[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
MH '99 Report (long)
Hey folks!
Just got back yesterday! Yes, it was a long vacation for me, but filled
with fun and adventure. All of you who didn't make it down there.... Well,
hate to rub it in but you missed out!!!!! It was a blast. So much to
do.... and so little time.
I drove out there from Wisconsin (all of you who were afraid to put miles on
your precious cars....shame on you!) My car was a joy on the trip! I
followed Tim Leonard in his super-clean '95.5 Black S6 sedan! Sweet ride.
I got to drive it for a short period of time through the Badlands National
Park. What a blast. I want an S4! But, the 200 didn't skip a beat so I
can't complain. We also managed to do a considerable amount of driving out
west on dirt roads through Wyoming and South Dakota. What fun. I could
tell Tim was a little uneasy about thrashing his S6 on the gravel and dirt
roads, but that is one of the joys of an older less than perfect car. My
200 and I loved it! Got to practice some 4 wheel drifts.... fun and a bit
scary at the same time. We also managed to drive through Yellowstone
National Park on the way out. What a beautiful place. Tim, thanks for
suggesting the northern route! A lot more scenic than the boring plains
states.
On the way in, we stopped in Saremento at Dad's Auto Recycling. They have a
LOT of type 44's there. If you need anything from wheels to sport seats, to
body panels.... they probably have it. I met the owner of the place and
Erin, whom I've dealt with before. Very nice place. I must say it was kind
of depressing to see so many beautiful cars just stacked and perfect
interiors now faded and destroyed by the elements. :( When you ask for a
price on sport inteiors they are strictly by the book... so most of them sit
out and rot on the lot and get destroyed. Not sure if that makes a lot of
sense to me, but what can I say? They did put all rumors of buying complete
cars to part out to rest though. They are simply not true. Give them a
call if you need type-44 parts. Not the cheapest place around but they have
the selection and still a lot cheaper than the dealer. (No affiliations)
Well, I arrived in Monterey Wednesday evening and got a room at the Best
Western in Seaside (beautiful hotel right ON Seaside Beach!!!) What a nice
place. I was pleasantly supprised.
I woke up Thursday moning and headed to the Hyatt Regency for our 17-mile
drive and pacific highway tour. Well, after driving some 2700 miles, many
on dirt roads, you can imagine my car looked like it had been to hell and
back. I also had one Blizzak on a steel rim which got me to Monterey after
I blew out an SP8000 on the road. When I showed up I saw the faces almost
seeming to say "he isn't going to park that piece of crap next to my car!"
Well, they still let me go on the drive. At the hotel, I met Ron Wood (I
think?)... you had the 5KTQW right? , two beautiful Ur-Q examples...father
and son, Bernie Strub (NW Club president) and his wife, and others who's
names escape me at the moment. We took off to do the historic 17-mile drive
and were led by Mike Veglia and more walkie talkies than you can imagine.
Those who did not go....AGAIN, missed out. 17-mile drive is probably the
most breathtakingly beautiful stretch of road in the country (maybee even
the world). It snakes around the coast where we got some nice photo ops and
then up past beautiful estates and old trees, and finally to the Lodge at
Pebble Beach. There we stopped to watch the concours entrant cars depart
for thier tour before heading to the 18th hole for the concours. It was a
grey, cold morning, and even rained a little. Still a fantastic sight. We
also went through the Chrysler tent filled with thier beautiful concept
vehicles (Love that Jeepster!), the Blackhawk Collection tent and saw some
of the Christies tent. We then headed back to the Lodge deli for a
delicious lunch. After that the rest of the group toured Highway 1 while I
went off on my own to get a new tire. $100 later I had a new tire and was
back on the road.
I met up with everyone again later at Butt's Audi for the wash and wax
session. People seemed a bit distraut with how long it took me to wash my
car, but then again.... did they drive from Wisconsin??? Car's don't get
that dirty driving from San Fran. OK, now that I am done griping... well,
three buckets of water later the car was clean. People were amazed at the
transformation. I saw stunned faces and heard people joke "Is that the same
car?" Well, it does clean up nicely. A lot of people commented on the rare
color. For those of you that were wondering ... the actual color name is
Cyanne Mica Metallic. Oh, I was the guy with the burgundyish '89 200TQ with
the A4 Sport wheels.
