealing with Farmers and Amica, I wanted to change my coverage right then and there. Amica was honest, capable and caring. My guys were idiots. Just two weeks before the accident, Farmers sent me a check for the 6 month premium I had just paid. They were sorry to see that I had cancelled my insurance with them. Of course, I hadn’t. It took me a few days to get it all cleared up. Apparently my stupid agent hadn’t told me that switching from a monthly payment to a 6 month payment required a new account number. He didn’t mention a new number. Funny, his days are now numbered. I pay though bill pay at Wells Fargo bank. If I hadn’t noticed all this, I would have been without crucial insurance at a crucial time, my wreck for example. As you’re probably guessing by now, I’m thinking about a new carrier. You never know how good or bad your company is until you really need them.

I tried to replace my Echo with a similar year and model. Used cars are much too expensive. I would have had to pay 9 grand for my car and with many more miles. Of course my insurance company settled for $6000. Consequently, I bought the second cheapest new car in the U.S., a 2012 Ford Fiesta. I tried for a Nissan Versa, advertised at $11,400, but they advertise them but don’t offer them to the dealers. If anyone is now thinking I’m a cheap bastard, you’re right. And now I just got off the phone from my Farmer’s agent who said my insurance would be going up $200 a year since I had bought a new car. He should now start wearing body armor, he’s creeping into my red zone. The Fiesta is a great little four door, but I’ll be missing about 6 miles per gallon, and a little acceleration. Maybe I can install a turbo, maybe I can drive it through my agent’s window. I’ll keep you all posted. Another Jimmy’s Corner production

Ron Crowder provided this month’s column about truly high speed cars. Hope you enjoy this.

Another Jimmy’s Corner Production.

by Ron Crowder

Faced with the recent pub-quiz question “What is the top speed of [...]]]> Previously in another column, I wrote about some terrifically fast cars.

Ron Crowder provided this month’s column about truly high speed cars. Hope you enjoy this.

Another Jimmy’s Corner Production.

Top 20 fastest cars in the world

by Ron Crowder

Faced with the recent pub-quiz question “What is the top speed of the world’s fastest production cars?”, the Sky Motoring quiz crew were quite appalled when:

(a) they had to ponder the question for a good three minutes and
(b) they couldn’t rank the other fastest cars in an appropriate order.

So, taking this simple premise, we’ve decided to geek up and show you the world’s 20 fastest production cars…enjoy!

The 204 mph, 621 bhp Bentley Continental Super sport is the fastest production Bentley ever. (328 Km/hr

The 205 mph Porsche Carrera GT is Stuttgart

The Mercedes McLaren SLR can hit 207 mph and it’s an automatic.

One Dodge Viper V10 + an eccentric British coach builder = the 525 bhp, 210mph Bristol Fighter.
(337 Km/hr)

The first Italian supercar i our list is the 211 mph

The retro-shaped Ford GT uses a thoroughly modern supercharged 5.4-litre V8 to hit 212 h.(341Km/hr)

The new Lamborghini Murcielago SV is lighter, harder and at 213 mph, faster than the standard Murci.(342 Km/hr)

Lamborghini’s Italian neighbour Pagani has developed the stunning 215 mph Zonda F. (346 Km/hr)

It may not quite have been the car we were hoping for but the Jaguar XJ220 could still hit 217 mph.(349 Km/hr)

That’s the same top-speed as the much more recent

Ferrari Enzo, named after Ferrari’s founder.

The British-built Ascari A10 uses a tuned BMW V10 to hit 220 mph.(354 Km/hr)

The Gumpert Apollo may be a bit of an ugger and have a stupid name, but how many cars can go 224 mph?(360 Km/hr)

The B-engineering Edonis develops 680 bhp from its quad turbo 3.7litre V6 to hit 227 mph. Gulp!(365 Km/hr)

Obviously the standard Apollo wasn’t fast (or ugly) enough, hence the 230 mph Gumpert Apollo Speed.(370 Km/hr)

The McLaren F1 was doing 240 mph 17-years ago! Just shows how much of an engineering marvel it was.(386 Km/hr)

You can tell the Koenigsegg CCX has a blistering top speed of 245 mph just by looking at it. Scary.(394 Km/hr)

