Electra GSX Road Racer

[BqUICK]

All,

After several hours of attending to the various fluid leaks, vacuum leaks, re-wiring, and road test we ran short of time. We loaded the trailer and were 20 minutes into the 80 minute trip when we decided we would not make it in time to unload and get on the track. Besides that our night running light blew a fuse and then blew anoth. We drove with our flashers on.

We brought her back to the chassis shop put the cover on her till next weekend. Anyone have an enclosed trailer?

God Speed,

[jscheib]

Sorry to hear about the delay. However, some times it pays not to rush things and short cut something you should not. So, lets hope for better success next weekend. Was there not considerable rain in your area as well, Friday evening? Wish I had a closed trailer myself.

John

[55PackardGuy]

Michael,

Sorry to hear about the delay, but that's what sorting a car out causes.

Regarding the trailer, this is an excellent sponsorship opportunity. An enclosed trailer has lots and lots of space for logos. In your case, with a car that's way too nice to litter with advertising, the trailer may be your best bet for keeping sponsors happy. Ideally, you could get sponsor(s) to buy the trailer for you in exhange for advertising space. You'd have to decide on what trailer you want--a nice big white one would show off logos well--and draft a deal that you can show wherever you go with the car. Make a sign you can put up next to the car and/or your present trailer to invite inquiries. At the same time, you can offer space on a travelling sign for the names of all your sponsors, and display it next to the Tuskegee Airmen Honor Roll.

These are just some ideas, but they're the kind I would give any client seeking sponsorship. (Get a trailer with AC and you have a rolling climate-controlled garage!)

Carry on!

[BqUICK]

Guy and John,

Thanks for your notes! Yes we did have some rain, quite a bit actually. Things cleared up after dark however and track conditions would have been great with the cool, but not too cool, temperatures.

Thanks for the sponsorship tips!

Also, I was encouraged as I drove to Jersey City today. I stopped by an old style gas station with some interesting features. It looked like it was right out of 1965 with all the accumulated grit of the ages over everything. They race snow mobiles and are SERIOUS motorheads. Lots of race car photos and ad campaign posters. A Lamborghini poster "The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys" poster over the urinal.

Guess what Guy...there was all this old Air Force stuff too. Photos and memoriabilia all over and I mean like that old place in the movie "The Right Stuff", Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club, I believe it was called.

Anyway, it turns out there was an old photo of a youngster in a cold climate sheepskin and an Air Force blue cap with circular crest. '50s era USAF I thought, definitely after '47 when they became an independent branch.

I asked the young man at the counter about the photo and he confirmed it was 1950's but would not say much else. I walked over to the older gent sitting behind the other counter and asked "Is that photo of you sir?" "yes" was his reply. "SAC? 50's?" I asked. "Yes, I was attached to SAC" he said with a twinkle in his eye. He served out of Thulee around the Greenland/Iceland area back in the '50s!

The veteran worked with old radial engined B-29s and some other aircraft that were transitioning out of pistons and moving to turbo props. We chatted about the "Keybird", the B-29 Superfort (Superfortress)that went down in '48 and they tried to fly it out a few years ago but the APU (Auxilliary Power Unit, a gas driven generator, tipped and caught fire in the aft of the ship.) I told him about how I knew the navigator, Burl Cowen, as I lived in his town.

I initially came to use the rest room and ask about an old aircraft theme restaurant that was there years ago. They told me they went out of business two years ago. It was really neat to see this place with model cars, photos of race cars, drivers, and planes together at one place! I should have written the name of the place down, it is a place that should be seen! If I think of it I will let you know.

God Speed,

[jscheib]

MJ.

Is that place in Jersey City, or along the way? We are headed to the NJ Shore Regional next weekend. I wonder if the place is open on Sunday? I may have to stop by on the way back if you remember where it is.

I may have not mentioned in Batavia, I was in SAC '55 to '59, so that guy is probably a bit older then I. We had a few B-29s kicking around,but mostly B-36 and B-47s. On the was to Batavia, I met a guy from Minuteman who was in basic training at Sampson the same time as me. He was a career airman - me out after the 4 years for college. But I have told my kids and probably soon the grandchildren that there is a plane dedicated to me (and about how many thousand others)at Plattsburg (I don't mention the others when I tell them).