This is where a lot of people started showing up. Darren Hale, Adam
Diekerhoff and Todd Phennenger showed up in Adam's 5KTQ, Paul Rivera, many
A4 folk, etc... There the Q-tips came out and people started walking around
checking out cars with big brakes and talking. The weekend was starting to
get fun now! :^) Well, I only got to waxing my hood before I gave up and
just looked around at other cars.
Thursday evening was a cocktail reception party at the Hyatt for QClubbers.
There I ran into my dad and two uncles who I hadn't seen in a few years. It
was great as I also got to see other people I hadn't seen in a long time,
like Ed Kellock, Darin Nederhoff (we all must commend his work on the QClub
web page and the S-Cars Registry), Chad Clark, Dave, Scott Mockry, Pete and
Sue Diekerhoff, Michael Williams, Chris, Joe Rae, and organizer Karen
Chadwick. We spent a lot of time out in the parking lot looking under the
hoods of cars. After that a few of us headed downtown into Monterey to go
to a brew-pub on Fisherman's Wharf for food and beer. Much talk of Audis
ensued.
Friday... We head off to the track early to wander the pits and check out
the Audi display before the crowds get out of hand. Adam, Todd and I drove
out in my car. We parked on the hill. As we were walking away we saw a
black 5KTQ drive by making a LOT of noise.... a distinctively different
noise. We all turned to eachother and almost at the same time said "That
doesn't sound like a 5 cylinder!" Before long we had put 2 and 2 together
and figured that must be Bob Dupree's LT-1 TQ! We rush over to check it
out. BTW, Nice parking brake Bob! ;^) Glad I didn't park in front of him
on the hill! We all wander the pits and check out the amazing cars.
Ferraris and Lambos everywhere mixed in with beautifully restored vintage
cars. We find the Audi tent and drool for about two hours over all the
amazing cars....especially the Trans Am 200 and the IMSA 90 GTO cars! Wow,
they are amazing. I never thought I'd see one in real lifer let alone get
to peer all in it. Other than an overly annoying female security guard who
accused me of damage to a car (yea, right!) we could basically get up and
touch them....peer inside, whatever. Inside the tent were the Silver
Arrows. A surviving V-16 Hillclimb car and a V12 GP car, and the
"streamliner".... which I later found out it a reproduction of the original
land speed record holder which I think was destroyed a long time ago in a
crash during testing. It held a record of 252 miles per hour back in like
1936 or 38. Pretty impressive.
We run into Adam's parents (Pete and Sue Diekerhoff) and they tell us to go
to the other Audi tent accross the bridge and also see the Quattro Club tent
with 4 Sport Quattros! (all owned by the Beddors). In the other Audi tent
were Audi's complete 2000 lineup including a TT Quattro, a bright yellow S4,
and a A6 2.7T.
We were going to go to the Concourso d'Italiano but as time grew on and we
began talking with others we quickly scraped that idea. We were having too
much fun drooling over the cars at the track. Also worth mentioning was the
Eurospec tent with one Trans Am car that was later converted and raced in a
South Aftican series and 2 V8 race cars. Also heads and complete V8 DTM and
Trans Am spec motors on stands.
Well we had to leave by 5 to get to the dinner by 7pm. We also had to move
from one hotel room to another. We moved and then showered and headed off
to the dinner. I drove Adam's alpine white 5KTQ and he drove my 200. All I
can say is Adam's car is powerfull and loud! WOW! What a blast. I get
back and find that Todd and I forgot our tickets to the banquet so we have
to run all the way back to the room to get them. I was amazed at the
attendance for the banquet. Food was good and then came the real treat....
guest speaker Hurley Haywood! He talked for a while about how he started in
racing and his stint as an Audi factory team driver. He was a very nice guy
and a very descriptive speaker. After his talk he had a question and answer
session for us and that was real fun. Paul Rivera (very funny guy) did the
raffle drawing for prizes. We should see a lot of ABT hats at Quattro Club
events over the next year! I wanted to win that Valentine One! Paul, I
thought you were going to rig it for me??? ;^)
After dinner we mingled and there I met Steve Bucholz again (nice to see you
again), Arun Rao (again), Tom Nas (again), Rocky Mullins, Dave of RevSport
Motors, and the rest of the bunch.... Ed, Darrin, Gary (glad you made it!),
Chad and Dave, Scott Justisson (QShipQ), Ingo, Ben, Mike, Bernie, Frank
Baur, Tim, Mike, Chris, Bob, and Paul. Did I forget anyone??? Oh, and of
course, I finally met our esteemed listmiester.... Dan Simones! Dan, glad I
could finally meet you and thanks a lot for all you've done. Keep up the
good work. My only complaint was that there was not enough time to really
talk and spend a lot of time with everyone. I would see someone, say high
and talk for a minute and then I'd see someone else, or they would run into
another lister and begin talking. But, at least it was good to put some
faces with some names. I just wish there was more time to meet and mingle
with everyone. Steve, sorry I didn't volunteer for you like I said, but I
didn't see you untill Friday night and only for a short time. I keep
thinking we all need to get together with no event so we can actually
socialize!
