Greatest Driving Moments

[Tom Nas]

Driving Steve Buchholz's UrQ on the Laguna Seca track for the parade laps 
in the '99 MH (remember that one, Eric R?) :-)

Driving said UrQ back to San Jose over winding mountain roads.

Driving James Marriott's 4kq over similar roads in Idaho.

Driving my own (currently immobile) 90q in fresh snow on summer tyres- 
alternating between front and rear wheel drive as wheels on one of the 
axles gripped in the snow. Seeing the lights go on in the houses near that 
empty parking lot (way past midnight) and as I decided it was time to push 
off, seeing the police coming my way just as I slipped into traffic.

Doing 240 km/h in a friend's '85 200q Avant on the German Autobahn last 
year, and braking back to 160 km/h in an instant.

Thrashing my old '82 Opel Kadett, doing 160 km/h on a nicely curved 
off-ramp of a highway I know well, enjoying its sports suspension and new 
front struts (that car was a hoot to drive). That off-ramp has now been 
narrowed so that these speeds are now impossible. Good thing, too- every 
Monday, you could see the scars of weekend traffic on the lamp posts and 
guardrails there... did 190 km/h in that car once, too.

Or even: driving an Iveco diesel van from Holland to Barcelona, Spain in a 
day and a half, at top speed all the time. Radio on at full blast to hear 
it over the incredible din of the engine. Fun especially on the smooth and 
winding roads of the Autoroute du Sud in the south of France and the north 
of Spain.

Doing close to 160 km/h in a tiny '85 Suzuki Swift 3-cylinder, 993 cc. 
Engine screaming frantically but the car still feeling rock-solid and well 
up to the job.

Tom

PS Jeez, judging by the mail volume, everyone's more than making up for the 
list's down time... :-)