Ted’s essays

A Car Guy and the Sports Car Olympics

With a little help from my friend I produced a series of animated interview videos discussing sports car competition, the life and times of a G-Force-Junkie, a car guy and the joy of sharing times with other car guys. My wife really enjoys how enthusiastic I get when telling tales of the fun and excitement I have had whilst driving infernal-combustion-propelled vehicles. While of no interest to Yogis, meditators and poets, Car Guys and motorcycle buffs will get it.

Sports Car Olympics 1 of 4 – Funkhana, venues, autocrosses
I discuss the Funkhana, a competition that took place only at the Olympics, plus a bit on Olympics venues and autocrosses

Sports Car Olympics 2 of 4 – Concours de Elegance, variety rallies
Seven events in a three day weekend – it was A LOT … a bunch of fun, and somewhat exhausting. Most of us competed in events there that we played in nowhere else at no other times.

The feature photo is me clowning around with friend and concours judge Wayne Johnson before the start of the official judging.

Sports Car Olympics 3 of 4 – time-speed-distance rally
The first event every year was a rally that took us from the Sierra Foothills to the High Sierras where we would spend Labor Day Weekend in 6 other sports car related competitions.

Sports Car Olympics 4 of 4 – my procession of Porsches, Olympics autocrosssing

This fourth one is mostly about Ted the driver evolving from American Iron into sports cars that suited his disproportionally long legs and con-brio driving style a whole lot better. I also talk about autocrossing at The Sports Car Olympics.

Long, long ago and far, far away from the place, space and culture we occupy today there was a time when face-to-face events, personal contacts, shared physical activities were integral to our lives in ‘meat-space’. The meta-space of today would hold no interest to those participators of 40 years ago.

The annual Labor Day Weekend Sports Car Olympics was one of the finer examples I enjoyed during that golden age. There and then I shared sports-car-centric activities with fellow enthusiasts who became good friends. Though we only met for three days a year, we joined together playing the same games year after year after year.