An Affair (by which) to Remember

By Michael T. Lynch

Every now and then I do something with cars that takes me back to the joys I encountered when I first became involved with foreign cars. By the time I was in my very early teens, I had a pretty good exposure to American racing, including midgets, sprints and what were then called big cars – Indianapolis machinery. Like most youths of my era, I had a romance with hot rods. Before my high school years, I had some experiences that changed my perspective. I saw a Jaguar XK-120 on the street in Cleveland and was blown away.

I had my first ride in an MG TD and immediately understood the burgeoning sports car craze, and my father took me to an SCCA race at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus in 1953. (See Lynch at Lockbourne) That race, held on a Strategic Air Command airport that had a straight about a mile long, allowed Jim Kimberly and Bill Spear’s Ferrari 340 V-12s to reach maximum rpms, creating a shriek that hooked me for good. The magazines of the day described their sound as that of ripping canvas and I’ve never found a better way to describe it.

The next year, I went to a small island off the coast of Ohio called Put-in-Bay, the scene of a famous 1813 naval battle involving Admiral Perry. There, I witnessed a race on a true round-the-houses course on the island and got to ride in a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft all in the same weekend. An early girlfriend, Sally Whiteley, had a brother who was transitioning from cars to motorcycles and he gave me every Road & Track published to that time. I still have them.

My family moved to Kansas City when I was 15. One of the first car things I did there after visiting the local foreign car dealerships was to attend another airport race where Jim Kimberly won in his 375 MM Ferrari. Another attendee that day was Bob Peters. Bob was a judge and I was an announcer at the Quail Motorcycle Gathering this May, another reminder of the consistency of motorsport enthusiasm.

During the period that followed my arrival in Kansas City, I remember many gatherings around the area where the word would get out and people with sports cars would gather and just look at each other’s cars and talk about them. It may sound inane, but everyone in attendance had a great time.

In later life, I have been privileged to travel the world and take part as an entrant, journalist, official or just spectator at many of the world’s greatest automotive events. I have derived great pleasure in writing about and photographing them and trying to share some of the excitement I felt when I was there for the benefit of those who couldn’t be. In the last couple of decades, many of these events have veered from pure automobilia to what are now called lifestyle events, complete with price gouging hotels, overpriced meals, wine tastings, trinket merchants and other matters having little to do with the cars supposedly at the core of the events.

A few weeks ago, I went along with a friend, Steve Fields, on what I guess would be best described as a ride and drive. Steve is a real enthusiast who has three Alfas, a 1300 GT Junior and two Duettos. He also has a business selling motorsports memorabilia on Ebay. (We will have a separate story on Steve in a future VeloceToday.)
He introduced me to an event that was strictly about neat cars and driving them that took me back to my earliest enthusiasm for sports cars. If you wanted something more, it was up to you to find it.

It is an annual celebration called One Lap of Marin and takes place in a unique area, Marin County, California. Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, is a welcome respite from the urban sprawl of much of coastal California. Based on figures provided by the Marin County Community Development Agency, 84 percent of land area in Marin is designated for agriculture, parklands, open space and watershed. At this point only 11% of the county is used for housing. When you combine this with the fact that the county has both coastal vistas and a 2500 foot peak near its southern edge that drops down to the ocean, you can understand that it is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world and has plenty of what we used to call sports car roads, with little traffic.

The One Lap of Marin was started several years ago by a local enthusiast named Dick Gale. Dick likes both fast cars and motorcycles. He has vintage raced an Abarth-Fiat Record Monza, an Abarth-Simca 1300 fitted with a Fiat 124 twin cam and a Vincent V-twin motorcycle. Dick now lives in Marin, with a houseboat in Sausalito and a home further north in the county. Back when he was in Pacific Heights in San Francisco, Dick began organizing get-togethers of enthusiasts who would park their cars near his house and have a few drinks in the street and look at them and talk about them, just like I had done in Kansas City in the 1950s. After the first one, Dick decided that it would be even better if the group enjoyed their cars on the road and the event was launched.

The one I attended recently began in a partially unpaved parking lot at Gate 5, a Sausalito houseboat community known from the hippie days for nudity, crazy artists and a constant battle between the city and residents regarding building codes for the houseboats built upon barges in San Francisco Bay. It’s calmer now, but some of the vibes remain.