After that, again, most of us gravitate to the parking lot. We compare who
has the loudest exhaust. Next to Bob Dupree's car, Adam wins hands down.
Sounds sweet, but after two hours inside the car at highway speeds I began
to really HATE it! ;^) We then checked out Rocky Mullin's beautiful green
Ur-Q with new MC conversion. It is for sale btw and a very nice Ur-Q it is
indeed. Email rocky if you want more details. Frank Baur shows us his euro
200 Quattro Wagon. Cool car! Frank is the only guy who didn't have to
upgrade to euro-lights and get it chipped!
Saturday was another great day at the races. Show up early and got to park
in the Audi Corral. Lots of Quattros in the corral. Spent half the day
just wandering around the Audi corral. Watched them fire up the V-16
hillclimb car. Wow, was that cool. Sent chills up my spine. Watched the
exhibition run of the Auto Union cars and the IMSA and GTO cars all out on
the track together. THose cars make some amazing noises. The funniest part
was one guy commenting on why the "tires were sqeaking in the corners"! We
all had a big laugh and then filled him in on what he was actually
hearing... the WG of course! ;^) The Audi hospitality tent was amazing
once I figured out how it worked. They had quail or some game bird for
lunch and it was delicious. Real china and silverware too. Very nice.
Happened to see Hurley Haywood, Pirro, and other racers in line for food!
Great view of the track too! Another full day at the track. Oh, happened
to see the twin to my car (another Cyanne '89 200TQ with black sport
interior) in the pits! Must have been one of the vintage racer's daily
driver. I'd like to know who owned it. Very clean and California plates.
It was amazing to me how many racer's chose Audi's as thier daily drivers!
That really tells you something. It is a true "driver's car" after all.
Well, another full day at the track comes to an end and we head back for
showers. We then go to a wine and cheese pre-dinner shin-dig hosted by
Adam's parents at the Sanpiper Inn (a quaint bed and breakfast) right on the
coast in Carmel. The fog seems to roll in every afternoon and it really
cools off. It's really quite nice. After that we headed to the A4 dinner
at a mexican cantina in Carmel. Todd and I couldn't bite the $18 per person
entry fee but we did get to hang out and talk with a lot of other listers.
There I met Igor Kessel, George Baxter (who runs a great shop...AJP Tuning
in PA), and forgot the name of the other fellow I met, but he was from the
Bay Area and drove an immaculate pearl '91 200. He works for a venture
capital fund. If you read this, I have resumes I can send you. Sorry, but
I lost your number.
Sorry to add that, but I'm flat broke and need a job....BAD!
A few of us decided to take off from there and go to the auction at the
Doubletree. We got there kind of late, but we probably still saw about 20
or so cars go up on the auction block and sell. I saw a lot of people's
eyes get wide as the first car was saw go up on the black sold for a mere
$950,000! If you've never been to a big-time exotic car auction like this,
I'd highly reccomend it. The energy in that place is incredible. They also
auctioned off the first Ferrari ever made. I believe sold for a mere
$750,000. A real steal actually. Carrol Shelby drove a 427 Cobra (serial
number 002) up on the auction block which sold low. I finally got to see a
bit of my dad and two uncles before we had to head back to our room and to
bed.
Sunday... we were all at the track early to line up for the concours. I'll
have to agree with others who've comented that the catagories didn't make a
lot of sense, but I'm not complaining. I don't really care. I just thought
it was funny. One that perplexed me was "Best Modified Car". Hmmm, I think
just about everyone's car fits into that category. But, to be fare, I
judged the cars myself and this is my list of winners.....
Best Ur-Quattro: Sewickly restored 20V Ur-Quattro
Close Second: White Ur-Q with 20V conversion and Chevy S-10 grille.
Noteable mention: KAR red "baryard find" 40K mile original Ur-Q.
Best type 44: Bob Dupree's LT-1 5KTQ... was a crowd pleaser and has that
originality going for it.
