compatriots kept that up for hours at a
time during endurance races. “Well, you
just got on with it,” he replies. Naturally.
And what about finding the right gear
in this rat’s maze of a gearbox? “Oh, well,
back then if you missed a shift—which
happened quite a lot—they just put in
a new engine,” Atwood offers matter-
of-factly. “We had plenty of ’em. Not so
much now.”Indeed. Atwood is equally sanguine
about other aspects of this priceless
vintage race car. Do the brakes need heat
in them? No, they’re fine. What about
tires? It’s too cold; you’ll never get heat in
them anyway, so just take it easy. Oh, OK.
Learn by doing, then.AN UNBROKEN SPIRIT SEPARATED
BY ONE DIGIT AND 45 YEARS
HISTORIC DRIVE
WORDS SCOTT EVANS
PHOTOGRAPHS MARC URBANOway to get my head low enough to close
the door; my duct tape–protected helmet
is still hitting the hinge on the ceiling.
As it is, I have to move a hand down
the wheel for every turn to get enough
leverage to feel comfortably in control
of the car. I had been worried I would
constantly bang my left elbow on the
vestigial passenger “seat” fitted to meet
homologation requirements, but I never
bend my arm enough to come close.
My lower back feels like it’s 6 inches off
the seat, and my short legs are still just in
position to get the long-throw pedals all
the way to the floor. I bang my knuckles
into the unfinished side of the fiberglass
bodywork every time I shift to third with
that delicate-looking shifter and its cute
wooden knob. I’m choosing my shift
points by ear because the tachometer
moves like a clock hand and I don’t want
to take my eyes off the track long enough
to see where it’ll land. Atwood said to
keep it under 7,000 and it should be fine.
I’m pretty sure I am.
He was full of helpful tips like that. The
helmet on the ceiling thing? Just cock
your head a bit to the right. Oh really, is
that all? I can’t imagine how he and hisJUNE 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 57