TWO-DAY DOUBLE 500: A MOTORING MILESTONE

October 6, 2006

500 kms in a car not worth more than $500

Some 15, maybe 17 (some think 18-20) junkyard rejects toured a torturous 500 kilometers September 30 -October 1 in the World Premiere of the two-day Double 500.

The event, scheduled to depart from Sausalito at 10:30, took to the road at 11:37 AM bound for Ft. Bragg. One Renault 16 entrant failed to make the start, the victim of a drive shaft that decided to self-destruct.

Highlighting the event was a Yugo racing team car, modified to include a roll bar which many felt was overly optimistic. Other cars included a VW that had suffered several serious fires but finished the event; a Mercedes that heralded the benefits of biodiesel fuel with carrots and celery attached to the outside of the vehicle; a 1981 Datsun that illustrated the problem of cars of that era with printed reviews covering its body; a Fiat X/19 that mysteriously disappeared during the event; and other unmemorable vehicles.

The Double 500 was welcomed (more or less) at the Super Eight Motel in downtown (sic) Ft. Bragg. After viewing the age and condition of local cars driving the town’s Main Street, organizer Martin Swig said, “ We could have quadrupled our participants by simply inviting many of Ft. Bragg’s drivers to join us.”

BEST IN SHOW
The Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. Grand Prize for Environmental and Aesthetic Devastation
VW Beetle
MEL GIBSON MEMORIAL CORKSCREW AWARD
Yugo
ISADORE DUNCAN CUP
Fiat X/19
I SAT ON MY $#% DRINKING COFFEE AT POGGIO ALL DAY AWARD
Toyota Corolla GTS (that didn’t actually take the drive)
DONE WITH FLAIR FLARE AWARD
Honda Civic Si
GENERAL MOTORS ASTRO-VENTILATION AWARD
Buick Electra
MAGNETTI-MARELLI TROPHY FOR RAPID FAILURE AWARD
Renault R16
MOST LIKELY TO GET THE FINGER FROM A PISSED OFF SOCCER MOM AWARD
Mercedes-Benz W123 Diesel
NEVER ENDS AWARD
Geo Metro