SCP Newsletter Fall 2005
Calendar of Events
· Christmas Party
Gray’s House
11748 Duart Dr.
Houston, TX 77024
Dec 17 – 7pm
· 2nd Annual Golf Tournament
Jan 1, 2006
· IAFS 2006 ?
SCPOCA Officers
President – Will Kooiman
wkooiman@earthlink.net
Vice President – Fred Foreman
105005.2566@compuserve.com
Treasurer – Steve Hawkins
shawkins6@houston.rr.com
Events Coordinator – John Taphorn
jtaphorn@kingwoodcable.com
Webmaster/Secretary – David Bell
davidabell@att.net
Website
www.spacecitypanteras.com
E-mail list
SCPOCA@yahoogroups.com
Contact David Bell to join
President’s Message
This is a little late, but at least I’m getting it out before the Christmas party.
The next major event is the Christmas Party. This is a must attend event. If for no other reason, if you aren’t there, you’ll be elected to a position. You don’t think I chose to do the president duties on my own, do you? Besides, it’s the last chance of the year to catch up with everyone.
We’ll be doing the gift exchange again this year. If you want to participate, bring a wrapped present, gender specific no more than $15 in value.
Food will be provided, but if you want to bring a favorite dessert, that would be appreciated. If you don’t’ have a favorite dessert, that’s okay too.
As mentioned, we’ll also be electing officers for next year. If you want to be more involved, nominate yourself. If you want someone else to be more involved, nominate them.
You can find a map to Gray’s house on http://maps.yahoo.com. The address is 11748 Duart Dr., Houston TX 77024. If you get lost, call me at 281-772-3567.
See ya there!
Sincerely – Will Kooiman
Past Events
Tech Session – Jul 23
I missed the tech session because my car was on 3 legs in Little Rock. In case you missed the story on the realbig list, “Stranded in Little Rock,” I fragged a wheel bearing just outside of Little Rock. I enlisted the help of Mike Trusty (labor) and Dennis Quella (parts) to get it back on the road. Unfortunately, it made me miss the tech session.
Sorry, I don’t have any more info on the tech session.
Houston Italian Festival – Oct 8,9
The Houston Italian Festival is a 2-day event and at first wasn’t going to have a car show. The Fiat club decided there needed to be a car show, so they took the reins and organized everything.
There were about 30 cars at the show. It consisted of 3 Panteras (me, Fred Foreman, Steve Hawkins), a bunch of Fiats, a Lamborghini Espada, a Maserita or two, and a mix of other Italian cars. Luigi had his other car. Most people know Luigi for his Lamborghini Diablo, but his other car that he insists is just as much fun is a 2-cylinder Iso (I think) that is barely larger than a go-cart. Sorry for not having the name right. It’s late, and I’m trying to get this out.
The Festival was pretty cool. It had a lot of Italian specialties like Italian beer, wine, food, and music. There was a grape stomping contest. Everyone that showed their cars was treated to free drinks and snacks. Afterwards we met at a local restaurant and mingled with the Fiat club. In all, it was a fun weekend.
Messina Hof Rally – Oct 22
On Oct 22, the Pantera club joined the Delorean club for a scavenger hunt rally. John Taphorn joined us, which was nice since we hardly see him anymore. He’s been spending most of his time freezing off body parts in South Dakota. It was also nice that Tom Upton joined us. The rest of the gang included Jim Narum, Steve Hawkins, and Robert Leach. Robert was in his GT40 replica.
We met for breakfast and swapped stories before catching up with the Deloreans who were gathering across 249. I was in my wife’s car, so I bummed a ride with Tom.
The Deloreans are pretty cool-looking cars, but I’ve heard they’re underpowered. Maybe that’s because we expect all exotics to have the power of a big V-8. At any rate, it was nice that they invited us to tag along.
If you’ve been on a scavenger hunt rally before, you know the drill. You get a list of questions and general directions. Once you arrive at your destination, you turn in your sheet, and the winner gets something. To be honest, I was having too much fun cruising to worry about clues. Tom’s car has a gear drive and a solid roller. The gear whine was just right. You could just hear it. I put a gear drive on my gotta-have list.
JT tried to miss a turtle, but ended up making turtle soup with his tire. Robert was right behind him and saw something explode like a melon. I guess that’s better than having turtle guts on your oil pan.
We arrived at Messina Hof and chatted for a while. The Pantera guys had all recently done the winery tour, so we passed. After lunch, we met over at Tom’s shop. Now that was fun.
Tom’s shop is a dream. He’s got plenty of space, plus spare parts from years of racing. His newest toy is an all-out race Mustang. There must have been 5 pounds of tire goo that had been kicked up from the track that was still in the body panels.
Picture a handful of gear-heads being led from one area to another while Tom describes the parts. “This is a Fontana block that they made me quit running, because I kept kicking their butts. Now I have an iron block with iron heads, and I’m still kicking their butts.” I embellished a little, but you get the picture.
Most everyone left after an hour or two in the shop. Jim and I went to dinner with Tom and didn’t get back until about 11pm.
Upcoming…
2nd Annual Golf Tournament
This year we had 3 people at the golf tournament. JT left with a little less $$ in his pockets. I left pretty much even. Steve Hawkins left a little richer. We all had a good time. It was on Jan 1st. Anyone that makes it through New Year’s parties are invited. Details to be posted on the website.
IAFS – 2006
During the Messina Hof rally, we discussed IAFS. We decided we needed to do it again, but there are several challenges. The best dates are already taken at TWS. The only date open is Mother’s Day. Not even Mike Drew would schedule a race date for Mother’s Day.
There were several suggestions. One was to use the new track south of Houston, www.msrhouston.com. It’s probably available and probably cheap. The only negative is the location. It’s about 35 minutes south of downtown Houston. I don’t mind driving that far, but it makes it hard for the guys from Dallas.
Other possible tracks are near Fort Worth or Oklahoma City. It’s getting a little late to set this all up, but maybe we can settle on something at the Christmas party.
See? There’s another reason to make the Christmas Party.