Charlie in his 912 which by this time was a 911!
At Sebring with Dudley Davis' 911 and a bunch of Nord Sterners.
Last year about this time, 1970 Nord Stern President Charlie Lloyd emailed me regarding the Winter Party. That email is excerpted below. I had set it aside until recently and thought I would share it here.
I had a 1968 912 Targa which I bought new in Geneva Switzerland. After shipping it to the US, I drove it from NJ to Mpls in April 1969, making it from Chicago to our house here in 4 hours and 45 minutes!
I started racing a Speedster which I acquired from my brother-in-law that year and rolled it up in a ball at Road America in 1971, so I gradually converted the 912 to a race car. I always thought I might put it back on the street some day, but the deciding factor was in about 1975 when I sawed the wind screen off to gain some aerodynamics! My best season was in 1976 when I came in 10th in EP at Road Atlanta in the SCCA Runoffs. The 912 was always at a disadvantage because while it ran the same engine as the Speedster it was penalized about 300#, presumably because of better aerodynamics, but with the extra weight it could never accelerate with them. After 1976, I got tired of rebuilding the 4 cly, as it continued to break from trying to get upwards of 175 HP out of it. I converted the car to a 911 and raced that until 1980, finishing in the top 15 in DP in 1979. The car went to a buyer in Denver in about 1982, and I never saw it or any results with it after that.
Dudley Davis, Hank Godfredson and I drove Dudley's 911 to a 5th in GTU in the 12 hour race at Sebring in 1981, and one of the pictures you published in the Nord Stern this past year was of the three of us with that car. We also ran it in the IMSA races at Road America and Brainerd that year, finishing in 4th or 5th as I recall at RA, and DNF'd at Brainerd due to 2 bad rod bolts that let go (would you believe?; must have been from the same bad batch), one in practice and one in warm-up for the race.
I acquired a 1956 Speedster from by brother's estate in 1987, and bought Frank Hunt's 1959 Cabriolet about the same time. They were both fun, but as some will attest, required continuous maintenance. So in 2000 I sold both for enough to buy a 2001 Boxster. I enjoy being able to just go turn the key and go, without all the maintenance hassle.
I started racing a Speedster which I acquired from my brother-in-law that year and rolled it up in a ball at Road America in 1971, so I gradually converted the 912 to a race car. I always thought I might put it back on the street some day, but the deciding factor was in about 1975 when I sawed the wind screen off to gain some aerodynamics! My best season was in 1976 when I came in 10th in EP at Road Atlanta in the SCCA Runoffs. The 912 was always at a disadvantage because while it ran the same engine as the Speedster it was penalized about 300#, presumably because of better aerodynamics, but with the extra weight it could never accelerate with them. After 1976, I got tired of rebuilding the 4 cly, as it continued to break from trying to get upwards of 175 HP out of it. I converted the car to a 911 and raced that until 1980, finishing in the top 15 in DP in 1979. The car went to a buyer in Denver in about 1982, and I never saw it or any results with it after that.
Dudley Davis, Hank Godfredson and I drove Dudley's 911 to a 5th in GTU in the 12 hour race at Sebring in 1981, and one of the pictures you published in the Nord Stern this past year was of the three of us with that car. We also ran it in the IMSA races at Road America and Brainerd that year, finishing in 4th or 5th as I recall at RA, and DNF'd at Brainerd due to 2 bad rod bolts that let go (would you believe?; must have been from the same bad batch), one in practice and one in warm-up for the race.
I acquired a 1956 Speedster from by brother's estate in 1987, and bought Frank Hunt's 1959 Cabriolet about the same time. They were both fun, but as some will attest, required continuous maintenance. So in 2000 I sold both for enough to buy a 2001 Boxster. I enjoy being able to just go turn the key and go, without all the maintenance hassle.
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