La Carrera Panamericana 1996

"When Polly's in trouble, I am not slow. It's hip, hip, hip and away I go!" Underdog's our hero.

We left October 16th for our third trip to Mexico for La Carrera Panamericana in Underdog, our 1954 Lincoln Capri. La Carrera is a recreation of the 1950-1954 races in Mexico. It is now in the form of a European rally, consisting of Transit, Limited and Velocity sections. Transit sections are often through towns, and are TSD. A Limited section is basically a faster TSD leg; you need helmets, but you are on the road with other cars, and should drive reasonably. Velocity sections are held on closed roads, where the "pilotos" drive as fast as they dare. Helmets are mandatory.

We met our driving companions, Mike and Ed Gut, in their 1953 Oldsmobile on the way down. The ride to the border was relatively uneventful, with the few exceptions of the Olds' throttle sticking open. We obtained our paperwork, sticker, insurance and pesos the night before the border crossing. On Saturday the 19th, we crossed the Rio Grande before dawn. A few autographed pictures later, and we were skimming through the Mexican countryside. We quickly and easily mastered the art of suicide passing, with the help of a few trucks hogging the roadway. Underdog's hood kept rattling open, so we cinched the hood pins down. At a toll booth, Mark revved up the engine, and blew a heater hose off. Deja vu!

We arrived in Queretaro, where we ran into the "El Gato" Alfa team and the red and yellow Mercedes team. We all went out to dinner, and proceeded to confuse a total of 5 taxi drivers in the process. The following morning we all set out in the direction of Mexico City, to see the pyramid complex in Teotihuacan. After falling into a pothole wider than the Lincoln, we found our way there. It is a pretty amazing ancient city, where 80,000 people had lived - first by Teotihuacanos, then by Toltecs. Out of the three actual pyramids, we climbed the "Pyramid of the Sun," which we found out later was the highest of the three. Mark wanted to climb one that was capable of giving him a grabber, and this one was able to after reaching the second level (of five).

That evening was spent in a small town called Orizaba. At a restaurant there, Mark encouraged Mike to eat a filet. It was quite a surprise to see a full and complete fish on the plate looking up at Mike. Another surprise was when we learned that the water supply was limited in our hotel. We ran out of water, and the toilet didn't fill up until the supply was replenished at 2 a.m.

The following day took us all the way down to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, which is the southernmost state of Mexico. Along the way, we found out that the AAA maps we received have a couple errors regarding the new toll road that heads south of Veracruz, mainly the location and road identification number.

Mark ran his first checkpoint on this toll road, and the military basically held our friend's Olds ransom until we returned to be scolded. We gave them autographed pictures, so they grudgingly waved us on our way. At the next "checkpoint," we met our first bandits, or the "Order of the Holy Sacred Rope," as Mark likes to call them. They roped off the road until we gave them a couple pesos (we didn't think the pictures would work well there).

The last couple hours on the road led us through some of the worst potholes in history (the "free" highways usually have the worst craters, so I call them "free-holays"). We fell into another whopper of a hole, and skidded to a stop before crashing into a third one. Around this point, the car's "feel" was beginning to change. We found out later that the occasional clanging of objects on the underside of the car were parts of sway bar links dropping off the car. First a nut, then a washer, then a bushing, and so on... By the time we arrived at Tuxtla, the sway bar was just swaying in the wind. In Tuxtla, we fixed the sway bar, changed the oil and brake pads (to racing pads), and spot welded the shock mounts. Last year we broke one, so better safe than sorry. We flew through tech inspection. I think they thought that we were only a danger to ourselves. Either that, or they remembered the night of dancing on the tables in 1993. Maybe both.

October 25, Friday- Day 1

The race began, and I drove the first leg to Oaxaca. Remezmber the road conditions I told you about? We had to drive back over the same free-holays. In the last couple days, the construction crews were dumping gravel into the holes to even them out. Although it was better, we still broke through a shock mount, welds and all. We were lucky to find a Ford dealership next to our hotel that night, and welded our suspension back together again. Considering our car is NOT meant for these mountain roads, 24th overall for the day is pretty good.

There were a few notable accomplishments today. The "El Gato" Alfa started on fire (that damn metal octane booster can sitting by the battery!). Heidi (who flipped the Lincoln last year) blew the differential on the Corvette she brought. The Jamaicans in the MG spun out on oil and crashed. One of them received a punctured lung.

October 26 Saturday- Day 2

The drive to Puebla contained many free-holays again. Underdog ran well, and it didn't mind me stopping the car by standing on the pedal with both feet. It's so nice when the brakes actually stop the car! When we looked at the pads later, we decided to change them after we noticed that the rotors were being eaten.

