Tedman's SoCal TT Page - socaltt510

A nice driver

4-Dr Tempest

240Z and 911S

...and fellow Carrera California rallyist

If 6 was 9...

Carrera C4 engine and 4wd!

Cerro Noroeste on the way home

2010 Targa California

What would a run to Death Valley be without a Hearse?

11,050' Telescope Peak in background. A nearly 50 year spread in machinery.

Shortly after cresting Emigrant Pass (5250') northbound from Trona Wildrose Rd.

Find the hidden Datsun!

Merge of previous 3 pics

The 2011 Carrera California will run next weekend, Nov 12-13. Always an invigorating autumn run to the desert and back through the backroads of Southern Orange, Southern Riverside and NE San Diego Counties. Check back soon for a full report with pics and vids. Event info at

http://www.bench-racing.com

Targa California 2011 wrapped 4/9. Another stellar event! We had four 510s on the run, so I'm pleased to say that I got my wish not to be the only 510 in the Targa this year! Team Datsun 510 was even presented a recognition award by the disorganizers at the farewell lunch and awards ceremony at the Estrella Warbirds Museum & Woodland Automobile Display in Paso Robles. Only Porsche, Alfa and Datsun groups were singled out for honors so we were stoked.  I think there were also four Z's in event, making Datsun the third most represented marque after Porsche and BMW.

The weather was all over the place, making for some challenging and interesting conditions. We had sunshine, light rain, heavy rain, hail, multiple water crossings and even a few snow flurries were reported. It was never truly treacherous, but the weather really kept it interesting!

By the time I got home my odometer had racked up 999.2 total miles for the three days. The car was caked with mud and road grime, just the way it should be after a good hard road trip. Classic Motorsports was there and will be doing an article in an upcoming issue. Bring A Trailer was back again, and they've posted blogs on their website.

Dave B. and the rest of the disorganizers and sponsors really stepped it up this year. Hats off to them and all of the participants who made this a Targa to rememeber.

This year's sixth annual Carrera California went off this weekend under sunny blue skies and perfect SoCal weather.  Thanks to Charles and Rex and BenchRacing.com for organizing another very pleasurable driving event. The fall colors were out in force in the foothills and mountains of northeastern San Diego county. Sure, it's not New Hampshire, but for southern Californians, it was quite a treat. There was a great mix of cars again this year, from mighty Mopar muscle to what one participant dubbed "The Smart car of the '50s", a Nash Metropolitan (well driven, Nate!).   The Lazy H Ranch near Pala once again hosted us for lunch on Day 1, and we all got to park on the lawn Councours style. Then it was on to through Julian which was absolutely crawling with tourists on this fine fall afternoon. Passing through Julian was a necessary evil in order to get over to the Sunrise Highway, which was my favorite road of the whole run. It's a stellar driver's road, made all the better at this time of year with the fall yellows, oranges and reds in the trees. Just like a Tequila Sunrise.  

After looping back through Julian, we headed out to the Anza Borrego desert via Banner Grade and Yaqui pass road, two more of my favorites. The overnight was once again at Stanlund's in Borrego Springs, with dinner at the Red Ocotillo at the Palms Hotel, a happenin' Rat Pack of a place back in the '60s.  The other half of the Datsun 510 contingent joined the rally that evening, giving us a firm hold in the 'most popular car of the rally' category. After 225+ miles of driving, a few cocktails and a big dinner, most retired early for the evening, although a small group of German and Japanese car enthusiasts managed to find enough common ground to carry on the parking lot bench racing well into the 10'o clock hour. That could very well explain the plethora of early risers, and first motors fired up  in the 0700 hr despite an advertised 0900 departure. Maybe we should plan on an 0800 departure next year? 

After posing for photos under the palms out front of Stanlund's, it was up and out of the desert on the challenging Montezuma road.  We encountered a sandbagging 911 Turbo who seemed disinterested in playing until we got to the second long passing lane with the sweepers.  Very suddenly I had a mirror full of $150k supercar! He juked to the inside, then the outside, but at our rate of speed, a pass would have been ill-advised in anything but an F1 car. At least that's the way I'll remember it!  Shortly thereafter he got bored and turned around, no doubt heading back down the hill in search of more worthy victims.

