DeTomaso Mailing List: March 2001, Message #142

Hi guys,

Thanks to the generous and gracious nature of Michael Cox, I was able to make 
it up to Willow Springs to share in the fun of TPOC's track event this 
weekend.  Mike picked me up at LAX Friday night and put me up in his guest 
room.  In the morning, we met up with Al Chelini (driving his Ferrari F-355, 
none the worse for wear after a drastic encounter with an out-of-control 
soccer mom wielding an SUV in Monterey last fall), then convoyed up to 
Burbank to pick up LaurieFerrari.  She (thankfully) left her Corvette in the 
Denny's parking lot and rode with Al, as we made our way up into the high 
desert to Willow Springs, about 90 miles north and east of downtown Los 
Angeles.

The weather was spectacular--clear skies, pleasant temperatures--all you 
could ask for.  Due to us making it a liesurely morning, we didn't arrive at 
the track until shortly before 11:00 a.m.

Besides the fun of getting to hang out with Pantera buddies old and new 
(including a few I'd only met via e-mail), personal highlights included being 
offered the chance to drive Brock "Bo-Bo" Tella's "stock" Pantera around the 
racetrack.  He had been going like hell, so I was surprised to discover that 
he had several inches of slop in the brake pedal, and a failing clutch master 
cylinder.  His driving style had effectively masked these problems, but it 
was all I could do to wrestle the car around the track initially--being stuck 
in neutral as you approach a steep up-hill turn with a full-race Corvette 
behind you is no fun!  But eventually I got the hang of it, and then the car 
was a pure joy to drive.  The super-sticky Hoosier bias play race tires offer 
extremely high limits, which I didn't come close to approaching (remember 
this was the lunchtime drive-around....)

Watching Bo-Bo squeezing into the passenger compartment (which was completely 
filled with roll bar) was comical in the extreme....:>)

At the end of the day, I retuned home with Al in the Ferrari.  We made a 
brief gas station stop with Michael and Laurie, and the Pantera was the 
obvious crowd favorite, somewhat to my surprise.  But one fellow was 
absolutely over the moon for the Ferrari, and in a Pantera-esque display of 
utter graciousness, Al told him to jump in the car, and took him for a 
10-minute blast up and down the freeway.  When they returned, the look on the 
guy's face made it clear that as far as he was concerned, he had just 
returned from a field trip to heaven!

Even more surprising, Al then turned the keys to the Ferrari over to me, and 
allowed me to drive it all the way back to L.A.  What an absolutely 
delightful car!  Filled with all the virtues of a Pantera and none of its 
vices (save the lack of ground clearance), it is truly an exquisite 
automobile!  While my Pantera is still my absolute favorite (and Al's too, by 
the way), I'd certainly accept the F-355 as a close second! :>)

Herewith, a photo summary of the day's events....

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/willowsprings.jpg

Thanks again to Michael Cox and Al Chelini for their utterly typical yet 
totally astounding POCA hospitality!  Gotta love the people associated with 
Panteras....:>)

Mike