The American-built Saleen S7 can hit 248 mph. OK, this is getting ridiculous now! (399 Km/hr)

The Porsche 9ff GT9 is one of three cars able to break the 250 mph barrier. (402 Km/hr)

And you thought the 253 mph Bugatti Veyron would be top of the list. Not any more. (403 Km/hr)

The top spot now goes to Shelby Supercars and the 257 mph SSC Ultimate Aero.(413.60 Km/hr)

If I remember correctly, 1 horsepower was the ability of one real horse to lift 1 lb in 1 second, 1 foot off the ground. I may have made this all up, but, the truth is, high performance really takes flight with the term, power to weight. A [...]]]> Do horsepower ratings mean anything?

If I remember correctly, 1 horsepower was the ability of one real horse to lift 1 lb in 1 second, 1 foot off the ground. I may have made this all up, but, the
truth is, high performance really takes flight with the term, power to weight. A 500 horsepower Cadillac weighing 5000 lbs is theorectically no faster than a very small car weighing 1000 pounds and sporting 100 horsepower. Of course transmission ratios and a higher torque rating of the motor can make a difference here.

My old racing mechanic,Tom Jennings, used to say: “racing is all about cubic dollars.” He also said that cubic inches also help. You’ve read in previous Steering Column’s that I prefer small cars. The reason was not always just the price, but that had a lot to do with it, but smaller weights could be moved pretty quickly by smaller horsepower. And smaller cars tended to bend into corners more easily than heavy cars. The old Newtonian law that says, a body in motion tends to stay in motion, hinders a larger weight somewhat in making a quick turn right or left, called turn-in.

Of course, I’ve seen some heavy cars kick some lighter cars butts in tight corners. And that’s the point. There are always exceptions. So, I tend to spend my off hours, I have plenty of them in retirement, reading the specifications on all of the new cars. And as mentioned, the horsepower keeps increasing, but so has weight. Federal requirements, multiple air bags, increasingly complex media sound systems etc, have all increased the mass the motor must pull around.

My 1988 Honda Civic 2 dr, 5 spd, had 91 horsepower. A current 2012 Honda coupe has 140. Guess which one is quicker? Yes, the old car could could kick the newer car’s arse, actually just by a little. However, it lacked the extra equipment and complexity and safety features of the newer machines. The 88 model weighed 1800 pounds, the new model, 2800. Handling is surprisingly similar.

* 2012 Honda Civic Coupe

1988 Honda Civic 2 door hatchback

As far as large cars and great handling goes, the new 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 finished in the top 5 of the best handling cars on the planet in November’s Motor Trend. The article is called, 2011 Best Driver’s Car. It went up against Corvette Z06, Mercedes AMG SLS, 2 Porsches, BMW M1, Nissan GT-R, Ferrari 458 Italia, Lotus Evora and Toyota’s latest super car and others and held its own at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. The Ferrari lists for $287k, the Mustang, $48k, which finished
5th and cost the least. I’m a Chevy guy but this Ford blows my mind.

Both Corvette and Mustang make me proud. The Corvette, by the way, was the quickest around the track, but Motor Trend called a foul because it used a stickier compound in its tires. The new Camaro was missing? Maybe next year. If you get an opportunity, read this issue. America would be proud.

A Jimmy’s Corner production

Our little car club meets every Wednesday in Santa Rosa, California. It started innocently enough about nine years ago, when I met two of my best friends for coffee. Within two years, we had up to twenty people showing up. It’s not an official car club, but since [...]]]> Classic cars I see every week!

Our little car club meets every Wednesday in Santa Rosa, California.
It started innocently enough about nine years ago, when I met
two of my best friends for coffee. Within two years, we had
up to twenty people showing up. It’s not an official car club,
but since we were meeting on Fridays, Diana Cavallero called
us the Friday Auto, Racing & Track Society, Farts for short.
We then moved it to Wednesdays, and became the Warts, I suggested
Tuesdays, but nobody wanted to be called the Tarts. Anyway, it’s fun,
we talk cars and everything under the sun. Most of the guys are
members of official car clubs, with meetings and agendas and rules.
Ugh, but they usually bring their beautiful cars to the parking lot and it
becomes show time. This month we’ll show you just a few of these
special classic cars that show up including some information as to who
and how they were built.

