In the beginning was a little red car...

The first recollection that I have of autosports was when I was three, and pleading passionately with my Dad to get home in time to see the circle 8 races from the Calgary Raceway...that I had seen the night before on TV.  I loved the speed and the daring drivers as they pushed the limits of their car and the limits of their bravado to get through that fender crunching intersection on the track.  Each Friday it was urgent that we get home...no matter where we were.  And you guessed it, all I wanted for Christmas were cars!!

A few years pass and as was often the case, my Dad was once again working out of town.  We missed him a lot, but my brother and I knew that we would be getting  special something from him when he came home, a coloring book, maybe some lego, or a patch for our jacket...does anyone remember those??  Anyway, one evening he arrived home from a trip and he had me pick a hand that was behind his back...I choose...and this came out to greet me.

My first true racing car was a Corgi STP Patrick Eagle Racing Car (model159)...I was transfixed on this sleek, powerful, red machine of speed.  And what was even more special was that on the following weekend I was able to follow my new hero, Gordon Johncock, as he went lap after lap around the Indianapolis Speedway...searching out where that red 20 would be.  For years my hero wasn't Andretti, or Foyt, or Unser...it was Johncock...without a shadow of a doubt...as in my mind we were a team, Gordon in his red car, and me racing my red car on the carpet in front of the TV.

When the family moved from Calgary to Vancouver, I really pushed that we use "North American Van Lines" as they were the primary sponsor of Gordon back in the late 70's/early 80's.  The unfortunate thing is, that the original car went missing during the move, never to be found again.  But I just recently picked up this car again on ebay for a great deal.