"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
Ed, I guess I got into this thread a bit late. I was about to recommend
Mike Costin's book (I also have a 1965 or thereabouts copy), and was going
to comment on the "birdcage" Maserati too. You beat me to both. We must
share the same passion. I used to have a piece of Maserati type 61 bell
housing that landed at my feet when a driver at the Cumberland MD races
blew
up his clutch halfway down the straight. Ah, those were the days.

They sure were. I miss that racing. I was talking to my old boss earlier
this week, an Italian and a big F1 fan, and he asked me why I don't care
about F1 anymore. I couldn't answer him except to say that the technology
has gotten so good, and it so permeates the sport, that I wonder what it is
I'm watching when I see a race. I don't know who is driving whom.

He told me that Nicki Lauda got into a F1 car recently and drove it around
the track, after having been out of the sport for a while, and he said "a
trained monkey could drive this." g

Maybe that's it.


When I lived in the UK, I visited the shop of a guy who builds Morgan
3-wheelers virtually from scratch. (OK, nothing to do with space frames,
but a really cool cul de sac in automotive history.) If you can find a
hulk
chassis, he'll build you a car. He was even casting gearboxes for some
models.

Neat old...er, vehicles. I liked the ones with the J.A.P. or Matchless
V-twins hanging out front.

--
Ed Huntress