Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[ron54]

Attachment 475116
ROSSINARI in Paris.

You never did tell us the story of this one Jackie.

[jackiewilson]

You never did tell us the story of this one Jackie.

Nothing to tell Phill. Once Don got an idea, he would see it through to the end. He found a chippy. Drew the boat himself and simply had it made. He did more experimental boats for Charlie Sheppard than any one ever knew. I had the same chippy build me a boat, i knew it would be a world beater.
I Couldnt get mine to work either !!!!

[GrewuponLakeX]

I kept the invitation we received to Giorgio's wedding! Says he married Stefania Porta on February 25,1974. Peg and I didn't attend, we couldn't afford to fly to Italy on a Mercury Racing salary. Always thought it was so nice of the Molinari's to extend the invite.

Attachment 475109

Attachment 475110

Pretty cool, huh

It was a very nice wedding - my one and only Italian wedding. That is so cool that you still have the invite.

[jackiewilson]

It was a very nice wedding - my one and only Italian wedding. That is so cool that you still have the invite.

I never did get an invite, Guess even Giorgio was caught up in me and Renato’s disagreements.
To be fair, I had dropped out of the racing scene from 1971 to 1974, I was trying to get the new Garage business up and running.

[Lake X Kid]

Giorgio never changed Bill. Still married to Stefania with kids. His mother and father told him he couldn’t race boats after he was married . I think he preferred to act as Renatos crew cheif anyway.

Jackie, I do not remember if Giorgio raced at all in 1973, before his upcoming 1974 wedding.

Sometime and I do not recall what year it was, but Giorgio went to Wisconsin for some Merc tech school training.
So I think the Molinari family and Giorgio reasoned, that Giorgio was better suited to twirl a wrench than put on a race helmet.

Side story: how many Italians can you fit in a Fiat 500?

I had eaten several times with Giorgio & Stefania and their mutual friends. And we all would meet somewhere near Como, and then the group would decide where to eat that evening. And then everyone would jump into 3 to five cars, and we would all speed off to the restaurant. I do not know the answer to the above question, but I do remember at the time, Wow, that many young adults squeezing into Fiats, Lancias, etc.
Thank you Giorgio for the memories.

[Lake X Kid]

We all tested on lake Como . Dick Sommerfeldt was posh and stayed at the hotel VILLE D’ ESTE at the bottom end of the lake. He was also Freds best customer. He had a boat on permanent order. Towed the boat behind an MGB ragtop. I stayed at Rolla’s old farmhouse in Casale Montferato.

Jackie don't you mean the Inline 6 on the Molinari boat towed the MGB rag-top?
The visualization of a small MGB pulling a larger race boat down the highway is comical, for a lack of a better word on my part.
Here is a photo that I saw on the internet, to put it in a perspective scale. The MGB rag-top (4 banger) is towing a 9'8" boat. And the Inline 6 size, next to the right of the MGB is dwarfing the car. When Dick was towing the boat, with the rag-top down, what hat/cap was he wearing if any?

~~~

I included a MGB fastback hardtop in the photo. In the 1970s my cousin Tom had one then. Tom is 6'3" and he, and I would get in the little guy and go tooling around town. It was a fun ride.
He would tow his 12 foot runabout to the bay. And we would go skiing after work and/or on weekends.
It took all of that Johnson 35 (if it really had 35 horses at the prop shaft) to pull me out of the water on a salomon ski. Most of the time, I would just get up on two skies, and then drop one of the water-skies. Easier on the motor.

[Lake X Kid]

Over 60 years ago--Kelly Johnson came up with a solution--and it worked---

For years I have been friends with Pat (General Halloran)---Pat worked closely with Lockheed---he is older than Jackie or me!!
His logbook shows over 600 hours at over Mach 3--
Do the math--

Kelly Johnson and probably Elon Musk too, are driven leaders of innovation, and surely
like Mr. K can be labeled Iron Fist too. The employees suffer the association but society
reaps the achievements.

[jackiewilson]

Jackie don't you mean the Inline 6 on the Molinari boat towed the MGB rag-top?
The visualization of a small MGB pulling a larger race boat down the highway is comical, for a lack of a better word on my part.
Here is a photo that I saw on the internet, to put it in a perspective scale. The MGB rag-top (4 banger) is towing a 9'8" boat. And the Inline 6 size, next to the right of the MGB is dwarfing the car. When Dick was towing the boat, with the rag-top down, what hat/cap was he wearing if any?

~~~

I included a MGB fastback hardtop in the photo. In the 1970s my cousin Tom had one then. Tom is 6'3" and he, and I would get in the little guy and go tooling around town. It was a fun ride.
He would tow his 12 foot runabout to the bay. And we would go skiing after work and/or on weekends.
It took all of that Johnson 35 (if it really had 35 horses at the prop shaft) to pull me out of the water on a salomon ski. Most of the time, I would just get up on two skies, and then drop one of the water-skies. Easier on the motor.

