My life with Porsche… List of pre impact bumper cars I've owned for prosperity

[72targa]

Another fantastic car... One of the Rothmans Le Mans cars in Dave Morse's collection I got to see on the same trip - what a great collection Dave had...

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Really having fun reminiscing with your posts. Dave Morse was such a nice fellow. Very mild-mannered. I had the good fortune of being at Laguna Seca during one of his early test sessions after he competed his restoration of his 936. Just amazing.

[dwa911]

Really having fun reminiscing with your posts. Dave Morse was such a nice fellow. Very mild-mannered. I had the good fortune of being at Laguna Seca during one of his early test sessions after he competed his restoration of his 936. Just amazing.

Thanks Peter... It was a fun time, and groups of people back then... Not to diminish today... Just different... Is is fun for me to remember this stuff... Just glad I managed to hang on to non digital photos through all these years and international moves - so many times I almost just chucked it in the bin, thinking I'd never need them or take the time to look through them...

[runsub5]

You have had a remarkable journey with Porsche! I have enjoyed the ride with you and thanks for sharing. As others have said it would have been excellent material for Esses articles.

[dwa911]

You have had a remarkable journey with Porsche! I have enjoyed the ride with you and thanks for sharing. As others have said it would have been excellent material for Esses articles.

Thanks for the kind words David... Glad it is a fun ride... I'm not sure I've got the writing skills to write articles for the Esses...

[Longballa]

MORE EDUCATION - TOM, OTTO & A 914/6 RACE CAR:

I seem to have skipped a part... Apologies...

After having already bought and read a factory shop manual through Vasek Polak Porsche (I still have that), and buying factory style tools from Baum tools (don’t have many of those left) to disassemble 9113110650, there were some tools that were NLA, so the Baum tool guy (can’t remember his name) suggested I connect with Otto (John Williamson liked to call himself Otto) at Otto’s in Venice, an independent Porsche shop close to me, that might rent or loan me the tools that were NLA.

So, off to Otto’s I went…

Otto’s was at 707 Hampton Drive in Venice, CA, just a short drive from my home at 36 Anchorage Steet in Marina Del Rey (I’m not sure what is there now, as I haven’t been back to LA since 2007, others here might)… As I pulled in to Otto’s little cramped entrance – just about big enough for a couple of cars to pull in front of the garage door and jammed with a trailer, a couple of junk 914s, a dumpster, and various other bits – the first thing I saw inside was a wall of race trophies and plaques (Credit to Bret for this photo - hopefully doesn't mind me re-using here)…



And the first person I met was Tom Gould… Tom was working at the little desk at the front of the shop, and we met as I entered to introduce myself and why I was there (not sure if this is from Otto's or PP - I hope you don't mind me using this photo Tom)…



Tom is a great guy… He is super knowledgeable, kind, generous, and I would need to be able to write much more eloquently than I am capable to describe my experience with Tom fully…

Let me just say, that even though we haven’t seen or spoken with each other in a long – too long – time (we are connected on Facebook, and give thumbs up to each other’s posts once in a while), I consider Tom a friend and would bend over backwards for Tom anytime… If you are reading this Tom, you always have an open-ended offer for you and Bev to come and stay in UK/France – maybe take in Silverstone, Le Mans classic or historic Monaco races – I don’t see myself getting back to CA anytime soon, but one never knows… Tom not only shared his time and help – sometimes despite a cranky Otto – but even kindly gave me his collection of Christophorus magazines back in the late 90s (I don’t remember the details, other than him offering, and me not being able to say yes fast enough… I still have them, and cherish them Tom)… He later went on to co-found Pelican Parts with Wayne… Tom will be back in the story later for sure…


After a chat, Tom introduced me to Otto… He was tinkering in the back of the shop, working on a what looked like an (ugly to me at the time) 914/6 with the front A pillars and windshield support chopped off sort of race car (more on ‘Rudy’ later)…



This photo used to hang in Otto's (Credit to Bret for this photo of it - hopefully doesn't mind me re-using here)

If you ever met John, you will most likely have found yourself in 1 of 2 camps:

Camp 1, you will like him, or…
Camp 2, you won’t like him…

It seems it was kind of binary with John, as he could be kind of rude, gruff, cranky, and certainly not what would be considered politically correct in his thinking or language… I can’t remember how many times he told me to f**k off and get out of his shop… I was kind of used to that from some of the characters I’d met and worked with in the film business, so I guess I was a bit more tolerant then than I would be now… But, John could also be very generous, kind and fun to be around… A true enigma…

John passed away in 2013 – here are some links to read more, and the memories of some who also knew him
(Otto takes his tools and has moved on.)
(https://yovenice.com/2013/02/10/rip-...to-williamson/)

As a side note, I took and gave John the photo of him sitting on 917/30-004 up at Jerry Woods's shop which was part of Dave Morse’s Morspeed at the time… Dave owned the car, and Jerry had been part of the team restoring it – more on that and why we were there later…



Not only did I get the luck and rare good fortune to look at and "crawl" all over 917/30-004 just after restoration, But here are some photos from that day...

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Jerry Woods walking around 917/30-004 with me getting the amazing and rare good fortune to squeeze in to the driver's race seat

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For me, at that time, I was in camp 1… John certainly knew what he was doing, and was a fairly tolerant teacher both mechanically and driving... And through John, I met Jerry Woods and Bruce Anderson...

See the Moorspeed white truck in the background? My Uncle Dave drove that to all the events. I have some great photos from a day at Laguna Seca where Dave Morse and Canepa had the whole track reserved. Bruce Anderson was taking the photos. The track was wet in the morning so I got to drive my Uncle's 72 911 on it all morning sliding around the track to help dry it. One the coolest days of my life!

