Auto press junkets, part 2: The people you meet

The greatest thing about all the press trips I was on was not the products I got to experience, but the people I got to meet. Some were famous (at least to me), and some just plain folks. These are some that I remember, in no particular order.

I met Bill Taylor at one of the G.M. long leads. Bill had a strange gig; he was a Brit who lived in Southern California, and he wrote for an Australian hot rod magazine! As a Brit, he kind of naturally drifted to the Canadians on these junkets. As a hot rod writer, he was a bit of an outlier. He had a great sense of humour (I use the British/Canadian spelling for Bill), and often joined our after-dinner boozers.

I scared Bill once on Chevrolet day during the G.M. long leads. Chevy had a military K5 Blazer that no one else was paying attention to. So I took it out; Bill jumped in the passenger seat. The Blazer was a diesel, had a full roll cage, big tires, skid panels, run flat off-road tires, etc. G.M. had a small off-road course with some great whoop-de-does. I got the Blazer airborne! I was pretty tightly strapped in, but Bill wasn't; he bounced up and smacked his noggin on the roof! Worse, his camera bounced around. Thankfully, it survived intact. Bill forgave me.

One of the great parts of G.M.'s long leads was the food. Usually lunch was at wherever the event was (track, Black Lake test facility, etc), and it was catered. It was never just sandwiches, but a lavish al fresco affair. Dinner was also part of the day, often at a posh restaurant or country club.

At one meal at a country club I had to excuse myself to use the facilities. As I was going back to the dining room I saw Rick Mears leaning against a wall. This must have been in 1986, because he ran in that year's Michigan 500, and we visited the track. 

Anyway, Rick was standing there alternating between which foot he stood on. I am usually pretty shy but for some reason I stopped to talk to him, asking him how bad the pain was. He said that once he got in a race car it didn't bother him too much. We chatted a bit more before I went back into the dinner. I had already respected Rick Mears as a driver; our chat gave me respect for the man.

Wallace (Wally) Wyss is a fairly well-known automotive writer and author. He is also a character. Some people might call him odd. Whatever, he is a very interesting and knowledgeable person. I met him through Bill McLauclan and Richard Russell. Wally would sometimes sit at our table during some events. He knew just about everyone in the automotive world. I sometimes see him during Monterey Car Week. His primary focus now is his art, and he is damn good.

At one dinner during G.M. long leads, I was introduced to Leon Mandel. Again credit Bill McLauclan and Richard Russell. I knew who Leon Mandel was; I subscribed Car and Driver, Road & Track, and AutoWeek. Mandel was just like his writing - friendly and full of life. 

I also met Leon's son, Dutch Mandel. Dutch wasn't as personable as his dad; not in my opinion. But he did buy a photograph I took for publication in Autoweek. This must have been in 1986. At Chevy day during the G.M. long leads there was a special Nova, a rebadged Toyota Corolla, with a badge that said "Super Nova." It was bright red, had a 5-speed, and went like stink. The engine revved to 6,600 rpm. 

I wanted to see the engine but I couldn't find the hood release. I parked the Nova in an area that was semi-hidden, and searched for the hood release. I found the cable but the T-handle had been removed and I had no tools. I wrapped the cable around some fingers and yanked. It hurt like hell but the hood popped! I quickly propped it open, and start snapping away with my trust 35mm camera. The reason Chevy didn't want the hood opened was obvious; they hadn't changed the cam covers that proclaimed "Toyota 1600" and "Twin Cam 16 Valve."

The next week back home in Toronto I got the photos developed, contacted Dutch and asked if AutoWeek wanted them. He said yes. I think I was paid $25 USD, my first (and only) photo sale. The picture ran in AutoWeek.

I wouldn't say I met Jean Lindamood, but I did kind of. It was at a Ford long lead around the time Automobile magazine was launched. I was in a parking lot with Bill and Richard, and we were chatting with Jim Kenzie when Lindamood came rushing by. She stopped to talk to Jim (he was and is one of the best known English Canadian auto writers). We all said hi to her, and if I remember correctly we went to her car and she handed out copies of Automobile. Lindamood was a force of nature, a successful woman in what was still at that time pretty much a male world. 

I met many folks from Road & Track; two stand out. Ron Wakefield was one. I met him at a race track, I think it was Mid-Ohio. It was a Chevrolet event during the long lead week, maybe 1985 (I do remember driving a pumped Cavavlier Z24). It was late afternoon, I was tired and sitting on the pit wall. Ron came and sat next to me. He asked me questions - who was I, what did I do, what cars did I like, just chatting. He was a really nice guy who made me feel comfortable (I often felt like I didn't belong and would soon be found out). 

It may have been that same day that I chatted with Peter Egan. I was on the bus that would take us back to a nearby airport, then to fly back to Willow Run Airport outside Detroit. Peter got on and sat in a seat in front of me. He introduced himself, and asked me some of the same questions Ron Wakefield had asked me. Again, just a nice guy. That day I met two guys who I read faithfully every month, every word, who in the end were normal, just normal guys. 

John Davis of Motorweek (PBS) was at a lot of the long leads. He was another guy that was just a nice man. We'd say "hi" to each other whenever we met. Years later, when eBay bought PayPal, they had a media event in the San Francisco Bay Area. John was there. I went over to say hi, and damned if he didn't remember me!

One person I didn't meet back in the '80s was Lisa Barrow. I knew Lisa from Motorweek on TV but not in person. Years later, many years later, Lisa was the West Coast media person for Chrysler. She's retired now, living the good life with her husband on the East Coast. We're FB friends; I like to see her posts, especially her/their motorcycle trips.

There was one writer that I remember but for the life of me I can't remember his name. He was younger than I was, maybe in his late 20s or early 30s. He stood out to me because he too had started out as an auto mechanic. I remember him telling about writing a huge, important article on his computer. Computers back in the '80s did not auto save, you had to physically insert a floppy disk and save to the disk. Something he had not done when he got up to get a coffee or go to the bathroom. He tripped on the power cord, which was pulled out of the outlet, and his whole article disappeared!

There were many others of course. Race drivers, auto execs (I met Iacocca a few times). The auto company people that were the most interesting were the engineers. The vast majority of them were really proud of their work. Two stand out.

Daniel Hittler has worked Ford, and American Motors where I met him. He was the Director of the Engine Engineering Group. I met him at an event for the 1984 Jeep Cherokee. He was very proud of the new the 2.5-liter four. AMC had a cutaway of the four, and I pored over it, asking him questions. He seem chuffed that someone, anyone, cared about the inner workings of those engine. Without saying as much, he basically said the 4-cylinder was the engine to choose instead of the rebadged Chevy 2.8-liter V6. 

The other engineer was a Ford suspension guy. I don't remember his name. He was very proud of the '88 Lincoln Continental's computer-controlled suspension. I drove one at Ford's Romeo Proving Grounds. He had a laptop plugged into the onboard computer and manipulated the suspension to demonstrate the system. It really was pretty amazing. 

These are just the people that come to mind right now, the people that left a lasting impression. There are more to be sure. I feel so lucky to have met all of them.