Jim Clark, Racing Legend

I've had a soft spot for the "golden age" of Formula 1 racing that, oddly enough, was triggered by the Papyrus Software racing simulation game "Grand Prix Legends" that was released for the PC roughly ten years ago. I continue to be amazed by the bravery of the men who drove very fast, very fragile, and very dangerous racecars on racetracks that would never ever even come close to today's safety standards.

The man that made the greatest impression on me was the driver Jim Clark. A class act and one of so many who were taken much too early at a time when death on the racetrack was a regular occurence, he IS the benchmark racer for me. What he did with the Lotus 49 (one of the most beautiful F1 cars of the era) in the 1967-1968 F1 seasons and throughout his F1 career or at the Indianapolis 500 by winning with the first rear-engined Indycar or in Lotus Ford Cortina touring cars was absolutely awesome.

Now, forty years on from the tragic racing accident at Hockenheim, Germany in the spring of 1968, F1 and fans remember the great Scottish driver. He died before I was born but even I get a knot in my stomach when I watch archival racing footage.

He's still sorely missed.

Tribute to Jim Clark before the 2008 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix

Video tribute to the great Jim Clark

Motorcycling In the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park

I had the opportunity to take a "mini" vacation last week and spent the time with good friends motorcycling through majestic California scenery. The plan was to camp for two days in the heart of Yosemite Valley and then spend another few nights at a campground in the northwest section of the National Park. The rest of the time was spent on motorcycles traveling through the park and especially Route 120 to Tuolumne Meadows and down the awesome Tioga Pass and out to the small town of Lee Vining on the shore of Mono Lake. Another longer motorcycle ride went through the same area but we then headed north to Bridgeport, California and on up and over the Sonora Pass, one of four crossing points across the Sierra Nevada between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. From there it was on remote and sometimes barely paved backroads to the town of Twain Harte and then back to the National Park.

Riding and traveling by motorcycle is a wonderful experience that is different in subtle and not so subtle ways to the experience of driving in a car. You always have a sense that you are somehow just that bit closer to the surroundings you are traveling through and your senses are heightened as a result. You feel the subtle temperature differences when going up and down elevation, can literally have a better sense of smell as you ride with an open face helmet or with your shield open, and just generally feel more connected to your immediate surroundings because you are more exposed than you would be in a 4 wheel vehicle. We were on the constant vigil for wildlife especially along the lightly traveled backroads but the riding was absolutely wonderful and the scenery did not disappoint. We did see some of the effects of the wildfires and we greeted the firemen who passed by and also saw some of the basecamps that were utilised by the crews fighting the fires.

All in all a great time with longtime friends: motorcycling by day, camping and telling tall tales at night... makes for good times!

With the Ducati Paul Smart 1000 Limited Edition at Olmstead Point, Yosemite National Park. Notice Half Dome in the background.

Setting up our campsite in Yosemite Valley

Unloading a Ducati 900 Supersport CR

Hanging out at Olmstead Point. Honda CBR 1000 in the foreground and Ducatis in the background.

One more picture of Olmstead Point

Gas pitstop at Bridgeport, California with snow on the Sierra Nevada in the background.

Rest stop somewhere northwest of Yosemite National Park

Using a GPS unit to figure out where we are!

Up around 9000 ft. MSL just below the Sonora Pass.

2008 Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance

I've wanted to attend the annual Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance the past several years since it is so close to home but it always falls on Father's Day and I usually have family commitments. Well, this year our family decided to celebrate on Saturday so Sunday was left free and I decided to have a look. The Rodeo Drive show is rather small by concours standards and took up roughly the two blocks between Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards. However, the quality as you might expect from this show was very high. I had a nice time strolling amongst some really high quality automotive beauties and also had time to chat with the folks at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills and with classic car specialists at Gooding and Co.

Ok, here are some pictures to give you a flavor of the event:

At the north entrance of the show

60's Vintage Cobra Daytona Coupe. Just lovely!

