I just want to make a slight addendum to Tim’s previous write-up of the Clausen Car. Jason and I happened to be in the neighborhood and Tim invited us to the Auction of all motorized vehicle parts great and small.

From F-1 to Nascar and the 10L, if you collect used card parts it was probably here. There was so much I can not remember it all with the grace to explain it in full.

The Auction/ or Museum staff gave away free Domino’s pizza as a way to entice people to stay, or rather they were afraid if the bidders were hungry they would leave without making a purchase. One of the thousand other restaurants on I-Driver would have been happy to open their doors to any auction-goer.

Obviously some names in racing, or any sport, stick out and are recognizable for their great achievements or longevity in the media, ie Jordan, Barkley, LeBron, Kounikova, Tiger, Earnhardt, Brady.

After Tim gave us a brief tour of the Race History Auction, he led us to a corner of the room where he showed us the treasure he had found, the Clausen car. The car was taped to the plaque, and appeared very small in comparison with all the other items in it vicinity.

Tim grabbed the 10L and threw it up on the neareset “table” he could find. He wanted to show Jason that the car was still was still complete, in all its glory, after all these years. In his eagerness to show Jason his find, none of us notice what he was using for a “table.”

Moments later Tim says, “Wow, would you look at this…. I’m throwing body clips all over the back of Dale Earnhardt’s car as if it were just any old car.”

The auction staff was too busy passing out free pizza slices to notice … oddly enough there was a charge for a Diet Coke.

I had noticed the Earnhardt car on our first swoop of the museum’s stash, as well as a car that was driven by Bobby Allison…with my name of course I noticed. Plus I grew up in Daytona, so all of these names are very familiar to me.

We were all leaning on the Earnhardt car as if it were one of our car’s and we were in the driveway discussing where to go for dinner, casual as can be. It was 7 years ago this weekend that this great Nascar icon passed. He won seventy-six races (including his only Daytona 500 victory in 1998), and his seven championships are tied for most all-time with Richard Petty. His highly aggressive driving style made him a fan favorite and earned him the nicknames “Ironhead”, “Mr. Restrictor Plate,” “The Man in Black” and most famously “The Intimidator.” Earnhardt died from massive head trauma from a crash in Turn 4 on the final lap of 2001 Daytona 500^.

Once we noticed who the car had once belonged to, Tim and Jason gathered up the body and body clips of the 10L, and stepped away from the car. Not sure whether it was in reverence or just that we didn’t want to be forced to buy it. Can you imagine parking that in your driveway?

“Yep, that’s my daily driver,” you say to the inquisitive neighbor.

It had no backseat, no passenger room, and no trunk space at all – I would LOVE to drive it around the Daytona International Speedway, but where would all my shoes go ?

Below photo courtesy of my iPhone (I love that thing!)

Second photo courtesy of the world wide web and Wikipedia, photo circa 1994

So the best part of watching the super bowl, especially when “your” team is not playing is – ok well there are 2 things – the commercials and the beer. Not the beer commercials but the beer I can drink! Diet Heineken anyone ?

As an advertising major, at least once during my college experience, I had to watch the Super Bowl commercials for “homework.”

Everyone knows the SB ads are top notch!

And since the half-time shows have gone downhill after the Janet and Justin “malfunction”, the commercials and the beer are all I have to look forward to!

In case you missed the commercials, or you were hiding under a rock and missed the game, here is a link to view the commercials - http://www.myspace.com/superbowlads

Naturally the T-Mobile w/ Dwyane and Charles are always hi-larious. The Planters and the Pepsi and JT was pretty good.

Not high on my list – but maybe high on yours? Carmen Electra and the Ice Breakers.

What did you think was best?!

Allison, JConcepts Blog-writer

I hurt my thumb on Saturday.

Not life threatening of course. Tim came to visit in his hot rod on Saturday. Shiny red with soft leather interior. The car really is a piece of work, a piece of art, and a piece of history. It’s all American. Like apple pie or hot dogs at a baseball game, football game…. Or any major league game…. I did not have a hot dog at the Super Bowl party Sunday night though….

How about that piece of history they call Super Bowl XLII ? The undefeated team goes down! A hot QB isn’t the end all be all.

So Saturday, Tim brings his piece of history out to get a bit of sun and shine (sorry Northerners! We had a glorious weekend here in sunny central FL) and Jason and I got to go for a drive around town. The hot rod has no top, it was a perfect day to ride in a convertible. It would have been more perfect if I had a hat. Long hair does not do well whipping in the wind. With a single, narrow bench seat, I’m surprised the boys weren’t whipped with my hair too.

After a bit, Tim let me drive his ‘32 Ford. He freely offered me the keys. It was exhilarating. It was great to be in control of such a machine! Maybe I just like to be in control

It was also great not to ride with the gear shift between my legs, sorry, I told you it was a small bench seat. Three across has to fit somehow!

I hurt my thumb putting the ’32 Ford in to gear. At first I thought it was a trick. The car is an automatic, but the button on top of the gear shift had jammed when Tim put it in park. Nothing major, just took all of my body weight to get it out of park. And all of my body weight on one little thumb, well, that hurts LOL

So naturally driving a convertible makes you want to have a convertible of your own. Jason said he too wouldn’t mind a classic old car, his own piece of history. But of course we don’t want one we have to work on or that could have the potential to leave us stranded on the side of the road.

Not that Tim’s car does, don’t get me wrong (and Tim would just slide under it and make a tweak on the side of the road if he had to!) Like how he peaked at his rear sway bar on the ‘32 Ford in my driveway! Just slid right under there! His car is actually a “new” piece of machinery, immacculate. So I am not saying his car would be unreliable, but a few of my friends had old VW’s in high school, and we never wanted to drive very far – just in case…..

Not to mention the gas mileage! and the gas was way cheaper back then! LOL

So Jason got his chance to drive and he really took to it, naturally. And I don’t think he hurt his thumb putting it in to gear. He cruised along in the car enjoying the ride. Did I mention the car has no seatbelts? I believe Tim said he wanted to keep it authentic by not having seatbelts. Since the car was sold without seatbelts, its not required. What a loophole LOL

By this time the sun had started to drop and our spectacular weather had a chill in the air. That’s when convertibles are not quite as fun. But they are still somehow an exuberant reminder of youth and vitality. I grew up on the beach – I’ve always loved convertibles, open air.

Maybe some day I’ll have a convertible of my own, (did you see the Audi Commercial during the Super Bowl on Sunday! Wow!) only mine will have seatbelts and the option to raise the top when it’s necessary. In the meantime I’ll keep my sun-roof, fuel efficient, almost 40 miles to the gallon, seatbelts-a- plenty (well except when leaving the bar the night before the Clash, you know who you are if you were there! I could have used a bigger car that night!), funny thing is my car still had the “new car” smell, too, up until that night we all went out in Tampa too!

That’s my favorite part of buying a new car – the smell. The scent of a restored, mint condition’32 Ford is a great, distinctive aroma, but,to me, the smell has nothing on a 2007 model.