Now I’m going to have to take this one step at a time ROY.
Last picture of the MG hardtop is a GT. Usually fitted with an overdrive that worked on all five gears, and reverse. There were various stages of tune where you could up the horsepower in six stages. First step was twin SU’s. Downtown Engineering were the MG And Mini specialists. MG had plenty of power for hauling a boat. A whole 1600cc.
My everyday workhorse when i had the garage was a mini van. 998cc, i hauled the Torrigia up and down the country, with five kids in the back.
TRUE STORY.
On the way to Iver , we had to go through Leatherhead, Mark warned me the Fuzz were coming up behind a mile before they caught up with us. To my amazement they indicated i should stop. This i did , was handed a speeding ticket. Asked them if they were taking the piss. Was told i was exceeding the 60 mph speed limit . Told him he was a liar. Thats when the trouble started.
I appeared in court and was charged with exceeding the speed limit and did i have anything to say. Only a Thousand or more choice words, congratulating the police on their utter stupidity in charging me with something that didnt happen. I tried explainIng to the judge, that never in a million years was there a mini van that could do even forty miles an hour uphill into leatherhead with five kids and all the camping gear for a long weekend , besides towing a 17 foot tunnel boat. Now if the police had fined me for Loitering, i would understand. Judge overruled me and banged the hammer down. 25 quid fine. Told him the policeman was lying through his eye teeth. A, i had seen him coming a country mile away through my children’s eyes. And there wasnt a mini in the land that could do what i was charged with. Judge said i was guilty as charged. I went over to the judge and said, Your Honour, how the hell do you expect me to teach my kids to respect the law and its officers, when i i know, and they know, along with that lying tow rag of a policeman that hes lying. I was fined an extra ten pounds for contempt.
Just trying to tell you its possible to tow a big boat behind a mini,

[Rotary John]

Jackie: Thought of you when I saw this.

My urologist’s office called the other day and explained that my scheduled appointment would now be done over the phone due to the Coronavirus. One hour before the scheduled teleconference, I was instructed (via email) to administer my own urine test.



Directions :



Simply go outside and pee on the front lawn.



If ants gather: DIABETES.

If you pee on your feet: PROSTATE.

If it smells like a barbecue: CHOLESTEROL.

If you don’t enjoy holding your penis in your hand: LOW TESTOSTERONE.

If your wrist hurts when you shake it: OSTEOARTHRITIS.

If you return to your house without zipping your fly: ALZHEIMER.

[FUJIMO]

...the "practice" of medicine......

[2us70]

At our age they get to "practice" on us an awful lot.

[FUJIMO]

At our age they get to "practice" on us an awful lot.

...please...that's a very "sore" subject for me at this moment...just had my first(and will be my last) tooth extraction...

[2us70]

Tell me about it. My dermatologist seems bent on skinning me and starting over.

[jackiewilson]

...please...that's a very "sore" subject for me at this moment...just had my first(and will be my last) tooth extraction...

I had my very last tooth extracted last year. My sainted mother pegged it right.TEETH. THEYRE A DAMN NUISANCE WHEN THEYRE COMING. A PAIN WHEN THEYRE HERE, AND A DAMN PAINFUL NUISANCE WHEN THEYRE GOING ,! But then she was a wise old biddy.

[jackiewilson]

ROY, there has always been this great divide between our two nations on motors. Now the COLONIALS always believed that muscle was the only way to travel . Preferably with a very agricultural V8 configeration in a big badly handling but comfortable vehicle . Even tractors and Peterbilts were happy with this set up.
Europeans oincluded a MGB fastback hardtop in the photo. In the 1970s my cousin Tom had one then. Tom is 6'3" and he, and I would get in the little guy and go tooling around town. It was a fun ride.
He would tow his 12 foot runabout to the bay. And we would go skiing after work and/or on weekends.
It took all of that Johnson 35 (if it really had 35 horses at the prop shaft) to pull me out of the water on a salomon ski. Most of the time, I would just get up on two skies, and then drop one of the water-skies. Easier on the mot. Well, gasoline was 10 Cents a gallon, so that never came into the equation.
Europeans on the other hand went for smaller cars, smaller and more economical engines , gasoline was always about five times more expensive this side of the pond, so prudence was necessary.
What Americans think is the minimum requirement for hauling a boat is far removed from its Europe counterpart .
Now here is something for you to chew on.
My very first boat was a 12’ Broom Sabre wooden runabout, with an 18hp Evinrude. My father weighed in at around 110 lbs, he would drive the boat, My young brother Nipper would do a wet start on a pairs of CYPRESS GARDENS skis. was a struggle i admit, but dad would lean forward and nipper and me would swing out sideways and eventually get up there. This was late fifties, early sixties.