Ferrari and Pininfarina. Classic combination!

60's Ferrari 250 GTO. 'nuff said.

50's Mercedes Gullwing 300 SL... another timeless beauty

Classics sit right next to modern Audi R8

Hanging out with the good folks at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills and talking about... cars 'natch! How could you not when flanked by a Ferrari 599 and a Maserati Granturismo?

Still talking cars...

...and more car talk with the Gooding and Co. representatives about the magnificent yellow 1914 Stutz Grand Prix racer.

What car show would be complete in Beverly Hills without at least one uber-expensive and uber-exclusive Bugatti Veyron????

The Rodeo Drive show was actually quite relaxed. Sure, there were a lot of "beautiful" people hanging out as well but the cars were definitely the stars. Maybe I should bring my Ducati MH900e to the motorcycle corral next year. Hmmm... we'll see!

Karmina's Debut Album Is Now Available

Ok, I know this is a bit off-topic on my site but I just had to post about my friends' new album that debuted yesterday. Kelly and Kamille Rudisill make up Karmina and both are supremely talented musicians/writers/singers. I've watched their careers blossom over the past couple of years and I am delighted that CBS Records has released their first album "Backwards Into Beauty" nationwide in the USA. Have a listen over at http://www.karmina.com/ or check out Amazon.com.

I also had the privilege to be on-set for part of the video shoot for "The Kiss", the first released single from the album. For those of you with a keen eye and know me well do you recognize someone in the video? Here it is:

Finally, here is a clip from CBS television's "The Early Show" that provides a short interview with Kelly and Kamille followed by a live in-studio performance.

News Flash! JCW MCS Takes a 1st Place Prize at Huntington Beach, California Concours d'Elegance on 1 June 2008!

On the lawn

Waiting for the judges

Nervous time... Judges at work!

Keith (Concours Class Winner) on the left and I (Street Class Winner and Mr. Jet Lag) congratulated by famed MINI Hot Rod and Hollywood Vehicle Builder Fireball Tim

Parade of winners. Good company! Notice Keith's 2005 MINI Cooper S JCW/Alta right behind me.

Getting ready to take the spotlight and receive my trophy!

The 2008 Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance 1st Place Glass Trophy

Ok, I knew it was going to be tough to get to the Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance Car Show this year. I've missed it in the past because of the need to travel for business but the event has become a fairly regular show to attend and/or show a vehicle for me. I sent in my registration and fee just in-case I still wanted to attend even though it was just a day after my return from Europe. I knew that I'd be in no shape whatsoever to self-detail my MINI as I usually do for these types of events, so I contacted my friend Bill Debever at Transhine in Whittier, California (http://www.transhine.com/) while in Europe to see if he could take my car in on Saturday and detail it for Sunday's show. The car was already in need of a good detail (I detailed it last November upon the car's return from Europe) and Bill was going to have a stand at the show as well. The crew did an excellent job and suffice it to say the detail helped me garner a 1st place trophy and a bucket of detailing supplies for Best Modern MINI Cooper S in the "Street" (vehicle regulary driven) class. I showed JCW MCS at the HB show in 2005 in the "Concours" class and managed a third place trophy. Many miles and kilometers later it is satisfying to achieve a 1st place trophy. Bleary-eyed and jet-lagged I drove JCW MCS up to the stand to take the prize. It was worth the extra effort this year. Definitely!

Charley Boorman's bike from his and Ewan McGregor's latest motorcycle adventure. Love those guys!

Mid-1970's vintage bevel drive, square case, Conti exhaust, Ducati 750 Supersport. Bellissima!

For more info on the Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance go to: http://www.hbconcours.org/. It usually takes a few weeks before the full winners list is posted.

Video Impressions from Europe, May 2008

Here is a video that highlights just a few of the week's many events.