’63 Chev Nova
Conrad Cavallero

’58 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine
Ralph Cota

’32 Ford 3 window coupe
Jay West

’32 Plymouth coupe
Rich Hanes

Jimmy’s Corner productions

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Since starting our column earlier this year, the last number our staff counted (that’s me by the way), we have over 22 overly zealous readers of the Steering Column from all over the world. Suzy’s carhop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama [...]]]>

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Since starting our column earlier this year, the last number our staff counted (that’s me by the way), we have over 22 overly zealous readers of the Steering Column from all over the world. Suzy’s carhop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama serves burgers to super-sized truckers where the girls on roller skates provide the buns. At least two of our newest readers are from Azbeckistan, 2 from the Ukraine and 1 from Afghanistan, who’s currently hiding under an old Skoda having spotted a drone with a package under its wing. Oh, we’ve got a camel herder in Iran who’s strapped some carefully wrapped dynamite to the rear end of his donkey. If the animal grows tired or lazy, he sets fire to the package, and the shit hits the fan. Figuratively speaking.

But I digress, because this is the dream car article. You know, if you had the money which car would you lust after and buy. Some people might swing for a Bugatti Veyron, the S model has 1208 horsepower, hits 60 in 2.6 seconds and runs 268 mph. Jesus, and it has air conditioning. During testing last year, when running at over 200 mph, they tried the air, it blew up. Apparently the shaft pumped too much pressure into the cannister, kinda like that mule herder with the dynamite. Now that’s a car.

I’d love a 53 Corvette, its classic lines a mind blower. Also, a new Vette would fit the bill. Package me a 1965 Shelby Cobra with the big motor, if you can’t find me one, a Dodge Viper would do quite nicely. The new Ford Mustang V-8 is a rocket and handles better than expected. A 911 Turbo, also able to top 200, might get me some chicks. I’m not sure which would be hotter, the car or the girls, I’d have to turn up my pacemaker for both.

Conrad Cavallero’s 1963 Chevy Nova is one of my favorite cars on earth. He built the thing from scratch in 90 days. He deserves an academy award. I’d covet a BMW M series, a Fiat Abarth 500 turbo available soon with 170 horses, assuming Italy doesn’t fail. Also the Mini Cooper turbo. Throw in a 1993 Toyota Turbo Supra, and a twin-turbo Mazda RX-7 and I’m a happy camper. The new Nissan GTR is an absolute rocket.

Notice, I haven’t asked for a Ferrari Testa Rosa, or a Lamborghini Countach, beautiful sculptures, but for some reason they’re more like tender filet mignon when I prefer a T-bone with a great suspension. In a future article we’ll explore a few of the cars that show up at our coffee club in Santa Rosa. Some of them are mind-blowing.

Prior’s Corner
Sebastopol, Ca

I returned to college on my GI bill in 1972. 1973 came along and I had virtually no money. A friend in San Rafael said he had a line on a Kawasaki 750 racing bike owned by an attorney who wanted it gone. So, for $1000 bucks, [...]]]> November Steering Column
Another Jimmy’s Corner Production

I returned to college on my GI bill in 1972. 1973 came along and I had virtually no money. A friend in San Rafael said he had a line on a Kawasaki 750 racing bike owned by an attorney who wanted it gone. So, for $1000 bucks, I was an owner. I had owned and ridden big, fast bikes but had only raced cars. Kinda dumb what I did next. I got my novice license and joined Tommy Bright, a real bike racer, and ran the Sears Point AFM 4 hour enduro. We finished second. The bike was wickedly fast and reliable.

A pro racer, George Miller, asked if he could borrow the bike for the Pro Super Bike race at Laguna Seca, the fastest production bikes in the world. I said “yes,” if he brought it back in one piece. He finished 10th but complained about the wobble. The frame on 750 Kawasakis was spaghetti and I knew it.