I also think those are some excellent thoughts on sponsorship. Maybe you can talk to some of the manufacturers to get one at least for cost, if you add a larger logo then they already put on the units.

John

[BqUICK]

John,

I KNEW there was something special about you, besides your love of Buicks! The Stategic Air Command was quite an organization. I visited Bolling AFB in DC and spent some time in the hall with all of the portraits of the Air Force chiefs including Curtis LeMay, father of SAC as far as I know.

The original 1982 artist concept of the "Faithful Pursuit" featured both the SAC and Tactical Air Command (TAC) crests. The Tuskegee Airmen initially served the 12th Tactical Airforce from about 1942-44. Later, in mid 1944 they received the new P-47 Thunderbolt high altitude fighter in conjunction with escort assignments into o

[BqUICK]

"Race Fever" is the motorsports celebration in this area. I will have Faithful Pursuit on display in Corning, New York on the 11th of August. Its hard to believe that we painted her last April and she has only had 3 public showings.

Work continues on alignment as the rear end is squared and now the front end must be done. Aluminum rims make it tough to work with, The ignition switch main power, and fuel pump switched are now located in the GSX console.

We worked to preserve what would have been a 1969 GSX format, looking at 1969 & 70 GSs and getting a sense of what an Electra 225 GSX would have looked like. Soon we will be in race trim but we need short track time trials, Perhaps this Friday. I can really say, this car is truely a Gran Sport Experimental.

[BqUICK]

The Faithful Pursuit went to her first gathering of cruisers, having driven the 30 miles under her own power for the first time in more than 22 years!

We went to "Consumer Square" in the Elmira area, after hours. The lot had just a few cars which afforded us the ablity to do a few high speed turns. The heavy motorcar handles very well and I am impressed with what I have seen so far. We have some distance video of that as well as some in-town driving. Impressive!

We will be selling "Wildcat Power" tee shirts in the coming weeks. The Faithful Pursuit has a 1970 "SF" 455 converted to STAGE 1 by Scotty Guadagno. They are black and outline the mission of the vehicle. It features a big cat spitting flames. The shirts will sell for $20 and are 100% cotton Haynes. Let me know if you are interested people! This will help us get to Orlando and the National Tuskegee Airmen convention in two weeks!

God Speed,

[55PackardGuy]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The shirts will sell for $20 and are 100% cotton Haynes. Let me know if you are interested</div></div>

Oh yeah! Save me an Extra-large--they always seem to sell out the fastest--and let me know where to send the check.

[jscheib]

Michael,

I would assume the request should be mailed to you, but who should the check be made to? Or if the mail request should go to others, let us know.

John

[Smartin]

I'm really late in getting these pictures posted...sorry!! Been taking care of weddings and other fun work-type deals.

[BqUICK]

All,

The annual Race Fever Celebration is tomorrow. People visit from all over the country, and perhaps some come from a few countries, to kick off NASCAR's return to Watkins Glen.

Faithful Pursuit will be on display on the Bridge Street Bridge. Thanks for your interest in the tee shirts! I will need for you to email me your addresses and sizes. $20 per shirt plus $2.25 for shipping and handling should do it. If you have a chapter, or want several shirts, I am sure that for every 10 we can give 1 free. Smartin will post the design shortly. Contact me at maj2nd@aol.com.

I travel to Orlando, Florida for the Tuskegee Airmen Convention right after Race Fever. We are buying a 24' trailer which we pick up tomorrow before Race Fever. Everything seems to be falling into place. We picked up 17 corporate sponsors to help pay for the shirts and have sold about 75 shirts so far!!!

Lots of 18 to 20 hour days!!!

May God Speed you on your way in a BUICK ,

[BqUICK]

The TEE Shirts came in yesterday and they look great! One of our supporters gave me a check for $200 for shirts. His long time friend, a local business owner, not to be outdone, had me cross out his original order and gave me a check for $225!

So far about 90 Tee Shirts are sold to 20 sponsors. It is a good start!

...going to drive 3 hrs to pick up the trailer any minute. Faithful Pursuit's 9" FORD rear was leaking at the port side axle. The seal had not been installed properly and was crushed.

