Bean Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 I was forwarded this link by some buddies - read through to the second last post on the first page for a nice little surprise... Mullholland Drive So did the 505 Turbo every "play" on Mullholland Dr.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSB Posted January 20, 2007 Report Share Posted January 20, 2007 Oh boy, here we go. This could be it's own thread as is is a period of time that (for my group) started in 1970 and still goes on today. Not that we are activly racing mulholland now but most all of us went from Mulholland to racing, in one form or another. As there is no way I'll be able to relay all of this in one sitting (or a dozen) 2 questions stand out. 1) For those who don't know Mulholland Drive is a road that runs the ridge of the Santa Monica Mountains which runs north & south of Los Angeles. It is named after William Mulholland (a Dutch inigrant in the late 1800's) who single handly built the aquaduct water system that allowed Los Angeles to grow to the size it is today. 2) Everything I've ever owned has gone accross Mulholland. Once I started racing on the track I quickly realized that going 10/10's on Mulholland was not very smart. (On the racetrack all the trafic is going the same direction, for the same reason). However, one thing that you'll appreciate is that a Mulholland car is a "point & squirt" type affair. So a fast Mulholland car is not necessarly a fast track car. But Red doesn't appear to know that. Going fast on Mulholland is more about driver ability than the car. I used to run down some very fast cars with a '74 Chevy Wagon for example. Because I lived on Mulholland I knew it in the dark (and we did actually turn off our headlights and race just for the fun of it) I warned you this could be long. And yes I will write the book (someday) but for some background on Mulholland racing (and I hate to have people go & buy the book I'm about to reffer to as it is badly written and it skipped my group (CRE) altogether) www.autobooks.com "The Mulholland Experience" by Dan Magee. So did the 505 Turbo every "play" on Mullholland Dr.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSB Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 OK, but wait ............. There's more. This LA Times sports writter, Shav Glick, was rather fond of the Mulholland Gang as he called it. Personally I got 3 articles written by his. This one involve Red and therefore of more interest to this group. It is a little hard to read and I think some of the facts are incorrect, but what the heck. ...and so it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted January 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Now if hollywood would just do a GOOD movie about those days - THAT would be great. After reading the stories in that thread about Mullholland - it sounded fantastic. Those days are LONG gone I would think - especially in the more crowded areas - but some of that spirit lives on in the more rural areas of the county. Seeing a period movie of that scene done well would eclipse the crappy "Fast and the Furious" franchise in a heartbeat... But I digress.... So is there any progress to report on getting red back to the track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSB Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 All in good time grasshopper. To allow Red to be a competion car again requires Red to be replaced as my only car. THAT is a tall order. Obviously, front drive cars are out and that by itself reduces the field of choices dramatically. Got to be a manual trans and get at least 20-25 mpg. Coupled with the fact that I'll not spend more than $25k on a new car means there is nothing that will replace Red. If I lower my sights somewhat and consider used cars, the BMW 330c works but the 325 wagon would be more useful. But really, after driving Red for 20 years, what can replace it? Anybody got a perfect '89 or newer 505 Turbo w/5 speed? I rather have that than anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Totally see your point on replacing a 505 Turbo... It's such a tall order, that few cars if any pass the muster, and when they do, they cost an absolute fortune. Since my weather is a little more severe than southern Cali - AWD was the only kicker that really surpassed the Peugeot - and that's simply since it wasn't offered here. (What I'd give for a TD Dangel wagon!) I have to say that the 98-00 V70R's make for a damn good replacement for my purposes. Sadly you won't find a 5-sp AWD, they only came in the FWD T5 V70's. The seats are the best seats I've sat on outside of the Peugeot's - and the car still has a nice euro feel. Great following of enthusiasts too. For what you want in a car (5-sp a must) the only car that comes to mind are the 3 series wagons, and possibly the C class benz. Both come in wagons (which I love) - but the high cost of each is why I went the Volvo route. Better bang for the $$$, and the 260 HP AWD is fantastic. Since the wife didn't want to do a manual tranny - the auto only AWD was the choice for us. Finding a minty 505 Turbo looks like it really is your only option! Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSB Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Volvo's have some fun cars. There's a C30 2 door hatch back comming out and the VW IROC I like but I just get past the FWD part. However, another rcing story comes to mind. A friend of mine drove a 740 Turbo wagon that was racing in the "Firehawk" series a decade ago or so. As these cars are somewhat race prepared (i.e. springs / shocks / brake pads / exhaust /and such) the car was surprisingly fast. EXCEPT for the unusually small fuel tank. I forget what it was but it had to come in for fuel about every half hour (Corvette's would go over an hour). But I digress, There are some AWD cars that "think" like rear driver cars (Acura) but price comes into the issue again. Used T5 wagon ??? I really like those. Drove one once when they were new. Very powerfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 As I always say, Volvos are my favorite cars, along with Peugeots. These I can say with 100% Pride, are my favorite car makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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