The Car Museum Fundraiser Thing
People of the Internet,
I have just returned, more dog-assedly tired than when I left, from the Car Museum thing. The Car Museum is an astonishing place if you're the sort of person who considers cars something beyond a transportation appliance.
We saw Gary Cooper's Duesenberg, T.E. Lawrence's Rolls Royce, the first Benz sold in the USA (1901), the last Italian car to win at Indianapolis (Maserati, 1938), the first Ferrari ever to win a race (166 Spider, 1949), the Steve McQueen Porsche he raced at Sebring, the Ferrari Spider from the original The Thomas Crown Affair and a slew of other greats. Some cars were significant for reasons other than provenance: The last this, the first that, the oldest the other one. One of my perverse favorites was the LAST car ever built behind the Iron Curtain, a 1989 Trabant built in the former East Germany. This is proof--as if any were needed for the sentient--that socialism is incapable of sustaining itself: Take a bunch of Germans and build THIS lump o'crap. There was a 1950 VW Beetle next to the Trabant, which was a Millennium Falcon in comparison to the unfortunate Trabant. Only it was 39 years older.
There were a few treats: Jim Kaser, the first Alfa Romeo dealer in the USA (former owner of the Lake Forest Sports Cars dealership) and ex-Alfa racer (he won at the 1964 Sebring 12 hours--a very big deal race, BTW--driving the very car on display) was there to give a talk to the Alfa Romeo geeks on the gorgeous and lovely and blindingly fast Alfa Romeo TZ. 10 years ago you could have bought one for about $40K, now it will cost you as much as a 4/3 condo on Park Avenue...if you can find it.
There were a couple of prewar Alfa Romeos--cars that sold for $12K back in 1934, when $12K was money--parked outside, which I thought was an excellent touch. We were told not to take any pix inside the museum but we figured since these were outside, it was OK, only it wasn't. At least I got to snap a bunch of the 1st car before being shooed off. (I acted contrite/inept and, therefore, evaded camera confiscation.)
The Charity was a good one: CapCURE, which seeks to raise awareness (and ducats) for curing prostate cancer, which kills about as many people as breast cancer but is one of the least funded cancers around. So that was good.
The lunch sucked, though. The best thing I can say about it is that it was, by virtue of rounding off, technically edible. To compensate, I stopped at Jimmy P's Butcher Shop for a bit of Kobe Beef. I think I earned it, dammit.
While we're at it, another thing that is rather wearying is driving lo-o-o-ong distances in a car that is pretty stiff and quite loud, especially after a heavy and pretty unremarkably flavor-free lunch. I don't mind doing a couple of hours in it, or doing some serious hauling around a racetrack or autocross. But five hours, starting at 6am when one is dog-ass tired, is taxing.
So that's it for now.
-Joke
I have just returned, more dog-assedly tired than when I left, from the Car Museum thing. The Car Museum is an astonishing place if you're the sort of person who considers cars something beyond a transportation appliance.
We saw Gary Cooper's Duesenberg, T.E. Lawrence's Rolls Royce, the first Benz sold in the USA (1901), the last Italian car to win at Indianapolis (Maserati, 1938), the first Ferrari ever to win a race (166 Spider, 1949), the Steve McQueen Porsche he raced at Sebring, the Ferrari Spider from the original The Thomas Crown Affair and a slew of other greats. Some cars were significant for reasons other than provenance: The last this, the first that, the oldest the other one. One of my perverse favorites was the LAST car ever built behind the Iron Curtain, a 1989 Trabant built in the former East Germany. This is proof--as if any were needed for the sentient--that socialism is incapable of sustaining itself: Take a bunch of Germans and build THIS lump o'crap. There was a 1950 VW Beetle next to the Trabant, which was a Millennium Falcon in comparison to the unfortunate Trabant. Only it was 39 years older.
There were a few treats: Jim Kaser, the first Alfa Romeo dealer in the USA (former owner of the Lake Forest Sports Cars dealership) and ex-Alfa racer (he won at the 1964 Sebring 12 hours--a very big deal race, BTW--driving the very car on display) was there to give a talk to the Alfa Romeo geeks on the gorgeous and lovely and blindingly fast Alfa Romeo TZ. 10 years ago you could have bought one for about $40K, now it will cost you as much as a 4/3 condo on Park Avenue...if you can find it.There were a couple of prewar Alfa Romeos--cars that sold for $12K back in 1934, when $12K was money--parked outside, which I thought was an excellent touch. We were told not to take any pix inside the museum but we figured since these were outside, it was OK, only it wasn't. At least I got to snap a bunch of the 1st car before being shooed off. (I acted contrite/inept and, therefore, evaded camera confiscation.)
The Charity was a good one: CapCURE, which seeks to raise awareness (and ducats) for curing prostate cancer, which kills about as many people as breast cancer but is one of the least funded cancers around. So that was good.
The lunch sucked, though. The best thing I can say about it is that it was, by virtue of rounding off, technically edible. To compensate, I stopped at Jimmy P's Butcher Shop for a bit of Kobe Beef. I think I earned it, dammit.
While we're at it, another thing that is rather wearying is driving lo-o-o-ong distances in a car that is pretty stiff and quite loud, especially after a heavy and pretty unremarkably flavor-free lunch. I don't mind doing a couple of hours in it, or doing some serious hauling around a racetrack or autocross. But five hours, starting at 6am when one is dog-ass tired, is taxing.
So that's it for now.
-Joke
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