Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[jackiewilson]

Wow, —— did we ever nail the Sunday general knowledge crossword! Had to use the iPad a couple of times———— how come it’s ok to use the Dictionary and Thesaurus to solve a crossword—— but it’s cheating to use the iPad?.
8:30 am and I’m off into the shop tofernagle .

[jackiewilson]

Had and a great Sunday lunch down in Portsmouth ——- roast shoulder of lamb with all the trimmings——- tour of the toyshop which currently has three Moto Guzzis in residence——— back home sticking the last couple of coats of diamond black onto the latest Concept .
Maybe some piccies tomorrow!

[FUJIMO]

[jackiewilson]

Many thanks Fuji ——- you know what, the only other guy who I knew was good with the camera was Butler——— he was never seen in public without a pair slung round his neck———- I asked him once if he knew who “FUJIMO” was, he said he had no idea ———- secondly, I once asked you (on line) if we have ever met, you told me NO !
I have to believe what folk tell me, but I can’t for the life in me think how we missed each other years ago——— I knew an awful lot of Mercury guys from way back ——- from the days of Bill Steele and Joe Swift. Just intrigued Fuji —— I’ll find you one day! Thanks again for cleaning up the pics for me.

[FUJIMO]

You are A LOT older than I am(lol) Jackie...This is why we never crossed paths. But YOU are young at heart. This, and lifelong common interests keeps things roll'n here on S & F. Thanks for all the great stories.

[jackiewilson]

I got a million stories Fuji——- and I’ve forgotte two million——every day still throws up new challenges and new adventures———- new people take you on a different journey through life, going down different roads to the “normal” .
One hell of a lot to take in and act on——- if you don’t act, then it’s an opportunity missed and another crack at notoriety or fame, wealth or happiness just might have passed you by.
Remember that “ROAD TO HELL”? Life is not just what you make it———sometimes it’s what life makes of you !
Thats Enough waffling for one day———- any more and OLD WILLABEE will be on my case (again) TOO MUCH INFORMATION———- I’m glad he’s given his “Hot Singles” a double dose of Steroids Now he’s on the march again, he just might be the first to reach the million mark on S&F after all .

[Bob V]

#22 - Jackie Wilson - 17' Molinari marathon - Cowbell - Havasu 1970- If you have ever talked to Jackie, you know that every other sentence has a " bloody hooray " in it someplace. I had our boat painter make a couple of decals with that term on them. I presented them to Jackie at Havasu, he laughed and said that he would display them proudly I guess you can't see them the way this picture turned out, but that's what it says in the white rectangle just in front of his number.

[jackiewilson]

Bob, Welch was a great crew chief for the Mercury Race Team for a goodly number of years——- a quiet man and well respected by one and all——— worked at the lake as a test driver, then GG promoted him to CREW CHIEF.
I first met him at Torriggia on Lake Como ( around 69/70) GG had him running around like a blue arsed fly, though Bill would never have a bad word said against GG!
Favourite drink is Rum and Coke, and favourite “Cat House” was Judy’s Gin Mill in Oshberg.
Was there at the time of Sirois, Stickle, Hering, Downard, Petty, Packer, and Peacock and Percival—— Seebold and Spalding, Fountain and Bentz, Dierx and Velden and dozens more. Oh yes, I was there for a couple of years, but I could never keep my mouth shut tight——if I had a beef about anything, it just came out. I stayed with Gary and Marcia on a number of occasions——- even went to a Greek wedding with them at one time. But, we were both strong characters and the final moments of me and Mercury ended at Windermere.
Garbrecht was intrigued with the Cosworth and I introduced him to Duckworth——- you have to look in the history books to see where Mercury and Cosworth went from there !
I also introduced him to a very good friend of mine who was an ex racer before the war and sponsored the Cosworth to Parker——- Bedford Davies (Bud).
Like I said before—— life opens up many avenues—- you do not procrastinate——- or you will live to regret it. Sometimes you will get it right—- sometimes you will fall flat on your face—— it’s nice to be able to turn around and say. “Well, at least I tried”.
I can tell you from experience——- you will get a great deal of satisfaction out of that!

