FF Memory Lane

[Phil Creighton]

In 1978 I was hired to come over and run the Van Diemen works team in the US competing in the heyday of the AFFA pro series and SCCA nationals. (Actually was me prepping the cars and Ted Wenz building the engines and both of us working at the weekends). However……. I met a real bunch of characters in FF back then but the only ones I see still active are Dave and Sherry Weitzenhof. I know Tom Davey is still going in advertising in NJ and my other driver Peter Kuhn died some years ago. David loring has also passed – kicked our ass at the Runoffs in the Eagle.
Whatever happened to guys like (not limited to) Kip Laughlin, Kevin Caruso, Garry Hackbarth, Brian Goodwin, Dennis Firestone, Mike Mokler, Bob Lobenberg – just some of the guys up front on any given FF weekend back in those days


My first race in the USA with the Tom Davey Van Diemen at West Palm in 78.

[provamo]

i remember Davey and Kuhn letting me by them at the Glen nationals that year....couldn't understand why until they flew by as a pair nose to tail hooked up in a draft during qualifications!

btw those two cars were beautiful with those awesome turtledecks

[Phil Creighton]

The turtle decks were 'Pike' tails made in the shop behind Stimola's in Locust Valley by Tom Pike and recommended by Bruce McGinness, our initial test driver, that ran them on his Zink. I thought the low standard tail was faster - especially with the small driver like Davey and that proved to be the case when the tail came off at Pocono after a Dzus came undone and it gradually ripped apart. We never ran them on the 79 or 80 cars as I recall.

Heres a picture of the very first Van Diemen USA test at WPB with the stock tail - Bruce 'setting up' the car for Tom and the 79/80 cars for John Paul Jr in early 80 at Charlotte I think.

[provamo]

i remember Joe and Bruce and the Winkleman (with the chicken) going through a weigh-in at Lime Rock (they would scale one end of the car at a time)

while weighing the front end Bruce unstrapped and leaned way forward placing his helmet halfway down the nose with his elbows over the windscreen

when the back was weighed somehow his helmet and gloves ended up covering the carb inlet LOL

heard from a friend in FLA that Bruce was teaching at a Barber school

[tim gaffney]

This racing was cool and the field was packed with new cars and talented drivers. I recently bought a 342 just cause its so beautiful.

The old pic is my dad's orange 342 from the late 70s
Tim Gaffney

[DaveW]

Here I am in my Zink Z10 with Kuhn or Davey behind at Lake Afton in 1978, IIRC.

Link to post about Lake Afton: http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/show...25&postcount=9

[Dan Pyanowski]

HA! I learned that trick from watching them in the tech shed.

Lean forward when they weighed the front axle and lean back when they rolled you forward to weigh the back axle. Surprised Tech never caught on...

Came in handy when running near the weight limit (when I was skinny) and the "accuracy" of those grain scales in use at the time.

[Roland V. Johnson]

Some Tech people were well aware of weight moving about and required the driver out of the car and weighed separately! (caught on to it early on while setting up a car and the corner weights kept changing)

[DaveW]

HA! I learned that trick from watching them in the tech shed.

Lean forward when they weighed the front axle and lean back when they rolled you forward to weigh the back axle. Surprised Tech never caught on...

Came in handy when running near the weight limit (when I was skinny) and the "accuracy" of those grain scales in use at the time.

I always remember being told "don't move, or we'll have to re-weigh you" in the tech line at the scales.

[Pi_guy]

i remember Joe and Bruce and the Winkleman (with the chicken) going through a weigh-in at Lime Rock (they would scale one end of the car at a time)

while weighing the front end Bruce unstrapped and leaned way forward placing his helmet halfway down the nose with his elbows over the windscreen

when the back was weighed somehow his helmet and gloves ended up covering the carb inlet LOL

heard from a friend in FLA that Bruce was teaching at a Barber school

A few times in tech I had to stop Joe from throwing rocks in the car.
Bruce has been with Skippy for years, he also does private coaching.

[Phil Creighton]

Another nostalgia picture from 78

[Modo]

That was fantastic that year, Werks team coming to SCCA racing, the FF guys were the shoes of the day along with some FSV pros and of course FA pros, ..........I remember the guys, Phil n Mike G, and Tom and Peter although you know me, keep to myself and not bother the real racers, did the Natl's in FSV in all the Northeast Div favorites along with them in a basic club effort, made it to the runoffs that year clinching at the 'Bridge' last race............. werks team in small bore 'European Style Racing' is the key here, Phil's the VD man!!!!!

[Chris Robson]

I passed your photo along to Bruce and he proceeded to, once again, tell me a story that because of decency laws, I can't share with the the general public. I"ll just say it involves the reason Ralph Firman did not attend any of the tests...

[Davidcaruso77]

Hey all, I saw a 1977 Ford Tiga for sale locally and it inspired me to google "Kevin Caruso Van Diemen" - which brought me here.

Kevin was my father and passed away in 2018. In the 90's he started racing again, mostly at Mid-Ohio in a Spec Racer Ford. He and I also raced karts at the local track. In the late '90's he had a truck lined up to race in the NASCAR Truck series but wasn't able to get sponsorship.

He was living in Charlotte when diagnosed with cancer. He bought a kart that we ran at the GoPro Motorplex as a way to spend time together. He never lost the desire to race!!

I've attached a few pictures I found from his files. I would love to hear more stories if anyone is willing to share them!

[Lotus7]

no direct connection, but your photos brought to mind my first day in FFord ....

[racersonly]

Back in the day, many people ran with them. I always wondered why for two reasons. They’re not at all attractive, plus, it always appeared to me that it was a rather large “air dam” with that big vertical area behind the drivers head. I suspect that there might be someone out there that may be looking for one to finish off his vintage FF. That being said, I know where there’s one available if someone is looking?