The return trip took us up Palomar Mountain from east to west. The East Grade is one of my all time favorites. 3rd gear is the money gear on this uphill run, which has a fantastic rhythm of linked esses all the way up, and the scenery was spectacular from the top. The entire San Diego County coastline and Pacific Ocean were in full view. By contrast , the Mt. Palomar West Grade was a zoo!  Steep 2nd gear hairpins are the norm, and the sheer number of bicyclists and sportbikes climbing the grade makes the downhill frought with peril.  Misjudge one of the many decreasing radius hairpins and you may have your choice of two-wheeled hood ornaments.

The rest of the run to the coast was best enjoyed in cuise mode, as the population density gradually increases and pretty much precludes spirited driving for more than a few turns at a time. The rally ended at the now traditional location in San Clemente, La Siesta restaurant. The beachy vibe was contagious on this warm and sunny fall day. Many vehicles with surfboards on the roof cruising through town, and the glassy Pacific was virtually in your face. While the mariachi band wandered from table to table, the day's war stories were recounted, margaritas, Coronas and Modelos were sipped, and everyone celebrated the end of another successful rally. Viva La Carrera! 

I  didn't get much video from this year's TT, but what I did get I've edited and posted links in the Favorite Links section. I've also posted a linksto Scott's killer '49 Plymouth hot rod clip from this year's TT, and Flying-W-Twin's  TT '10 Spitfire clip, so check 'em out! 

Been a while since I posted anything here, but the CA rally season is revving up! SoCal TT '10 applications are now being accepted. Please email me at ted.hedman@earthlink.net and I'll forward the app form(s). From the event organizer:

"Please note that entry fee now includes dinner on Sunday and Monday nights as well as the hotel, tee shirt, stickers, dash plaque/patch, trophies, route sheets, etc.  The food is Cajun and so far has been damn good. The departure as always is from Echo Park, Los Angeles, and the destination this year is Los Alamos, Ca.  The route is pretty similar to last year with a few minor changes. Paypal is possible for payment of entry, but the fees are not included, so talk to me if you no longer have a check book...  I will need a hard copy of your application in order to avoid any mix ups with rooms or whatever. Thank you. See you on the road, Bronze!"

Also, there's a move afoot for a revival UFO SoCal 1-day run through Ventura/Santa Barbara counties (UFO=United Five-ten Owners) in early November (tentatively 11/6). See the following thread at 510 Realm for details:

http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=15244

Tonight I added a few more Targa clips from Day 3. These were shot after the awesome brunch at the Loading Chute in Creston. People sort of scattered after brunch, so we were running pretty much by ourselves for the rest of the day. The 1st three clips (#8, 9 and 10) are all shot on my favorite road of the whole trip. I just can't get enough of this road. You might recognize it as the same road in Targa '09 clips 4,5 and 6. The last clip (#11) was shot on a run from Santa Maria to Frazier Park before the slog down 5 to 405 and home.  Unfortunately the cam batteries gave out right when things were getting good...

Added 5 vid clips today. Mostly Day 1 plus a clip from AM Day 2. See the favorite links sidebar. On Day 1 we were consistently running a bit behind the group, so not too many cars in the clips. We did get lots of clear road which made for some fast sections. The wildflowers were spectacular on Hwy 58!

Alright, for most the buzz may have worn off by now but not this piloti! I'm still high as a kite from last weekend's Targa. The car was ridden hard and put away wet. I gotta get out to the garage and give 'er the once over this weekend. At least rinse off the splatter from the misty mountains.

The event started off somewhat as usual with a new and niggling problem to deal with on the morning of, Namely, no turn signals or fuel pressure gauge action. Those of you with Lucas elecronics might consider this par for the course, but I'm not a Brit car pilot. I managed to score a new 20A fuse from a fellow Datsun owner at the T.O. Best Western on Thurs morning, and that did the trick for the rest of the run. Thanks Todd!

