As the fictional Colonel John ‘Hanibal’ Smith was fond of saying “We love it when a plan comes together!”
Thanks to the wonderful people at Transglobal Logistics all of the race vehicles arrived safe and sound exactly when they said it would.
The good ship MSC JEONGMIN docked at Oakland California (very near San Francisco) on the morning of 16th May, As was expected there was a few days delay whilst the container was unloaded, cleared customs and then emptied for collection.
Using our very British misunderstanding of American distances we had asked our man in San Diego to collect the vehicles. Obviously, in our heads, as both San Diego and San Francisco are both in California there should only be a short drive between the two!
Bruce and his right hand man Rich calculated 8 hours each way! Oopsie!
The keen eyed members of our small community will have noticed in one of our previous messages that the car was sent on our trusty Hammersleys trailer. This enabled us to load the car with our equipment and also not have to worry about ground clearance for road towing.
Everything was prepared and a UK spec tow ball was placed in the car, already mounted to an American standard fitting.
As the bikes would also need collecting Bruce had arranged to hire a van. At this point the project luck showed it’s truly international reach.
Those untrusting chaps at the van rental company had welded the tow ball on!
The significant difference is, in the UK we use 50mm diameter ball hitches, the Americans use a 2 inch (50.8mm) ball. Close, but if everything is new, not compatible.
Luckily for us, our trailer is not as new as it once was. Having been dragging around a racing Jensen for the last four years, it has covered over a thousand miles with very little maintenance (our bad!). This lack of planning and common sense, actually worked in our favour and the wear and tear to the hitch mechanism meant the oversize US ball worked perfectly.
Following the 8 hour drive and the necessary showing of paperwork before loading could begin, Bruce and Rich had decided on an overnight stop at a friends place near San Francisco.
Obviously this was all hard work and very stressful, luckily the place they ended up in wasn’t all bad.
The next day, the vehicles made their way to the high desert of California and Bruce’s workshop near El Mirage.
This will be their temporary home until we fly out in August for Speed Week.
Obviously, the car isn’t staying outside!
We will be forever grateful to both Bruce and Rich for their work above and beyond the call of duty.
We have the impression that neither will be paying for a beer at Bonneville.
Another real world example of the quality of people you meet with a race car.
