Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival,
Road America 2003

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6. An Evening with Pater Warr, Ending on a Warm Note

With perfect timing as we finished our dinners, the presentation began with thanks to all of the people who had worked to make the weekend not only possible, but enjoyable as well. A few words from guest of honor, William Taylor, and then the tiny microphone was clipped onto Peter Warr's lapel and he began...

"This is the second time today I've risen from a warm seat with a piece of paper in my hand..." He eventually mentioned that this line was one of several lines of the same flavor he attributed to from Graham Hill, who apparently loved to speak publicly but could not always be relied upon to keep the content completely 'clean'.

He then went on to recount a little story, with three morals, about a bird, who enjoying his stay in the North waited a bit too long before heading South. The bird finally took to the air, but when he did, his little wings froze stiff and he found himself making an emergency landing in a cow pasture. He was lying there, wings all stiff, wondering if he'd freeze that winter, when a cow meandered over and just missed stepping on him. The little bird looked up just in time to see the cow's tail rising and before he knew it, he was buried in sh-t. The bird was pondering this situation when he realised that he was warm and cozy, and that his wings were thawing out nicely. In a few moments, he could stretch them out again and as he did this, he sang out a beautiful little chirpy bird song proclaiming his joy. Of course that's when the hungry cat wandered by. The cat hesitated briefly but then swiftly devoured the little bird. The three morals? Number one: Not everyone who sh-ts on you is your enemy. Number two: Not everyone who gets you out of sh-t is your friend. Number three: If your in deep sh-t, but are warm and happy, you'd best keep your mouth shut!

This story was particularly appropriate to the occasion according to Mr. Warr. He had some wonderful and challenging times with Lotus, but was not one to go 'round telling all about it. He was happy and content, but there were obviously plenty of folks out there who were interested in what he had to say...

Peter went on to briefly outline his history with Lotus, from having led Lotus Components in the early 1960's, where he oversaw the racing efforts and Seven production when the racing season calmed down, to his taking the helm of the Formula One team in 1982 when Colin passed on.

Stories of the early days included a couple referring to the time when the mechanics would drive the transporter to and from the races in Europe... running late, as often happened, they were told to report in immediately as they arrived at the circuit in France. About the time they were expecting a call at the works, the phone rang, with the mechanics on the other end of the line. Did you arrive alright then? Yeah, got here just fine thanks... only one problem... there's no one else here! The crew had hurried out to Clermont-Ferrand instead of Rouen, where the race was to be held! Another time, due to running a bit behind, the transporter driver decided they ought to take a short cut into Germany... they arrived in plenty of time for the race. Did the trip go smoothly? Yeah, except we got to the border in the middle of the night and found that the crossing was closed... so we backed up along the road, cut a hole in the fence, and away we went. Only one problem... since we never officially entered the country, we've got to go back out through the same hole!

He had some great comments about many drivers, and touched on few who had some sort of American connection...

Jim Clark, of course, was well publicised in his abilities and outcomes on the track, but Peter shared how Clark had his own personal road speed record traveling from the Lotus works home to his farm in his Elite at an average speed of 100mph. He mentioned Graham Hill, of course, who could be a bit course with his comments and language. Ronnie Peterson, he said was the commensurate driver's driver. A perfect example on and off the track, very good with the car and also with the people he inevitably was required to deal with. Peter said he could go on about Peterson, but that we really all ought to simply buy the new book, published by Coterie press, a nice plug for William Taylor.

Emerson Fitipaldi was described as an excellent driver, but one who never could quite get a grasp of the English language... after numerous sessions with the mechanics complaining about the "chukker sorters", he finally got the ride adjustments he was after. It wasn't until the end of the day that the mechanics finally determined that he had been referring to shock absorbers! To this day, says Warr, Fitipaldi still refers to certain parts and systems in his own special language.

Nigel Mansell, said Warr, was unable to speak this evening due to a bout with the 24 hour flu... they knew it was the 24 hour flu because nothing could stand to be around him for any longer than that! Mansell apparently was a fair driver, but not terribly honest. It was always the car, always some adjustment was off, something not quite right with the car. Peter emphasized the importance of a driver's unwavering honesty when it comes to setting up a car. Elio deAngeles, he said was a wonderful driver, though he drove his poor team mate absolutely crazy. deAngeles came from a noble French family, an accomplished pianist among other things. deAngeles unnerved Mansell incredibly because he made it all look so easy and nonchalant... deAngeles could come strolling into the pit five minutes before he was due out to qualify. He'd realize he left his helmet in the hotel, he'd ask for a smoke off someone, then wander up and down the pit lane asking to borrow a helmet here and a pair of and gloves there. He'd then settle into the car, and go out and beat Mansells time and come back in fretting about some completely unrelated matter! It drove poor Nigel absolutely crazy!

Then we heard a bit about Mario Andretti. Mario was depicted as the most unassuming, person you could meet. Andretti was bouncing back and forth across the Atlantic to meet race obligations in both the US and Europe. Peter would call him from England to arrange flight and accommodations so that Mario would arrive in plenty of time to relax and prepare for a race. Mario would come back with, oh, just send me a ticket, don't worry about accommodations! He would then catch an overnight flight to Europe, arrive at the course in the morning directly from the airport, and perform flawlessly.

Peter mentioned many other drivers as well, but pointed out that were he to say something about each, we'd all be there for the next few days!

Warr then went on to say just a bit about Colin Chapman himself, citing an example of his personality and how he often was caught out by it: Flying his family back from France, he heard from behind him the cabin that someone desperately needed the loo. Colin suggested that a plastic bag would solve the problem... a few minutes later they called to him again - what should we do with the bag? in his frustration with being 'bothered' again, Colin switched the plane to autopilot, ventured into the rear of the plane, grabbed the bag, popped the rear door open and dropped the offending bag out. It wasn't until he tried to close the door that he realized they were in trouble. It was impossible to secure the door in flight. An emergency landing in Toulous was his reward this time!

After his presentation, Peter was greeting several people who would wander up, recount some memory of having seen him or the Lotus team, and shake his hand. One gentleman introduced his wife and daughter, to whom Peter turned very graciously and made a very formal apology for the language he may have used in recounting some of his stories. Typical gentleman!

Well, it was about 10:30 by this time and time for me to be making my way back to my humble camp site at Road America. Asking and for and confirming directions out of Elkhart Lake, I hopped into the Seven and wheeled around toward the track. After 10 minutes, I rounded the uphill lefthand sweeping bend and entered the main gate. In a brief splash of overhead light I almost subconsciously looked at the temp gauge and was struck with alarm noticing that the needle was swung around to about a 3 o'clock position, or pushing 300 degrees F! I tapped the gauge and scratched my head - something must be wrong with the gauge... but it's a capillary gauge... well, I was only a couple hundred yards from my destination and the motor felt and sounded fine so I drove it on into camp and parked. Curious and anxious, I removed the bonnet, and caught whiff of a different kind of 'hot' engine smell than usual. Grabbing a flashlight from the other car, I played it over the engine. Everything looked okay until I came to the lower radiator hose. This approximately 6 inch hose was completely disconnected from the 'z' pipe that leads back up to the inlet of the water pump. I had dumped every drop of coolant out of the engine!

There was nothing to do about it in the middle of the night, except to get myself to sleep planning an excursion into the nearest town that might have a shop open early on a Sunday morning... a shop with coolant and a proper hose clamp.

 

PLEASE NOTE: All information and photography presented herein is copyright 2003 by the authors/photographers indicated and not to be reproduced in any form without prior permission from the author/photographer/editor.

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