We had a fit trying to replace the seal. The mounting flanges that hold the seal belong to a big Lincoln while the rest of the rear is the little Versalles from '78 to '81. The new seals were too loose to be pressed into place! After about three trips to auto parts stores we finally siliconed it in place. It looks like it held as I took her for a drive and there were no leaks. Braking seemed mildly improved without my rotor being soaked in 90 weight synthetic!

All seems to be shaping up for the Orlando trip and I look forward to meeting up with the Tuskegee Airmen and seeing some old friends as well as my family in Orlando!

[BqUICK]

We just drove about 800 miles, yesterday and today. Our 8,000 GVW Turbo Diesel Expedition was towing the 8,100 GVW trailer. Last night we pulled into Champlain, Virgina and stayed with a relative. This morning we turned around in the wet grass and put her into 4X4 LOW. There she stayed! We did not notice a problem for several miles of twisting back woods roads because you could not go faster than 40mph anyway!

With the FORD Bruiser unable to go more than 45 without redlining, we pulled into a school parking lot and called the emergency tow service for some pointers on why it would not come out of 4X4 LOW. Natuarally, no service departments were open it being Saturday morning.

I finally asked the emergency operator to patch me into the sales dept at a dealer in Richmond, VA, or somewhere around there. The southern sales guy came on and told me to run it in reverse, then neutral and switch it to 2WD. I told him I tried that already and it did not work. He said hit it lightly with a hammer or something. Hmmm...sort of like a sticky solenoid on a starter I mused. I gave him my thanks as he admitted I had exhausted his bank of FORD 4X4 knowledge.

Luckily, I had a good substitute for the soft mallet I normally use for such things. It was a wooden baseball bat my newphew forgot when he visited my family this summer. I spread out the work carpet on the hot Virgina school parking lot, it was already over 92 degrees, and started pounding the transfer case at strategic points! No luck. I had a heavy mallet which I used to express my frustration more vigorously! She still would not kick out of LOW. I disconnected the connectors hoping that would get it into the home state with no results. Fuses checked out too.

Now, here I am probably 50 miles from the nearest dealer, which had no service anyway, three little kids in the hot FORD and a racecar that needs to be in Orlando in 24 hours!

Well...you can probably guess what happened next. I called the beefiest kid of mine on site and had him take the baseball bat and wedge it under the right rear tire. (I'd hate to see what 8 tons could do to my rib cage, or my 10 year old's!)

I then took apart the transfer case solenoid housing with my son handing me tools. There we were, just like me and my dad back in '65 when a fuel line broke in the old finned Mercedes 220S. One big pair of legs and a little pair of legs sticking out from this 8 to "contraption", as my mother called it!

I pulled off the cover and found the solenoid actuated fitting locked down tight. I got a wrench, about a 9/16 or so open end and turned the transfer case in the direction opposite it's current setting. Thankfully, it turned!

We zip tied the connectors out of the way, secured the three bolts and put the tools back in the trailer. Fired her up and "Sho-nuff" we were back in business!!!

I'm glad that I wcould fix this problem and not have Bubba hand me a bill for a thousand bucks! There were a few other minor issues, like tire inflation variance that had the rig diving to the right upon brake application, scary as hell I might add, especially at 70 mph with big rigs in tight formation!

Otherwise, the 8 ton rig pulls very well up to about 70. Really smooth and has a nice Buick-like feel when she is loaded as she was designed! Without the load she tends to be a bit stiff and bouncy.

So we sleep in Georgia tonite and its the final leg to Orlando tomorrow!!! Keep us in your prayers!

God Speed,

[BqUICK]

Wow, we are finally here and it is "Hotter than the Hubs of Hell!" as one of the old glass furnace engineers at my job would say!

I unloaded the trailer and put the Faithful Pursuit in the convention hall. They said it had to have less than a quarter tank of gas, so I kept her running for about 30 minutes as I applied the lettering and ran her on I-4 for about 40 miles. and that burned about 10 gallons!

I ran with a new 300 series BMW as well as a new yellow Corvette. We do not have our 2.47 gears in yet so 70 mph cruise was all I could manage with 4.11 and overdrive!

