January 2007

Clapped out Renault leads cool Alfa Veloce Spyder and superb MBZ 300SE Cabriolet

Martin Swig's low key “Anti-Football' run was run under glorious Northern California skies on January 1 to the delight of about 50 classic car enthusiasts. This year's route took us over secluded country roads that alternated from the tortuously twisty Mt. Tamalpais to nicely flowing medium speed sections bisecting Petaluma's rich green farm lands.

David Love's $1.5m 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta TDF, worth about 50 nice 280SLs!

As usual, the variety of machinery was extensive, actually almost laughable, as it included David Love's $1.5m 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta “TDF” and a very cool mid-‘70s lime green and wilted Renault 4 door worth about 500 bucks. Both pilots had equal sized grins on their faces after it was all done.

Very cool $500 Renault 4 door hatchback!

I was in the freshly prepared ourSL.com 1970 280SL. This seemed like a good way to shake the car down and it performed flawlessly, a noisy tach cable being the only problem I could find. Flinging the SL around in the midst of some heavy Italian exotica was very satisfying and proof these cars are great “all rounders.”

Martin leaves everyone to their own devices and most are well behaved behind the wheel. Each year, however, someone suffers from delusions of road racing grandeur and manages an “off.” This year it was the guy that, early on, flew by me in one of those funky looking early ‘90s iterations of the Lotus Elan. He was doing about 100 mph whilst overtaking a line of cars well over the double yellow centerline. I made a mental note to stay well clear of that guy as the day progressed.

Would-be World Champion Elan driver out to pasture! Note skid marks leading off road.

About 30 minutes later I see a long queue of cars stopped well ahead and figure a car has quit or we're lost. Once I'd brought the SL to a halt, I could see our friend in the red Élan sitting out in one of the beautiful pastures we'd been slicing through! He'd misjudged a blind left sweeper and rotated the Elan, backing it off the road, through the fence, and out to pasture! No livestock were injured. Yeah, I had a small chuckle, couldn't help it.

Lamborghinia Muira "S" with Bob Wallace "Jota" mods heads south from Point Reyes Station.

The rest of the run was just great and uneventful. We returned to our starting point in lovely downtown Sausalito, had lunch and headed home. This was one great way to start the New Year!

Roy Spencer