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SUMMER

LOST — AND FOUND

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ISSUE 001

60 28

FEATURES 66  18  170

28  BORN AND BRED TO SPEED WORLD OF CARS BOOK REVIEW
Lord March follows the family What will Arizona Auction Week Autobiographies of Jenson Button
SUMMER LOST — AND FOUND tradition at Goodwood look like? February in Paris is Better and John Andretti are inside looks
Four snapshots from the summer than April in Paris at different — yet oddly similar —
of isolation Gary Axon, photos by Tom Shaxson fast lives
20 
Elana Scherr, Wes Eisenschenk, 80  174 
Sandra Button and Ben Chester AUDRAIN AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM SPOTLIGHT
IN FOCUS Mini cars, micro cars — and even FROM THE AUDRAIN MOTORING ARCHIVES
54  Bonneville Speed Week 2020 pedal and toy cars — come to the When Indy and Formula One raced
Audrain Automobile Museum at Monza
COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT Will Weston
Ken Lingenfelter makes fast 168  176 
Corvettes, but his interests reach REGULAR STOPS
out to Ferraris — and a Chevette GIFTS AND GADGETS TAILIGHTS
16  Big starting power in an ultra-light Thanks for dropping by — and
Jim Pickering package here’s what’s next
AUDRAIN EVENTS
60  Can 2021 get here already?

GOODWOOD SPEEDWEEK 2020
Goodwood puts together a special
SpeedWeek in October — and races
to success

Gary Axon, photos by Tom Shaxson

cover photo WILL WESTON

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CONTENTS

OPINIONS EXPERIENCES 24 126 

12 22  VALUES Worldwide Auctioneers’ Auburn
Auction
FROM THE PUBLISHER TOURING 88 
Linkage is where our passion Le Jog isn’t your ordinary, posh 138 
for cars — and other fine things tour MARKET FOCUS
— finds expression in opinions, The collector car market rides over RM Sotheby’s SHIFT/Monterey
experiences and values Chester Allen bumps and comes to terms with
COVID-19 MARKET MOVERS
Donald Osborne 24 
Jim Pickering 108
44 BEST ROADS
Driving in the Oxfordshire 90 1965 SHELBY GT350R
NOTE FROM EUROPE countryside What’s the difference between the
COVID-19 is still in Europe, but the THIS SEASON’S CHURN most-collectible Shelby GT350
car life still lives Max Girardo What’s coming up for auction — in the world and a Mustang with
and when exactly the same build?
Simon Kidston 76  Thor Thorson
AUCTION SNAPSHOTS
46 PRIVATE BUSINESS 122
Don McLellan at RM Restoration 92 
FUNNY THAT YOU ASKED has prepared a long list of Pebble 1937 BUGATTI TYPE 57S
Why you should never follow a Beach Concours d’Elegance RM Sotheby’s Elkhart Collection ATALANTE
touring bus winners out of the shop in A massive price — but not a record
Blenheim, Ontario. What’s his 100  — for a special car that carries its
Jay Leno secret recipe? history with vigor
Bonhams’ Collectors’ Motorcars at Donald Osborne
48 Chester Allen the Simeone Museum
134
AMERICAN MUSCLE 162  112 
Welcome to muscle’s brand-new 1982 FERRARI 308 GTSI
glory days UNDER THE SKIN Gooding’s “Passion of a Lifetime” A big result for the lesser 308
The 1980-1986 Mercedes-Benz 500 Auction Rob Sass
Jim Pickering SL is a wonderful beast, and here’s
how to find one that roars instead 50 148 
50 of whimpers
ONLINE MADNESS
MOVERS AND SHAKERS ROUNDTABLE Pierre Hedary Sorting out the weird and
Our expert panel sounds off on real wonderful from Bring a Trailer
cars versus replica cars 164 
Nick Jaynes
Cam Ingram, Jakob Greisen, Judy Stropus BEHIND THE WHEEL
and Nicholas Schorsch Owning and driving Porsche 356 160
cars are lifetime addictions
YOUNGTIMERS
Stephen Serio and Alex Finigan Three car sales give a look into the
future old car world
166 
Sara Ryan
SUPERSTARS
The 2020 Corvette is a game- 172
changing performance bargain
AUTOMOBILIA
Elana Scherr The giant, ornate gas pumps of the
1920s and 1930s are now coveted
collectibles.

Carl Bomstead

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FROM THE PUBLISHER
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Tenuous Connections Welcome to Linkage

Linkage is a journey into the car life — to explore the This column is not an auction review. Rather, it is
common passions that bind us all together the introduction to a new magazine. A publication —
and a website, linkagemag.com — that is not about
by DONALD OSBORNE the market, not about driving, not about restoring, not
about collectors, not about events, not about restorers,
TENUOUS CONNECTIONS. THEY can be viewed not about discovering for the first time a passion for
as accidents of fate or highways that bring together motor vehicles.
disparate points, seemingly completely foreign to each
other. It’s about all of the above — and more. Our tagline,
“Geared for the Automotive Life” means just that. It’s
As I write this, the collector car world is both cruising most assuredly not a “lifestyle.” The Oxford English
along as it ever has — and simultaneously completely Dictionary defines life as “The existence of an individual
changing in ways visible and unseen. Just a look at human being.” And that’s how all of us at Linkage feel
a couple of recent auction sales gives a compelling about the automotive world — it’s at the core of our
picture. At a time when the worldwide coronavirus existence, not simply a part of who we are or what we
pandemic has altered the way we live in almost every find important.
way, some constants cannot be kept down.
Of course, it is not the limit of who we are — the
The lessons of two auctions people who share our passion are soulmates — the
ones you want to meet, with whom you want to spend
Sotheby’s Fall Contemporary Art sale on October quality time, to get to know better and to with whom
28, 2020 achieved $142.8M in sales from less than 50 to share experiences. And, of course, opinions. All that
lots, and it included two non-fine-art lots. One was an and more can be and will be found in these pages and
extraordinary sculptural dining table designed by Carlo on our website.
Mollino, and the other lot was three extraordinary
sculptured vehicles: the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5, 7 and 9d The information age has made it certain that data
by Franco Scaglione for Bertone. surrounds — and indeed threatens to drown us all. Any
fact or pseudo fact is available at the click of a key, and
The Mollino doubled its pre-sale high estimate, going the sheer volume of it can be — and is — overwhelming
to a new owner for $6.181M. The B.A.T. trio sold at its and frankly, quite useless. What we all most appreciate
low pre-sale estimate at $14.8M. The other lots in the is an actual informed, reasoned opinion — best of all
sale followed a more or less predictable path to selling one based on actual first-hand experience. Whether we
just at or slightly above high estimate — the notable agree or not almost doesn’t matter.
miss being a Roy Lichtenstein which found no taker
with a low estimate of $25M. The joyful comfort of the echo chamber is not for
the Linkage reader. I want to hear opinions — smart,
In a slightly different realm, RM Sotheby’s had been considered, rational and experienced opinions. Ones
in America’s heartland for a sale in Elkhart, Indiana, I can learn from — and grow. I love certain cars,
two hours southeast of Chicago and a half hour east of certain styles of art, certain watches, certain types
South Bend — the former home of Studebaker. There, of architecture and the music of certain composers.
the familiar pull of a single-owner mass liquidation sale And, just about as much, I love finding a new thrill in
at no reserve worked its magic to make many forget that something I’ve never before noticed or knew anything
there was a pandemic raging across the world. at all about.