[dwa911]

See the Moorspeed white truck in the background? My Uncle Dave drove that to all the events. I have some great photos from a day at Laguna Seca where Dave Morse and Canepa had the whole track reserved. Bruce Anderson was taking the photos. The track was wet in the morning so I got to drive my Uncle's 72 911 on it all morning sliding around the track to help dry it. One the coolest days of my life!

What an awesome opportunity Scott!!! WOW!!! Great times and memories... I used to love going up there from L.A. Couldn't wait to see what Jerry was working on, and what new cars Dave Morse had added... You were truly living a charmed life!

[Chuck Miller]

I'm grateful I was there that day, and jealous of you guys who were much closer to it all....

https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...ght=dave+morse

cm

[Longballa]

I'm grateful I was there that day, and jealous of you guys who were much closer to it all....

https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...ght=dave+morse

cm

Forgot I started that thread! Thanks for reminding me Chuck. I'll try to add more photos to it.

[dwa911]

Forgot I started that thread! Thanks for reminding me Chuck. I'll try to add more photos to it.

great photos Scott & Chuck!

[dwa911]

BONDING with OTTO & his brush with the KING of COOL:

John used to race a heavily modified 914/6, in SCCA GT2, he nicknamed Rudy back then (can’t remember the year of the chassis, but I recall it had a 2.9 liter engine and a 901 gearbox running a 904 main shaft and circuit specific ratios – changed to optimise for each circuit... John invited me to come along, and I started going, helping out as part of the pit crew at the races – mainly at the main circuit at Willow Springs (https://www.willowspringsraceway.com/)... Which helped me get the bug... Also helping out my mentor in the film sound business - Alan Holly... More on Alan later...

One race weekend, the races were to be held at the Holtville Aerodrome International Raceway, or HAIR, as it was known… HAIR was an old WW2 Navy airfield in the desert east of San Diego, and home to the San Diego region SCCA back then (https://goo.gl/maps/j3nSBdcW6iL6niPf8)... HAIR wasn’t necessarily one of the world’s great circuits from a layout perspective, and had a really rough surface that was tough on tire wear (especially when compared with some of the other circuits in California, the USA and over here in the UK and EU – E.g. Spa, Silverstone, etc), and a drop off right in the middle of the braking zone after a long straight into a 180 turn, which could be interesting (more on that later), but Holtville was the San Diego region of the SCCA’s main race circuit at the time, and was a really special place, with some really special people (my memories are all positive at least)… Here is a link for those that aren’t familiar with it and interested (http://wikimapia.org/23505088/Holtvi.../photo/2312513)

And a video of an on-board 1st race lap, spin and retirement (not anyone I know) from ’92 that should give a flavour of the circuit and tech back then (https://youtu.be/UsYGigg09R4)

A perhaps interesting sidenote for Porsche ‘60s prototype racing fans… Steve McQueen raced his 908 here in February 1970, one of a few races Steve did prior to the famous Sebring race where he came 2nd with Peter Revson. Here are a couple of photos of Steve and the 908 at HAIR, and a link to John Straub’s site – where the images are borrowed – hopefully not a problem (Along For The Ride: Steve McQueen, the Porsche 908 and Holtville...)...

That’s John ‘Otto’ Williamson in the Lola T-70, race number 7, on the grid next to Steve McQueen in the Porsche 908…







I had mentioned to John a keen interest in learning to race, and he said I could drive '1270' around HAIR all day on the Friday before a race weekend… Friday’s were kind of an open test day back then with no race license required... So, pre-race weekend, he instructed me to find what he called a set of ‘may pops’ – basically a used set of Fuchs alloys with tires that had about 20-25% tread left… When I asked why, he answered “because the number of times I was going to spin and flat spot the tires may cause them to pop”…

So, back to the recycler classified paper, and I found a set for about $300-$400… If memory serves, one could buy Fuchs 6x15 back then for about $50-$100 per wheel depending on condition… Those were the days… and John took them down to Holtville for me in the back of his race van…

John drove ‘1270’ around the Holtville circuit with me in the passenger seat to give me an idea of what a 911S could do... John had great car control skills, and those couple of laps were absolutely amazing, with John explaining what gear to be in where, the braking points (no markers there – pick a spot on the track, like an expansion joint), and how to drive a 911, mainly the nuances of under and over steer, and when the back kicks out to ‘keep my foot in it’ or I’ll spin, all while driving faster than I thought was possible for ‘1270’. Information overload to say the least, and a bit like ‘drinking from a firehose’. The main thing I remember about those laps, were how impossibly late I thought he left his braking, and how I was trying to brake for him as a passenger!

John pulled over after a few laps, simply got out, and said ‘now you go do it’. Kind of like being thrown in the deep end of the pool, and told to sink or swim. I spun more that day at Holtville, learning, then I can remember – 6 or 7 times on my first lap at least - and probably more than all my years driving on circuit combined after. High speed, low speed. Spinning! That’s the main thing I remember. That and needing a new set of tires afterwards. My 'may pops' didn't pop, but they were no longer round! Fortunately, Holtville is in the middle of the desert, and pretty safe from a run off perspective. The ‘9-year-old me’ that had first gone for the ride in Doc Haslam's 911S was awake and laughing out loud! If my first ride in Doc’s 911S had started the fire burning in me, John had just poured endless amounts of racing fuel on that fire! I was smitten. Convinced there was no better car on the planet, and determined that I needed to be racing. A slippery slope. I had no idea…