Still on the ground at PDX. I promise I am not the cause for the delay; I’m on my best behavior.
But this does threaten to scramble the next few steps on our trip – and the ferry tomorrow won’t wait.

Some stages are out in the wilds, on sweeping asphalt surrounded by compact pines. And some stages are downtown.

Our outbound driving team’s reached the edge of Minnesota, almost halfway on their journey.

Once we grab the car from them in the other Portland, we’ll … drive off the edge of the map.

Went up to the LeMay Family Compound last weekend for a ‘movie cars’ show that went bust on high winds and rain… but the classic car auction that was scheduled did happen. Here’s the most intriguing thing I saw:

Lancia Thema 8.32

Built on the ‘Type Four‘ platform underlying the Alfa 164/Fiat Chroma/Saab 9000, the Lancia had an upmarket full leather dash, and a crazy electrically stowed rear spoiler.

From the front, only the grille badge hints at the rarity of this Thema version.

Yes indeedy, that’s a 32-valve 3.0 litre Ferrari V8. A passerby said it was basically a ‘308’ motor. The caretaker had the keys, so they fired it up and …. brrrr! it made beautiful music. Hooked to a five-speed manual transaxle, front wheel drive. Want. It sold for just under $8,000.

BMW 328i cars come with 12.4″ front brakes – more than adequate for normal use.

Targa ain’t normal use.

Good thing the 335i cars had 13.7″ front brakes… and they bolt on.

Before & After

We heartily recommend these folks.

 

Here’s a youtube playlist from a car that ran the 2014 Targa Newfoundland. They ran in one of the ‘targa’ classes, so they’re basically going as fast as they can.

We’ll be in the Grand Touring class, where there’s a both a set ‘average’ speed per-stage, and a fixed ‘not-to-exceed-ever’ limit of 130kph (81mph).