While not quite the feeding frenzy of RM Sotheby’s And those are the passions that helped drive the
November 2016 Duemila Ruote sale in Milan Italy, action at those two recent auctions. Whether or not
where they could literally not keep the crowd from we can go out to eat, gather in large crowds or take
grabbing the shift knobs from the cars — and near- a cruise, we humans want to stay connected — with
derelict cars sold for half again as much as a 100-point each other and with the things that bring us joy —
restored examples, nevertheless Elkhart demonstrated friends, family and remarkable objects. And when you
that the collector car market is as active as has ever add to that what some of those objects can bring to
been. us — connection, a sense of being a part of a shared
history, a shared present and a shared future — it is
Why is this and what does it mean? remarkable.

So, come and join us on this journey together —
across the world, across age groups, genders, ethnicities
and borders — to find what joins us all. No matter how
visible or invisible those bonds may be. And look to
this column to see how I can stretch those connections
wafer-thin and carbon-fiber strong.

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001

Chairman

NICHOLAS SCHORSCH

Publisher/CEO

DONALD OSBORNE

Executive Editor

CHESTER ALLEN
[email protected] 
[email protected]

Managing Editor

JIM PICKERING
[email protected]

Art Director

NORA JAMES

Editor at Large

JAY LENO

Columnists

SIMON KIDSTON, JIM PICKERING, JAY LENO, CARL BOMSTEAD

Contributors

GARY AXON, SANDRA BUTTON, B.MITCHELL CARLSON, BEN CHESTER, MASSIMO DELBO, WES EISENSCHENK, ALEX FINIGAN, MAX GIRARDO,
PAUL HARDIMAN, PIERRE HEDARY, NICK JAYNES, DOMINIQUE PROVOST, SARA RYAN, ROB SASS, ELANA SCHERR, NICHOLAS SCHORSCH,
STEPHEN SERIO, SAM STOCKHAM, JUDY STROPUS, THOR THORSON, MARK WIGGINTON

Photographers

WILL WESTON, TOM SHAXSON, DEREK WALLER, NIC WALLER

BUSINESS ADVERTISING

Chief Operating Officer Advertising Executive

BENJAMIN MERCER KATEE WALLER
[email protected]
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
CONTACT US
KATELYN MCSHERRY Subscription help: 1-401-239-1999 or [email protected]
[email protected] For advertising, please contact: [email protected]
[email protected] For partnerships/sponsorships, please contact: [email protected]
To reach the Editor, please contact: [email protected]
Webmaster For general inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
Mailing address: 256 Maple Ave., Newport, RI, 02840
LINDSEY ARMSTONG
[email protected]

Subscription Coordinator

KELSEY GONSALVES
[email protected]

Publishing Consultant

ERIN OLSON

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AUDRAIN MOTORSPORTS CALENDAR

© DAVID HANSEN PHOTO

Audrain WELL, 2020 STILL has a couple months to the Audrain Automobile Museum. A free
Newport go, but it’s never too early to start planning shuttle service will take visitors to other
Concours and for the end of this turbulent year — and a fun concours events and places.
Motor Week 2021 with The Audrain.
2021 › The Second Annual Audrain Newport
Planning is already underway for the Concours d’Elegance on October 3.
2021 Audrain Newport Concours & Motor
Week, which is scheduled for September 30 The concours brings together a field of
through October 3. wonderful cars from 1900 through 1970 —
with an emphasis on History, Luxury and
This four-day celebration of cars, car Sport. The concours will have these four
people and the car life will include: featured classes:

› The Gathering: A one-day lawn party at › Pioneer Race Cars
Rough Point, heiress Doris Duke’s former
mansion on Newport’s Atlantic coastline. › Born on the Track
Rare automobiles and motorcycles will
be on display, and guests will enjoy › Namesakes of the Great Races
champagne and other fine beverages.
› Open-wheeled Legends
› Fascinating seminars over the weekend.
Experts will lead discussions on cars, The popular 30 Under 30 Class will
racing and car collecting. return. This class is open to owners under
30 years of age who have spent less than
› The Tour d’Elegance, where owners $30,000 on their entered car. The whole
will drive cars entered in the Concours idea is to give younger car people access to
d’Elegance throughout Newport and the the concours.
surrounding area. At the end of the tour,
the cars will be parked in downtown First in Class cars will compete for the
Newport for all to enjoy. top award: The Willie K. Vanderbilt Trophy.
Special guests will choose additional award-
› A Kids’ Pedal Car race. winning cars.

› The Concours Village in Newport, R.I., This is far from a complete list of events for
where ticket holders will enjoy fine food, the four days — and nights — of the Audrain
shop at exclusive vendors, play at the Newport Concours d’Elegance and Motor
Family Zone and get free admission to Week. Please visit www.audrainconcours.
com for more information and updates.

