DeTomaso Mailing List: March 2000, Message #127

Went as a spectator to my first Willow Springs event. I am a little sunburned 
and tired but got to say I will return again. I got to see almost every type 
of car that a car fanatic could hope to see. I saw a GT 40, Porsche 917 (not 
sure but that is what it looked like), Ferrari of every type, Lotus, Porsche 
of every type, Mustangs, Camaros, Vettes,Triumphs, Fiats, GT-R cars, Toyota 
Supras, Mercedes, Vipers, even a couple of sedans, and of course lots of 
Panteras! Red Panteras, Blue Panteras, Blue and white Panteras, Yellow 
Panteras, Black Panteras, Orange Panteras, and a couple that were multi 
colored. Some that were driven to the track, some that arrived by trailer. 
Stock Panteras, Modified Panteras. Quiet Panteras and Panteras that roared. 
Actually the quite Panteras were not that quite when compared to their 
counterparts. <g>

I had a great time! If you have never been to Willow you really owe it to 
yourself to go. It is even a place where it would be OK to take your family. 
You are free to wonder all over the place and look up close and personal at a 
lot of great cars. The entrance fee was $10.00 but that was for both Saturday 
and Sunday. They have a gift shop and a small restaurant that are pretty 
decent and more importantly they are very reasonably priced. It is real easy 
to find good viewing spots and what is nice is that the viewing spots are 
readily available all the time so you don't have to worry about getting up 
and wondering around. The facilities are above average too. 

Saying all that there were several Panteras that were "REAL" fast. The only 
thing that could run faster were cars that arrived in the back of semi trucks 
and came with full time pit crews. There were a couple of Porsches that were 
pretty fast but the two fastest Panteras seemed in a class of their own. The 
GT40 was exceptionally fast and the 917? was flat out lightning. But then the 
only cars that were seemed faster were true race cars built from the ground 
up with no expense spared it seemed. 

It isn't exactly racing what you see as people definitely respect the rules 
of the road. I was there the better part of the day and I only saw one car 
spin. It was a Lotus Esperit and the driver got race fever when it began 
dueling with a Porsche. No harm no foul. Willow is real nice in that it is 
possible to lose it and all you are most likely to do is kick up a lot of 
dust and rocks. 

But there is no mistaking the sound of a wide open Cleveland with headers. 
They are loud and they are throaty. More so than a Chevy even. The Panteras 
cornered better than I thought they would and talk about straight away speed. 
Even the more stock Panteras were relatively fast. I was impressed with the 
Vipers too. Real quite so they are deceptive but they cornered well and can 
really accelerate. A lot depends on the skill of the driver and what is 
around him but if one paid close attention you could see some of the cars 
really open up. 

You should have been there........

Kim Hunter