Hi Pete,
Great article about Dick, Warren and their "F&M" classic; I will never forget buying my copy in 1968 from Vilem Haan's store in LA when I was a grad student at USC. I must have read it cover-to-cover at least a hundred times -- just fabulous. Perhaps the 12 chapters were really intended to represent the 12 cylinders of the classic Ferrari engine!
In any event, the "F&M" book inspired me to join the FOC and FCA, buy an SWB California, write my book and, most rewarding of all, make so many great, long-lasting friendships with Ferraristi worldwide. In fact, it was Dick, whom I first met at the FCA Annual Meet in Detroit (1973) -- with an introduction from Rob Box -- who firmly encouraged me to expand the material I had assembled about Californias, write a book and approach his friend, John Barnes, about publishing it -- "and now you know the rest of the story!"
I was really flattered when Dick agreed to write the "Preface" to my book -- it was a great piece from a great friend! Among other things, Dick commented that, "It is sad but true that you will look in vain in either edition of our book for a photo of an SWB California. This work, therefore, fills a definite void. Search as we might, a good picture of this rare machine could not be found so we were forced to go to print without." To say the least, I was overwhelmed (and still am)!
Thanks for writing that article. It's an honor to contribute in some small way to your wonderful efforts with VeloceToday -- keep up the great job.
Best regards,
George Carrick
George M. Carrick is the author of "The Spyder California; A Ferrari of Particular Distinction". His book is still available through VelocePress
Pete,
Great piece on Dick Merritt in the August 8 issue. Any Ferrarista will know the legacy he's created and maintained saving and documenting Ferraris over the years. His stories of those early days when Ferraris (and other Italian exotica) were discounted as fragile, fickle, unreliable or unwanted Italian cars can keep one spellbound for hours. His efforts in founding and maintaining the Ferrari Club of America certainly helped to establish the marque in the U.S. and brought order to the chaos and misinformation surrounding the marque.
His book, Ferrari-The Sports and Turismo Cars, has had pride of place on my bookshelf since I bought it many years ago. It's still a constant reference and fact-checker that I use frequently as editor of Prancing Horse, the magazine of the Ferrari Club of America. I agree with Peter that if any one book made the marque, it was this one! Thank you Dick Merritt for your contributions to the Ferrari Club of America and especially to Ferrari world-wide.
Jeff Allison
Ken Caryl Valley, Colorado
Jeff Allison is the editor of "Prancing Horse".
Parts for Fiat 507s
Dear Editor,
I have been sent the request letter from Nigel Boothman in Edinburgh, Scotland by a friend in Norway.
We may be of some help here in Australia. There is one very original tourer near Melbourne, and the owner is likely to be helpful with photos etc, though he is without internet skills. There are also a number of parts here, some with the FCCV and many with 505 owners.
The most difficult part to get will be the FWB, but we could supply a non braked 505 axle. The FWB axles were popular to fit to the earlier cars, such as I have done to my Fiat 510S. I found my front end in Denmark and shipped it here, as an example of how difficult these are to find.
You are welcome to put Nigel in touch with me.
Richard Unkles
V & V Rep Fiat Car Club of Vic Inc.
SAC and LeMay
Pete,
I remember watching the SAC races at Lockbourne (now Rickenbacker) in 1955. I believe it was the first time I had seen a Healey 100S. They flew a lot of B47s out of Lockbourne, one of them crashed on takeoff at night when I had officer of the day duty. That plane tended to have a lot of trouble with compressor stall if your angle of attack was too steep. the radio & newspaper people were trying to get information and the only thing the flight operations at the base was telling them was “the plane crashed because it hit the ground.“ How's that for meaningless?
Jack Gordon
Pete,
Interesting; I always considered 'right wing militant' a compliment, not
an aspersion. since the USA didn't have Patton anymore--my dad told me
he wouldn't last a year past the war since he was so
anticommunist. LeMay was a good man to have to keep the commies
off balance, as in 'what if that guy gets more authority, Vladimir?' I
guess I'm always surprised when I meet a Democrat in any sportscar
organization, but there's a bellcurve distribution in every population,
however skewed the curve might be…
Toly Arutunoff
To the Editor,
The association of Curtis LeMay with right wing politics opens an interesting discussion. There is little doubt that he supported dangerously aggressive use of American air power during several military crises when he was head of the Strategic Air Command and Air Force Chief of Staff. Luckily, he was overruled. However, the right wing description mostly stems from the fact that he was the Vice Presidential candidate on segregationist George Wallace's presidential ticket. It should be noted that LeMay's record on racial matters in the Air Force was fairly progressive. Another matter that haunted him was when he supposedly suggested a campaign against the North Vietnamese that would "bomb them back into the stone age." The quote was from a book by a professional ghost writer whom LeMay felt he had to back, even though he had not given such a quote. It should be noted that it was an accurate portrayal of his position, even if he didn't say it.
One thing is for sure, Curtis LeMay was a good friend to U.S. sports car racing. By providing SAC bases as venues for races when courses were in short supply, he helped the SCCA not only survive, but prosper, until purpose-built courses were finally built in the second half of the 1950s. The SAC publicity machine brought wide public knowledge of sports car racing to the general public, an aspect of the sport that the SCCA willing to undertake. In this era, several SAC races had attendance comparable to the Indianapolis 500, then incorrectly identified in the press as the largest single day sporting event in the country.
Michael T. Lynch