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WORLD OF CARS

Arizona Court Palace in September? February
Auction Week Will the auctions be online in Paris
only? All we know is that the
IN JANUARY 2020, COVID-19 auction houses have set these RÉTROMOBILE IS A happy
was China’s problem, and the dates: addiction, as no one can resist
collector-car world gathered the combination of Paris and
in Arizona for the annual week › Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale high-end vintage cars. Next
of big-time catalog auctions from January 16-24 year’s Rétromobile is scheduled
from RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams, (www.barrett-jackson.com) for February 3-7, 2021 in
Gooding & Company, Russo the familiar, vast spaces of
and Steele — and the huge › Gooding & Company The Paris Porte de Versailles
Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Scottsdale from January 18- Exhibition Centre. Expect to
extravaganza. 22 (www.goodingco.com) see more than 450 exhibitors,
European car club displays —
Two months later — right › Bonhams on January 21 and hundreds of cars for sale or
after the Amelia Island (www.bonhams.com) on display.
Concours d’Elegance in March
— COVID-19 shut down our › Russo and Steele from Not-to-be-missed highlights
fun world of cars. January 20-24 (www. are:
russoandsteele.com) › The amazing cars on lavish
Things have opened up since
then, but no one is really sure › Worldwide Auctioneers on display at the high-end
how the 2021 Arizona Auction January 20 dealer stands, such as
Week will play out. Will there (www.worldwideauctioneers. Kidston SA, Girardo & Co.
be socially distanced bidding, com) and Fiskens.
as seen at Gooding’s Passion
of a Lifetime sale at Hampton › RM Sotheby’s on January 22 › The endless displays of old
(www.rmsothebys.com) parts and automobilia.

As these dates get closer, keep › The elaborate displays of
checking our website at www. special cars.
linkagemag.com for updates.
› The Artcurial, Bonhams and
RM Sotheby’s auctions.

› And, yes, the sublime,
timeless city of Paris.

Finally, a word about the
COVID-19 situation. No one
knows what will happen with
the global pandemic between
now and February 2021. Please
check out our website, www.
linkagemag.com, for updates
on all car events.

For more details, log onto
en.retromobile.com.

ABOVE Arizona 2021 RIGHT Cars and
will kick off a new parts to spark
— and different — your passion are
year of classic car at Rétromobile in
auctions February

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AUDRAIN SPOTLIGHT

Audrain THE AUDRAIN AUTOMOBILE Museum, Children’s electric cars can be found
Automobile located in the restored Audrain historical at almost any toy store, but famous
Museum building in the heart of Newport, R.I., hosts automakers, including Pierce-Arrow and
Spotlight an ever-changing rotation of special exhibits Ferrari, have built high-quality electric-
and fascinating cars. powered children’s cars as well. A Pierce-
The museum goes big on Arrow child’s car built in the 1930s — and
small cars, tiny cars and The newest exhibition, Small Wonders: with Newport history — is on display, as is
even toy cars Mini, Micro, Pedal & Toy Cars, opened to the a 1956 Baby Ferrari Bimbo Racer Child’s Car.
public on November 21 and will run through
20  Linkage 001 February 14, 2021. This special exhibition Almost every child has played with toy
takes a deep dive into the fascinating worlds cars, and vintage tin cars, die-cast cars and
of Mini and Micro cars, which have been other car toys are on display.
popular in cities for decades. A Detroit
Deluxe Midget Racer and a Peel P50 are For more information, visit www.
featured in the exhibition. audrainautomuseum.org. The museum is
located at 222 Bellevue Ave., Newport, R.I.
Check out the museum’s fun Microcar 02840.
Time Trial Video, starring CEO Donald
Osborne and motley crew of racers, posted IF YOU CAN’T make it to Newport, R.I.
on The Audrain Automobile Museum this winter, check out the museum’s
YouTube page. ever-expanding video lineup on You-
Tube. The museum’s YouTube channel
Pedal cars have been around almost as is updated several times a month, and
long as actual cars. Over the decades, these you’ll find videos on past exhibits,
cars — many of them quite accurate replicas special cars, fun events and even
of actual cars — have been the way many virtual seminars.
children grew to love automobiles. The
exhibition has an Austin J40 pedal car. These www.youtube.com/audrainautomo-
amazing toy cars were built at a special bilemuseum
factory — using scrap metal from the Austin
car factory — from 1947 through 1971 to
help disabled Welsh miners find new lives.
Austin J40 cars take center stage each year at
the Goodwood Revival, where children race
them in the famous Settrington Cup Race.

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TOURING
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TOURING hotels and lay out lavish meals bluebonnet bloom. The tour
and cocktail parties. Not so at Le also visits San Antonio and
Enduring Jog. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to Lake Buchanan. Limited to
the UK nap in a dry, comfortable bed for 1995 or earlier sports, racing
a few hours. Much of the driving or GT cars. Supercars make up
Le Jog is a cute nickname for is at night. In fact, here’s a quote another class.
HERO Events’ Land’s End to from the website: www.vintagerallies.com
John O’Groats Reliability Trial
— which would be a motoring “The event runs through › The California Mille is
endurance tour for the ages if it Monday night, so no scheduled from April 25-20.
happened once a decade. accommodation is required.” This well-regarded tour always
leaves San Francisco and
Thing is, they do this every So, where’s the fun? Reports heads out on 1,000 miles of
year. Driver/Navigator crews are that the hardship is part of the best highways in Northern
team up for four days of driving the fun, especially when shared California.
from Land’s End in Cornwall with the other nutsos on the www.californiamille.com
— the most westerly point in rally. The scenery — when you
England — to John O’Groats, can see it — is spectacular. › Vintage Rallies’ New England
which is the northeastern tip of www.heroevents.eu 1000 runs from May 16
Scotland. through 21. This rally starts in
On the Vermont and quickly surges
Normal drivers can complete Horizon to Quebec, with stops at the
this route in about 786 miles. famous Chateau Frontenac
But Le Jog is not normal. WINTER IS THE slowest time and Mont-Tremblant National
in the car touring world, but it’s Park. Limited to 1995 or
This year, about 70 teams an excellent time to research earlier sports, racing or GT
of drivers will spend most of new adventures and get that all- cars. Supercars also welcome.
December 5 through December important deposit in before the www.vintagerallies.com
8 wrestling pre-1986 cars outing fills up. Here are a few
through twisting, muddy, tours to consider for 2021: › The Colorado Grand is a
snowy, icy — and most of all, sublime tour that leaves Vail,
confusing — roads. The route › Vintage Rallies’ Texas CO, for 6 days and 1,000
can cover 1,500 miles or more, Bluebonnets runs from April miles of amazing roads. The
so it’s far from linear. 11-12. This 1,200-mile rally 2021 tour is scheduled for
starts in hip Austin, Texas and September 13-18, 2021, which
Remember, this is Great travels through the stunning is the perfect time to visit
Britain in December. You’re Texas Hill Country during the the Rockies. Applications for
going to get cold and wet. this tour go out in March and
completed paperwork is due
Drivers will be expected to on May 1. www.co1000.com
complete 40 regularities and 20
tests along the way.

