Event 12 information

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:41 am

Jesus, dude. I can't believe all the crap that you've been though! I'll look for you on the Tonight Show too! Hehe. Best of luck getting the car sorted!

Post by **thrdeye** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:42 am

I thought all of those new Mazda's had the RENESIS in them???

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:47 am

Ummmm me too.

dfsmith · Post by **dfsmith** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:07 am

thrdeye wrote:I thought all of those new Mazda's had the RENESIS in them???

The Star Mazda series does (I was mistakenly calling it Formula Mazda). The one in the photo is, in fact, a car from that series driven by Eric McCombs (thanks to the galleries on the Star Mazda website).

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:15 am

dfsmith wrote:
thrdeye wrote:I thought all of those new Mazda's had the RENESIS in them???
The Star Mazda series does (I was mistakenly calling it Formula Mazda). The one in the photo is, in fact, a car from that series driven by Eric McCombs (thanks to the galleries on the Star Mazda website).

Yeah, that's what it is called. I'm just used to "Formula Ford" and figured Formula Mazda sounded good.

dfsmith · Post by **dfsmith** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:21 am

MARKP wrote:
dfsmith wrote:
thrdeye wrote:I thought all of those new Mazda's had the RENESIS in them???
The Star Mazda series does (I was mistakenly calling it Formula Mazda). The one in the photo is, in fact, a car from that series driven by Eric McCombs (thanks to the galleries on the Star Mazda website).
Yeah, that's what it is called. I'm just used to "Formula Ford" and figured Formula Mazda sounded good.

Well .... the more I read, the more it looks like they use both names. Star Mazda is the series, Formula Mazda is the car class. There is a Pro Formula Mazda and a Standard Formula Mazda. The Pro cars are equipped with the RENESIS. Standard has a 13B with a Weber.
More info here.

And I think the credits in the galleries are wrong. Car #64 is driven by Patrick O'Neill, unless McCombs was filling-in for some reason or another.

TedV · Post by **TedV** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:29 am

specs on the FSCCA are here. Chassis look similar. Not sure who actually makes them

http://www.scca-enterprises.com/fscca_s ... specs[url]

::edit:: this could be why I thought Van Diemen chassis:
http://www.dolphin-motorsports.com/Car-SCCA3b.jpg

::edit-edit:: Ians pic has the belly pan diffuser to the inside of the rear wheel.. so Pro Mazda ... where are the real formula car guys when ya need em??

Ian Wilson · Post by **Ian Wilson** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:44 pm

So we left of with the car back on the road and me clutching the winning numbers for the Lottery. Friday morning we took a trip down to Long beach and checked out this old girl.

Then it was on to Hondata in Torrance to check out my ECU, if you recall I had swapped the K-Pro (programmable daughter board) in Birmingham, Alabama. Hondata had emailed me to say there was nothing wrong with the old one. Turned out a couple of pins needed sorting out on my ECU. Job done it was onto Prototype Racing – some of you reading this will need a quick bit of background. My Elise has a Honda Type R engine; originally the kit was supplied by Prototype Racing. Since the S1 Elise is not road legal in the States road testing was left up to the end user – in this case, me and a couple of other unfortunates. To make a very long story short, 90% of it has since been removed from the car. As it turned out I was one of the lucky ones to actually receive anything at all. So I figured it would only be right to pop in and say hello. Unfortunately the owner was no where to be seen.

Not long after I’m sitting at an intersection and well I’ll let you guess what happened next…

Got it yet?

In case you’re a bit slow of the mark, I’ll describe the situation. I’m at least 8 or 9 feet behind the lady looking for something in the car. Patrick suddenly reaches across and hits the horn. I look up to see the Toyota’s reversing lights on and slam the car into reverse. But it’s too late and I can only watch in disbelieve as with the horn still blowing the Toyota Sienna hits the front of my car with enough impact to break the mounting points on its bumper. We get out fearing the worse but unbelievably all I can see are scratches on the paint work. It’s not worth a claim and the scratches will T-cut out.

Drama over we head for the NBC studios for the taping of the tonight show. The queue outside is a mile long, but instead of joining it Patrick ushers us into another entrance where his uncle is waiting for us. Patrick is so well connected we could probably get ring side seats to Saddam Hussein’s trial if we wanted them. The tour of NBC continues into the ‘Green room’ where the guests wait before coming on. A nice selection of food and drink is on offer and I’m feeling a little peckish – so a public apology is in order to Tyra Banks and the other guests about the little mess we left behind  Finally we get seated right in front next to the band. Jay comes out and gives us a quick rundown on what’s going to be happening. The Tonight show format is ‘Live to tape’, meaning although it’s not live, there are no re-takes and mistakes are left in. Because we’re sitting in the front we all get to shake hands with Jay when the show begins. Got to say at this point its pretty amazing to be in the presence of such a famous figure he really does come across as a genuinely nice guy. The show itself was great but what followed completely blew me away.

We walk out the back to see what Jay has driven to work. Jay of course owns pretty much every desirable car every manufactured. So I’m expecting perhaps a McLaren of some description. But what I find confirms in mind what I’ve read. Jay is a total car nut and despite his enormous wealth this is what he’s chosen to drive tonight…

Don’t believe me?

It’s a 1953 2-stroke Saab. But wait it gets better, while we’re giving it the once over, the great man himself comes out. After a few words he gets ready to leave and I mutter something about it being a 2-stroke. Jay jumps out opens the bonnet and proceeds to tell us all about it. His enthusiasm is genuine and his knowledge boundless. Finally if that wasn’t enough we got this…

From the left Patrick, Alan, some guy who Patrick said was important

myself and CJ - also known as Cliff Jockey for his ability to drive his Elise up vertical surfaces with varying degrees of success.

