Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca

[BBK]

Some may have followed my saga of getting AK 1216 back from the shop in time to make the Monterey Historic races at Laguna Seca this past weekend.  Well, I got the car just in time and drove down Highway 1.  Here's a shot of my car along the route.  I did get a chance to test out my new heater core Nik! []
   
   
   
   All in all, it was an amazing trip.  I took in a few different shows leading up to the main race day on Saturday.  On Friday, I attended the ACOC dinner in Pacific Grove and met up with Gus Meyjes at dinner and discussed many topics, including the possibility of an AC International here in California.  This is Gus' baby and he has made many good contacts, so I'm sure he will be elaborating more!  Met up with Gus the next day at the races and he joined me for a "parade lap" of the track with the Shelby cars, Daytona coupes and Cobra replicas.  Unfortunately, my car got placed in the "replica" corral area, but since this was a Shelby centric event, an AC car was not fit to be in the same company I guess!  There was one other Mk IV in the corral with my car.  Below is a picture of me with my car and the other Mk IV...
   
   
   
   
   
   Other than that, no other Mk IVs to be seen.  There were at least 100 Cobras (real and others) in the corral.  I had lots of fun over the weekend and lots of great conversations with folks who admired my car and some who knew what it was and others that did not, so I had a chance to educate some people about the AC marque and the Mk IV cars.  Lots of Cobra racing action at the event.  I took some decent shots from the Canepa Designs trailer where Gus and a couple of friends had some connections....
   
   
   
   
   
   Here is a shot of Gus' friend's Ron's 427 car that was unable to race on Saturday due to engine troubles...
   
   
   
   Shelby and Ford had an amazing display tent at the races with numerous historic Cobras and the AC shown below, which I believe may have been the car which was used as the basis for the original Shelby cars...
   
   
   
   Overall, it was an amazing event.  The were at least 40 Cobras on the track at one time, and many more "street" cars and replica cars on the Monterey Peninsula on the weekend.  A friend of mine was at the event who saw my car for the first time and he relayed how much those in attendance appreciated it and knew how special and rare a car it was while I was off running all over the place at the races.  I felt proud to have my AC represented at the races and to be able to discuss it and its history with others.  What a fun time!  A parting shot of my car and a link below to my Photobucket album with many more pictures to share with you all...
   
   http://s1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd450/bb1kitty/2001%20Discovery/Hetchins/AC%20Mk%20IV/2012%20Monterey%20Historics/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ36
   
   

[MkIV Lux]

Thanks for sharing .
   Must have been an excellent w/e.

[Gus Meyjes]

Rob,
   
   Great photos!! It was great meeting up with you. Your car looks great and thanks for inviting me to be your passenger on the parade laps. The corkscrew is something else. Man, would I love to take that at speed some day!
   
   Gus

[BBK]

Constant and Gus...thanks!   Gus, I very much enjoyed meeting you and getting to hang out with you, Lee and Ron.  Too bad there were so many cars during the parade lap otherwise we could have gone much faster!!!  If you have any photos you want to share on this link too re. your experiences that would be great.  I believe Sundude was going to be in Monterey over the week, so feel free to share here as well!

[nikbj68]

Man, that smile in the 2nd photo says it all! If I could have been there, Gus & I would have had to go 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' for the parade lap seat... I ain`t armwrestling 'Mr. Physio'! []
   Keep the photos coming guys, it looks like it was an amazing event.
   
   [edit]Since first posting this, I spoke with Caroline Bridges at Goodwood and she told me what a fantastic time they all had in California, and what a joy it was for Bill to race at Laguna Seca.
   Great camaraderie, she told me that the racer that they shared their pit area with gave Bill a set of tyres (as he used a fresh set every race!) as he couldn`t believe what the FiA insist Historic racers over here have to use!
   So a huge 'Well done' to the Bridges/Smart entourage for waving the British banner in fine style, and congratulations on being part of a truly once-in-a-lifetime Cobra event with the Hairy Canary.
   [/edit]
    Funny to see that hardtops are the exception there, rather than the rule* when Cobras race here.
   
   *This year, Goodwood will allow open Cobras in the Shelby Challenge, I wonder how many will go 'topless'!

[shep]

Wow BBK, Great pics! I would love to have been in the thick of that pack of Cobras racing at Monterey. Your Mk IV is very similar to one I owned 15 years ago, which was beautifully minimalist, with no scoop, and hex wheel centre lock nuts. Mine was dark green metallic with tan interior, and originally went to Japan, where it was fitted with Air Con in the passenger footwell!!! When the owner came to work in England, he brought the Mk IV back, and swapped it for a BMW before he returned to Japan. My gain! Mine had an EFI engine, and I remember driving in convoy in France with a Lightweight Spec Mk IV and Sam Smart in his race prepared Mk IV. We all did the same distance at the same speed, but when Sam would stop for a full tank of fuel, Keith in the AKL would need 3/4 and me only 1/2 a tank. Mind you Sam's sounded the best! Hope to meet up in the future, Andy.