Many pay-to-play rallies and
tours put their drivers up in posh

© PHOTO BLUE PASSION

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BEST ROADS

A Ribbon of Road in
Oxfordshire

A Lancia Stratos HF Group IV finds space to bark — and sing
— on a 17-mile drive to Henley-on-Thames

by MAX GIRARDO
photography TOM SHAXSON

THE BEAUTY OF having recently moved both my
home and Girardo & Co. out of London and to a
farm in Oxfordshire is that I have some of the most
wonderful country roads on my doorstep — and a
showroom full of special cars that need exercising.

That said, there’s only really one choice of car for me
when it comes to snatching a blissfully distraction-
free Sunday drive, and that’s my ex-Jolly Club Lancia
Stratos HF Group IV.

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BEST ROADS
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Admittedly, the pace is a little bit more sedate than through — usually first thing in the morning — would
when Roberto Cambiaghi and Gianpiero Bertocci agree with me. Especially when the car barks like a
were flying over jumps and sliding around hairpins in rabid dog with every jab of the throttle.
my car during the Sanremo round of the 1974 World
Rally Championship. Opportunities to switch off from work don’t arise
very often in my world. But when I’m strapped into
But when I leave home and join a ribbon of road the tiny cabin of the Stratos — my chest vibrating in
that stretches from home to Henley-on-Thames, the time with the buzz of the engine just behind me and
sensation is no less special. my hands gripped tightly around the thick-rimmed
steering wheel — there’s only one thing on my mind:
Every drive with that car is an unforgettable the road ahead.
experience. The journey is only around 17 miles —
or 35 minutes — long, but the narrow, twisty country I’m adjusting to country life very well. In fact, one of
lanes require maximum concentration in the short my favourite things about it is that I have to drive to get
and dart-like Stratos. almost anywhere — apart from the office!

And the short stretches of dual carriageway offer So, if you happen to be in Oxfordshire and you spy
the chance to really hear that Ferrari V6 sing. Stress a bright red Lancia Stratos parked outside the Post
relief never sounded so good — though I’m not sure Office or the supermarket, just know I had an absolute
the residents of the quaint, chocolate-box villages I zip whale of a time getting there. Any excuse!

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LOST–and
FOUND

by ELANA SCHERR, WES EISENSCHENK, SANDRA BUTTON and BEN CHESTER

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How car people adapted to a season of isolation —
and what it meant to them

THE SUMMER OF 2020 will be remembered as the lost summer.
COVID-19 sent life down a new path — leaving many of us alone

when we would have gathered, and keeping us apart from the
togetherness that has always driven the car world’s summer months.

Closures, cancellations, and modified — and distanced — events
were a harsh reality. But car people are a resilient bunch, regardless of
where we’re from or what segment of the car community we live in. We
adapted to this new reality, and we found ways to continue on.

If 2020’s closures and cancellations gave us anything, it was clarity
in focus, fresh perspectives and a new understanding of what drives
each of us.

In a lot of ways, 2020 was a lost summer. But in as many ways, it was
just as much found.

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND
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ONE RACE
OF SUMMER

ELANA SCHERR

Auto author and columnist, Los Angeles, CA

FOR THE PAST decade, my summer schedule has
been non-stop travel, ping-ponging from races to
auctions to car shows. The months weren’t May, June,
July, August — they were Indy 500, Le Mans, Pikes
Peak, Bonneville.

Of all of them, the one I always looked forward to
the most was Bonneville. Sometimes it overlapped
with the Pebble Beach Concours, a dizzying costume
change from salt-stained cutoffs to cocktail dresses.
Once I had to attend a Bentley party with four
mosquito bites on my face and the hope that nobody
would notice. It was worth it, because the land speed
trials during Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats
are unlike anything else in the car world.

To get to the Salt Flats, you exit the highway just
outside Wendover, Utah. The road is shiny and white.
It looks like snow, but the air shimmers with heat,
radiating through the windows and making the a/c
work overtime in whatever crummy rental car you’ve
decided to sacrifice to this cause.

Braver souls bring their own cars: flat-black deuces,
faded pastel wagons, a cream-colored ’70 Challenger
straight out of “Vanishing Point”. Salt cakes the inner
wheel wells and freckles the quarter panels until
everything looks flocked like a fake Christmas tree.

It’s a destination for dedicated car-geeks, people
who don’t mind spending a week under their cars
afterwards, scrubbing salt from steering knuckles.

People like Curt Stechert, who drove his 1962
Corvette from Loveland Colorado just to go
somewhere. People like Pete Aardema with his home-
built engines and overhead-cam conversions. People
like George Poteet, whose team of maniacs was willing
to rebuild an engine on a tarp, put it back in the car,
and send him down the course to a new 470 mph
world record. He now has the fastest piston-driven car
on earth.

When you watch someone set a record above 450
mph in a streamliner, or at 150 mph in a Datsun — or
almost 50 mph on a 50-cc Honda — you can see the
exact moment their dream comes true.