Clearly the weinerschnitzel was going to out number the sushi on this run. Porsches and BMWs galore at the start. I think we had three Datsuns (sum total of J-tin) on the run; a Roadster and two 510s. I hung out waiting for my fellow 510 pal to arrive while everyone else took to the road. Tom was running late, so I split, planning to meet up in Ojai.

The first stop was at the Taggart collection in Ojai. Wow. What a collection. Everything from F1 cars to Early Honda race bikes. I'm not a motorcycle enthusiast, but I could appreciate the collection of small bore race bikes. They were exquisite! I understand that there's a whole 'nother wing full of vintage Euro bikes to drool over, that we didn't even get to see. Oh yeah, my buddy Tom finally caught up with us here in Ojai. His is the #46 510 in the photo album.

We made the run over 33 to Taft and munched our lunch at Paik's, then it was time for the run across 58 to Paso. The wildflowers were in full bloom and quite spectacular. We stopped for a few scenic pics before descending into the valley. Next stop was Jack Ranch and the James Dean Memorial. By now we had murdered a few bugs, so Windex and paper towels were quite popular. The Chocolate chip cookies at Jack Ranch are highly recommended.

 From Jack Ranch, we made the run up Cholame Rd to Vineyard and into Paso. Most had already checked into the Black Oak when we got there. As always, an impromptu car show and much bench racing was already underway. I enjoyed a pizza and beer with the Bench-Racing.com guys, purveyors of the Carrera California rally.  

 Day 2 dawned early. The weather had been stellar for day 1 and continued. After breakfast (Margie's diner got slammed Fri AM- poor waitress!), we rolled out amongst the R-Gruppe brigade. We hit fog west of Lake San Antonio. After a large regroup at CA 25, it was off for Baja Cantina in Carmel. We missed the Lonoak turnoff, but rejoined the group at the end of Metz Rd. We Met up with the Bring-a-Trailer guys at the southern end of Carmel Valley Rd, and followed the red-with-blackout-treament 2002 pretty much to Baja Cantina. Many visited the DJM collection in Marina after lunch. We had been last year and skipped this waypoint. 

After lunch (fish tacos...mmmmmGOOD), We headed south on Hwy 1 to the tune of  lots of traffic and highway restoration work. The cutoff to Nacimiento-Fergusson Road came up suddenly after 50+ miles. This road is steep and climbs from sea level to several thousand feet above in a few miles. At the summit, we snapped a few pics and met up with the Jag contingent. After a few photos, in the distance we could hear cars climbing the canyon, so we decided to motor on. The run into Fort Hunter-Ligget was pristine.  Save for the tank.  Really, this part of CA is pretty much as it was before the conquistdors.

 We ran back into Paso between lakes San Antonio and Nacimiento to wrap up another stellar day on the road. Margie's diner provided the burgerliscious cap to the day.

 On Saturday, we got up early for the run to Cambria and back to the Loading Chute in Creston for brunch. The run out of Paso was spirited to say the least. A bit of drizzle added to the challenge. We got lost, circled around and found the dirt road over the summit to Santa Rosa Creek Rd, which eventually dropped us into Cambria. A slog down Hwy 1  and back inland brought us to the Loading Chute in Creston for a catered meal. I was famished at this point, so the chow was extra special. After several huzzahs for the event dis-organizers, we headed over to Burt's place. Burt was an executive VP at Columbia Records and did very well for himself. Aside from his collection of classic cars, he has an incredible collection of pop music memorobilia. Stones, Springsteen, Floyd, Journey, Garth, Joel, etc. Quite amazing, the gold and platinum records lining the walls, not to mention his to-die-for guitar collection.

After the Baumgartner collection, everyone pretty much headed their separate ways. We headed down 101 to SLO, and Tom and Ana continued South while I took 166 E to Cerro Noroeste. Cerro was absolutely sublime. I arrived home in Redondo Beach around 6:45PM with ~890mi on the clock, and a nice layer of road grime. 

I want to thank Dave B. and the tour dis-organizers. I thought last year would be hard to top, but somehow they manged to pull it off. Vaya con dios.