Very close second: Chad Clark's heavily modified black 5KTQ
Noteable mention: Grey oregon 200 with fuchs and euro-lights. Looked
sharp.
Also: Champagne 200TQW from GA...now CA.
Best S4/S6: They all looked good. Couldn't tell. Paul Rivera's was
awsome, but many S4's had big reds too.
Best A4: I know it's not fair, but it would have to go to the Abt modified
AS4!
Best Convertable: Of course.... the chopped purple Audi Fox!
Best 20V Coupe Quattro: David Hackle's pearl 20V Coupe Quattro. Very stock
but beautifully clean!
(where did you get those Sparco pedals again?)
Best 4000 Quattro: Tim Valencia's wild 4KTQ race car.
OK, now back to the report which is now getting very long and boring.
Sorry, I'm a details guy. If you've made it this far, stick with me! We
then of course had the Audi parade lap which everyone was invited to do! :)
We had two rows of cars out there that stretched almost all around the
track! It was an amazing experience. 2 laps around Laguna Seca. Very
moderate speeds, but fast enough to get an idea of what the track was like
to drive. I was behind a VERY SLOW MOVING '91 200TQW. I thought he was
slowing down to get away from the crowd and gun it, but he never sped up
much. Kinda dissapointing, but I got over it. I cannot quite describe to
you the feeling you get when driving though the corkscrew, but it is one of
the most amazing feelings I have ever had! It is a thrill! I can't imagine
what it would be like at full speed. Our last lap all the Audi engineers,
crew, and drivers came out to wave and cheer us as we drove by pit lane. It
was quite an experience and one I will likely not forget. Todd got some
good photos from the passenger seat which will help too! ;^)
Scott, you are right about Max from AVS...he's kind of a dud. But, he does
somehow get some cool stuff that is hard to find. I, unlike most, was not
that impressed with him or his V8. Dave from RevSport, however, was a first
class guy and is real sharp on these cars. I've called him a few times over
the years when I was stuck on something and he always helped me out (and I
was in a different state!). I really appreciate his helpfullness and
kindness.
Ned Ritchie finally showed up Sunday with the yellow 90 after some problems
on the road. I don't think the turbo was working properly or something, but
he did finally make it.
One of the other highlights was watching all the Audi engineers and
mechanics come over to the corral. They were all drawn to Bob Dupree's
LT-1 5KTQ (which was a crowd favorite!) and watching some of the expressions
on thier faces was a riot! ;^) Team LT-1 photo op.
I also really enjoyed meeting Christian Long and his lovely wife Breeze. I
really wish I could have taken more time to talk.... I felt so rushed the
whole weekend, but there was so much to do. Thanks for inviting me to hang
out with you but I didn't want to impose. I had to rush back from the track
on Sunday afternoon as Todd, Adam, and I headed up I-5 to Seattle. We
traded cars for a while and swapped drivers. I remember waking up with Todd
Phennenger driving my car and asking how fast he was doing... "105 in the
corners." I said ok and went back to sleep. We drove through rain on
shitty oregon roads (terrible ruts) and we got VERY tired. We finally
pulled off at a motel and crashed. Made it back early the next day. Stayed
at Adam's how for the night. Todd took off the next morning for school at U
of I and Adam and I went to Bry's (the coolest junkyard I have ever been
to!). I found all kinds of cool stuff and bought just about everything I
needed.
Later that day I took off to Portland to visit a friend I recently graduated
with and we crused around in his big yellow DeWalt Chevy Silverado. Went to
the Oregon State Fair to set up a display. I left the next day off to
Spokane to work in a mutual friend's parent's winery. When I got there Todd
and Adam were both there. I worked at the winery for almost a week and then
took off back for home. Good think I made some money working at the winery
that week as I was completely broke by the time I left Spokane. I went to
the ATM to take out $60 and got the "Insufficient Funds" message. Not good!
I drove back east on I-90 and it was a good solid 2-day drive, but not bad
and I made it back to Wisconsin safely and in one piece. No speeding
tickets either! ;^)
Well, it was a great trip and a great adventure. I really enjoyed meeting
everyone out there and got to enjoy the beautiful California sunshine and
scenery as well as some totally awsome Audis! I am thinking of going back
next year and doing it all over again (minus the big Audi displays)....
Anyone else going back?
Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep. Enjoyed it all.
Later,
Dan
P.S. I took 6 rolls of film so if anyone wants pictures for the web site,
please let me know.... I took almost one whole roll of just close ups of
the SCCA Trans Am 200 engine bay! :)