I returned to Sears Point for my third race and discovered at the starting line that George had dramatically changed the power. I killed the motor at the starting line and was left sitting in front of thousands of fans. Hey kids, look at the dumb ass who stalled his bike. Embarassed, I got it going and did a 200 foot wheelie
down the straight. I had never done one before. This was not the same bike, it still wobbled, but I could pass any bike at any time. It was a rocket and I held on for dear life. Starting last, I was soon in 10th place hitting over 120 on the short Sears Point straight. In the middle of the race flying into the left uphill sweeper for turn 2. I flicked the bike over tight to the right. My right foot peg caught a steel bumper strip next to the asphalt and suddenly, I was flying through the air like Superman with a helmet: no bike, no parachute, no plan, no hope.

Since I was launched into the air on an upward slope, I landed smoothly at a slight angle, the bikes I had just passed whizzing around me. One rider gave me the finger. I crawled to the edge of the track and laid on my back. The bike had a few scrapes and so did I. The mandatory ambulance ride to Novato discovered a broken toe. Apparently I came in for a landing with my flaps too high. The amazing story about this rocket is, if it had handled better, it would have won the Laguna Seca Pro race. I never gave it full throttle, never. A few months later, I was riding with a buddy from Novato toward Vallejo when he suggested we “get it on.” At 60 mph, I down shifted to 2nd, and floored the “son of a bitch.” Holy shit, when I shifted into 3rd, the acceleration was so fierce, the rear view mirror blew off.

I sold it a year later in Oakland to a crazed Asian biker and quietly returned to my studies. I have never ridden or driven anything as fast since. Even now, when remembering the experience, I feel like Slim Pickens riding the the ballistic missile to his death in “Dr. Strangelove.” What a way to go.

Another Jimmy’s Corner production.

I was reminiscing the other day, I do that a lot, about how I avoided mayhem and death as a young boy. All kids seem to push the envelope, bend the rules and our necks, take some unnecessary chances, but to little boys in the 50′s, we [...]]]> September Steering column
Another Jimmy’s Corner production

I was reminiscing the other day, I do that a lot, about how I avoided mayhem and death as a young boy. All kids seem to push the envelope, bend the rules and our necks, take some unnecessary chances, but to little boys in the 50′s, we thought we were indestructable.

We lived on a ranch in Lake county, California in the 40′s. Somewhere around the age of five, I fell out of an 8 foot hayloft, knocked myself clean out. Swimming in our creek with my three year old brother, I slipped on a wet rock and nearly drowned. Jumping up and down on the sideboard of a 2 ton hay truck, I fell, the rear dual wheels pushing me out of the way as they went by. Playing with that same hay truck, my little brother and I drove through a fence and down into the creek.

Where were the parents?, who knew. We had our faithful collie dog Mickey watch us daily. Once he saved us from several rattle snakes coiled up next to the rocks we were playing on. Thank God we left the ranch for the Bay Area. You’d think we had learned some kind of a lesson. Wrong.

By 1950 we had moved to Palo Alto along the bloody Bay shore freeway. My mom left town with a Navy boxer and headed to Alaska without us. My dad then took on the rearing. Within a few months, we were housed at my uncle’s foster home in the Los Altos hills along with 6 other kids with unknown names and parents who had farmed them out as well. We soon discovered how to slide down long rocky hills on cardboard boxes. It was great fun.

By 1951 we moved to the Oakland hills. I was in the second grade and soon was flying down the paved roads in the hills on my new Flexi Flyer, a sled with rubber tires and front squeeze brakes. This was while my brother Jack was lighting matches under the porch of our 80 year old house. Who could imagine me squirting by old Buicks and Pontiacs while little brother was trying to set fire to Oakland. We both survived. It was amazing fun.

Dad died in 1952 and we were sent to grandma’s in a small farming town in northern Illinois. Immediately my brother and I fell in with five or six neighborhood kids and the fun just kept coming. My grandmother’s brother, uncle Joe, was 90 years old in 1952, born in 1862.He had been the town sheriff and the public works director. The proof lay in the one room jail next to the house, and next to it stood the town’s 2000 foot high water tower. You guessed it, at the age of ten the dares became too much and three of us scampered to the top. My problem occurred in the first 100 feet. I was scared stiff but kept going to the top. The other two got tired of watching low flying Piper Cubs and headed down. I inched my way over the side and slowly, one rung at a time, I too headed down. It took me 20 minutes. To this day I still have a fear of heights, the mere thought of the event still brings chills.

