Positive Earth Driver's Club Meeting, August 16, 1996
PDLJMPR Web Magazine, September 1, 1996
Return to Table of Contents
Positive Earth
Driver's Club Meeting, August 16, 1996
Earlier this summer, I mentioned to Frank Clarici that I intended to come to Encounter '96, the AHS&TC annual meet that was held in the Brandywine region of Pennsylvania, this year. Frank responded with an extremely generous offer - he offered to pick me up at the airport in Philadelphia, loan me a Sprite to drive to Encounter '96, and let me stay at his home in Toms River, New Jersey. Since Frank is a certified "Spritenut" as well as a prolific contributor to PDLJMPR and the Healeys e-mailing list, I jumped at the chance to meet him, his family, and his cohorts in Spritedom. It was decided that a Positive Earth Driver's Club meeting (meaning lots of good food and drink) would occur, after my arrival on Friday evening and that a group of us would caravan to Encounter for the autocross and show on Saturday. Sunday and Monday were left open for sight-seeing, relaxation, and whatever activity might evolve.
Frank met me at the airport gate, wearing his "Team Thicko" shirt so I could recognize him. We retrieved my luggage and headed to Toms River in his wife's Jaguar - pretty spiffy ride! Frank told me of his son Frankie's (Frank Clarici IV) recent adventure of driving his Mini through their chain-link fence. It actually went under the top rail and fortunately, did very little damage to the car. (Hi Frankie, now even people in Australia know you drove through the fence! ... I should be nicer to him since he let me test drive his Mini, but I just couldn't resist... He's going to be pissed at me!) Two hours and many topics later, when we reached Frank's home, a few members had already arrived for the local club event. A keg of Coors was on tap and Frank's wife, Diane was busily preparing a feast of epic proportions. There was grilled tuna steak, clams, burgers, sausage, mako shark, and a whole bevy of appetizers/deserts/salads/cheeses/drinks. I especially remember the spinach dip in the bread bowl - we ate the bowl when the dip ran out! Then it started to sprinkle....quite a few of us stayed outside on the deck, under a big table with an umbrella, and no one seemed to mind...the festivities went on.
When eveyone had eaten their fill, and the party had started to break up, I found Frank and some of his close friends sitting on crates in the garage, swapping stories and telling jokes. I joined them, and this was the highlight of my evening - it went on for hours. I should give you a little background and tell you that Frank and these friends grew up in Toms River together, that Frank married his high-school sweetheart, and that Frank and Diane's house is within a couple of blocks of where they both grew up - and only two blocks from the bay. Toms River is a resort town, and these people are the locals who live there year-round. Frank is an independent housing contractor, performing a lot of remodeling and room additions. Frank co-founded the Positive Earth Driving Club in 1989, a club with a current membership of around 70. I especially liked the stories about "famous landings" (seeing how far you could get a boat to go onto the shore) and about driving on the ice when the bay was frozen over. The jokes went well, except for when the kids walked in and silenced the conversation, momentarily. Diane finally broke us up at half-past an appropriate time to go to bed, and we did.
Some of the crate-sitters in Frank's garage
From
L to R: Larry Holloway, Billy Chapman (Diane's brother), Frank Clarici, John Van
Brummelon
As Diane had predicted, 6 am came quickly but we hauled out butts out of bed and into the cars. Five of us headed out for Encounter '96. Frank in his newly-finished "ultimate" bugeye with Joe Mecchia riding shotgun, Billy in his '68 MKIV Sprite, Jim Dalglish in his 1960 AH 3000, and me in Diane's right-hand-drive '67 MKIV with bugeye bonnet (PIECES). The trip went at a fast pace, with no problems other than me splashing through puddles when Billy was just in the wrong position, and we only had to stop one time (for Frank to run in back of some trees for a few seconds). We arrived before registration opened, and decided to eat breakfast at a local diner. Only Joe was brave enough to order the "scrapple", a delicacy I understand is found only in this area of Pennsylvania - I'm not sure if he liked it or not.
Back at the meet, we completed registration shortly before 9:00 and Frank offered to let me do the autocross with PIECES, but I chickened out. Since the autocross is Frank's main event, he quickly lined up for practice runs with his new bugeye. On the first trial run, an axle was twisted in two without the car even rolling forward from the finish line! We rolled the Sprite into the show area and Frank quickly pulled the axle. When it was determined that the differential would have to come out to retrieve the broken axle tip, Frank wished for a jack stand and Joe Mecchia walked a nearby grassy field until he came back carrying a big cement block. No one at the meet had an axle, but one was found at a local junkyard. Frank pulled the differential while Billy went to purchase the axle. The new axle was in and the car was was ready for the show by 11:00 am.
The show offered six Bugeye Sprites and seven MKII-MKIV Sprites. I entered PIECES and Frank, of course entered his newly-repaired bugeye.
PIECES
Frank's Bugeye,
rear view
Frank's Bugeye, front with hood up
I liked this bugeye's interior
We left the show mid-afternoon, due to fatigue from the previous night. However, I did get to finally meet Rick Moses (Mr. Sprite) and George Marinos (concours guru) before we left. The trip home was un-eventful, but we did have some fun running three Sprites side by side to listen to the combined exhaust notes echo off the cement walls of the highway. Its quite a sound! Back at Frank's house, we collapsed until time to go out for dinner. We had an excellent meal at a local restaurant with Frank's and Billy's families before returning to vegetate in front of the tube for a while.
I slept until about noon on Sunday and Frank took me for a tour of the resort areas along the bay. Later in the day we talked Sprites and poured over Frank's collection of Sprite memorabilia, parts, technical information, books, and restoration documentation, much of which was housed in his "Sprite Room". It was Healey Heaven!
Monday was a little more active than Sunday. Frank and I took PIECES to haul back the keg (PIECES has a trunk) before hooking up with Paul Santini in his 71 Spitfire (GT6 engine) to go help Joe Mecchia get a Midget started. Paul followed us up the GS Parkway to the appropriate exit and we all stopped at the stop sign. Frank started to take off and then decided to stop for a car coming around a construction zone. Unfortunately, Paul had also taken off but was watching the oncoming car and couldn't stop in time to avoid a collision. PIECES took the brunt of the collision, but some very hard-to-find parts were damaged on Paul's car. An unfortunate incident, but no one got upset. Frank said "No big deal, I'll have it fixed in a week!"
We went on to Joe Mecchia's, installed a different carburetor / spark plugs / new gasoline, and the Midget fired right up. A search of local junkyards for 5-speed Datsun trannys (to convert Sprites) was then attempted, but no appropriate Datsuns were located.
Diane was not very happy about the damage to her Sprite, but she took it reasonably well and I understand that PIECES was indeed fixed within the week. Like Frank says, "These little cars were made to be driven - you can fix them if they break and you can repair them if they get damaged - so why not drive them!" Frank does, and he has a blast!
Frank & Diane, you are gracious hosts and true Sprite enthusiasts. Thanks for the adventure! - ed.
