[DeTomaso] Rocky Mountain Rumble Memories

[Peter Havlik]

The Rocky Mountain Rumble was, as far as I know, unique. While it encompassed the camaraderie and building of friendships that seems to be a feature of any event when De Tomaso owners get together, and while it was a tour through interesting scenery and places like many others, it stands out to me as the only event that combined these things with true GT driving. We were able to take some 15 Panteras and access remote and often empty winding mountain roads on which we encountered no radar traps or speed cameras. We were able to drive on these roads for days on end at a pace that truly tested our machines and our limits as drivers without endangering anyone else. To me, this is what owning an Italian GT sports car is about.

Regrettably, there are few places remaining in the world where this is still possible. As populations grow, the Safety Nazis succeed in promulgating ever more Draconian speeding laws, and the choking of our roads with ever-increasing traffic effectively prevents our using our cars for the purpose for which they were designed.

The RMR, therefore, may well have been the last gasp. Shortly afterward, British Columbia, the Canadian province in which it was held, passed a new law that allows the police to confiscate and sell the car of anyone caught driving more that 40 km/hr (25 mph) over the speed limit.

By the time our children grow up, they will value our cars only as relics of a bygone age, much like we now view the horse. The cars may be taken out and exercised periodically, but only under very controlled and restricted circumstances. The absurd spectacle of our brothers in the UK being forced to mount a second set of mufflers on the back of their car before taking it out on the race track (which is the only remaining place in the entire country where the cars can be driven for a sustained period at anything more than a quarter throttle) gives us a preview of what awaits us all. 

It's all very sad to me, but it makes me cherish the RMR experience all the more. It was truly special, and I wish you all could have been there.

- Peter



Message: 28
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 22:17:06 +0200
From: "CharlesMcCall" <charlesmccall at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Rocky Mountain Rumble Memories
To: "'Will DeMelo'" <wdemelo at cogeco.ca>, <detomaso at realbig.com>
Message-ID: <000701cc839b$c1e71c20$45b55460$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Looking forward to reading it when the issue arrives. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the yearly Euro-trips to Le Mans, Spa,
or somewhere else to spend a week with DeTomaso people is the highlight of
my year. 

Ask my wife what I'm like for the week leading up to the trip - I barely
sleep as I look at the clock to see how much time is left until the trip
begins. All kidding aside, it is just like a 5-year-old on the countdown to
Christmas...

If you've never gone to Vegas/reno/?? or participated in the Rocky Mountain
tour, or come to Le Mans Classic, or whatever, you are missing the best part
of DeTomaso ownership. It costs money, yes. Your car may have a problem, yes
(although it shouldn't!) It means taking time off from work, yes. But when I
look back at the memories and high points of my life form the past 15 years,
the top 5 memories are all DeTomaso road trips. Don't wait until retirement,
or until you have more money saved up, or whatever... life is about the
journey! 

OK, back to your regularly scheduled program...

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Will DeMelo
Sent: mi?rcoles, 05 de octubre de 2011 21:45
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] Rocky Mountain Rumble Memories

Be sure to read up on our RockyMountain Rumble that we took part in last
year . It's in the latest issue of POCA. That was surely a highlight in my
life.

Good times.

Will