-Ted 

This year's Targa was another stellar event! I've just uploaded my event photos, so check 'em out if you haven't already. I'll post my blow-by-blow a bit later. This year the tour was punctuated by no less than THREE visits to private automobile collections that were pre-arranged by our favorite disorganizers.  Not only did we rack up nearly 900 miles of fun on the road, we got to stop and enjoy the Taggart Museum in Ojai on Thursday, and on Friday, after the traditional "pit stop" at the Baja Cantina in Carmel, many visited the Mohlman collection out by the Marina Airport. Saturday was another treat. After a spirited romp through the misty coastal range to Cambria and back (which included several miles of dirt road, complete with a "water splash"), we feasted at the Loading Chute in Creston. After brunch, Burt Baumgartner hosted the group to enjoy his automobile and music memorobilia collections. What a fantastic way to finish out the event. Special thanks to Dave B. and the tour disorganizers, sponsors, the Taggart Museum, and to the generous individuals who opened up their private collections for our group to enjoy. It was a memorable run.

So, I sort of flaked in writing up the SoCal TT '09 event. Suffice it to say, it was bitchen'.

Meanwhile, the Carrera California went down this weekend, and it was another stellar event. Kudos to Charles and Rex for planning another memorable Carrera weekend!  This year my usual partner in crime had to bail, so I ran the event solo.  It's *hard* to follow the route notes and drive at the same time!  There were a few surprises in the route this year, which threw even the two person teams for a loop, so I don't feel so bad about the extra 20 miles I expended getting lost on Saturday.

The weather was clear if a bit brisk at the higher elevations. The open top car folks (lots of open top cars this year!) were sporting scarves and caps.  Still, not too shabby for mid-November!

We all regrouped for lunch at the Lazy H Ranch for lunch and it was superb. The grass parking lot made it feel like a Concours D'Elegance.

After lunch we dueled with the sportbikes on the run up to Mt. Palomar (home of the famous Hale telescope), then it was all downhill (and anything but straight) to the low desert overnight spot in Borrego Springs. One of our group earned an impromptu roadside discussion with the CHP, which fortunately resulted in nothing more than a brake light fixit ticket.  If Officer Bob only knew...

That night we enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Palms Hotel, a throwback to '60s modernism for you architectural buffs. Think '60s Palm Springs, but with a dirt road driveway. Back at Stanlund's after dinner, much bench racing and stargazing ensued.

Sunday dawned warm, bright and sunny. We posed our cars in front of Stanlund's Motel for a group photo. Even the motel staff was out taking photos of our group. Then it was time to head back west. We played leapfrog with the "normies" on Banner grade. Stop, wait for a gap to open up, and when the next RV came around the bend, gun it back onto the road and get some quality turns in.  

As we traversed north San Diego County east to west,  re-entry into SoCal Sunday driver traffic became reality. Highland Valley Road was a pleasant exception. Between the wicked Bug, the Alfa Spyder and myself, I think the squirrels and locals are still cowering!

We made the final slog up I-5 to La Siesta in San Clemente for lunch and another excellent meal was enjoyed by all. Again, I want to thank Rex and Charles for organizing such a fun event, and I look forward to next year. Viva La Carrera! 

Tonight I added links to clips 5-8. Clip 5 features the start of Day 2 after breakfast, with a section of Foxen Canyon. Clip 6 features lower Tepusquet Canyon (freshly paved, just for the TT!). Early in this clip we hit a big dip and you can hear my exhaust bottom on the pavement. We are following a BMW 2002. Later in the day we would lose a header collector flange bolt. Clip 7 features a fast run across Lake Hughes Rd. Clip 8 is some wacky shit on Little Tijunga. I let the Valiant by because it was just too much fun to watch in the rear view and I wanted to get it on camera. I didn't expect him to go bombing past the Corolla, too, but when he did, we had to follow. It takes a skilled driver to hustle a car like that through the canyons at such a clip. Hats off to RB.

