In 2007, the intrepid Fowler family set forth from sunny Sydney to the frozen fields of Edmonton Canada.
Will they survive in temperatures colder than their freezer?
How long will it be before they start talking like Canadians?
Will they be able to perform their civic duty and keep the snow shoveled off their sidewalk?
This is their story...
Ok, the second leg of our Summer Break Adventure has begun.
Behold - the chariot of champions!
This is a special blog post for all those people that complained about the amount of cars in the last couple of posts.
(Come on! I was at the drag races watching world records get broken and then at the Grand Prix! What do you people expect????)
So this post is just for you. I am deliberately not mentioning anything about Anne, Jacki and Sean arriving from Australia, nothing about their escapades in Edmonton, nothing about anything but this:
Ford Mustang Convertible.
4.6L V8 - 224Kw.
Foot down - makes noise - goes fast - big grin :-)
Champ Cars are big here in North America. (When they race at Surfers Paradise, we call them Indy Cars) So, in my quest to live this Canadian life to the fullest, I signed up as a Volunteer to help out at the Edmonton Grand Prix.
The Special Events team was where they decided to put me. It was our job to look after the stages and bands and stuff.
Nazareth's vocalist and lead electric bagpiper, Dan McCafferty.
And my faves, Exit 303 - these guys were the workhorse band of the weekend - they played all three days (three sets on Saturday)
So, what other stuff did I see while I was working? It seems that the Mounties have traded in their horses.
And the Ambos are getting around on Segways.
I checked out Team Australia's setup.
"Just unbolt that bit there and the whole back comes off..."
"See. Now we just have to work out how to get it back on again."
Nascars were racing too. I looked and looked, but didn't see Lightning McQueen anywhere :-(
There were no bikes racing, but they were flying through the air.
I caught this F18 in mid-transform. (I couldn't see a logo, so I had no idea if it was an Autobot or Decepticon - sorry)
The street drag racers here in Edmonton have a bit of a problem, the Police cars cover the quarter mile in under 11 seconds...
Ooh look - I can buy a Team Australia shirt for just $130.00. (Or I can take a photo of a Team Australia shirt for free :-)
And so the Nascars raced around the track, and somebody won (look it up if you care :-)
The Canadian Air-Force Snowbirds arrived to chase away the Transformer F18.
So, on to the big race - the Champ Cars. Team Australia's Will Power (cool name) ripped through with the fastest qualifying time and got to lead the grid. (Onya Will!)
CDW's Justin Wilson was the other car I was cheering for. (CDW is out main IT supplier at work - they gave us some freebies :-)
So, round and round the cars went, much to the crowd's delight. The Aussies dropped back in the field due to car trouble - I told them they shouldn't have pulled the back bit off. Justin in the CDW car came in second. I didn't see the end of the race because I was busy helping set up the Winner's Circle. Check out the cool glass flamey thing trophies.
And the Inukshuk trophies for the Team Championship.
It turns out the the cars that came in first and third were owned by Paul Newman.
Here's Paul with the Team Australia boys.
But Paul Newman wasn't the only big name I came across - Lisa Takacs was there too. Imagine - I got to see Lisa Takacs!
The winning car after the confetti cannon...
Enough racing - time to party - the rowdiest bunch there - the Special Events Team.
Entertainment provided by Exit 303. (Hey Virg :-)
Rock On!
One last thing - Justin signed a car for me. (Well, actually it was for my boss, but hey :-)
Saturday morning in Portland and time for the Show and Shine at the Village Inn.
Dave Cloud brought along his racer.
Two wheels on each motor, with a funky little winch motor for reverse.
Marko Mongillo's Fiat, Fiamp.
Father Time's Frankendragon.
Showing a bit of battery.
John Wayland's Heavy Metal Garden Tractor. How many lawn mowers do you know of that have sub woofers?
John's other Datsun 1200 EV, Blue Meanie.
Otmar's Zilla testbed, the Porsche 914 (formerly known as California Poppy, but now it lives in Oregon...)
Otmar's ex-hybrid Honda Insight, now powered by an EV-1 AC motor and his Hamster-based AC controller prototype.
Victor Tichonov's Honda ACRX. (North American Kangaroos have big ears...)
The White Zombie.
And it's owner.
This is what happens when the throttle jams at over 100 MPH and you try to hold back the combined power of a pack of A123 batteries, a big Zilla controller and a pair of Jim Husted modified motors - 500 feet of black streaks and bald patches on your tires.
Bob Rice's scooter.
This van turned up with hopes of meeting Gone Postal while its driver was off delivering parcels. Unfortunately, it was not to be since Rod and GP couldn't make it.
An S-10 electric pickup.
Sometimes even the world's fastest street legal drag car gets stuck in traffic.
Killacycle doing a nudie run.
Miles Twete's 1921 Milburn Electric.
Miles: where do I get teched in for racing? I put on the wide tires just for tonight...
Enough of the cars, let's put some faces to names...
Tim Brehm and Gary Graunke.
Don "Father Time" Crabtree.
Mike Willmon and Bob Rice.
Jim Husted, Mike and FT.
John Wayland explaining to a Police officer that A123 Lithium Ion batteries are the forbidden fruit of EVs and that makes it OK to steal them.
Police officer: Are you sure that's red paint?
Rich Rudman and Otmar Ebenhoech discussing the quality of the Zombie's 12v wiring.
Gary, Rich and Victor Tichonov.
Otmar: Your Zilla looks hungry - I've got some hamsters over here if you want. Oh, it looks a bit thirsty too.
John: Ok, I'll give it a drink.
Lots of people hanging around in the back yard of the Wayland Juice Bar.
Paul "Neon" Gooch.
John presents Tim with the "Stuck Throttle" award for the previous night's tire flatspotting achievement.
Killacycle does some blindingly fast runs, but doesn't quite crack its 8.16 second record.
The White Zombie, has other problems. You see, the track rules at PIR insist that if a car runs the quarter mile in less that 11.5 seconds, then it must have a roll cage, and it will be banned from the track if it doesn't. The Zombie doesn't have a roll cage.
(That's also the fastest a street legal electric drag car has ever run - it's a shame they need two runs to within 1% time to set the official record)
Here's Tim holding the incriminating evidence...
Here's Tim getting his official warning from the PIR track manager. (That's it Tim, put on a brave face :-)
John wants to keep racing, however. Since Miles' 1921 Milburn didn't pass the tech inspection, that left John no other alternative than to run his work van.
