| From Dick: "This might have been
the last race for me and the Testa Rossa. I know that the next year I raced
a Lotus XI and also bought the Devin-Panhard from Van. It was interesting
about that. After I bought it I took it to an injector specialist in Pasadena
and we got it tuned up to perfection. I raced it at Santa Barbara and won.
It was a bit deflating for Van since we couldn't get better than thirds
while he owned it.
A man from Beverly Hills came up to me
afterwards and wanted the car. I sold it and then raced it for him at Willow
Springs. That was my last race. After that my only activity was with my
Mini Cooper at practice sessions at Riverside.
Of course I stayed in the action on another
level working for Car & Driver magazine, after that working for BMW
and after that with OC Ritch and Jim Gilbert as Technical Editor for Road
Test Magazine. After the TR I owned two more Ferraris. While with
Car & Driver I bought a Zagato bodied 250 GT. Later I owned a 250 2+2.
They are very unique cars in ways that I find difficult to describe. I
certainly enjoyed owning them and competing with the Monza and the Testa
Rossa.
I wasn't doing it for the same reasons
that others had, I think. I've always loved cars (still do) and the racing
activity was an expression of that love. Winning was almost beside the
point for me. Whatever success I had ( and it was very little) was just
frosting on the cake. I believe a person's passion need not have to have
any rational reason. After my racing period I bought a 40' yawl. I lived
aboard it in Newport Beach while writing for Road Test. I developed a passion
for the sea and sailed as far north as Glacier Bay Alaska and as far south
as Panama.
I've cruised parts of the Gulf and up
the Mississippi and through the TVA. I believe people should follow their
passions. I did some prospecting for gold (no luck) and for four years
my wife and I traveled the back roads (I'm an artist) and I painted signs.
We loved it. Today (I'm now 73) I design homes, do oil paintings and have
a great passion for following the Formula One racing events, so perfectly
presented by Speedvision." |
