What is it about old Ferrari’s.

When I was younger lad I loved to build my model airplanes and helicopters.   I mean, I did have a certain place for autos but airplanes and helicopters were my thing.    Cars were in third place.. makes you wonder how I got into the automotive trade, doesn’t it?    I grew up in Sault Ste Marie Ontario and we  never ever saw any kind of exotic cars on the road.   A Porsche 911 was the only thing I ever managed to approach in a parking lot with awe.   However, there was an abundance of muscle cars…  it seemed like every young man of driving age that pined for something cool ended up with a Chevy Chevelle with big fat rear tires and a cam shaft with more lift than push up bra.  I mean the cars could barely stay running the cam shafts were so lumpy…

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1966 Porsche 912

Interesting car in this week,  definitely on the “you don’t see everyday” list.   It’s amazing what people have stashed away in their garages.  Here is no exception… a relatively clean Porsche 912.   The 912 was an entry level model brought out in 1965 to bridge the gap between the 356 and the 911.  It featured the chassis and body work of the 911 and the 4 cylinder engine from the 356.  It initially out sold the 911 and was in production from 65 to 69.

This car was towed in last week as a no start having not been on the road in 6-7 years.  Overall the condition of the car is pretty reasonably considering its 45 years old.  Before it was parked it had some fairly extensive work done to it like the brand new tires (now 7 year old tires) that still have the stickers left on them.

I’m about to take it out for a spin, I’ve driven lots of 911′s but this will be my first 912.  I’ll try to get some video coverage.

There’s nothing more  frustrating than depending on something or someone that is un-dependable.   Current case…our Hunter P811 4 wheel alignment machine.  Five years ago…ok well maybe ten, this machine was all the rage… it signified the end of an aligner era… sounds epic doesn’t it… well its not really that exciting, I’m just trying to make it sound that way.   This machine was the last really large push by this manufacturer to get out one last update to a dated machine before the newer 3d imaging machines took over the market.

Oh well, who cares about the old stuff lets talk about the new stuff.

Enter the new, the bold, the handsome, the Brad Pitt of alignment technology.

The John Bean Arago V3d

The list of what this thing does is far to long and you probably don’t care either, all you need to know is that starting in a week or two we are going to be sporting the best darn alignment machine in the industry. Got a spare $32.000?  Yes, we are going to be paying this off  for a little while.

So this is where we left off..

When we checked in last, we saw the Super 7 being pulled up and onto a flat bed tow truck as I wasn’t about to take any chances driving it home.  I do wish I had the foresight to grab my video camera though because it sounded really bad and I know you would have loved to hear it.  We got it home to All About Imports in time for me to jump into my Audi and high tail it back to the auto cross event for couple of last minute runs with the Audi.  So the day wasn’t a complete waste.

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As I described in the previous post, the love/hate relationship that I have with my car is always taking me on new emotional adventures. This beast of a car can take me from one extreme to another in an incredibly short period. This Saturday June 18th was to be no different..
I had a special co-driver coming out for the day. Peter Cheney from the Globe and Mail was to spend the day auto crossing and have a general get to know you sort of day. We couldn’t have asked for better weather plus Scion Canada was in attendance with a couple of staff and demonstrator cars and to top it off Lorraine Sommerfeld from the Toronto Star was there too.
Peter came prepared with his helmet, his racing shoes to conquer my narrow foot box and loads of camera/video gear. Wow I was excited and truthfully all went well up until lunch. At least I got Peter and Lorraine in my car for several laps before all went wrong and I think Peter got just enough seat time to catch the auto crossing bug. Not that he didn’t struggle too… You see, racers who spend a lot of time at a race track don’t realize how easy it is to follow the track. At a race track, black pavement equals good and grass and tire walls equals bad. With auto crossing you have to memorize a course through a maze of pylons and then execute turns and find brake zones all the while trying to keep your speed up as fast as you dare, trying not to spin out or soil your undies.
Then the disaster came, I went for a lap and was having an almost “I love you moment” with the car when I mis-shifted and over revved the engine (and when I say I over revved it..I think I might have hit 9500 RPM) which for those of you know a Datsun inline 6 cylinder spells disaster.
So this is how the day ended for the Se7en.

Its no secret,  I have a love/hate relationship with my car.  It can be incredibly finicky and down right snarly,  but when it all comes together it provides more thrills per kilometre than a roller coaster.   One of the reasons that I autocross is to be able to capture this automotive nirvana for a scant 60 seconds at a time.  This last Saturday was a tease as I almost made it to the Nexus (for you Trekkie’s) but mother nature wasn’t interested in my plight.

The day started out reasonably promising with a couple of slow “let me get to know you” laps and them we cozied up into one faster lap, then rain, rain delay, sun for a bit while I was stuck marshalling, lunch and then one good strong lap in the dry. After that the sky’s opened and we got hammered with rain.   It was all for naught after that, last two laps on a very wet course…useless.

Here is run #4 in the relative dry which earned me 7th place and then the wet run which completely drenched me.

If you really want a feel for what driving the Se7en is like, watch these two video’s full screen in HD… and many thanks to Sean Henwood for lending me his Go Pro Hd camera for the day.

cheers
Lou

PITL Event #2

Saturday May 28th @ Bramalea Go Station.

It all started like this…. So here I am at the track early in the morning and one of the event organizers (Derek) informs me  (in casual small talk conversation)  that he has no ride for the day.  Well, I graciously make an offer to him that he can run my car for the day.  Mistake Mistake Mistake.  Derek didn’t read the fine print of the offer… that is…your not allowed to outperform me in my own car.  The crushing ego blow came after things dried up and Derek  found that his magic was to remove his shoes and drive in his socks.  You see the pedal box in the Se7en is so small that I can only wear one pair of shoes otherwise my feet hit more than one pedal at the same time.  Derek was struggling with this too and just decided to go it without footwear.    I got beat and I guess I’m OK with that, maybe I’ll learn some tricks from him in the future.

Here’s a Youtube vid of Derek running the Super Se7en.

ALSO, check out a Scion blog here with some cool pictures.

http://sciontestdrive.blogspot.com/2011/06/autoslalom-with-scion-tc.html?spref=tw

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Push It to the Limit 2011.

All About Imports is happy to be co – sponsoring this years events with Scion Canada.

The first event was held this last Sat May the 14th and even though it rained everyone had fun and some remarkable time times were posted.  Approximately 50 cars showed up of all types and sizes.  I was out with my S4 Audi while my Super Se7en sat at the shop waiting for parts.  I was really disappointed not to bring the Se7en out but rain and open cockpit car don’t really go together,  I guess everything happens for a reason.

Lou in his S4 (lap 5)

We are happy to announce that we are now a CAA Approved Repair Facility.

For all of those of you arriving here from Audiforum.ca head on over to our staff page. Audi repair has become a large portion of what we do here and we are very happy to provide a factory trained Audi Technician. Terry Tull has been with us with over a year now and brings with him years of previous Audi experience.