What a night, and many thanks to Patrick for making it so memorable. The night is still young and we head back to meet up with a couple of other Elise owners for dinner. Many on the Lotus forums will recognize the young lady in this photo.

America’s answer to The Stig (you need to have seen the BBC series Top Gear to understand) is to the left, and Don a local Lotus technician is next to him. Lillie has done more to improve Trans-Atlantic relations than the last 10 years of G8 summits. I can assure everyone nothing has changed. For those not aware of her contribution here’s a scan of a Lotus magazine with Lillie doing her bit for Anglo-American relations at a Lotus Christmas party in England a few years back.

I would imagine the people sitting at the next table will remember what happened next with more clarity than most

It was an early start the next morning for the drive to Crystal Cove 5:45am to be exact

The Stig had stayed over and I followed him down to Crystal Cove.

With rain the previous night, Patrick was disappointed with the turn out. Where as I wandered around with my jaw dragging along the ground.

They let me in

Patrick was flying out to watch a Football game in Chicago, another Uncle or Aunt had sorted out tickets in the owners box – did I mention Patrick is more connected than the internet? But he’d arranged for me to stay at a friends place in Hollywood. Alan is a script writing Elise owner and all round top guy. He’s paid his dues and now entertains calls from the likes of Mel Gibson. Despite all this he shares his house not with some Hollywood starlet but a pet rabbit that treats his furniture as food. Patrick had warned me Alan had been up till 6am working on a script, so I decided to call in on Brian (Chief Rocka), Brian as you may recall was the guy who send me the Tripod joint that finally got me moving again in Flagstaff. I tossed him the keys and didn’t see him again for half an hour

Turned up at Alan’s late in the afternoon, we went out to a local Hollywood hangout and I let him drive the car. It was hilarious watching him try to get used to changing gear with his other hand. 1st to 4th was one of his favourites. The following morning it was off on a ‘Toy’s for Tot’s’ charity run. We all met up a big car park where once again I was left slack jawed at the number of super cars in attendance. They say the Great Wall of China is one of the only man made structures visible from space. But today an astronaut would have been blinded by the red of the countless numbers of Ferrari’s. If the dollar value of the cars on display at Crystal Cove could have bought a small 3rd world country today’s turnout could have probably bought the lot.

Following lunch we decided to head for the hills. Now up to this point I had developed a bit of a love hate relationship with L.A. I loved the climate and the café culture, but the sheer size of the place and the abysmal state of the Freeways had pretty much killed any desire to live there. What was to follow changed all that. We headed down Mulholland Drive and turned off onto Mulholland highway and eventually the Pacific coast highway. The next 30 or 40 miles bought back memories of the European Alps. The road was fantastic as good as anything I’d experienced on the trip so far. And this time it was with 10 or so other Elise’s. At the end of it I’d have been happy to turn around and do it all over again.

So there you have it, the trip is nearing its end. Tomorrow the car gets dropped of at the shippers and I fly out to Auckland, New Zealand to start a new life. If there’s time Alan is going to cap it all off with an inside tour of the Warner brothers studio.

And by the way, I won a dollar in the lottery. Things are starting to look up!

It’s been a fantastic trip and in many ways I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. I’ve already decided to return again this time with my long suffering wife to take care of a little unfinished business.

This trip has changed my perception of America and I hope it’s done the same for a few others.

Thanks for reading.

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:59 am

Wow... that's all I have to say.

Next time you make this trip... I'm following you. The whole way. No doubt about it. I'm doing it. Period. If you'll have me!

Scuffcakes · Post by **Scuffcakes** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:06 pm

Somehow this whole thread needs to be bound up in a book or something. Ian, thanks for sharing with us.

dfsmith · Post by **dfsmith** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:21 pm

Ian, it's been quite an adventure for us as well, living vicariously through your adventures (or misadventures at times?)

. It's great to hear you had all the warm welcomes across the country. We were certainly glad you stopped in Knoxville to kick back and have a beer or two with the unofficial ETR welcome committee

. I think I probably owe you a few pints the next time you're nearby, or when I find myself in NZ. I hope your flight is a bit less eventful than your cross-country journey. Best of luck to you in NZ and I hope you keep dropping in here to pay us a visit. Cheers!

EliseAutoXr · Post by **EliseAutoXr** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 8:44 pm

I too very much enjoyed your thread, thank you very much for keeping us updated... Next one of us should have our car shipped to NZ and take a tour there

...

Thanks again for all of your effort and glad you had a good time!

Ian Wilson · Post by **Ian Wilson** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:34 pm

You guys are bookmarked, so there'll be no escaping frequent attention. Actually I'm in the Airport right now waiting to fly out. Had an interesting day, worthy of a small epilogue.

BTW Michael when I was at the Toys for Tots day someone who was part of a Ford Focus forum came up to me and said he knew you. Apparently you'd posted something on their forum and it clicked into place when he saw the Elise parked up. Small world huh?

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:30 pm

Hehe, hope you have a good flight home! Tell the rest of your Kiwi mates that we're not as bad and the media says we are! And next time you come... don't come during the middle of the week!! And next time you can't try to get me busted by the bartender!

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:31 pm

Ian,

I guess you won't see this until you are at home but I hope the trip home is uneventful.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I will miss reading up on your travels. I envy the visit to the Tonight Show and meeting Jay Leno.

I hope you get the opportunity to come visit again and actually make it to one of our autocrosses next time.

Good luck and happy travels!