We gave the Coppertone Hudson a run for their money during the speed sections today. At one point, the copilot saw me in the driver's seat and said, "So, you get to drive now?" I replied, "I have been." "You!!! Oh." Needless to say, they didn't like the idea of a female driving better than them and were a bit harder to catch later on. The yellow and red Mercedes crashed, but both guys were fine. A red, blue and silver Porsche crashed, and both walked away. We were 18th overall after today. Moved up!

October 27. Sunday - Day 3

Mark drove today to Morelia. The scenery is incredible in the state of Michoacan. Midway through tightly-timed TSD section, we noticed some condensation on the windshield that was obscuring the nice view. It was from a tiny hole in the heater core, so we disconnected the heater on the side of the road and drove like mad to the next checkpoint.

There were a lot of cars practicing ballet maneuvers today! The Highlander Jaguar almost became a parts car as he was passing Mark in a no-passing zone. If Mark hadn't slammed on the brakes, the Jag would've become a truck's hood ornament. Joe Harding, in another Lincoln spun around over 360 degrees, and all he could say was, "Today is the day I lost my talent". Our friend Mike slid his Olds 1/2 way off a large cliff, and teered there until help arrived. The green Mandarina Duck Studebaker completed Mike's performance and slid off a cliff, down 200 ft into a tree. One of them fractured his pelvis. After today, we were 19th overall.

October 28, Monday - Day 4

Guadalahara, here we come! Mark drove. We drove through some tiny villages that are hidden next to some magnificent lakes, in between the mountains. You'd never know they were there. We stopped for lunch at Patzcuaro, where I bought some handmade blankets and candlestick holders, and Mark bought a cool wooden skeleton mask.

We flew through Guadalahara with Ponch and Jon as our escorts. That evening we bled the brakes, and I got to watch what happens when a car falls off of the jack. We gave our old brake pads to the Lincoln team that "lost their talent," (and brakes) and made friends for life. They also had a pinched brake line. Today left us in 16th place.

October 29, Tuesday - Day 5

Zacatecas or bust! Ok, bust. The most notorious mountain during the whole race is called "La Bufa," and it is traversed on the way into and out of Zacatecas. Half-way into the last speed section of the day (on La Bufa), the brakes went spongy. Then they went to the floor. The next couple of already-hairy turns soon became my alternate brake pads, as I skidded around them at full speed.

The last half of the section was taken a bit more carefully, but we just kept on going. We had to finish the day. We blew through the front brake line, so we had enough braking power from the rear brakes to just about stop us if we were going 10 mph uphill. Stopping for the checkpoint was a chore, but we made it in one piece! We ended up 14th overall today. Mark was able to find and replace the needed brake line, which almost included an English to metric conversion. It was noticed before any permanent damage was done.

October 30, Wednesday - Day 6

Underdog was on the front page of the local newspaper, and on the front page of the sports section. Pretty cool! Mark drove the second half of La Bufa today, with its decreasing radius turns. Have brakes, will travel! On the last section of the day, Mark thought that the "limited" section was a "velocity" section. 125 mph in much slower traffic is not quite reasonable for, basically, a faster TSD section. After I finally straightened him out and he slowed down a bit, Mr. Speedy almost spun the car on a normal highway curve. Go figure! We stayed 14th today.

October 31, Thursday - Day 7

The last day was uneventful, with the exception of going 135 mph down the highways, and passing a Porsche each time. Boy, was that a hoot! Unfortunately, the Highlander Jaguar caught up in points enough to pass us in standings. With seven days of racing, the Jag beat us by ONE point, ONE measly second. We ended up 6th in class, 15th overall out of 76. Mike, our friend with the Olds, was 4th in class, 10th overall.

This year's Carrera was a bit of a turning point. Before, we were regarded by some of the racers as the amateurs that we really are. This year, we were given the respect that a seasoned player is provided. We were with the Big Boys (who were not in our class before), and held our own. We weren't the fastest or best car, but we were most certainly the HEAVIEST car (at 5,100 lbs.), and we held together. Pretty respectable.

After the race, everybody put their cars on their trailers for the ride home. We just got back into Underdog and started driving again. Mr. Oklahoma policeman was quite generous to only give me a warning ticket for speeding (big shocker). I won't mention the 20 degree weather that reminded us that we didn't have a heater anymore, or the headlights mysteriously going out at midnight. The car is back in the garage, so we won in our eyes. La Carrera '96 reinforced the notion that suspension, cooling and brakes are the key to this endurance race, as well as old fashioned stamina. "There's no need to fear... Underdog is here!"

One quick note: Mrs. Snake was a real sweetheart. She found an Underdog doll at a flea market, and had to get it for us. The doll traveled very well, and was a real hit as our mascot. Thanks!

P.S. So, are there going to be any Triumphs attending next year?

This page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/buja/carrera.htm) was last updated on November 16, 1998