We set up in the conference room and the Tuskegee Airmen and corporate members, and hotel staff were impressed! There were lots of comments like "Old School", "we used to have a '68...", "Niiiice!", and "Beautiful". The beautiful comment seems so funny after so many years of her being ...well...ugly. She seems the same to me like it never mattered how she looks, still doesn't. I just like old Electras no matter the condition. You know what I mean. Its like when you see that faded old Buick and you say, "wow what potential!" I'd rather see an original '65 Gran Sport thats been in a barn for 40 years than yet another restored '55 Bel Air some guy wants $100K for! I am talking to Buick people, you DO know what I mean don't you?!?

We open for the show at 11am tomorrow. We will see how many people buy our unique tee shirts. Hopefully we will be able to benefit more kids through our chapter's scholarship fund! We raised $3,000.00 for the scholarship fund last year at the Faithful Pursuit's unveiling in 2004. We will see how we end up this year!

Nevada looms in the distance...I just bought MOBIL 1 for Diesel. We can go 6 - 7K miles between changes. I would dislike having to change 18 quarts of oil twice on the road to and from Nevada! That would not be pretty or cheap!

God Speed,

[jscheib]

Thanks for the update. I hope your return trip goes smooth then the trip down. But as you indicated, it could have been worse. Just a reminder, it is finally a bit cooler in the Northeast.

John

[BqUICK]

We just returned after racking up 2770 miles!

On the way back we stopped by P-47 Thunderbolt pilot and Tuskegee Airman Ray Williams who was ill and unable to make the convention. He saw the car and really liked it. Ray and several other P-47 pilots including Black fighter ace Lee Archer and Dr. Roscoe Brown, who downed the group's first German jet fighter, also autographed the Faithful Pursuit's rear wing.

We received military as well as civilian media coverage. We will see if this helps our efforts to raise the funds necessary to go to Nevada.

God Speed.

[Smartin]

[BqUICK]

I brought my Buick Electra to the strip last night and while I was in the line up, engine oil started coming out of the back of the engine. It dripped down the oil pan as well as being flung by the torque converter. There was a steady drip and a small pool forming for a few minutes, then it stopped for the rest of the night.

Tech would not let me race and that was best. Does anyone have experience with this particular problem? The motor was built in '97, the car did not run until '04, it has about 100 miles on it.

[Guest John Chapman]

Sounds like a crankshaft rear seal leak to me.

JMC

[55PackardGuy]

Congratulations on just taking it to the track! Are you going to go another 2770 miles a quarter at a time? You are one busy racer.

I agree with the seal assessment. I wonder if it was due to how little the engine has been run since the rebuild. I don't know much about mains, but it seems that most automotive seals don't like to sit for too long.

[Buster]

Was this before or after the burnout?

[Buster]

The reason I ask is it could be due to high crankcase preasure.

[BqUICK]

The leak appeared prior to the burn out. A bit of load actually appeared to cause it to re-seal. Mike at TA said that a switch to synthetic sometimes causes that leak. He noted that a return to an oil like GTX 20/50 would stop it.

I will wait to hear from Scotty Guadagno before doing anything. If it is the choice of an oil change or pulling the engine again, I'm for the oil change!

I really wanted to keep the synthetic in her because of the temperatures and sustained duty but I am willing to change over.

Temperature at the strip was about 75 and conditions were great! It was tough to just pack up and go home after spending the $bux to get in with everyone! There will be some autocross at Watkins Glen this week as our driver Roy Hopkins will be in town doing some more racing with his regular car. It looks like a strong possibility of rain so we will have to try again for a road course at the end of the month!

Silver State may be out for this year. Although we have the truck, trailer, vacation time, a pro-driver, we still do not have the drivers to get the car to Nevada in 36 - 40 hours. Nor do we have the $2000 in fuel needed to make it happen. This in conjunction with various other teething issues like NO A/C may keep us out until next year! The Orlando adventure convinced me that 98 degrees in a car with no A/C was tough. Hmmm...try 110 - 125??? Maybe not!

Stay tuned as the saga continues!

God Speed,

[BqUICK]

It looks like Nevada in 2006! Over the past 10 weeks, we test drove the Faithful Pursuit, did our Race Fever show, the Tuskegee Airmen National Convention, obtained our Ford Excursion Limited, 7.3 Liter Turbo-Diesel Truck, 24' US Patriot Enclosed trailer.

Our attempt to go the the Silver State Classic in 2005 has been scrubbed, due to our teething technical issues. We are excited about many new supporters coming on, 17 in our local area, but it is too little, too late for 2005!