When we arrived, there were no officials, no credentials around anyone’s neck, no poster, no program, no plan whatsoever for a $10 lunch that the organizers would charge you $85 for, just people smiling, talking to each other and looking at the cars, some of which were parked in puddles. Each entrant was on his own to explore the great roads, scenery and restaurants of a county known for organic produce, goat and cow artisanal cheese producers, free range chicken, non-steroid, vegetarian-fed beef and pork and other gourmet delicacies. Needless to say, this ambience has spawned some remarkable restaurants, especially for a rural area.
The assortment of vehicles was mind bending. It included everything from a Toyota desert race truck to a replica Ferrari SWB California. My experience with Alfa clubs around the county is that few marques have owners who like to drive their cars more and this was evident in the assembly.

After greeting old acquaintances, some of whom hadn’t seen each other since the previous 1LoM, people began to drift to their cars and leave. We had been given a map with the major roads of the county and a suggested route to the mid-morning stop in Tomales. However, it seemed that everyone had their own idea of how to proceed and although the majority headed the same way, a sizable minority headed off in their own direction. Since these were people from all over the region who like to drive their cars, most were intimate with the incredible driving roads of Marin County. I have been using them for both bikes and motorcycles since the 1970s and it was like a reunion of old friends to motor through familiar pathways, some changed with time, most untouched.

Steve’s car had Weber 40 DCOEs with minimal air cleaners and as we hustled through a wooded area heading west toward the coast, the road wound through light forest and into redwood groves. As Steve accelerated out of the corners, the induction noise was as musical as the exhaust. It was a clear California winter’s day, the top was down, the Alfa was doing what Alfas do and we were both lost in automotive reverie.

As we got closer to the coast, we hooked up with an Alfa 2600 Spyder and a beautiful Jag XK-120 coupe, complete with spats. We ran with them for quite a way along roads that alternately allowed a glimpse of various bays and then ran inland occasionally through rolling hills, some dotted with livestock.

After something less than two hours, we arrived at the only scheduled item of the day that the majority adhered to – a snack and pit stop at Tomales. As the cars were parked, I again marveled at the wide range of machinery, including multiple models of post-war Alfas including a Grand Sport Quattroroute. Also, exotica like Lancia Flaminias, an Aprillia and a Maserati Mexico. Other Italians included a modern Ferrari California, as well as a Testarossa, 348 and a Dino.

Once again, people were walking around, talking to friends, introducing themselves to each other and looking at the cars. During our stop in Tomales, three separate groups of single marque enthusiasts passed by on the road – Porsches, Corvettes and Miatas. There was also a group of vintage motorcyclists who ride these roads every Saturday, led by Don Danmeier, a Forensic Architect from Novato who does a great deal for the Bay Area motorcycling community by organizing many events, including a wonderful all-Brit show at the San Jose Fairgrounds each year. Some of each group stopped to look over our group’s cars.

Once again, it was time to get back on the road. We headed north with some of Steve’s Alfa friends, our destination The Tides restaurant in Bodega Bay. Thankfully, there were plenty of great roadways in between. After a fantastic lunch (Bodega Bay is known for some of the best clams in the country) sitting next to a floor to ceiling window overlooking the bay, we took our leave for the day. Some returned to Sausalito where Dick and Luisiana Gale hosted some bench racing at their houseboat. I had to get home to San Francisco to change for a wonderful 80th birthday celebration for legendary motorsports photographer Tom Burnside that evening and Steve had to drive back to Carmel. With no freeways for miles, we had to return on the same type of roads that had brought us to Bodega Bay. We were not unhappy. After dropping me in San Francisco, Steve later informed me that he kept the top down all the way to Carmel.

I have to thank Steve Fields, Dick Gale and all those who took part in One Lap of Marin for reminding me that grassroots events like this remain the lifeblood of our sport. They are thankfully happening all over the world and asking around has turned up some more in the San Francisco Bay area. It’s not surprising that none of their organizers wanted any details about their events to find their way into print.

After an experience like this, I’m reminded of my friend John von Neumann’s last public appearance at the Petersen Museum shortly before his death. After a lifetime of living large, interacting with the likes of Enzo Ferrari and Ferry Porsche, the founder of the California Sports Car Club recalled the early days he had spent with many of those in the room and closed his remarks that evening by admonishing all of us to, “…enjoy your cars.”