[urq] UPG 2008 ... at the end anyway!

[urq]

I have to say that I think I'm getting to know how the "Agony of Defeat" guy
from the intro to the "Wide World of Sports" show feels!  :-)  

July 4th 1997 was quite a day, Arun Rao and I had driven out from the SF Bay
Area in my car, Michael Williams was with us with a couple friends in his GT
Coupe.  My car certainly didn't appreciate having to run in the thin air at
13000 feet, but I nursed it up the hill ... right until we were pulling off
the road ... the convoy stopped a bit unexpectedly for me and I wasn't able
to feather the throttle in time before it died.  I figured it was the engine
being hot which was the main contributor to the hard start, but at the end
of the day the engine still wouldn't fire.  Fortunately we had a good bit of
gravitational potential energy, and the motor fired right away when bump
started ... 

I guess I'm going to have to get that picture framed some day!

As Ed pointed out, I did manage to make an appearance at AF98, but I had
flown out to pick up my first V8 ... for which there's another long story
I'll spare you the details on, but suffice it to say that I met with the
audifans at the Pikes Peak Motorsports museum before embarking on a solo,
non-stop drive that ended at my parents' house in Sacramento.  

Interesting to note that both of those cars were present at the Monterey
Historics in 1999 ... Tom Nas got the chance to drive the urq around Laguna
Seca.  For some reason he wasn't too interested in driving the V8 ... ;-)
The good thing about it for me was that it is always great to be able to see
your beloved vehicle on the road from outside ... and I so rarely get to see
that ... I guess I did get to see it last week when the car was on a flat
bed truck!  Even in that lowly a position I did so enjoy getting to see the
car outside again!

Boy, this is a long message and I doubt many will get this far ... but I did
want to chime in a little about next year's UPG event.  I will certainly do
all within my power to be there in my car ... no matter where the final
location is.  My thinking is that it would be easier from a logistical
standpoint to hold the event in a place where there is some number of folks
who can take care of setting up the logistics ... especially if we want to
try to swing a track day.  This is why the Colorado area seems to me to be a
natural location ... it is a great place to visit and there is a large
contingent of fans.  I can understand that it is closer to the west coast
than the east coast.  I'd love to see the Grand Tetons area though too ...
and even the plains of Kansas would have some attraction for me ... 

The thing is ... it will be easier for me to guarantee my attendance if we
can have a date we can plan to ASAP ... we're already talking about places
we're wanting to go for vacation next summer ... 

Steve B
San José, CA (USA)

-----Original Message-----

I remember you from there/then Todd.  I remember the red 84 4kq too.  

Brandon, have you seen pix?  There is at least one of Steve's urq being
pushed by a couple of guys... at 13000 feet no less.

The following year he wised up and flew in and picked up a V8 5spd.  ;-)

> -----Original Message-----
> 
> Hmm
> I was in my friends 5ktq.  White one with a big 3" Exhaust.  
> I was at Pikes Peak the previous year "2 years" in my 4kq.  
> "Now 4ktq".  I think some of you guys were there.
> 
> 
> > From: Brandon Rogers <brogers at terrix.com>
> > 
> > I was in my urq but unfortunatey didn't know you guys back then....
> > 
> > Brandon
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > 
> > Yup.  And I was in the LT1 Quattro
> > 
> > :-D
> > 
> > On Sep 7, 2007, at 6:58 PM, Ed Kellock wrote:
> > 
> >> Oh yeah, I saw it there too.  But wait... I rode around the track 
> >> with
> > 
> >> Steve in his V8 5spd.  Hmmm...
> >> 
> >> On 9/7/07, Eric Renneisen <racingiron at comcast.net> wrote:
> >>> Ed wrote:
> >>>> BTW Steve, isn't that that last time anyone ever really saw your 
> >>>> urq??  ;-)
> >>> 
> >>> No, Tom Nas and I rode around Laguna Seca in that thing at the 
> >>> Historics in '99.  That was a mere eight years ago!