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Cool read.
"It has enough street equipment to satisfy the least austere sports car fan: top, windshield, trafficators, speedometer, windshield wipers, everything but R, H and OD, as they say in the used-car ads"
Add that tot he list of build wants and needs; gotta get me some trafficators ....
My friend’s Honda motorcycle manual called them “Winkers” back in the day.
I never had the opportunity to drive my Spyder at Bridgehampton, but I did drive an ex- Joe Buzetta RS-60 at 7/10ths along with Maserati Birdcages, 300s and other fast iron.
The RS-60 was far more powerful than any 550 and had better suspension and superior handling.
Reality…if you got on it at anything under 4000 RPM the fire went out and all you got was a gulping/burbling mess.
The C&D “test” by Borgenson was on bias-ply tires and the transition to radial racing tires completely changed the handling of the cars !
To see what they would do today, you would have to get current lap times for the cars running on the NorCal tracks, since I have not seen one on the East Coast in a long time!
ReV
Great article. I love this:
"If the Spyder's tail comes loose you can just leave it hanging out. You won't go as fast as when it's behind you, and I know that for sure. But you'll get into no trouble, and you can ignore it—which you'd better not do in the 1600 Speedster. Once the front and rear wheels start sliding, though, you're in a different situation. You have to anticipate how much room you have left, how much of it you're going to use, and manipulate throttle and steering accordingly."
He’s describing my first Spyder without LSD. I could hang the rear out around a corner and bring it in with countersteer and the accelerator. My current car with the LSD is faster and better at keeping things in a straight line. But much more difficult to hang out the rear and let it eat. I remember when I put a better cam in my 356 VW/Audi Intermeccanica and flashed the ECU. I took it into the mountains and tried to hang the rear end out around a corner. I immediately was looking at where I had been. Last time I tried that in my IM. My excuse is that heavy tall engine and skinny tires.
Oh man...the top date is 1970 and I see Ken Miles on the byline and what?
Then I see it's a reprint from 1957. Miles, who would go on to dominate LeMans like nine years later (win the race but lose on a technicality) saying driving the Spyder "really fast" is beyond him:
"I'm just not that much of a driver."
Then, regarding his own personal 550 that he uses daily in L. A. traffic: "Why not? Set up for town driving, with soft plugs and the right jets, it's a joy to drive—comfortable, roomy, and it goes like a bullet from a gun when you open the tap."
Then there's a whole tutorial on gear ratios...
Just amazing. The whole thing is amazing.
Super article, Danny. Thanks!
Excellent story Danny ! Thanks for posting it !.............Bruce
Here's a nice video of an Alpine Hill Climb...the 2nd or 3'd car is an RSK...you can hear what being in the wrong gear at the wrong RPM sounds like 