Blog Archives - Page 2 of 21 - Sopwith Motorsports

The Battle of Little Bighorn for Drive-In Theaters

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” It’s the summer of 1876 all over again. Only it’s not Crazy Horse and his Lakota warriors desperately struggling to preserve their way of life against Custer’s 7th Cavalry. This time, it’s the last desperate effort of America’s once proud drive-in theater industry fighting against the regulatory forces that have nearly driven them entirely out of business. Drive-in theaters have been in a death dive for over 30 years. The few that remain today are usually underfunded, privately owned and struggling to make Read More

Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part 6

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” You know, if Fox body Mustangs keep soaring in value I may have to rename this series of articles. And that would be a good thing. My 1980 base model Mustang was originally equipped with a 2.3 liter, four cylinder engine, manual four-speed transmission, 13-inch wheels and a 7.5-inch rear end with a 2:73 open differential. Not exactly a performance monster, but in its defense, the car has traveled over a quarter of a million miles with nary a complaint and has been Read More

How To Commission a Painting of Your Classic Car (or Motorcycle)

— The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” Every time I attend a car show, I marvel at the paintings of classic cars in the vendor booths. It never really occurred to me that many of those cars must be based in reality – that they must actually belong to somebody, somewhere. I didn’t realize that there’s an entire cottage industry devoted to creating magnificent artwork on classic vehicles. Who knew? I certainly didn’t until a buddy of mine (who happens to be a professional artist) asked me if I’d Read More

More Short Track Racing. Less Money.

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Corvette Miracle: The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona” This car was mean-looking and low slung. The roofline didn’t rise any higher than a Lamborghini. The tires were huge; the widest I’d seen since the last time I was in a sprint car. Maybe that’s why my neck started to ache halfway through the race. The cornering speed of this car was amazing. My car owner, Dan Merservey Sr., just kept asking, “Stephen, are you having fun?” Heck, yes. Just standing beside it was fun. Actually driving it was euphoric. New England’s Pro-4 Read More

NASCAR Outlaws Coffee

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Corvette Miracle: The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona” Auto racing is the most over-regulated sport in the world. Germain Racing crew chief Matt Borland was suspended by NASCAR following a random drug test, reportedly for the mortal sin of drinking a particular type of coffee for the last six months. This dietary version of Satan’s brew comes with Dimethylamylamine (DMAA), which helps users burn body fat. Dunno about you, but burning excess body fat seems like a good idea to me. DMAA also provides an energy boost by imitating adrenaline and potentially creating Read More

GREAT DRIVES: Lincoln Park Speedway 1985

. The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” It was the late summer of 1985. Huey Lewis and the News topped the charts with “The Power of Love.” The epic sci-fi classic, “Back to the Future” was number one at the box office. Central Indiana weather was blazing hot. We had no money and we knew absolutely nothing about auto racing. Our team consisted of three people. My 46-year-old father, Nelson, my sister, Dory, and me. We had purchased a beat up 1968 Chevelle for $250 and took turns driving Read More

1980’s SHOWDOWN: Pontiac Fiero vs Toyota MR2

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” The 1970’s and 80’s were chock full of those wonderful, wedge-shaped sports cars such as the Triumph TR7, Fiat X1/9 and more. But in the American sales market, two models stood head and shoulders above the rest; Pontiac’s Fiero and the MR2 from Toyota. I must admit that I love these cars. After spending considerable time in them, I came away quite impressed. Our photos will show several different models but for the purposes of this comparison, we will single out the 1987 Read More

Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part 5

. The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Porsche Legend: The Penske L&M Porsche That Made Racing History” The first performance tests for my 1980 Ford Mustang “restomod” are complete and the early signs are very positive. Along with the 1974 and 1981 models, the 1980 Mustang is arguably the least desirable of any Ford pony car ever built and is certainly not worth the money and effort for a restoration. But the car has tremendous sentimental value for my family. I bought the car in early 1982 as the second owner. My wife and I dated in this car Read More

GREAT DRIVES: One Night at Texas World Speedway

. The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Corvette Miracle: The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona” Al Unser, Sr. used a hotel lobby display car to win at Indianapolis in 1987. 46-year-old Juan Fangio broke and re-broke the Nurburgring lap record three times during his miracle Formula One victory in 1957. Every motorsport enthusiast can recite a list of the great driving performances in auto racing history. But many of the sport’s truly amazing drives will never be known, not because the feats were less dramatic but because they occurred at amateur events with anonymous drivers. Like this one. Sunday, Read More

“Racers, Save Your Hearing!” Said Indy 500 Rookie of the Year

The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by “Corvette Miracle: The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona” Larry Rice was one of the finest men in auto racing, but I never quite understood why he always wanted to drive my rental car. It was 1999 and Larry and I were co-hosting what then known as the Championship Off Road Racing series (CORR) on EPSN2 for racing announcer extraordinaire and motorsports entrepreneur Marty Reid. I was in awe of Larry. In addition to his twin USAC Silver Crown titles and USAC national midget championship, he had also won the co-Rookie of the Year Read More

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