For years, automakers have been working to insulate drivers from every noise and vibration: to make cars easier to drive with automatic rather than manual transmissions; to develop smart-car technology such as anti-lock brakes and yaw control, which helps a driver in emergencies; to divest them of every charming idiosyncrasy.
But some people want the challenge of driving cars that require a lot of input from the driver, cars that can quickly get the driver into trouble with the wrong input. Cars with an attitude.
Once a year for the last six years a small group of these like-minded individuals has come together to drive their vintage vehicles. In the group this year are six people from the Chicago area who have come for the California Mille, a brisk four-day loop in May through 1,200 miles of some of the most remote areas of Northern California.
They are re-enacting a fabled Italian road race, called the Mille Miglia, that ran from 1927 to 1957. Other such “retro-racing” events include the Colorado Grand, New Mexico’s Las Millas Encantadas and the southern Arizona Copperstate. To be eligible, vehicles must have pedigrees that might have qualified them to run in the Mille Miglia–sort of.
“We do it under Italian rules, which are unwritten and subject to modification, organizer’s option and other unfair things like that,” said event organizer Martin Swig.
Here in San Francisco, in front of the Fairmont Hotel, where the event begins, are assembled an estimated $30 million in automobiles that many would argue belong in a museum, where their cylinders could glint without danger of gravel dings–or worse. Yet here they are, getting rained on in a good year, which this is, getting snowed on in a bad year, which was last year.
Among the cars are a 1957 Ferrari 250 SWB California Spyder that was owned by Enzo Ferrari; a 1929 Mercedes SSK, which just rolled out of the owner’s personal auto museum; a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C2300 M.M. Spider, one of four factory-teams cars that ran in the 1932 Mille Miglia; a 1946 Delahay Grand Prix Racer that is one of only 12 built; and a 1948 MG TC Roadster, the first MG exported to the U.S.
“We eat and drink well but it’s not a gastronomic tour,” said Swig, as champagne corks popped in the background.
“It’s a hard-edge motoring deal, but I don’t want to kill people and compress 1,000 miles into two days. It’s nice to have some fun, and we want to try different terrain in California because we have wonderful roads.”
Fulfilling a dream
You don’t have to be a car guy or know anything about vintage autos to appreciate these cars. You can simply enjoy the glamor of their bulging headlamps, teardrop-shaped fenders, wooden dashes and steering wheels, running boards and bulbous hoods.
These cars have presence, expressed in scoops, sweeps and swoops, tubes, latches and straps. All one needs to know to appreciate these vehicles is that 10 of the cars are worth about $1 million each, said Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market, a magazine devoted to collector cars.
Participants have different takes on the appeal of driving events such as the Mille. Some say it’s fulfilling a Walter Mitty fantasy that, as they drive briskly along the roads of California, they are racing in the original Mille.
But to Dale Moody from Homewood, it is nostalgia. “It’s either a car they once had or a car they once wished they had and were never able to get. Whether it’s because my Dad had a car like this or I learned how to drive in a car like this. And they are now financially able to get things they couldn’t have when they were younger.”
Moody is participating in his black 1957 Porsche 356A coupe. He and Creighton Helms, also from Homewood, have shared driving and navigating last year and this. Their friendship goes back 40 years to when Moody went to school with Helms’ younger brother.
After having lost touch, they met up again four years ago.
At home Helms has a 1987 Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, a 1987 Mercedes 560 SL and a 1939 Ford with a Cadillac motor, the only vehicle that might be eligible to run in an event such as this, if it had not been too modified.
“I think it’s just a bunch of guys that have bucks and can do whatever they want to do,” said Helms, when asked about the event’s appeal. “They all can afford to be here, and they are. This is a whole different degree of car buff. You get in your car in a strange place, and there’s a lot of other great cars along. You get a chance to kick tires and talk cars, and, when nobody’s looking, you have the chance to drive the hell out of them.”
And this group at least believes that’s the way it should be, calling people who keep their vintage cars safe by garaging them and trailering them to shows “trailer queens.” Helms had some tags made up for Moody that read: “If you see this car on a trailer, call 9-1-1. It’s stolen.”
But what about a dented fender, a rollover, thousands of dollars of damage? “There’s always the possibility,” Helms said, “and–like Martin Swig says–that’s part of the attraction.”
Moody believes these cars should be driven though they sat in his garage for 20 years. “I was kind of busying myself with making a living, and I didn’t have time to devote to working on the car. In 1988 I decided it had sat long enough, and I did the necessary work to bring it back to the original configuration.”
For Tom Grunnah the appeal of an event like this is the challenge of a vehicle that requires much more input from the driver than do new cars. Tom and his wife, Judy, from Chicago, are driving a red 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster.
“I like to think it’s one of the better ones left,” said Grunnah. “It’s very rare. It was a race car most of its life and restored by a friend of mine in Indianapolis. The only drawback is the minimal weather protection, and every year we’ve run into snow and rain.”
“Hey, I love to get into a nice, new car and drive,” said Grunnah, “but to do something like this is just a heck of a lot of fun.”