I spoke to Steve Waldman today, head of the Silver State Classic Challenge, and informed him of our decision. It was a tough one but we had to be realistic.

He told me that he looks forward to seeing us in 2006 and to tell all of our supporters that he is excited about seeing our car there whenever it can come.

I thank all of you for all of your support, we will not let you down! We will hit some high speeds with this amazing vehicle that honors our WWII heroes, the Tuskegee Airmen!

[55PackardGuy]

Michael,

Sorry to hear about the scrubbed run, but glad to know you'll have a year of further prep and shows. Are you also planning to race elsewhere? Much as I'd like to hear an affirmative, I also like to see the Faithful Pursuit preseved as a tribute car--I think that's a more accurate term than "show."It's a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen and your hard work, whether it's on the track or standing still--or just cruising around.

Guy

[BqUICK]

Guy,

You are right, it is indeed a tribute to the hard work and bravery of some of our nations greatest heroes. The car is just a car however, our goal is to have people go on their own journey of discovery. Americans of all stripes must learn of why it is important to know about the Tuskegee Airmen.

You and I cannot imagine ALL of the things that the Tuskegee Airmen have done to affect the very lives of all of us today. There was a time when the sight of that bright red tail on a P-51 Mustang fighter plane coming in to escort you home meant you were going to come home! With the horrific death toll exacted upon our bomber crews during WWII it is no wonder that after the Airmen proved themselves, they were always in demand "By Request"!

Two days ago, on Wednesday, I met a husband and wife in a local small shop in Corning, NY. I had brought Tuskegee Airmen Racing Enterprises tee shirts to one of our sponsors who told me "Visit the store next door...". I had to hear about this intersting story unfolding in the Ma and Pa shop. The wife told me "If not for the Tuskegee Airmen, I may not be here!" She mentioned this a couple of times during the course of our conversation. I did not know what she was talking about! Yeah, I thought, they were heroes and the war would have been tougher to win but we probably would not be speaking German or living in concentration camps!

She went to the back of the store and brought out an article about a 15th Air Force B-17 "Flying Fortress" heavy bomber named "Big Yank". It had a big portrait of FDR on the side (Franklyn D. Roosevelt for those of you who never got this in school!!! ) Well...it turns out that her dad was William S. Strapko, Captain of that ship on the longest 15th AF mission of of WWII. That was the famous 24 March 1945 Benz Tank Works mission where the 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen, had to fly double duty as escort because the fighters that were supposed to relieve the Airmen did not make the rendezevous point. Luckily, our boys "Aquired" long range fuel tanks by intercepting a train by truck, strapping the tanks on, in anticipation of a long mission, and flying it in true Tuskegee Airmen style, with class!

Our guys went on to fly the whole mission coming back dry in some cases. 1555 miles, round trip! The new ME 262, the German's latest "Wunder Weapon", came out in force! They were 100 mph faster than a P-51!!! Our boy's quick reflexes got 3-1/2 ME 262s!!! Tuskegee Airmen Roscoe Brown from New York City got the first one of that mission and the second one of the war. The B-17s of the 15th did a super job having knocked down 6, with the Big Yank's gunner, Lincoln Broyhill, blasting 2!

Maryann's dad came back alive perhaps because of the Airmen and certainly because of the dedication of the 15th Air Force bomber command, crews, maintenance, techs, engineers, doctors, nurses, etc. etc. It is ironinc that in the most destructive of human endeavers, the winners are those who are truely brothers and sisters in combat. The more dedication to eachother and God, the more successful the combatants appear to be.

The funny thing was that her husband just found out he has Black relatives although very, very distant! It must be a shock to live as a white guy for 50 years and find out you have black ancestors somewhere! This fellow was really pleased with the new found relatives and friends he has made, what an intersting story! One of them was a Tuskegee Airman! (I actually spoke to the Airman by cell phone from their little shop in Corning! Yeah, he's the real deal, although he never was in combat! ) Now that is what it is all about!

The kicker is that the wife felt she was here because of the Tuskegee Airmen and she never knew that she married a relative of one! Guess what...the Black fighter pilot that shot down the first ME 262 on that raid, Dr. Roscoe Brown, autographed the red tail of the Faithful Pursuit at the Airmens annual Convention a couple of weeks ago!!!