It’s different from a traditional race, with its steely
eyed competitors and single winner at the end. During
Speed Week, everyone is chasing his or her own win.
Maybe it’s a record, maybe it’s a license, maybe it’s just
driving across that endless strange surface, following
the sunrise towards a mirage of a floating mountain.
It’s a very intimate experience for an event that never

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND

The only shade on the salt flats
is what you bring yourself.
George Poteet (bottom right)
and the Speed Demon team
come prepared to set a
record, and neither the harsh
environment nor shredding
tires at 400 mph will keep them
from their goal.

lets you get closer than a quarter-mile to the actual set nearly 30 records. Where countless men and
racetrack. Everything is distant on the salt, not the women have brought their multi-engine motorcycles,
least of which being the outside world. jet-powered fantasies, pointy, round, recognizable
and monstrous creations, all with the goal of setting
No wonder, then, that while almost everything the nose towards the hills and making a mark on
in 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19, Bonneville history.
Speed Week was still on.
Standing on the surface, damp and cold in
It’s outside in the desert, there are no grandstands, the morning, hot and crisp as the sun comes up,
no crowds, no parties. Even during normal years, most the connection to all those great teams is alive —
racers and spectators are wrapped in balaclavas to just below the salt. That thin, white surface has
protect against the sun and the salt, so wearing a mask called to car people for over 100 years. It’s where
was not too far from usual. they push themselves to face and overcome their
challenges, and in the process show us all what can
Sure, it was weird at first, figuring out how close be accomplished when drive, passion and ability
to stand to people and not hugging old friends from converge.
previous years, but those small discomforts faded in
the thrill of just being there. Bonneville, where Mickey Of all the events that make up my summer, this is
Thompson raced. Where Goldenrod set a record that the one I think I needed most in 2020.
lasted almost 30 years. Where the K&K Dodge Daytona

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The Bonneville Salt Flats are
a canvas painted in shadows
and highlights, changing
throughout the day with the
movement of the sun.

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND

BACK TO
MY ROOTS

WES EISENSCHENK
Author, Lost Muscle Cars, St. Cloud, MN

IN MINNESOTA, CAR people usually wait until after a bag of candy. “Make sure you throw that candy as far
the first hard rain of spring to bring our collector cars as you can,” he’d say, as I pitched it out the passenger’s
out of hibernation. Usually that puts us behind the window, awash in the smell of exhaust, the purrs of
wheel anywhere from mid-March thru late April. inline sixes, the rumble of V8s.

2020 started out pretty much the same way — I Cruising, car shows, rare muscle cars — for me it all
finally pulled the car cover off my 1969 Road Runner started with Truman and that flame-throwing Merc.
on a cool day at the end of April, settling the battery
back into its home for the incoming warm days of A distanced May passed. Then June. And then my
summer. wife asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day.

By then, COVID-19 had already become a reality, I’d heard rumblings of a small weekly Saturday night
and just about any kind of gathering had been called cruise in Coon Rapids, MN. With the cancellation of
into question. But with the road salt finally washed so many other car shows, this cruise — which was
away, it still seemed like time to get the Road Runner distanced by design — had ballooned into a serious
operational to start the season. But there was no event. So I phoned my parents, connected with some
Back to the 50’s weekend. No Midwest Mopars in the friends and made plans to take my wife, kids, and
Park. No Street Machine Nationals. Nada.  Universal Road Runner for a little four-wheeled relief.
cancellations.
Over 2,000 collector cars showed up on that
It had already been a tough year. We were in 82-degree day, ranging from VW Pickups to Ferraris
uncharted territory due to COVID on a large scale, and even a few Amphicars. My kids soaked in the
but tragedy had already struck home, too. My great exhaust notes, and learned to tell the difference
uncle Truman had lost his battle with cancer. As a kid, between a V8 and a 6 cylinder by ear.
I’d learned a love for cars by riding in his chopped ’51
Mercury custom in the Eden Valley parade. Then, around the bend, Truman’s former ’51 Merc
idled by with its new owner, seemingly out of nowhere.
Truman’s Merc had frenched headlights, shaved It looked just as I remembered it. For a split second, I
handles, a pair of chrome spotlights and tailpipe felt like a kid again, tossing that candy.
flamethrowers. At the parade, Truman would produce
The Merc melted into the crowd as my kids called
out the engines. “Six!” “Eight!”

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LEFT Six feet apart with
four on the floor: cruising
for Father’s Day (Photo:
Michelle Kiffmeyer)

ABOVE: Wes’ Road Runner —
440-ci and a 4-speed in Q5
Bright Turquoise

RIGHT Truman’s Time
Machine: a flame-throwing
Merc (Photo: John Treten)

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND
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photography KIMBALL STUDIOS/PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE DREAMS OF
THE TOUR

SANDRA BUTTON
Chairman, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Carmel, CA

IT’S HARD FOR me to imagine a summer without
the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — even after
living through one. It’s as if The Grinch showed up at
the wrong time of year and stole my personal holiday.

But I still have reason to celebrate: I have only to
walk the few steps from my living room to garage to
see that great cars remain — and to feel nearby roads
beckon.

I am fortunate to live on California’s central coast,
where I can enjoy portions of 17-Mile Drive on my
lunch hour. With more time, I can follow my heart
down Highway 1, retracing the route of — and
remembering — the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance.

This is a spectacular route, with scenery that differs
by day depending on the slant of the sun, the shadows
of clouds, and the presence or absence of wisps of fog.

In sun, my husband Martin and I will almost
certainly head out in our 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Roadster, which handles the hills and tight corners of
this route fantastically well. In fog or rain, we might
opt for our 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 or 1972 Ferrari
365 GTC/4.

In a normal summer, as I head south, I’m likely to
be surrounded by RVs and rental cars. They’re much
fewer in numbers these days, offset by droves of great
motorcycles. And because we live where we do, there
are always a few enthusiasts out exercising great cars.

Even in these traumatic times, scenic Bixby Bridge
draws a great gaggle of people with cameras in hand.
And when we drive by in a notable car, people get
excited, pivot, and point their lenses our way — and
I flash back to the mass of photographers gathered
there on Tour day.