[Gus Meyjes]

Here are some of my photos. Not the quality of Mr. Peter De Rousset...(hope I got that right..)
   
   The last few photos are Ron mack's 427, he ended up cracking up a push rod and rocker arm. Push rod seized in the block: game over.
   
   The Shelby Team 289 and the Number 2 Shelby Mustang are owned by a mutual friend of Ron and myself. Crazy cool cars! The Michigan group was unfortunate, as the 289 lost it's brakes and was retired out of the main feature race...[][]
   
   Lee and myself had complimentary pit crew passes from Ron. We were completely useless... The reality is that Ron is really our mechanic, not the other way around..
   
   http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p222/AEX674/Monterey%202012/
   
   BTW, I believe the Daytona coupe (the real deal, went off track and cracked up..[xx(])
   
   http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/19/rolex-monterey-motorsports-reunion-puts-old-tin-fender-to-fender/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
   
   
   Gus

[jrlucke]

Great photos all!
   
   Is the green Ace RSX5028 which I believe is a long term one owner car from the SF Bay area?
   
   John

[Gus Meyjes]

Sadly, I was told who's car it is and I forgot. Jonathan Parker knows..
   
   Gus

[Gus Meyjes]

Forget my amateur photos. Check this out!
   
   http://www.supercars.net/gallery/119513/2883/4.html
   
   Gus

[Gus Meyjes]

More of my photos:
   
   http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p222/AEX674/Monterey%20Historics%202012/
   
   http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p222/AEX674/Pebble%20Beach%202012/

[AC Ace Bristol]

Gus.
   
   Thanks for sharing the Pictures,  looked a great event.
   
   Definitely Enjoyed by all, Even those who had the odd Gremling  interfer with the Mechanical elements and disrupt their weekend.
   
   Keith.[]

[Chafford]

Article and photos here:
   
   http://www.sportscardigest.com/monterey-motorsports-reunion-2012-shelby-cobra-race/

[BBK]

quote:Originally posted by nikbj68
   
Man, that smile in the 2nd photo says it all! If I could have been there, Gus & I would have had to go 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' for the parade lap seat... I ain`t armwrestling 'Mr. Physio'! []
   Keep the photos coming guys, it looks like it was an amazing event. I was surprised to see Bill Bridges 10 seconds a lap off the lead pace, finished 23rd. I guess he won`t be back home in time for the Goodwood Revival, being one of only 2 Cobras taken over from Europe. Funny to see that hardtops are the exception there, rather than the rule* when Cobras race here.
   
   *This year, Goodwood will allow open Cobras in the Shelby Challenge, I wonder how many will go 'topless'!
   
   
   

   
   Nik....thanks, I had a blast all weekend.  If you had been there, someone would have been squeezed in the middle somehow so three could go!  However, the Laguna Seca folks would have had none of that likely, as they made me and Gus sign a liability waiver and promise our first born if we got into an accident! []

[BBK]

quote:Originally posted by shep
   
Wow BBK, Great pics! I would love to have been in the thick of that pack of Cobras racing at Monterey. Your Mk IV is very similar to one I owned 15 years ago, which was beautifully minimalist, with no scoop, and hex wheel centre lock nuts. Mine was dark green metallic with tan interior, and originally went to Japan, where it was fitted with Air Con in the passenger footwell!!! When the owner came to work in England, he brought the Mk IV back, and swapped it for a BMW before he returned to Japan. My gain! Mine had an EFI engine, and I remember driving in convoy in France with a Lightweight Spec Mk IV and Sam Smart in his race prepared Mk IV. We all did the same distance at the same speed, but when Sam would stop for a full tank of fuel, Keith in the AKL would need 3/4 and me only 1/2 a tank. Mind you Sam's sounded the best! Hope to meet up in the future, Andy.
   

   
   Thanks Andy.   Sounds like your car and mine were very similar.  No A/C in mine though, it sounds like it would be nice to have.  My car is pretty stock except the throttle body is aftermarket and it has a Ford Racing intake.  Other than that, original paint and interior and other mechanical specs.  I actually got around 19 MPG city/freeway combined, so thought that was pretty good!  Likewise...perhaps you can make it to the International that Gus is working on here in the USA!  Hope to meet as well.