I'm famous for speeding

[zarfnober]

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/nape ... 02.article

Yours truly made the local papers FRONT PAGE and the entire story on page 10. Please leave a comment if you have a moment. And if you think this online account is just slightly sensationalized, you should see the print version. You'd think I murdered an entire family! Keep in mind that at least 7 of my "14 traffic violations since 1982" were either expired tags or forgetting to put my updated insurance card in my vehicle. Yes, there were a few speeding tickets. 2 of the tickets were thrown out by the judge too. I will try and get a scanned copy of the paper to post. There are also some blatant lies in their reporting. The "central part of the city" is geographically that, but, is about 2 miles from the downtown area and, I was not "curbed by police before I could enter the construction zone". I took a left onto the Modaff and drove, at below speed limit, about 100 yards when they flipped their lights on. I was not even beginning to enter the construction zone. And of course "no one was injured or run off the road", there was nobody there! Except the cops behind me:(

In the printed version, it's hard to tell what was more "troubling', the alleged speed, or the car I was driving. Or both.

Anyway, I think I took a nice mug shot!

Rocco

[brutus]

Were you in the yenko?

[64sunburst]

98 mph in a '65 Chevy Corvair? You look TOO happy in that mug shot. I'm guessing Naperville isn't that big?

[zarfnober]

Naperville has a population of 136,000. I was not in the Yenko, I was in my stock turbo Corsa.

Rocco

[Veenture]

Hey Rocco, any kind of publicity is OK man, whether it be positive or negative!
...and your disarming mugshot has conquered the day ...leaving the cops just plain doggone jealous of you and your "v-e-h-i-c-l-e"

But on a serious note, don't let what reporters print get to you ...we know that news is usually fabricated rather than reported truthfully and in context, all in an effort to make a nice story and to sell the printed product.

Can I hire you as my driver?...

[MWaldorf]

Hey, all joking aside, have you considered taking your cars to a racetrack? Not that I question your driving skill, but all it takes is one idiot pulling out unexpectedly or some road debris and you'd have a major disaster. Last week on my way home from work I was cruising at a speed somewhat north of the posted limit alongside a guy in a mint early 80s Riviera when a garbage can fell off the back of a truck a few hundred yards ahead and hit his car. He went into the side wall, spun around and in my rear view mirror I saw him get hit head on by a tractor trailer that was trying to stop. I have no idea if anyone was hurt, but you get the picture.

[zarfnober]

I get your point, but, for what it's worth: It was almost midnight, NO cars in front of me, in either direction. I don't casually drive real fast for extended periods, day or night. In traffic, I do as the Romans do. I occasionally open it up and run through the gears on an open stretch of road. This was a relatively short burst, I had no intention of going into, and didn't drive into the construction zone, contrary to what the story says. I wasn't on the phone, texting, sexting, checking email or even listening to the radio. The car has a completely rebuilt suspension and new braking system, with 11" front disc brakes. The original braking system on a Corvair is the same as it was for midsize cars of the time, Chevelles, Cutlass, etc. Those cars weigh about 3,700 pounds, the Corvair is about 2,550. It stops about about as quickly as anything but the most high end modern sports cars. V-rated 50 series tires, slightly lowered suspension, it will run circles around many modern cars in the handling department, contrary to popular rumors.

I am not the guy that you see weaving thru traffic at triple digit speeds, endangering everyone around me. I'm not doing wheelies on a sport bike during rush hour. I'm not driving drunk. But reading this story, and the one in the printed paper is WAY more sensationalised, you'd get the idea that I'm a complete menace to society and that I was driving through a downtown area, school zone while children were present, running cars off the road. Not quite what happened.

Rocco

[MWaldorf]

Rocco,

I didn't get the sense that you're a dangerous driver at all. I like to drive fast too, and generally do as the Romans do in the fast lane. Of all the cars I've had, the one I was the most cautious driving was my '58 T-bird - with the single master cylinder drum brakes on such a heavy car, I always make sure I had lots of margin for the unexpected. Your Corvair sounds like you've got it really dialed in. I'm amazed at how well most of the 60s GMs will handle with a few suspension tweaks.

Mel

[zarfnober]

Rocco,

I didn't get the sense that you're a dangerous driver at all. I like to drive fast too, and generally do as the Romans do in the fast lane. Of all the cars I've had, the one I was the most cautious driving was my '58 T-bird - with the single master cylinder drum brakes on such a heavy car, I always make sure I had lots of margin for the unexpected. Your Corvair sounds like you've got it really dialed in. I'm amazed at how well most of the 60s GMs will handle with a few suspension tweaks.

Mel

The stock(bias ply tires, stock size wheels and tires)Corvair actually pulled .71 g's in the NHTSA tests, while a Corvette pulled .70 g's. Hmm... BTW, these were the tests that completely vindicated the Corvair as far as safety was concerned, too bad they came 4 years after the last one was built. A stock Vair will outhandle any Detroit lead sled of the 60's, and I'd bet money on that. A friend has a 1960 Corvair that Chevy used to sponsor in hill climbs, road races , etc. He took the car to a Solo-I track event a few years back, it was a Corvette club sponsored event and Corvairs were invited. You are allowed 3 timed runs. He beat every C5 Z06 Corvette. They were not happy and, took their cars out again until they beat his time. He did not get any additional runs. Vairy true story. Granted , his car is not stock but, it was built in 1960. He's been racing Vairs since around '63-'64 and knows exactly what he's doing, I think he's about 70 now.

Love the old cars.

Rocco

[gplayer]

You better change your evil ways!