Now My Uncle Is Gone

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:54 pm

Sorry to hear about your uncle Colin. I bet you had some interesting conversations with him over the years. Did you ever get to meet Carroll Shelby?
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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Post by Amskeptic » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:17 pm

gmag69 wrote:Sorry to hear about your uncle Colin. I bet you had some interesting conversations with him over the years. Did you ever get to meet Carroll Shelby?
Interesting conversations dating back to Christmas of 1969 when he patiently described to me the workings of synchronizers, going up through the time where I worked with him from 1980-1983 at Hill & Vaughn and we talked about American Business vs the Social Contract, evolving into discussions of God and "moral productivity" vs "experience", he was my Republican foil who helped me to tighten up my Democratic arguments.

It was just this last February after my dad's funeral, that Phil lost his ability to speak clearly. As I wheeled him to the restaurant in his wheel chair (making sure to cut the apex of the sidewalk and walkway properly at the edge of breakaway), that I reminded him of the conversation we had in 1983 in his garage, where he declared, "if I end up in a wheelchair, you just push me over the edge of the palisade, there is no way I'm gonna live like that."
"Hey Phil, want me to shove you over the Palisade now? What's that? I can't hear you. Well I have a 50% chance of being right." I got a pretty good little indignant squeak from him.

We had a lovely dinner with wife Alma and son Derek and step-daughter Jennifer in a dining room with photographs of his racing all around us. As I looked at him being fed by Alma, there was a telephoto lens picture of him at Zandvoort in a Ferrari 156 taken by Jesse Alexander where you can see his lips pursed in a "wooo shit, have I overcooked this corner?" (you can see clearly that the rear of the car is way outside of the trajectory of the front), and I was utterly totally hammered in the stomach with that cry you can't allow to even start. As I was watering up trying to hide in Alma's easy conversation, Phil nabbed my attention with a stare and once he knew I was looking at him, he did this little silent mouthing that I remember well from our Hill & Vaughn days, it was the "blab blab blab blab" pantomime he used to do on the phone where he held it at arm's length while the hapless phone caller spewed tinny sound, and bless his his heart, it made me laugh when I needed to laugh, even if I got a look from Alma.
Colin
(I met Carrol Shelby several times at Hill & Vaughn)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:40 pm

That was a great story. Thanks for sharing it. It just goes to show that even in old age people never really loose their sense of humor. I can see the "bla bla bla" in my head right now. It makes me chuckle. =D>
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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hippiewannabe
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Post by hippiewannabe » Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:01 am

Sorry for your loss, Colin. You certainly have some interesting genes in your mix. Thanks for sharing the stories.

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Post by Quadratrückseite » Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:48 am

Holy cow Colin, I had no idea Phil Hill was your uncle! I actually received an update from Auto Week (I get emails from them) that he had passed away this week. My condolences for your loss.
"The bus is the real talisman. It's the thing that runs through all of this history. It's not a thing anybody owns or controls. No matter how peeved you get with people, the bus always makes your heart jump. Everybody was attached to it."
- Ken Kesey

Steve
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bus71
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Post by bus71 » Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:24 am

Sorry for your loss. I think he had a hell of a good time!

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Post by Amskeptic » Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:23 am

bus71 wrote:Sorry for your loss. I think he had a hell of a good time!
He did. I talked with Derek yesterday, and he said that the thing that struck him most about Phil was that he was like a child in his enthusiasms throughout his entire life. Now that is in the genes.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by Mr Blotto » Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:08 pm

Sorry for your loss Colin...he seemed like a great guy to have known.
1978 Sage Green Westy - 2.0 FI - SOLD WITH 109887 miles :-(

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Berky
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Post by Berky » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:33 pm

The Peace of Wild Things


When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Berry

peace be with you - and your loved ones.
Berky

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Elwood
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Post by Elwood » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:43 pm

Berky, that is beautifull and hope it brings Colin some peace. We all suffer loss of loved ones and it is hard to address it on the internet in a respectfull way. You nailed it =D>
'69 weekender ~ Elwood

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Quadratrückseite
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Post by Quadratrückseite » Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:51 am

Colin, I get weekly (sometimes daily) email updates from Auto Week. Here's a really nice story about your uncle, and it reminds me of the ingenuity and helpfulness of a certain someone...
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... wsletter01
In the last few days everybody, it seems, has told a Phil Hill story. And they have all been good: The newspaper and wire obituaries that listed all of Hill's many accomplishments--America's first world champion, three wins at Le Mans and three at Sebring, how he won his first race and his last, how he won the Pebble Beach Road Races one day and the Pebble Beach Concours the next. There were short notes from ordinary fans who grew up reading about Hill's victories in Ferraris and were inspired to follow the sport for a lifetime, or to buy a race car and join in the fray; people who met him at some vintage race or other and told of a philosophical but generous man who could talk with them for seemingly as long as they wanted, as interested in what they were doing as they were in what he had done. Everybody loved and respected Phil Hill.

My favorite story was the one we ran here, written decades ago by our own Denise McCluggage shortly after Hill won the world championship. It told of a complicated, introspective Phil Hill with just as many doubts and fears as the rest of us who went out and raced in spite of challenges that would have had a lesser driver parked in the paddock calling it a career. Hill went out and raced anyway, outlasting and overcoming the grinding politics of the Ferrari team and the ridiculously dangerous cars and tracks of the day and coming out unscathed and a champion.