So much fun that Ron and Dorothy Peterson, of Homewood, bought a car that would qualify for the Mille so they could join their friends this year. The Petersons, who have been married for 44 years, have known Moody and Helms since high school. They met the Grunnahs four years ago through Moody and Helms.
“Dale talked about this so much, and so did Tom . . . about the camaraderie, the beautiful scenery” said Dorothy, who does the navigating.
“I only acquired this car two months ago.” said Ron. “I decided I wanted to run this, and they told me they would hold a spot for me if I found something within a reasonable period of time.” The something he found was a black 1954 MG TF 1500.
“This one was only made in 1954 and ’55. There’s 3,300 of them. It came with the lower profile fenders and the sloping grill; consequently the hood was also dropped and the headlights are flared into the fenders for a Jaguar-like appearance. I always liked that car and wanted one and to run out here you have to have something of that vintage so I thought I would try to get one. The car had been restored from the frame up and the owner had $109,000 in receipts to document it.” The Petersons paid around $30,000 for it.
These are car people.
Judy Grunnah says her husband has confined himself “pretty much” to Porsches, some so rare that only 50 were made– including a Porsche tractor for the farm in Lake Geneva, Wis., and a Porsche half-scale car, one of 10 made for Dr. Ferdinand Porsche on his 75th birthday. They’ve belonged to the Porsche Club of America for 32 years. Judy says that when her husband takes out his wallet, he shows the cars first and then the grandchildren.
When asked about this, he pulled out his wallet and said: “This is the new car that I bought. That’s a 1959 sunroof coupe. And then the grandchildren. That’s my son, daughter-in-law and daughter. Now you’ve seen all my baby pictures.”
This is the third year they’ve participated in the California Mille. They’ve tried to do similar events, particularly the Colorado Grand, but to get into that event Tom says requires a really unusual car.
“I tried to get in last year, but they had too many Porsches.” )
Smelling sea air
The first day, it was 50 degrees with a light rain falling as the cars headed out over the San Francisco Bay Bridge with instructions to stay in the right lane to avoid collisions with gawking commuters. The rain continued throughout the day and the temperature dropped as these cars made their way to Lake Tahoe, past grapevines and windmills.
The Grunnahs periodically had to wipe up the inside of the car because of an A-pillar leak. Tom said the top was designed just for emergencies. Judy had no problem with the cold and inconvenience. “It’s cold skiing, too, and that’s fun,” she said, adding that they’ve been been married for 41 years and driving together since 1963.
Accidents are not unknown on the event, though they are rare. Despite the age of the vehicles, problems were minor and some were due to human, rather than mechanical, frailty.
The first day, Moody had trouble with an air housing over the cylinders that cool the engine. It was easily corrected at a welding shop. The Petersons had trouble with the fan belt and had a flat tire.
The Grunnahs ran out of gas, and another couple in a Porsche 356 B Cabriolet came to their rescue. This was better than their first Mille, two years ago, when the clutch cable broke on the first night of the event. Though they had to finish in a Dodge Neon, they also got a chance to drive a Dodge Viper, one of the fleet of vehicles Chrysler provides as event sponsor. If a vintage car suffers a fatal mechanical problem, owners can finish the event driving a Chrysler product.
After Lake Tahoe, the weather improved and the temperature began to climb, making life for people in topless vehicles much less miserable. The route passed by peppermint fields, olive groves, rice fields and undulating hills covered by the golden grass reportedly at least partially responsible for the nickname, the Golden State.
The route continued through Red Bluff, past Mts. Lassen and Shasta, with a stop in Hayfork for lunch along a road that is not heavily traveled because it is 142 miles of twists and turns, once the old stage coach route to the coast.
Participants had the opportunity to drive on the Thunderhill Race Track. Moody arrived that morning alone. “I wanted to sleep in,” Helms said later. “I don’t get carried away with this too much.”)
On the last day, heading to Corte Madera, where the Mille would end, drivers covered 356 miles that included the Ferndale loop to the Lost Coast. The road, which was narrow, devoid of guard rails and not for the nervous, passed through dark tunnels of giant Redwoods and became a series of hairpin turns that wound down to the ocean.
Passing through Mendocino for lunch and then Ft. Bragg, the route headed toward Bodega Bay, traveling through Tomales Bay where Hitchcock filmed “The Birds.” Besides being treated to smells of salt water and mint, driving behind these vehicles was a treat for the ears with the raucous downshifts and the wuffles and barks of the exhaust notes.
The cars were beginning to collect dirt and grime, and Ron Peterson started to think about the price he would have to pay for these four days, including the first day of rain.
“I would never consider having this car in the rain and look what it did on Monday. It’ll take me a minimum of a week to clean up that car. I have shows coming up–one in three weeks. I have to put it up on jacks, and I have to do the underneath as well as the top. It’s just dirt. When you drive it blows in every little crack. It’s a job. The springs are all leaf springs; you’ve got to get in there with a brush and clean all that. After this it’ll probably never see water again.”
“He’s very fussy,” Dorothy said.
Peterson was a landscape contractor for 32 years before going into banking. Since retiring, he has played with cars.
“This work is bad business; it interrupted my time for my cars. But you have to do that to have the cars. What are you gonna do?’