Vienna, Austria and Riva del Garda, Italy... and a review of the Skoda Roomster

Stunning Alpine Scenery

On the road in Bavaria

Not all of the trip was about sobering 20th century history. We did spend a pleasant couple of days in Salzburg in the beautiful Salzkammergut area of Austria. I almost consider this part of Europe to be a second home (in addition to the Netherlands) as each time I return I grow more fond of the area. The culture and natural beauty is simply spectacular. After the all too brief stay in Salzburg it was on to Vienna for my biannual law school international reunion. An event I always look forward to, this year's reunion was quite simply the best yet. Good friends and accomplished professionals in their home countries, it is always a pleasure to meet and network and enjoy an interesting European city. We had a great time enjoying the Viennese nightlife. Two of the hip clubs we went to: Bar Italia and The White Line. Bar Italia had a nice lounge feel and the White Line had pretty people and great dance vibes. Check out Bar Italia and click on the video link to get an impression of this fashionable lounge.

Welcoming new Austrian graduates into the extended law school family at the opening dinner at the Vienna Radisson Hotel

Bar Italia, central Vienna after the reception/graduation dinner. The middle point of a very long night!

The party continues back at the hotel as the sun rises... almost time for breakfast!

Reception later in the day (after very little sleep!) at a Viennese law firm overlooking the Danube River and the city of Vienna

At the law firm reception

Entrance of a Viennese Heurigen (vineyard), site of the second evening's dinner and wine tasting. Turned out to be the first stop and then it was on to the nightclubs of Vienna... and another morning watching the sun rise before calling it quits! Don't believe anyone who says that attorneys don't know how to party!

From Vienna it was time to head across Austria to the Dolomites of Northern Italy and Riva del Garda for a business conference. Instead of driving the quicker route back west to Salzburg and over the Brenner Pass into Italy, I decided to travel south on the A2 via Graz (my home state of California Governor Schwarzenegger's hometown), Klagenfurt, Villach, and over the border to Udine, Verona and on to Riva del Garda. The drive was beautiful, especially near Villach and the Slovenian border. Northeast Italy is very industrial especially the region surrounding Venice and the traffic on the roads reflected this. Lots of freight on the move! After the hard weekend of VERY late nights in Vienna I needed to take a couple of breaks to get some seriously needed rest on the approximately 8 hour drive.

Beautiful scenery on the way to Italy

On the shores of Lake Garda in Northern Italy. Spectacular location to do business!

Business discussion at Riva del Garda

Several days of serious business talks followed in the supremely beautiful setting of Garda lake in the Trentino area of the Dolomites Mountains. Then it was back up through the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck Austria and then on to Munich for the return home.

Skoda Update:


So how did the Skoda fare over the 10 days of travel? I was pretty unimpressed during my initial encounter with the car. Rubbery shift feeling, long throws and a long reach to the shifter, a lack of steering feel, a top heavy feeling, all of the foregoing did not bode well for the Roomster. However, the 1.9 liter twin turbo diesel proved to be a fairly peppy motor and allowed me to pass a fair amount of traffic with gusto. I adjusted to the steering and though not a precision tool, enough feel exists to give confidence within the car's performance limits. The small tires and top heavy feel made me refrain from making quick maneuvers in favor of smooth inputs, especially at speed. The center armrest was a pain when in the down position since my elbow would always hit when I wanted to shift.

I attained approximately 180 kmh (111 mph) at about 4000 rpms (max approx 4500 rpm) on a derestricted portion of the German autobahn. Pretty good for a fairly high profile vehicle. Sure, I had to move over quickly for the true performance vehicles but torque and decent speed allowed for fairly easy overtaking.

Final verdict: After well over a one-thousand miles behind the wheel I found the Skoda Roomster to be a competent vehicle with decent space for luggage, roomy rear seats given the vehicle's size with good visibility and lots of glass, good fit and finish with quality VW feel, awkward styling, decent power, smoothness, and good fuel economy with highest spec diesel motor. Definitely not an enthusiast car, but it is a competent European travel companion.