I was lucky enough to see Hill many times over the years. He hated being on camera, but whenever we asked him to be on AutoWeek's old TV show, Phil Hill dutifully answered the call. And we did call. Likewise, he hated formal interviews, always trying so hard to say the right thing and always seeming as if he was afraid he hadn't (he always did say the right thing, of course).

But my favorite Phil Hill encounter came in the early '90s, on what might have been the first of Martin Swig's wonderful California Mille Miglias. To make a Mille, Swig takes the great trans-Italian open-road race and reconstructs it on the twisting country roads of his northern California. On this particular Mille, there were a few of us hackers from the press tagging along. And there was Phil Hill as guest of honor. So my favorite Phil Hill encounter took place on the Mille, but not as co-piloto in one of the many beautiful race or touring cars that participated in that Mille, but in a 15-passenger airport shuttle van.

Even Great American Racing Heroes need a ride from the airport and, as luck would have it, I wound up in the same van as Phil, sitting on the bench seat one row behind him. Next to him was his friend and Road & Track collaborator John Lamm. It was a long drive from the San Francisco airport up north to where the Mille would begin, and Lamm spent the time prodding Hill for stories. Hill had raced through Golden Gate Park back in the '50s, and as we were driving through that very park, Hill told stories of the dangers of racing in those days, pointing out a course that wound past dangerously placed trees or around blind corners that even errant, thrill-seeking kids today wouldn't tackle at speed despite airbags and crush zones Hill's car never had. With Lamm's occasional prodding, Hill told us about guys he raced against, people he knew, things he did, all the time speaking to us and we to him as if he was just a regular guy and not a Great American Racing Hero.

The Mille lasted three or four days, and at any time in that period you could find yourself sharing a table with Phil Hill. He never stopped being the guy he was, never got tired of strangers asking him the same questions, always remained thoughtful and considerate in his replies. (A couple of years ago, several media colleagues and I sat with Kimi Raikkonen at a Michelin lunch at SEMA. All we learned about life and humanity from Raikkonen was that he could text-message very well, and this was not because he told us.)

On one of the day's drives, the car I was in happened to be behind Hill when we both came upon a disabled open touring car. I don't remember what the car was but it was like Hill's own beloved Pierce-Arrow. He pulled over immediately, of course, and got out to help. We followed, partly because everybody helps everybody else on the Mille and partly because, well, it was Phil Hill, man. He raised the hood, one of those half hoods that rose from the side, folding up on top of the other half, and had the problem diagnosed within seconds. He looked around, saw a big bush next to the road, reached in and, with a crack, broke off a branch about the size of a crow bar and shaped roughly like the letter J. He wedged one end of the branch under the generator and the other on some fixed point below. In seconds he had created what modern engineers would call an accessory drive-belt tensioner. With a tree.

After that, he wiped his hands on a rag, got into his car and drove off, leaving the rest of us just sort of standing there wondering if we should cancel that AAA call.

I think the reason Phil Hill had so many nice stories told about him in recent days was not because he was a world champion--Kimi Raikkonen was a world champion, too--but because of the kind of champion he was, and that had nothing to do with motorsports.
"The bus is the real talisman. It's the thing that runs through all of this history. It's not a thing anybody owns or controls. No matter how peeved you get with people, the bus always makes your heart jump. Everybody was attached to it."
- Ken Kesey

Steve
1978 Country Homes Camper conversion - "Gus"

http://gusthevwbus.com
http://freshandmodern.com/blog

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Post by Amskeptic » Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:13 am

Quadratrückseite wrote:Here's a really nice story about your uncle, and it reminds me of the ingenuity and helpfulness of a certain someone...
So, you make me cry in Starbucks, what the hell. I'd rather cry in Starbucks than not cry in Starbucks.
how he won the Pebble Beach Road Races one day and the Pebble Beach Concours the next.
That was actually the same day. There is a photograph of Phil accepting the Concours trophy for his 1931 Pierce Arrow (was my great-aunt's car that took Phil to school when he was a little boy) in his totally filthy racing togs with a raccoon shadow surrounding his eyes. Yes, you too, can be sartorially challenged and happy.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by zblair » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:46 am

BEAUTIFUL.
1974 T1 Super Beetle "Fweem"
2017 Honda HRV "Domina"


"Love something? Serve it."
~Roshni Mitra

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Quadratrückseite
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Post by Quadratrückseite » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:48 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Quadratrückseite wrote:Here's a really nice story about your uncle, and it reminds me of the ingenuity and helpfulness of a certain someone...
So, you make me cry in Starbucks, what the hell. I'd rather cry in Starbucks than not cry in Starbucks.
how he won the Pebble Beach Road Races one day and the Pebble Beach Concours the next.
That was actually the same day. There is a photograph of Phil accepting the Concours trophy for his 1931 Pierce Arrow (was my great-aunt's car that took Phil to school when he was a little boy) in his totally filthy racing togs with a raccoon shadow surrounding his eyes. Yes, you too, can be sartorially challenged and happy.
Colin
:) - sorry brother. It just really sounded like you! What a great man he must have been - so many stories.
"The bus is the real talisman. It's the thing that runs through all of this history. It's not a thing anybody owns or controls. No matter how peeved you get with people, the bus always makes your heart jump. Everybody was attached to it."
- Ken Kesey

Steve
1978 Country Homes Camper conversion - "Gus"

http://gusthevwbus.com
http://freshandmodern.com/blog

RussellK
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Post by RussellK » Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:05 pm

It was strange in that photo that I recognized him but hadn't put it together. And who is the person at the elbow? That person looks familiar too. Definitely a resemblance around the eyes to you Colin.

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