The Tuskegee Airman relative, Wallace Higgens, said that he did not complete the program because he contracted the mumps. He was part of the Class of 45A. My database indicates Wallace C. Higgins, X44K, Roster SO 163, Tuskegee AAF. It sounds like his illness knocked him out of 44K and he was put in 45A! His son, Don, happened to be at a conference in town and we all gathered for lunch. I gave them Tuskegee Airmen Racing Enterprises tee shirts including one for his dad, Wallace. The mom & pop, Don and his wife to be made a generous contribution to the Tuskegee Airmen scholarship fund! Wallace wants to join Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and I will connect him with our chapter president Col. Ed Monroe!

I guess that old Buick has done it again! It is starting to look like she has a life of her own, leading me on this wild ride. We have met some really incredible people and the stories could fill a book!

By the way, the vents were plugged, that is why she blows oil every once in a while! She builds pressure, blows out, is okay for a while then blows again! Boy do I feel dumb! We go to the track tonite unless she has other plans!

[55PackardGuy]

Michael,

Thanks so much for the "living history" lesson. This is truly the greatest part of your work, I think, the connections with the people you are honoring. As we go into Labor Day weekend, it's important to have these reminders of the amazing Labor that our armed forces have done, and continue to do today. There are no long weekends for the service men and women, and your post was a poignant reminder that we all need to be thankful that we have our freedoms and holidays due in large part to their hard work.

Carry on!

[Smartin]

[BqUICK]

I took the photos in the above posting during the August 16 - 20 Convention.

1. The youth luncheon was very well attended. It is believed that 78 of the remaining 200 Tuskegee Airmen pilots attended the convention. Perhaps several thousand of the original 13,000 Tuskegee Airmen in total are still alive. Several hundred Tuskegee Airmen, including nurses, mechanics, grounds crew, were present.

2. Youth luncheon awardee, his mother, a Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. member, and our keynote speaker, and Astronaut.

3. Some of my family living in Orlando, my kids, and the Faithful Pursuit

4. A young man wins a 1/18 scale Tuskegee Airmen 99th Fighter P-40 Fighter plane.

5. My mentor within the Tuskegee Airmen,Inc. Mr. Jean R. Esquerre. Jean was a radio operator and gunner in B-25s during the war. He was part of the 477th composite group that was never deployed due to the "bomb" ending the war with Japan. Years later, after obtaining his degree in engineering from CCNY, Jean developed the super sensitive filtration system that eliminated potential fuel leaks on the Lunar Landing Module while an engineer at Grumman. He rose to become the first Black director of a major aerospace corporation, Grumman Aeroscape Corp.

[BqUICK]

What a day!!! The Faithful Pursuit finally ran a road course! Now I know why we re-designed that suspension and cut it out and welded it in 5 times! I'll be darned if it doesn't turn flatter than my old 250 S Mercedes! We did not go very fast or for many laps but it was an extraordinary opportunity. Back in '48, well before the closed track was established, people were running a race around the town of Watkins Glen. The normally public road course was closed off to traffic and bales of straw set up at the tough turns! They call it the historic course and at the "Vintage" rally held annually, they run two laps of the historic course with cars that must be older than 25 years. There was a jet black Ferrari 275, an absolutely immaculate show winner DB 6 Aston Martin convertible, MGs, all original low mile "upside down bathtub" Porsche 356, a 1926 Ford racecar, a 190? Ford special body "T" speedster (35mph!) complete with "monocle" windcreen for the driver only, a swoopy sleek black Allard, (now I know what the term "It is to 'die for' means!") more than 50 very special cars, some of them valued at well over 1 million dollars!

We sat with the sports/racing crowd in the Concours de Elegance section . (It is French, for 'Judging of the Elegant'. Pronounced 'Concoo-D-Ele-Gaa' or something like that!We Americans typically buthcer it by saying 'concoarse!' )

Then there we were! "Chrome plated brass knuckles!" Proud American iron decked out in red, white, and blue! We took the finest parts from international suppliers to make the Faithful Pursuit a world class luxury super-gran touring sedan. West German Talbot racing mirrors, French Pirelli High Speed Tires, 500 HP and 535 FT-LBS from a beast of 455 Buick, an equally impressive English overdrive capable of withstanding 1200 HP, a NASCAR 4" steel drivesahft, 4 racing seats, two with 5 point harnesses, Bold GSX stipe with stars in it and a GSX tail, 7 point roll cage, blacked out grille and hood! This car looked like the proverbial "Wolf in a sheep's skin!"

