LOG 30 Photo link

[Croc]

Saturday at LOG 30

For those people unable to make LOG 30 here are some pics so you can share in the fun. The concours took place at Boyds Bears – a teddy bear maker and store. An inspired choice by the organizers as it allowed the better halves to go off and do something more fun than prowl classic cars.

We were set up in a bowl shaped parking lot in a fan shape. Seemed to be arranged as oldest at the front, newest at the rear. Sevens were split into two groups – the original Lotus ones in the front row and the “modern” Sevens in the far right back row, somewhere close to Siberia.

The panorama shot that was taken will look something like this:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/LOG30front_Panorama1.jpg

Another version of it from the rear embankment is below. Again the Sevens are somewhere close to Antarctica so you probably cannot see them:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/LOG30rear_Panorama1.jpg

Edited October 11, 2010 by Croc
fixing links

[Croc]

Moving onto some close ups – some lovely Lotus Cortinas. I vintage raced one of these for 3 races in Australia. Woefully underpowered today, marginal brakes and ok handling, they were amazing for their time but it is hard to remember back to those times before I was born.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00267_edited-1.jpg

A Lotus Six and a Lotus 9 (I think I got that right?):

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00268_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00269_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00325_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

Now for the original Sevens:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00270_edited-1.jpg

 

I definitely had the hots for this white Seven. I like how the headlight is body color painted:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00274_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00276_edited-1.jpg

I think this is Dean G’s Series 1 Seven?

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00284_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

A very nicely presented Series 4 Seven – the best I have ever seen in person.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00286_edited-1.jpg

The racers had prime position in the center of the group photo – deservedly so:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00271_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00272_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00273_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00352_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00353_edited-1.jpg

It would not be a Lotus gathering without Lucas Prince of Darkness making a cameo appearance – generating plenty of laughs:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00278_edited-1.jpg

A beautifully presented interior of an Elan Plus 2:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00280_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

A very nice Elan and its interior…yum!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00281_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00282_edited-1.jpg

The Esprit ranks were well represented:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00287_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

This was my first chance to see an Evora in the flesh. As everyone says they look better in person. Some colors also work better than others – silver was the best, followed by the red burgundy metallic and long last the black. Actually the black just did not work for me – the styling lost its effect.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00300_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00301_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00315_edited-1.jpg

Far up in the top parking lot were 5 Ferraris relegated to also-ran today:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00313_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

A very nice gold (or is it red?) leaf Europa

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00316_edited-1.jpg

Now this is a sight you do not see a lot of – nice large diffuser with a tow hitch sticking out of it!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00314_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

Now this looks like a 23B to most observers. However, look closer, see how the rear body flares out over the wheels, then look at the dash…hmmmm….what is it?

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00318_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00320_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00324_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00326_edited-1.jpg

To let you into the secret (as I was), it is based on a Europa chassis. Could not work out what engine is being used but likely the same the Europa came with. Was put together 10 years or so ago. Very nicely done.

[Croc]

Now for Elites, I loved this beautifully restored Elite, ex Monte Carlo rally car:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00323_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00322_edited-1.jpg

Some gratuitous auto porn:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00321_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00317_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

By now you are probably asking where are the “modern” or USA7s Sevens are? So let’s trek up to the arctic top right corner of the lot where we could be suitably ignored. We got 12 present although Taber decided to go missing from concours. There was also the PA green Seven who came to the July NJ Seven run but whose name I have forgotten. A yellow SV next to Tony Vaccaro’s bank vaulted caged green and yellow Seven:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00288_edited-1.jpg

Scott’s orange superlight next to Tom’s (yellowss) superlight:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00289_edited-1.jpg

Mike’s (Kitcat) Crossflow seven:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00290_edited-1.jpg

Edited October 11, 2010 by Croc

[Croc]

Much to our amusement, Tom (yellowss) had some parking issues….oh….he has not seen a cone that he can’t run over:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00294_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00295_edited-1.jpg

Even more amusing – notice how his front tires are on backwards! Don’t worry he gets me back later.

The brand new Seven built by Tony V for one of his Loony members who is very sick:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00296_edited-1.jpg

A line up of Sevens:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00297_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

The red and ali car at the end of the row was Dave’s, the sole Birkin representative at LOG 30 – I think we persuaded him to join USA7s:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00298_edited-1.jpg

Seven humor came out in Norm’s car. Under the SCCA old rules, Norm had stripped out his car to make it as light as possible. Then the SCCA changed the rules…oops. He had to add weight. To release his frustrations he added some comments to his rear wings:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00292.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00293.jpg

The prize for most exotic number plate goes to this Hawaii one:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00356_edited-1.jpg

His name was Paul Sears (I think?) and he had everyone asking the entire weekend if he did a James Bond and drove the car underwater from Hawaii.

The humor amongst the USA7s crowd was brutally funny, the jokes and humor were just flowing and this was before drinks! As a group we had a great time. For example:

- Tom, Box and john (tom’s cousin) set up a lady to come up to me and say “wow…what a cool car…is it a Morgan?” My face must have looked a picture because the guys burst out laughing.

- From across the parking lot I could see in the distance what looked like a very attractive blonde sitting behind the wheel of my car. Intrigued I set off on the long walk to Siberia to check out what good fortune or misfortune I had obtained this time. Well I get back over there to find the blonde lady now behind the wheel of Tom’s yellow superlight. First thing I notice is that she is the one I noticed the night before at the Friday night reception when she had jeans painted on to legs that went up to the armpits. Second I notice she is married…bummer. So she hops out of Tom’s car and says a comment to the effect that she likes my car more because of its leg room but she likes Tom’s better for the way he (sorry his car) hugs her hips! It turns out Tom wanted to show her the difference between a superlight and a fast bastard (sorry SV). Unfortunately her clothing choice and sitting in Sevens did lead to an….um…errr…..camel toe problem.

