Rennlist - Porsche Discussion Forums - Attention all Ray Calvo Fan Club members!

[quote]Ray I had no idea you were that old?... <hr></blockquote>

I wrote this up for our PCA Region newsletter a little while back

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ONE DEFINITION OF "OLD"

by Ray Calvo

OK, I'm sure we're all experiencing it - eyes starting to go (need
reading glasses), can't hear as well as we used to, hair turning grey or
disappearing altogether, aches and pains when climbing out of bed,
people holding the door open for you and calling you "Sir" or" Madam",
etc (right, Clark?). Well, I guess it didn't really hit home until I
got the notice in the mail - an AARP application with my own membership
number!

Could I really have been been intaking air, food and beverages and
passing on "byproducts" for 50 years? Well, I sat down and did a little
"remembering".

My younger years (up to about 12) were spent overseas; largely Venezuela
and Chile. About 1956 my dad brought me to the Venzuela Grand Prix
race. My father's grandest memory was watching Stirling Moss pass two
cars in a single corner. Unfortunately, about all I remember is a vague
recollection of staring into the cockpit of one of the race cars in the
paddock area either before or after the race (things must have been a
lot less cordoned off then than they are now).

About 1960, when we were down in Chile, Dad and I would go out in the
back yard at night and watch the "Echo" satellite pass overhead. What
was so special about "Echo"? It was the first telecommunications
satellite launched by NASA. In it's super-sophisticated design it was a
large metallized helium balloon; signals would be passed across the USA
by beaming a signal up to it and bouncing it off the satellite to a
receiver across the country.

Same locale - Dad would take me out to an inlet overlooking the ocean.
There we would take potshots at passing seagulls with a .22 Marlin rifle
(didn't get too many, but had fun).

Same period; friends and I would go out in the neighborhood and play
"Cowboys and Indians". Nobody told us to stop; they thought we were
cute.

During the Cuban Missle Crisis, my mother and I were on a
passenger/cargo ship passing through the Carribean Ocean. At night, a
Navy patrol plane came overhead and shined a searchlight beam on the
ship, raking the entire length (I realized later it was looking for
Russian missle carrying ships). The beam stayed especially long on the
ship's name at the bow. Mom was downstairs in our stateroom lying down
worried stiff; I was disappointed that the plane left without dropping
any bombs or torpedoes!

In Junior High we were having a pep rallye in preparation for the big
rivalry football game against our neighboring town. During this time, I
watched the vice-principal slowly walk up to the podium and interrupt
the football coach. He then came on and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I
am sorry to say that President Kennedy has just been assasinated." The
whole stadium just went into shock.

Few years later, I was lying down fascinated on the living room rug
watching the TV, as a blurry scratchy image showed a leg then a body
slowly climbing down a ladder. Neil Armstrong then uttered his famous
words, "One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind".

Freshman year in college. A local charity was raffling off a brand new
1970 Austin America (imagine a king-size Mini). For $1, I figured what
the heck. Well, I won the sucker! To say I was on Cloud Nine would be
putting it mildly! Now, down to the real world; freshman weren't
allowed to have cars on campus. So, Dad and a buddy came up to pick it
up and drive it down to our home in NJ. He then brought it in to the
DMV to get it titled and registered. The clerk naturally noticed the
out-of-state paperwork, and knew the NJ sales tax hadn't been paid. So,
she asked Dad, "How much is the car worth?" He, being ever truthful,
said "One dollar". The clerk then responded "OK, 5 cents tax, please".
It should be noted that this car was great; tracked straight as an arrow
on the interstates (little 12" tires acted like gyroscopes, I guess),
you learned to drive it like an 18-wheeler (floor the gas when you see a
hill 5 miles ahead so you can be doing something like 55 at the top),
after driving for an hour or so the gas pedal felt like you were
stepping on the sharp end of a railroad spike (Alec Issigonis designed
it along with the Mini; one of his theories for staying alert is you
have to be a bit uncomfortable), and it taught me everything I now know
about vehicle troubleshooting (and how and when to wield my 32 oz. ball
peen hammer).

Freshman year in college again; roommates and myself were glued to the
radio listening to the lottery numbers drawing. The latest "Powerball"
drawing? No, something much more of interest to everybody listening who
was 19 years old. Remember, this was the time of the Vietnam war. In
past years, college students got a deferment from the draft. This was
felt by many to be unfair, so a new system took it's place. All 19 year
olds were place in a draft lottery system, where your potential for
being drafted depended on the sequence number of your birthday. We were
listening to them draw birthdays and assigning sequence numbers. I
remember drawing number 265 (out of 365 days in a year), which meant my
chances of being drafted were minimal. But I do remember some friends
dropping out of school in order to enlist in the military service of
their choice and avoid being a drafted footsoldier slogging throught the
Vietnamese jungles.

About the same time; I was in the Air Force ROTC. Joyous time marching
around campus in uniform in the midst of the anti-war demonstrations.

About 1970 while going to school in Albany, NY (actually, Troy - home of
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute or just "Tute" by the students), a
friend and I noticed that Watkins Glen was only about 2 hours away.
Having a desire to watch the US Grand Prix in October, we packed up his
Dodge Coronet and drove out to the track. Being naive (stupid?), we
figured we could just get some motel rooms near the track. Well, with
no available rooms within 100 miles of the track, and 100,000-plus nutty
fans at the track, we slept in that car - pushed the front seatbacks
forward, threw our luggage on the rear floor,and tried to sleep propped
up on the seat backs with our feet lying on the rear seat. I think we
got a total of about 5 hours sleep the entire weekend. For future
events we planned better, with tents and sleeping bags. Got to see some
good racing - and the burning of the Greyhound Bus down in the infamous
bog. I was watching the practice/qualifying at the entrance to the pit
straight, then this giant plume of black smoke started rising in the
air. Figuring it was an accident, I turned on my portable AM radio to
hear the track announcer say "We have just gotten a report that a bus is
burning down in the bog!" Turned out the "bog-ees" had stolen the bus,
stripped it, turned it on its side, then set it on fire.

Out of school and out in the real world earning some green folding
stuff; I could FINALLY afford my dream car (a Porsche 911; REALLY wanted
a Maserati Ghibli, but that was a little out of my price range).
Searched around in mid-1976 at local dealers for a car equipped the way
I wanted, but couldn't find one. All the dealers said they didn't have
one equipped like I wanted, but I could place an order for a 1977 model.
From previous years pricing trends, I knew the price was going up
significantly. Finally I went into Porsche Audi Manhattan and talked to
a salesman. They "advertised" themselves as being the East Coast
distributor for Porsches and getting a 1976 should not be a problem.
Sure enough, a few weeks later they called and said they had a car
essentially fitting my description; silver 911S with black trim,
midnight blue interior, air conditioning, and aluminum fender trim.
Total cost? $15,501. What I saved over a 1977? Approximately $1000.
I drove this car for years (sold it with about 130,000 miles on it);
after reading all the stories about "oversteer", I figured they had
cured it by this year since I never had a hint of it. Then I started
autocrossing and learned it was still there!

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postscript: I also realized I've owned one version or another of a 911 for over half of my life!