We really wowed the car and heard comments like..."I heard it and knew I had to find it!" ; "...I've been coming here for years and we never had anything like this here before!" ; "Its got a 455 STAGE1!" ; "Beautiful!"; "Wow!"; "...labor of love" ; "...amazed at how many special features!" ; "...its got a full cage!" ; "That looks like a 1 inch sway bar...is that a 1 inch sway bar!!?!!" ; "Are those RECARO racing seats?" ; "You scared me when you started it up, you should give us a warning!!!" "wow...its TUSKEGEE AIRMEN!!!" ; "...look...the oil cooler intake is in the same place as a P-51 Mustang!"

Naturally, there were lots of "I did not know Buick made a GSX!?!" comments. I made sure to let them know it was a 'take off' of an actual car that Buick made. "Yes Buick made a Skylark based GSX and although rated at 370 HP it was as fast or faster than the Chevelle SS 454 rated at 450 HP!"

It was a blast to run with Ferraris, Astons, and other 'super-cars'! I was honored to be there and we represented very well. We still had the pesky oil drip and when I leaned on it we paid for it with oil smoke in the cockpit. The crowd roared every time we thromped on it! She ran great and it was the most fun I've had yet!

The navy blue blazered judges came over to inspect our car. They had clipboards and foam pads that they would put down to inspect under the car. (I was glad we had the underside painted and detailed!) They got a rise out of the trans oil cooler behind the rear license plate and the 1" front sway bar! They were a pretty conservative bunch of five guys in white shirts and ties but they cracked a few smiles when the saw some of the key elements of the Faithful Pursuit!

I represented the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and spent much time letting people know the story of the Airmen and showed them the signatures of the fighter pilots, gained at their national convention weeks ago, and support personnel on the tail!

God Speed,

[Buster]

Wow, sounds like you had a blast!!! Glad to hear you finally made it to Watkins Glen! Do you think you would ever be able to post a short video of that beast in action.

[55PackardGuy]

Happy Days!

[BqUICK]

Here is a site that offers photos of the historic race. We enjoyed running the old course!!!

We are on pages 6 & 12. More photos to follow!!!

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm...p;ts=1126447266

[55PackardGuy]

It sure is nice to see the Faithful Pursuit on the road. Way too many pics to look through in one sitting, but a good site to return to. Along with the exotics, this event seems to be accepting of the more "plebian" cars like the TR6 and Volvo. The Buick DEFINITELY shows a stately class that stands out among the ordinary sports cars. In fact, even the exotics take on a "sameness" alongside it. It has a "presence" all its own. Gotta get me one of them T-shirts!

[Smartin]

[BqUICK]

Smartin,

Thanks for posting the photos above. It was fun doing 50 foot second gear burnouts! The Watkins Glen road course and judging for the Concours D' Elegance was really special as well.

Our main job is to spread the word about the Tuskegee Airmen and I think we are getting through. Here is an Armed Forces article featuring the Tuskegee Airmen and the Faithful Pursuit.

http://www.ngb.army.mil/news/story.asp?id=1740

God Speed,

[55PackardGuy]

That judge looks kind of like you weren't sahposed to take his picture! Thanks for the shots and the link.

[55PackardGuy]

Michael,

Hope things are going well. I just got to thinkin' today (not always a good sign) about whether you have an on-board fire supression system on the Faithful Pursuit? I suppose it has to meet some kind of requirements to run on a sanctioned course, and was wondering what they are?

Expect a check for a T-shirt soon. Be safe out there!

Guy

[BqUICK]

Guy,

At certain speeds, fire supression equipment is necessary. It is recommended to always have a fire extinguisher anyway. At over 185mph, I believe, an automatic system is manditory.

Also, the local team has "Racing and Curry" meetings where we get together and discuss next steps in the program. I work as a senior project engineer for a huge corporation. Well, our corporate engineering group had a Cultural Food Fest. My Racing Curry Chicken won Second Prize! $50 bucks can buy a few gallons of racing gas!

God Speed,