Wow!  We had a great run this year! The new route was just killer!  A special thanks to Tad for setting up another excellent TT, the best one yet! I'll elaborate later (running out of energy tonight), but for now I've uploaded a bunch of photos, so check 'em out.  We also got some great in-car video. I'll be posting some clips from the road soon, so stay tuned...

According to the National Weather Service, Death Valley was the warmest place in the continental US on both Saturday 9/12 and Sunday 9/13. It was 117F Saturday and a balmy 107F on Sunday.

Also, I've uploaded a few video clips from the run. See the Favorite Links section, above right.

The 2008 TT was awesome. Some interesting cars this year, as usual. Three, count'em, THREE Lancia Fulvia's. When's the last time you saw ONE of those? There was a beautiful Maserati Bora, several Alfas, Porsches, the firebreathing Firebird, a few Brit cars(MGB, TR7,TR8 and a rebodied TR4 that sorta looked like a Toyota 2000GT) and can't forget the young lady in the '69 Mustang with her dog riding shotgun! She broke down around La Canada on Day 2. Almost made it! Once again, everybody made it home safely.

There was some carnage this year. The Maserati got sideswiped by a fuel tanker truck while parked at the gas station in Wrightwood (you can see the tanker truck leaving the station in the pics). The owner had just spent something like $12k on paint! As if that wasn't enough, Craig's friend Jason's 914 got sideswiped AFTER pulling over in a turnout on 38 to let a tailgating pickup by.  The douche bag wasn't paying attention and FOLLOWED him into the turnout, and then realized too late that the 914 was rapidly coming to a halt. The truck creamed the passenger side of the 914 (how that can be is beyond me), then spun off the road. Jason had his Dad riding shotgun and they were having an all around BAD DAY.  First their car went dead at Chango's at the start Sunday morning, so they had to go buy a new battery and do some rewiring before leaving. Then, later that day we watched their hood blow open shortly after leaving Wrightwood. Sheesh! Somehow they were able to get the car running after the sideswiping and made it to Yucca Valley, only to start Day 2 with ZERO fuel pressure. When we left from the motel in the morning they had the gas tank out, and there was a huge puddle of oil under the car. They eventually got it going with an electric fuel pump someone gave them (kudos to the fuel pump donor!) and amazingly they made it to dinner/awards Monday night (Yay!!). Rough trip! BTW- Jason made a kick ass video of last year's TT. You can download it. See the Favorite Links section.

Back to the TT- There was some hippy music festival winding down in Pioneertown, which made for interesting spectating while having a cold one before checking in at the motel in Yucca Valley. The bar was packed with a mix of unusual types and bikers, and a loud band was playing, so we hung out outside where some jam band was providing background ambience. Speaking of cold, it was butt cold there, and very windy. We huddled around a gas heater until the sun went down, then bailed. The restaurant at the hotel was suppose to be open, but wasn't (dammit!), so we went to the Italian place, only to find out they lost their liquor license (dammit!), so we had fake wine (dammit!). At least the meal and company were excellent...

My Datsun 510 ran perfectly until we hit a rock on Angeles Crest on the way back into LA. There was A LOT of debris on Angeles Crest! Anyway, the car shut off instantly. WTF?  We still had electrical, so I figured fuel, but no lines were mashed or anything. Then I remembered that I have an inertial fuel pump cutoff. The shock from the rock must've tripped it. I hit the reset button and we were back on the road to the finish.

Oh yeah, my navigator was a writer/filmmaker friend of Craig's named Zach who's writing a play that has something to do with a car rally and wanted to experience one firsthand. We'd never met until the Sunday morning start! He turned out to be pretty cool, though admittedly not much of a car guy. I think he learned a lot about "our type". He made many audio recordings in the car with some fancy audio gear with the intent of using it for background in the play. Gotta hand it to Zach, though. Brave man, jumping into a total stranger's car for two days of high speed canyon running and all. He made a great navigator (i.e adept with the route notes, and didn't barf), so I could concentrate on driving. In the end Zach had a blast, asked a ton of questions about 510s and typed a bunch of stuff into his Palm when whenever we stopped, so who knows? Someday we may all be invited to the opening night of The TT Monologues or something...

Day 2 PM on Indian Valley