A few miles farther south, on the long straightaway
just past Point Sur Lighthouse, I think of past Tours,

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND

and envision the cars in motion. During the Tour itself, Race course, and I do walk amongst them, assessing
I always position myself in the middle group, so it is them. But it is on this road that I witness their size,
along this straightaway that I begin to meet the first of their scale, their speed in action.
our Tour cars on their return route. Then, for the better
part of an hour, as I continue on to the turnaround Even now, traveling this road, I can envision the
point and head back to Carmel, I am not only traveling proud and upright formal stance of a tall 7-passenger
amidst this convoy of great cars, but watching all of the touring car as it approaches me. I see the way a low-
cars as they flash by me. slung Siata hugs the road. I glimpse the bold grille of a
Duesenberg or vintage Bentley barreling toward me or
It’s on this stretch of road that I really get a sense bearing down from behind — and as it passes, I hear
of our Tour cars — that I take their measure. Yes, the and feel its massive energy in the winds that buffet
Pebble Beach Tour begins with all of the cars aligned against me.
on the start/finish line of the old Pebble Beach Road
Wait. Was that Cruella de Vil?

ABOVE AND RIGHT The
Tour d’Elegance was
just a memory in
August 2020 — but the
roads, and the views,
were still sublime.

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SUMMER LOST­— AND FOUND

A PROJECT FOR museum. Working from home made me realize how
THE PAUSE much I appreciated the routine parts of my pre-COVID
workdays — especially my drives to and from work. I
BEN CHESTER even missed the Pell Bridge construction traffic.
Curatorial and Operations Coordinator, Audrain Automobile Museum,
North Kingstown, RI But that lack of traffic meant open roads, so I made a
new routine of getting up early on weekend mornings
AS I WRITE this, the Northeast leaves are beginning to drive my modern BMW without a destination in
to change to red and yellow, but it somehow still feels mind. I rarely saw other cars on those New England
like mid-March. roads in the post-dawn hour — it was just me, my car
and peace.
It was an eerie feeling when the world was put on
pause nearly seven months ago. It was especially odd After a few weeks, I decided I would turn a lost
when the Audrain Automobile Museum made the summer into a summer of getting lost.
(proper) decision to have its employees work from
home. On a hot afternoon in July, I doubled down on that
notion and finally did something I’d dreamed about
It’s tough to do your job while physically disconnected doing for a long time: I bought a Porsche.
from your co-workers — and in my case, visitors to the
I’d lusted after Porsches for years, so when a 1987
944S popped up for sale at a price that was too good to
be true for a running and driving example, I had to go
see it. Later that afternoon, I was blasting home from
western Connecticut in a needy Zermatt Silver missile
at 85 mph.

Elation baked off quickly. The interior temperature,
already hot from the unforgiving summer sun, had
started to climb with speed. I felt around and found

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the shift boot belching heat. It had become unsealed now that I own a Porsche, it’s not just about the badge
from the center console and was funneling air up anymore. Wise purchase or not, this is a two-door,
inside the car. Sweat started to soak into my shirt, and I rear-wheel-drive tool built to provide experiences —
worried that what had felt good for the soul might end and it does it well, used-up or not.
up being seriously bad for the wallet.
Audrain’s Cars & Coffee still took place during the
Still, my friends loved the car. We’re all obsessed summer months in a distanced way — registration
with BMWs, and upon my arrival, we immediately hit required, limits of 100 cars, distanced parking and
the road and cruised — me in my hot 944 alongside required masks. I took the new-to-me 944.
Stephen’s E24 635 CSI and Jason’s E30 325i.
As soon as I arrived, David Melchar came by to see
BMW’s draw is in how exciting their cars are to me. He was the Audrain Automobile Museum’s first
drive. They always seem to be pushing you into driving docent and is a 40-plus-years Porsche Club of America
faster and exploring the limit. The Porsche carries member, so his thrill in seeing my not-so-concours
itself in a very different way. The car is all business. It 944 was puzzling. A surprising number of other
feels much more grown up than an E30 and it has such people were pleased with my purchase and passionate
a stark look compared to BMW’s boxy shapes. Sure, about front-engine Porsches in general — even if the
this 944’s odometer is broken, the suspension is shot, common comment among onlookers and other 944
and it leaks like it gets paid to, but it’s an icon, it was owners alike was, “I hope you have deep pockets.”
cheap, and you aren’t 24 forever, right?
My car needs work (read: more than I can afford),
After a while I started to notice folks in mid-size but it doesn’t matter. The car is still a thrill to drive —
SUVs — people who clearly were our age when the 944 easy-bake interior included. It’s the perfect tool for
and E30 were new — sending smiles and thumbs our getting lost in countless miles, endless repairs, the
way. Maybe unassuming drivers don’t expect a young changing leaves and the curves ahead.
guy behind the wheel of a Porsche, but it was strange
to see their reactions, and it led me to a conclusion: I don’t think I’d have bought it had I kept sitting in
Pell Bridge construction traffic.

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42  LINKAGE  Issue 001

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NOTE FROM EUROPE
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Europe Survives Pebble Beach was 2020’s highest profile casualty,
along with both major Goodwood extravaganzas, but
This has been a horrible year for everyone, but Europeans — Instagram has been buzzing with car stories, drives
and Americans — are still buying, selling and driving cars and discoveries, and when event organisers have
braved it out to put on a show, people have flocked to
by SIMON KIDSTON them.

