[Nor'easter 
Copyright © 1998

Porsche Club of America

Hysterical Rambings

December, 1998

Howard Wasserman
HWasser@ix.netcom.com

 [Northeast 
[Howard]
September Retrospective
September's question : “You've heard of John Henry, the pile drivin' man of folk song legend. Perhaps you even recall John Henry, the outstanding thoroughbred. But what about John Henry Holder? For 50 points, what feat was John Henry Holder the first to perform?” Still no answers to the September question (although there were some interesting guesses once the McGwire hint was provided): “You've heard of John Henry, the pile drivin' man of folk song legend. Perhaps you even recall John Henry, the outstanding thoroughbred. But what about John Henry Holder? For 50 points, what feat was John Henry Holder the first to perform?” On October, I added a hint: “What was occupying much of the nation’s mind in September? What does the name Mark McGwire bring to mind?” Speaking of baseball, the new owner of the Florida Marlins is named John Henry. Just another coincidence, I guess.
 
The John Henry Holder of baseball fame was known for his home run prowess, as is Mark McGwire. In fact, John Henry hit the very first homerun that ever showed up in a published box score. This historic clout came on July 20, 1858, in a game between all-star aggregations from New York and Brooklyn at the Fashion Race Course on Long Island. Holder played for the well-known Brooklyn Excelsiors from 1858 through 1860.
 
I have a couple of personal home run stories. One concerns a home run that I hit but that story is too personal and too egocentric to relate here - ask me about it some time. The other concerns the only home run ball I ever caught. I have attended well over 500 major league baseball games over the years. I’ve gotten a few foul balls but I have only caught one ball on the fly and that was a home run. Ed Kranepool of the New York Mets hit it during his rookie year of 1963. It was the only homer Ed hit that year at the Mets’ home field – the Polo Grounds. I kept the ball, of course, along with some others I retrieved at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in the early 60s. Now skip to 1990. My daughter, Mara, is graduating from Ithaca College. One of her classmates is the son of Ed Kranepool. She tells me to bring the baseball on graduation weekend. At the post-graduation party thrown by Mara and her roommates, who shows up but Ed Kranepool! Mara introduces me and Ed says “I hear you have a baseball I hit. Would you like it autographed?” Of course, I said yes. And that’s how I got a personally addressed Ed Kranepool autographed baseball.

October Retrospective
October's question : “Last month’s question: “For 25 points, what Porsche racecar derived its name, in part, from a French expression? For an additional 25 points, what is the expression and its translation.”

In November I added: “Once again, no one has answered the question. I’ll give you the first part. The car is the Elva-Porsche. Now, can you figure out the second part of the question for the remaining 25 points?” That made it easier – answering correctly were Davis Pan, Alicia Kullas and Carl Bessone; that’s 25 points for each. What is the answer? Elva is short for “Elle va” – French for “she goes.” And go it did. Late in 1962, Oliver Schmidt, the Porsche importer-distributor in Chicago and an avid racing enthusiast and some friends speculated about the possibilities of a Porsche engine in a very light chassis. The SCCA established the United States Road Racing Championship in 1963 – a series in which two-liter cars could compete for points and money on an equal basis with the big sports cars.
 
Carl Haas (of Newman-Haas Indy Car fame) and a minority shareholder in Elva, a British manufacturer of the ultra-low tube-frame Mark VI Elva, approached Frank Nichols, who ran Elva, about building a Porsche-powered racecar. Schmidt approached the Porsche factory. The result was the Elva-Porsche. It took too many months for the car to come together (testing first occurred in August 1963 in England) and so it didn’t race (except for a minor race at Wilmot Hills near Chicago) until the sixth of seven USRRC events. At the Road America 500 at Elkhart Lake, in the car’s first long race, the Elva-Porsche finished first overall!
Once again, no one has answered the question. I’ll give you the first part. The car is the Elva-Porsche. Now, can you figure out the second part of the question for the remaining 25 points?

November Retrospective
Last month’s question was: “The C-type Jaguar is often credited as the first car with disc brakes. Some say they first appeared at Le Mans in 1952. Others claim it was earlier in that year at the Mille Miglia. In fact, it was earlier and it was an American car. For 50 points, can you name the marque that first introduced disc brakes?” Carl and Davis also answered this question correctly and thus earn 50 more points.
 
The car was a Crosley. This tiny car was first introduced in 1939 by Powell Crosley Jr., owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team (who played in Crosley Field) and manufacturer of Crosley radios and Shelvadoor refrigerators. The radios were extremely inexpensive, a clear price leader for their time. They helped promote Crosley’s radio station, WLW, which broadcast at 500,000 watts until the FCC reduced the maximum power output of AM stations to 50,000 watts. The Crosley Shelvadoor fridge was also innovative – named after its unique feature of (you guessed it!) shelves in the door.
 
The Crosley car had an 80-inch wheelbase, 120-inch overall length, 40-inch tack and a 49-inch overall width – a very small car. From 1946-48, it used a Cobra engine – a Copper Brazed assembly of steel-alloy tube cylinders and valve guides and sheet-metal stampings. It weighed only 59 pounds but, after 50,000 engines were built, was replaced because the sheet metal suffered from electrolysis that caused tiny pinholes. And, in 1949, Crosleys had 4-wheel disc brakes, called Hydradiscs.

1998 Final Standings
National PCA (Natpucker) Trivia Championship

 Carl Bessone  230 points
 Alicia Kullas  155 points
 Davis Pan  130 points
 Eric Kessel    50 points
 Steve Ross    25 points
 Randy Robinson   15 points

We have a repeat champion, Carl Bessone. Congratulations, Carl!! Other past winners were Seymour Lisker, Ron Richards and Alicia Kullas. Thus, there are still only four people in my trivia hall of fame. Perhaps you can join them next year.
 

Ramblings
There are probably enough ramblings above but I’ll give you one image to contemplate until next month: A pig as big as a small car was a huge celebrity at the New Mexico State Fair. Harley, a 1,050-pound Yorkshire hog, delighted the crowds even though he spent most of his day snoring. Even congressional candidates were awestruck by him.

“Dang, that thing’s huge,” 1st District Democratic hopeful Phil Maloof said on a recent visit.
Harley is 8 feet long and 4 feet high, with a snout the size of a salad plate.

 

                                                                  December's Contest
The marque was the hit of the New York 1930 auto show. A luxury car, it is best known today for its innovative, sexy advertising. Its romantic “Somewhere West of Laramie” advertisement turned Madison Avenue on its ear when it first appeared in June 1923. The company founder and president, after whom the car is named, was a leader among carmakers in selling the sizzle and not the steak: His ads drew the wrath of the Society for the Prevention of Vice. For 50 points, name the marque.

 
Please send your trivia answers to me at 6930 N. Woodridge Drive, Parkland, FL 33067 or, if you prefer Email: HWasser@ix.netcom.com or 73764.3363@compuserve.com. They must be postmarked or emailed by the 14th of the month of publication. 
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