Snakeeyes and The Essex Wire GTD-40

[Cal Metal]

My spies have been out on patrol and they picked up the scent that Bob aka "Snakeeyes" was seen leaving the northern part of the country, heading back to Texas, with a Essex Wire GT-40. Time to fess up Bob and tell us the truth. We were thrown off course when our survelliance team had mistakenly heard it was a Ferrari 250 GTO.

Some pics, perhaps??????

[mr bruce]

humph, I though it was the Exxess Wire car

[snakeeyes]

Man, I thought I pulled it off unnoticed! Just don't make me bring it back, please, Cal. Not only is it too pretty, but that drive will likely kill me if I do it again. 2700 miles in a little over two days...I don't know how those guys in the Cannonball used to do it. Lots of amphetamines, perhaps. At least they weren't pulling a trailer through a snowstorm in the middle of the night. I thought I was a goner for sure, going up a hill at 3 a.m. somewhere in Kansas, following a semi, no other loonies stupid enough to still be on the road, no lanes per se but just two tire tracks in the snow, my drivers' side windshield washer inoperable, tired as hell...and then, glare ice and the Ford dually goes sideways...an exciting moment with someone else's expensive enclosed trailer riding along behind.

Luckily the snow and ice ONLY lasted 500 miles or so. Unfortunately the cold lasted a lot longer. What a sight that must have been, Cal, Jeff Karnitz, Cal's son, and me standing around scratching our heads, 10 p.m., 5 degrees above 0, the GT40 all ready to load up, the locks on the back of the trailer frozen solid from being filled with slush for the last 24 hours...try WD40--nope, try de-icer--nope, try holding a lighter to them--nope, try holding a candle, fer chrissakes--nope...finally a hair dryer is produced and has the desired effect. Man it was COLD out there! It took half an hour of sitting in the truck with the heater on full blast to thaw my feet out!

All's well that ends well, they say. 26 hours after loading the car up we rolled back into our driveway, having driven nearly the full length of I35 in the last day. 5 hours of sleep in the last 66 doesn't sit as well as it did when I was young, but it sure is nice to see that sucker sitting in the garage!

Thanks to Cal, his son, Jeff Karnitz, Cal's wonderful wife, and my own spouse, who endured the trek with me uncomplainingly and took over the wheel to spell me occasionally. A huge thank you also to my pal David Kee and his buddy Kurt for the use of the excellent trailer they co-own. It was a "good pull", as they say, and made hauling this precious jewel much less nerve-wracking in some dicey weather. I'll post some pics when I get my digital camera charged up--

Bob aka sleepless in San Antonio

[427Aggie]

Bob,

Congrats man....we going to see that car in Austin next month? Come on come on..you can bring both cars

Matt

[Neal Jackson]

I think I have a brief video of that car - "GORGEOUS", is an understatement.

Congrats Mr. List... er, I mean Mr. Essex!

[snakeeyes]

Thanks, guys. She's a stunner, undoubtedly because I had nothing whatsoever to do with building her.

Matt, I am trying my damndest to be there next month. I have a work commitment that is messing me up but I am "working" on it. I haven't missed a TCC Annual Meeting yet and don't want this to be the first. If I can get out of this other thing, you may see a three-car caravan from the Polish Racing Team.

Fingers crossed...

Bob

[BT SNAKE]

Bob,
I'm glad to see you all made it back in one piece. Get
those Pics up after you rest up and thaw out.

Hersh

[427Aggie]

Bob,

If for some reason you aren't going to make it let us know...I for one will make a 1 1/2 drive down to San Antonio on Friday of the event just to peruse through your garage for an hour or so

Matt

[snakeeyes]

Anytime, my friend. We don't discriminate--Aggies, Horns, Red Raiders, hell, even Horned Frogs are welcome in my garage.

[snakeeyes]

I'll try posting a picture from my gallery:

[snakeeyes]

Safe and snug in her new surroundings...

[snakeeyes]

Mister Lister is up on the lift in the background of the above photo.

[snakeeyes]

You can see the nice job GTD did of replicating the original GT40 interior in the above photo, down to the perforated leather seats and 200 mph speedo...

[snakeeyes]

The Essex Wire team paint scheme is faithfully replicated, down to the black triangulations over the front fenders. Those were intended to cut glare from the white fenders, useful when doing 200+ down the Mulsanne straight...

[snakeeyes]

The "snorkels" on the rear deck (seen above), though not strictly correct for a Mk1 GT40, were used on MkII's and add to the "oh wow" effect of the car.

At home in the garage with her new pals...

[snakeeyes]

A detail shot of the front end--

[snakeeyes]

Here is the heart of the matter. A nice little 289 with 48 IDA Webers and ceramic-coated bundle of snakes exhausts. The car also has a/c, thank heavens. It was built by the Weavers of Unique Cobras in Alabama, at the direction of CC member Cal Metal. They did a fantastic job--

[snakeeyes]

Here is the rear view. It really looks impressive with the Webers visible through the rear deck...

[Cal Metal]

Hey Bob.......the car looks great. It had been under a car cover for so long that I forgot how pretty it is. Can I have it back?????????

[snakeeyes]

How about I send you a nice model (GT40, that is) and a thank you note?