In 1955 Popular Mechanic’s published an article on how to build a go-kart. In 1956, a gas station owner just 2 miles from town, had welded one together and installed a high speed 2 stroke motor. We boys were fascinated. He offered to sell it to us for $100. We first wanted to test it out in his wide gravel parking lot. Each boy took a turn and then, finally, I had my chance. I immediately left the parking lot and joined the traffic on US route 6. I drove maybe a mile down the road and then did a u-turn in front of a semi truck, he blared his horn and just missed me. I almost became minced Jimmy. I scampered back to the gas station and hopped out of the cart. Of course the man was upset, but once again, I had escaped mayhem. I love go-karts to this day.

In 1958, the aunts and uncles and grandmothers were dying. My oldest brother Joe, a Boeing engineer, invited Jack and me to live with him in Bellevue, Washington, where I would enter high school.

Continued:
October, 2011
‘Near Misses, Part 2

Before leaving Illinois at 14, accompanied by my 13 year old brother Jack, we’d perfected more than a few stunts on the local railroad line. This was the Chicago to New Orleans route with multiple freights and quite a a number of highball expresses. Four of us would put pennies [...]]]> October Steering Column

Before leaving Illinois at 14, accompanied by my 13 year old brother Jack, we’d perfected more than a few stunts on the local railroad line. This was the Chicago to New Orleans route with multiple freights and quite a a number of highball expresses. Four of us would put pennies on the track only to see them flattened the size of copper nickels. Often we would hold hands from the outside tracks and get our feet as close to the 70 mph trains as possible. Was the train on the main track? The earth shook making us feel like we were baby Supermen.

But arriving in Bellevue, Washington in 1958, now home to Microsoft and other
billion dollar companies, the railroad was miles away. Also in 1958, it was a sleepy little town of 10,000 residents with lots of Boeing engineers raising their kids while fabricating the new 707 plane introduced in that year.

I got my license at 16, well actually it took 2 tests. The first test was given in a downpour. After doing a successful driver’s test, I was told to park behind a parked car. I could barely see it, so I backed then turned and then heard. “Stop,” the examiner was actually laughing. “what?” I asked. He giggled, you hit the car. I said, “what car?” So I failed my first test with large letters across the form, “accident.”

Two weeks later it was cloudy but not raining. I zoomed through the test. So, I became the Wheel Man for some of my brother’s friends. One of them,Walt,age 15, had no license but had cars available to him since his dad owned a car lot. The adventures just kept coming.

My oldest brother allowed me to drive his car, the first a 1957 Chevy with a 283 V-8. But brother Jack said that Walt wanted us to meet him at his dad’s car lot, after midnight. We unlocked our bedroom window and slid down a tree and walked off into the dark. Upon arrival at the car lot, I hopped into a 1955 Chevy and four of us headed for Seattle and a night of adventure. We got it soon after nearing Pike’s street market. The transmission gave out. It was now 1 o’clock in the morning. What to do. I got the idea to catch a bus back to Bellevue and get another car. Return and push the other back to the lot. Unbelievable now as I think
about it.

We got lucky and were back at the lot by 2. We jumped into another Chevy and returned to Seattle. One of the guys got behind the wheel of the blown Chevy and we were off, me gently pushing the car along. Just a quick trip across the Lake Washington Bridge to Bellevue and it was over. One problem, the dumb ass missed the turn and we headed toward Tacama and an hour out of the way.

We were 20 minutes away from success when I pushed the car through a light, which turned red on me. Then a cop car pulled up behind and we were pulled over. This was it, going to jail, throwing away the key. Wow!

The young cop ambled up the car to the three of us. He asked for my license and with trembling fingers I gave it to him. He asked if we’d been drinking. We had not. I gave him the information he asked for and he let us go. I drove ahead and watched him make a U-turn. I then did the same and pulled behind the other car and we were off.

Once into Bellevue we had to figure out a way to get the dead car across a timed light. We spent a few minutes and then I got into the dead car and coasted down a five block hill. With luck, the light turned green, I drove through the intersection and bounced into the lot. The other car tucked behind us and we headed for home. This was not just dodging a bullet but an asteroid. I never did that again. Whew!

Another Jimmy’s Corner production