Leaving concours I later discovered that I alarmed Tom greatly. Rather than navigate the crowded concours lot site from Siberia to the exit, I just launched across the grass and found another delivery road that led out. John (Tom’s cousin) who was my passenger was ever so slightly freaked out thinking that he would die as he could not see what I knew lay over the grassy rise…another road! He thought I would plunge into a pond. I later discovered at the hotel that he had not belted himself in…oops 1! Mike (Kitcat) followed thinking that I would not endanger my car….however I have a skid plate and he does not…oops 2! Tom was left alarmed trying to work out where we disappeared to, then discovering to his shock and confusion that Mike and I were way off in the distance heading for the exit at a rapid rate. We were so quick to leave that we left Jon behind – he caught up on the battlefield at Seminary Ridge about an hour later. A lot of laughs came out of this little adventure.

[Croc]

In the afternoon we got Mike (Kitcat), Tom (yellows), Jon (Boxologist) and myself touring the Gettysburg battlefield. The National Parks service deserves a medal for the sensitive way they manage the site and allow access for us to learn. We walked Pickett’s charge to better understand what the soldiers went through to get a tiny glimmer of how awful it must have been.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00358_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00357_edited-1.jpg

This was taken at the Virginia memorial. Note the British racing green door between the Sevens? We almost managed to block the view of Jon’s “Meotter”

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00360_edited-1.jpg

We also had the good fortune to get a talk at Little Round Top by a civil war buff who was able to give us context from that view point on how the battle evolved and the battle lines developed.

[Croc]

Saturday night was the formal banquet. Most Sevener’s scrub up well. Then there is Jon in his formal t-shirt:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00361_edited-1.jpg

By the way, the red face was not because of drink….he just failed to learn my lesson from the previous day and joined me in the southerner red neck club.

Sunday

Morning was autocross. Two groups with 4 laps each. The lot was small, a little bumpy and still had a little (lot of?) gravel. It was a double figure 8 type of layout which was effective given the small space the organizers had to work with. Sorry for pic quality here – I only had my pocket cam

Here is Kitcat in one or more of his runs:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00362_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00363_edited-1.jpg

On the third run he grabbed Jon as ballast. This was a good move. The car was fast, settled, tidy and looked good.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00366_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

Jon had the Meotter out in its first taste of autocross. Very nice looking performance – the car with its more supple suspension seemed to handle the lot much better. At least it looked smooth and tidy. Anyway, off to the hairdressers….

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00365_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00369_edited-1.jpg

There was this Esprit metal bodied autocross car. The body just behind the front wheel arches would literally scrape on parts of the course. This car was piloted by a one armed guy and was damn fast. I would like to see him go on a smoother larger lot:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00368_edited-1.jpg

[Croc]

For horseshit and giggles, someone thought of sending a horse and buggy around the course. Despite the traction advantages those women represented, alas they were slower than a Lotus or a Seven or a Meotter:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00372_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00373_edited-1.jpg]

Michael D came up to demonstrate what 10 inch slicks can do with gravel. Scott also borrowed the car for his runs around the course:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00379_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00380_edited-1.jpg

Yes he ate a cone.

[Croc]

Here is Dean G pedaling very fast – nice tidy performance. Impressive time given the car’s age:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00381_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00382_edited-1.jpg

Not sure who this, but it was in immaculate condition and had a Simple Sevens badge on the back:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00377_edited-1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00375_edited-1.jpg

The LOG 30 organizers clearly put in a huge effort and deserve to be congratulated and praised for this very successfully organized event.

I also want to thank the “modern” Seven community for being so friendly and welcoming the whole weekend. It was a great bunch of people and I had a great time with a lot of laughter.

[yellowss7]

We missed you Croc. It's now a little after 6pm on Monday. The Track Day session at Summit Point's Shenendoah Circuit ended around 5pm and it was another beautiful day. A little warmer at 86F Degrees but a great day.

 

It's a very complex track to learn as not once but Twice I turned the wrong way and ended going into the Pit lane the wrong WAY:willy_nilly::dupe:

 

The second time was in the 4th session and the corner worker was waving the Black flag at me like I was on fire. ( I was not) My brake lights were stuck on. Apparently the brake light switch in the pedal box had malfunctioned) Luckily we were able to repair it to get out for the 5th session.

 

Dave, (with the red Birken) had a little issue with his gearbox, he may be losing 2nd or 3rd.

 

Michael D. had a coolant leak. Scott and Kitcat (Mike) had no issues. Good thing, as those two drove their cars to LOG and the track. Mike still has to drive back to Ohio:flag:

Mike's car sounded great and he said it ran really well. Mine did as well, other than the brake lights issue. Guess I have to stop using those brakes.:smilielol5:

I don't have the firewire cable for the video with me and will try to edit and upload some video after I get back home tomorrow.

 

I second Mike's (croc) comments about the USA7's guys and gals. We certainly had a lot of laughs. No pretenses with this group. And we are definately going to get Taber's wife Joan to join in on the next track day, and maybe Dave's (xflow7) girlfriend Jude, too.

 

Tom

Edited October 12, 2010 by yellowss7

[DeanG]

I had a great time at the autocross! I had one big slide and expected to be the only one to do a loop at the event. The Seven recovered! Wow!

 

I never used the brakes just lifted. When I lifted while initiating the turn the car started to rotate. I could then turn with my right foot.

 

Impressive number of Se7ens at the autocross.

 

Did anyone record the times?