[powerabout]

How did you get to know Bedford Davies, that must be interesting

[jackiewilson]

How did you get to know Bedford Davies, that must be interesting

Now that’s quite another story Pilgrim—— Tuesday morning in October ‘75, this ageing smartly dressed American gentleman walks into my office ( through the garage and workshop then up the flight of stairs) and starts talking boats. Told me he was in Paris last Sunday watching the six hour race——— was that little Cosworth two litre really as good as it looked ! Why did I let Percival and Spalding through on the inside when I was leading the race? Why did I have to make a pit stop after one and half hours, put the boat on the crane, only for the crane driver to smash the side out of it on the cranes jib?
Oh boy I thought, I don’t have time for this——- been away all weekend, stack of work to do—- garages don't just run themselves, hells teeth just go away—— but he was a nice guy and wanted to talk. I kept looking at the clock, but he wasn’t taking any notice.
asked me how much it was going to cost to get the Hodges repaired ? How much was a new Hodges ?
Gotta go now Pilgrim——- tell you the rest of the tale after lunch!

[jackiewilson]

Continue——-“ So why don’t you get Hodges to build you a new boat” ? Because new boats don’t grow on trees they’re made from trees, and the repair jobs about 500 quid and a new one comes around the three thousand mark—————- game over, time for Bedford Davies to leave,——— I got a living to earn and five hungry kids to feed.
He then said “HOW ABOUT I BUY YOU A NEW BOAT”————-yeah, yeah yeah,—— been there, got the T shirt———- gently ushering him out the door.
He starts searching through his pockets and tapping each pocket and then said,” Dang, I could have sworn I brought my check book with me”. At this I just cracked up——- they are amongst us I thought——— bye bye Mr Davies, catch you later, nice meeting you! Then went back to what I do best——— trading!
Some five minutes later, there’s a knock on the door and Bedford Davies comes in waving something—— he says———— found this Citicorp Check book in the car and there’s still one unused cheque in it——- how much did you say the new Hodges was?
Oh for crying out loud——— is this guy for real I thought———- It’s made out to cash———- any bank will give you the three grand ! He was halfway across the forecourt and Liveried Chauffeur was holding the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud back door open—————- ‘scuse me Mr Davies, can I ask what you do for a living————— oh, I retired long time ago he says—————- but what did you do?———I had a company , sold it when Daisy and me retired to Scottsdale Arizona!
OK, so what did you sell?——— this and that———- what’s was the name of the company?———————WESTINGHOUSE——-He says and drove off in the direction of London.

[powerabout]

http://www.edwardtbedfordfoundation.org/founder.html
Was involved with GG and the 176mph boat

[jackiewilson]

http://www.edwardtbedfordfoundation.org/founder.html
Was involved with GG and the 176mph boat

Yup, that was after I introduced him to GG at Parker——- he also paid for the boat to be flown over to LA——- Duckworth arranged for Roger Penske to pick the boat up and keep it at one of his garages. Brett May towed the boat from LA to Havasu——— I bought a GMC Custom Panel Van so Malcolm TYRRELL——- Ian Hawkins and me could tow the Cosworth back from Havasu.

[ron54]

The feller who looks after my old Lexus was apprenticed at a Toyota dealership in Bristol U.K. At that time Mr. Penske owned many of the Toyota dealer franchises in England and made a point of making an annual visit to each of them the meet the on-site staff..

My man ( then a rookie kid ) knew of the impending visit to "his " depot and nervously kept his head under the hood in an effort to "lie low" hoping the approaching entourage would pass him by.

No chance.... "The Captain" addressed him by name welcomed him to the "family" and wished him a long and successful career and made a point of following his progress on subsequent visits...........All man management bulls**t we know but this is why RP is such a success..

This has got nothing to do with JW's post but I just thought I would mention it.. apologies for interrupting...as you were

[jackiewilson]

Keep it up Phill———I don’t give a flying fart what you say, or where you go——- you will never be able to match me in the nonsense stakes.
Bedford did not ever talk about wealth Pilgrim ——- he always had objectives—— but it was obvious from just after the start, he was high up in the pecking order.
Had a good day in the shop——— finally nailed the problem of the windshield, but not before I’d killed five of them.
Got most of the construction done——— if I had any sense I would send the piece to John for detailing, but I’m afrad me and common sense don’t travel together very well.
Took a few phogies but they were plain awful, Decided to wait until I was closer to the finish line——-