A sought-after DON’T YOU WISH that 2020 was a Leap Year? If it Despite British drizzle, the London City Concours in
Lamborghini Miura were a wine, it would be an undrinkable vintage best August drew eager crowds, followed by a garden party
SV basks in the sun forgotten — unless you’re in the face mask, home atmosphere at Hampton Court (including Gooding’s
after decades behind shopping or vaccine businesses. first foreign auction, with a record $3.2 million average
brick and mortar. lot value) and the online-only Goodwood SpeedWeek
The classic car world? Well, here’s the thing: it’s over October 16-18.
survived. Despite our perpetually packed event diary
being virtually wiped clean in one fell swoop, live I was supposed to drive the Targa Florio that same
auctions suddenly a memory from a distant past, weekend, but I tested positive for COVID (thanks, I’m
crowded tents and race tracks gone with the prevailing feeling great and still writing this), so my Alfa TZ2 was
wind, we’re still here and busier than ever. in Sicily without a driver. The Mille Miglia left Brescia
in October with 410 cars, barely down on the usual
Now hang on, don’t assume that means the classic total despite the days being shorter and considerably
car market is on fire and that a global pandemic and colder than its normal springtime date.
the accompanying economic meltdown have caused
the world’s population to suddenly decide they all An awakening in Europe
need a collector car.
What’s all this done to the market? For three months
When people are in hospital — or worse — and when lockdown first hit in March, the pause button
thousands are jobless, it puts our cozy world into was hit. Interest? Yes. Action? No.
perspective. Walking around in blazer and tie
inspecting cars armed with a pen and clipboard feels Collectors were concerned about their businesses,
very out of place when others are rushing around in and the future, and they didn’t feel right about
white coats with stethoscopes. spending large amounts on their hobby. Were they
selling? One or two, but nothing major and not at a
COVID-19 has brought with it a rude awakening significant discount.
that we can’t take anything for granted, but it’s also
reminded us that the cars we cherish will outlast us all Since lockdown eased in July, though, it feels as if a
— and are worth saving. mechanic has sprayed WD-40 into a seized engine to
coax it back into life. A works Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
As an art collecting client pointed out, a Picasso changed hands to a dynamic, young U.S. collector for
will always be a Picasso. A Ferrari 250 GTO will always a model record. Two more major-league Maranello
be a GTO. Values ebb and flow, but something which masterpieces crossed the Atlantic in the opposite
has had real star quality from day one will never be direction with our help.
worthless — unlike money, which seems to go down
in value by the day if you’re lucky enough to have it in The Californian “garage find” collection of the late
the bank. Nick Begovich was secured by the Audrain Automobile
Museum, a rare case of an institution getting there first
Socially distant — and adapting in the race with private buyers.

Gatherings of like-minded people have traditionally Last week was our busiest ever, with six months
been drivers of interest — and the desire to own of normal transactions compressed into six days,
something you can share with others — but it’s including our second biggest deal ever.
remarkable how quickly we’ve adapted to doing that
online. This week, a dealer friend sold his “no stories”
Jaguar D-Type to a new client, and will be putting
the proceeds into a country home (the trickle-down
effect).

And at 8 a.m. this morning, we unearthed a
Lamborghini Miura SV from its dilapidated resting
place of 45 years, knocking down a brick wall to get it
out, having managed to buy it after a decade of trying
on behalf of a school friend who’s wanted one since
he was a kid.

It feels as if there’s a changing of the guard, and
that if people are buying now, they’re the right people
with the right reasons. And that, COVID or not, feels
good.

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FUNNY THAT YOU ASKED

Never, Ever Follow
the Trailways Bus

“Fixing” odometers was just one of the interesting jobs
a young car guy did at dealerships back in the day

by JAY LENO

GROWING UP IN New England, I was crazy about cars. 27,500 and parked it in the used car lot.
But being from Andover, MA, which was, at the time, After an hour of haggling neither the customer nor

a small hamlet 21 miles north of Boston, there was not the salesman would budge. Finally the outraged guy
a lot of opportunity to see anything interesting. In fact, threw up his hands, stormed into the work bays and
anything that had less than four doors might as well yelled, “I can’t deal with these people — gimme my car
have been a Ferrari. back!”

It was the kind of town where you’d sit all night in Not knowing what to do, I went back out to the used
the local McDonalds parking lot waiting for something car row and got his car. The guy stormed off in a haze of
cool to drive in. You’d give up at 10:30 and go home. tire smoke.
Then the phone would ring, and one of your buddies
would say, “The guy two towns over with the Corvette About two hours later, the guy returned with a man
just drove in!” he claimed was his lawyer. Needless to say, he happily
drove off in a brand-new Ford Galaxie 500XL. Later that
“Ohnnnoooo, I missed it!” week, we sold a beautiful, two-year-old Impala with
only 27,500 miles on it.
“Fixing” odometers
Hank the Deuce steps in
As a teenager, I worked at a place called Wilmington
Ford in Wilmington and, later, at Foreign Motors on In those days, Wilmington Ford was one of those
Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. These two jobs gave “Acres of Cars” kind of places — where the cars sat
me a broad overview of the automotive landscape. outside over night — and my job was to remove the
hubcaps so kids wouldn’t steal them.
At Wilmington Ford, I was the lot boy — although
over the years some have said I was a mechanic, but One day I was carrying way too many hubcaps, and
that was hardly the case. I mostly put on license plates, came around the corner and banged into the used car
did oil changes — that sort of thing. manager. I dropped all of the hubcaps.

I worked closely with the used car manager, who was “You can’t treat our inventory like that! You’re fired!”
in charge of odometer recalibration. A car would come he screamed at me.
in with 92,000 miles and he would do the corrected
mileage of 27,500 — which is exactly what happened “But you bumped into me,” I said.
one day. “I don’t care, get out!” he said.
I was so ashamed. I didn’t even tell my parents I got
A man wanted to trade in his two-year-old Chevy fired. I pretended to go to work for the next two weeks. I
Impala — in beautiful shape, but with 92,000 miles on was like a 40-year-old guy who couldn’t tell his wife he
it. The salesman was confident that he could close the lost his job.
deal, so he drove it around back to the shop and told us The next day, I sat down and wrote a letter to Henry
to do our magic. Ford II and anybody else I could find on Ford’s board of
directors. I explained how my dad drove a Galaxie and
My boss reset the speedo to the corrected mileage of

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LEFT Crazy about cars,
then and now.

BELOW Leno behind his
Mercedes 220S in 1970.

my mom had a Falcon and I was saving for a Mustang —
and how unfair I thought the whole thing was.

About two weeks later, I got a call from Ben Ristuccia,
the owner of the dealership. “I don’t know who you
know in Detroit,” he said. “But if you want your job back
come on in.”