Final Note

Before I sign off on this post I have to thank Jennifer for taking most of the photos and video. She joined me on this trip and also reconnected with several of my friends she got to know back in my post-grad study days and also helped with the business conference. Without her camera I'd have a lot less to post about!

Berchtesgaden, Germany

The Skoda Roomster chased by an angry classic Mini on the road from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden

Remains of the driveway leading to Hitler's Berghof

The Berghof seen in a period photo. I stood in the area roughly shown as the driveway to the left.

All that remains above ground of Hitler's alpine mountain retreat

Blasted area of the tunnel complex which ran underneath the Berghof. German writing on the wall stated that this machine gun position was taken out by a "panzerfaust" or better known to us in the USA: a bazooka.

View from inside the bunker complex near the ruins of the Berghof. Here machine gun and observation slits can be clearly seen in the hallway. To the left: a kennel for protection dogs.

At a Berchtesgadener specialty brewery. Much lighter atmosphere after visiting the foreboding ruins of a brutal regime.

I'm spending my final night near Munich's international airport and I thought I'd put up a small update. This trip has been very busy so I haven't had much time to get online but the beginning of the trip was actually quite relaxed. Immediately after touching down in Munich we drove to Salzburg with the plan to visit famous sights from Mozart and the musical "The Sound of Music" but jet lag and feeling a little bit under the weather meant a LOT of rest.

Before departing for Vienna we did manage to get over to Berchtesgaden, Germany while driving in a steady rain. Although always a beautiful place, the alpine setting was obscured by the rainy and overcast weather. History buff that I am I made sure to visit the area of the Berghof (Hitler's mountain home), or what little is left of it, and explored the remaining passageways of the underground complex that protected and connected different sections of a vast complex. I was alone for quite awhile down in the tunnels. It actually felt very eerie to be alone and facing machine gun slits meant to protect the Nazi dictator. It really is hard to imagine that this beautiful and serene mountain setting was the focal point of so many decisions that had a ruinous impact on the modern world.

After the sobering visit to the Berghof it would have been nice to visit the Kehlsteinhaus "Eagle's Nest" at the top of Obersalzberg Mountain for more history and for the spectacular view but I thought it better to get on with the drive to Vienna because of the bad weather.

Before we left Berchtesgaden we made a stop at the Grassl Enzianbrennerei and tasted a few of the locally grown, brewed, and distilled root-based liquor products. Picked up a couple of bottles and hit the road to Vienna. For more visit: Enzianbrennerei Grassl.

More later as time allows!

Back to Europe in the Skoda Roomster

The Skoda "Roomster" at Franz Josef Strauss Airport, Munich, Germany. Roomy for a small car yes, decent turbodiesel power, but darn if I don't miss the power of my MINI from last summer's blasts down the autobahn!

I'm in Europe on business and to attend a class reunion. It's good to be back even if only for a short stay! I arrived in Munich and immediately picked up my Skoda "Roomster" TDI at Hertz and drove over the border via autobahn (I already miss the passing power of my MINI!) into Austria and on to my old stomping ground of historic Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthplace and home of the von Trapps of "The Sound of Music". Mozart dominates the town as usual and I am always very happy to be in this wonderfully beautiful place. I hope to take a day out and head over to the magnificent vistas and intriguing WW2 history of nearby Berchtesgaden, Germany before getting back on the "schnellweg" to Vienna for a class reunion. After that it is over the border into Italy for a business conference.

If you are interested in the Czech Skoda (an offshoot of the VW Group) have a look at: Autoblog on the Roomster or on the official Skoda homepage at: Skoda Roomster. For a history of the Skoda car company which goes all the way back to 1894(!) visit Wikipedia at: Skoda Auto.

I hope to post more soon and add some more Roomster driving impressions!

Just before leaving the airport in Munich, Germany we came across this interesting BMW display. Given that Munich is the home of BMW finding this advert was not a huge surprise!