Foreign cars and road hazards

A few years later, I went to college in Boston, so I had
to find a job near school. As I drove around, I discovered
Foreign Motors on Commonwealth Avenue.

“I’ll work there,” I said to myself.
This is where I got my real education in driving
everything from Citroën, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce,
Mercedes-Benz, Bentley — as well as Simca and a
few other obscure manufacturers. In those days most
European makes did not have stand-alone dealerships,
so for survival they all pretty much grouped together.
On Monday morning, I went in and I met Selden
Loring, the sales manager.
“I’m looking for a job,” I said.
“We don’t need anybody — thanks for stopping in,”
Selden said.
The next day I just went into work and told everybody
I was the new guy. I avoided Selden for three days, but
I did meet Tom Mix, who owed the dealership. I found
out that he was a big Packard collector, so whenever
I saw him, I would always talk Packards with him. He
seemed pleased that a young guy was so enthusiastic
about Packards.
On the fourth day, Selden saw me talking with Tom
Mix.
“What are you doing here?” Selden said.
“This new guy you hired really knows his cars — good
job Selden,” Tom said.
From that point on, Selden and I became the best of
friends.
One day Selden asked me to help him deliver a
brand new Mercedes-Benz 450SEL. I was to follow
him out to the customer’s home in Acton, MA. It was
mostly two-lane roads, and Selden was stuck behind a
huge Trailways bus. At about 60 mph, the bus hit a huge
bump — literally lifting the rear wheels off the ground.
When the bus slammed down, a rear flap popped open
and a huge polyurethane bag flew out, hitting the front
of the 450SEL.
Luckily it didn’t damage the car, but the bag contained
all the waste from the toilet on the bus. The impact —
at 60 mph — blew up the bag and forced raw sewage
into every nook and cranny of the brand-new Benz. The
stench was so bad, the car was deemed unsellable. We
had to total it.
Guess who got to drive it home?

  Linkage 001  47

AMERICAN MUSCLE

Muscle Reinvented 5th gen Camaro in 2010. Design and tech combined to
make what was old new again.
It’s a new world for your old V-8
Ten years on, you can roll on down to your local
by JIM PICKERING dealer of choice and pick up smooth idling 700-hp
monster for under $80k — or find 400 hp on the used
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I’d always felt like I was living market for a whole lot less.
during the second greatest time in muscle car history,
just behind the original era. I did just that when I became a dad. I bought a 425-hp
2006 Charger SRT8 as my minivan, and its deep tint and
It seemed true in the late 1990s, back when I was Magnaflow pipes permanently skewed my brand new
18 years old and had a set of hot, new Edelbrock daughter’s perception of transportation. I found myself
aluminum cylinder heads on the big block in my ’66 parking my ’66 pretty much all the time in favor of that
Caprice. car’s soft-spoken big stick. It was just so usable, even
with a baby — but it was still scary enough when poked.
It seemed true in 2005, when I blew up that big block
and spent all my money rebuilding it with a fancy new If you didn’t already notice, we’re right smack in
.630-inch lift roller cam. the middle of a fresh V-8 heyday. How fast you can go
just comes down to your budget — but even the cheap
And it seemed true at the local events I’d go to every used stuff from this new era will destroy rubber just as
summer, from drags to cruises, which prior to the well as any Judge, BOSS or SS 454 from the glory days.
Great Recession were still packed with gearheads just
like me. Reinvention

All of that was great, but it was nothing compared Modern muscle is great, but I think what makes our
to what I imagined of the original muscle car era — new era truly special — and has pushed us past those
say 1964 to about 1972. To me, those days had to have early days in terms of greatness — is the trickledown
been even more full of vivid stripes, Cragar mags, of available tech for old cars. The same tech that has
white Hurst knobs and gold Holleys. made 700 hp a reality in a Hellcat applies well to old
cars, too — and it’s getting stealthier.
So I basked in the quirks of old muscle within my
own era, from carburetor cold starts through grabby It’s not just about adding things on to an LS6
drum brakes and overstressed cooling systems. I Chevelle or Hemi ’Cuda for big-number performance,
waited out traffic and the heat of the day so I could take either — no, it’s about finally having the technology to
my car out, all the while kicking myself for missing the make those cars work better than ever before without
best scene by 20 years. losing their original character.

Well, that is, until now. There’s a lot to like about cooling fans that relieve
your traffic stress, disc brakes that give peace of mind,
How fast do you want to go? or a wideband O2 sensor that helps you get the most
out of your carburetors.
Fair warning: I’m using “now” loosely, as I think the
good times restarted on the day that Ford launched its But you can go further, and for me, the ultimate
redesigned retro Mustang in 2005. convergence of new and old is in today’s bolt-on
self-learning EFI systems — specifically Holley’s
Everything changed when the Mustang hit the scene. Terminator Stealth unit, which looks like an old 4150
It was a final spark that ignited the fuel that had been carb but runs like something from the modern world,
building since the later half of the 1980s, when GM’s complete with an IAC motor and endless tuning
tuned-port 350 battled with Ford 5.0s across America. possibilities.

From that came whining Cobra Terminators, SLP- Purists may cringe, but if these additions lead to
built SS Camaros, LS6-powered Z06 Corvettes, and more wheeltime, I think it’s worth it — especially
more. But the ’05 retro Mustang is what prompted when the changes are discreet and reversible. Use is
Mopar to get its all-new 2008 Hemi Challenger to key to the experience — otherwise you’re just storing
market, and GM came along and kicked off a new your car for its next owner.
muscle car war when it launched its own throwback
There will always be a place for originality, especially
when it comes to rare models. But both of my old cars
are now running Holley fuel management, and I don’t
miss pedaling a cold big block until it’ll idle on its own,
or waiting for a stumble to be heated away. The get-
in-and-go usability of that SRT Charger is to blame,
combined with kids, traffic, and everything else that
makes you think twice about taking the old car when
you really should.

The younger me would say I’ve just turned soft —
but he always smelled like fuel and contorted his day
around traffic and ambient temperature.

Those second-best days are over.

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  Linkage 001  49

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

photo courtesy of GTO ENGINEERING

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