Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/19/10 7:44 a.m.

In his editorial in he December issue, Tim mentions that there was only once in the history of the magazine where a manufacturer's car was damaged. Was this the event on (or near, I can't quite remember) Cape Cod with the new VW Corrados?

Per Schroeder
Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director
11/19/10 7:49 a.m.

He wasn't referring to the CMC Corrado deal.

jstein77
jstein77 Dork
11/19/10 8:11 a.m.

Perhaps he was referring to Danny Shields turning a bannana-colored CRX into a bannana-shaped CRX?

Otto_Maddox
Otto_Maddox Reader
11/19/10 8:21 a.m.

Who, what, when, where, how and why?

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/19/10 8:24 a.m.
Per Schroeder wrote: He wasn't referring to the CMC Corrado deal.

Thanks. The curiosity was getting to me.

As I recall, that wasn't a great day for the Volkswagen people.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/19/10 8:29 a.m.

Did the manufacturer's car deserve it? I mean, did they send you a "sports car" that turned out to be nothing more than fancy hubcaps and rally stripes?

jstein77
jstein77 Dork
11/21/10 9:22 a.m.
Otto_Maddox wrote: Who, what, when, where, how and why?

In 1988, back when I was writing for the magazine, we held a really big test day at a place in Palm Bay called Payne Engineering. Henry Payne was an enthusiast who built sort of a race track around his plant.

As you can see, the problem with that site is that it's surrounded by trees. The CRX, which seemed to have a penchant for oversteer, got loose in a slalom and left the roadway, immediately followed by a large crunch against one of those trees. Poor Danny was in a cast for the next 4 weeks with a broken ankle.

Jim Pettengill
Jim Pettengill HalfDork
11/21/10 12:56 p.m.

^^

Truth. I was there, too. It was quite a test day. We had something like 15 or so new cars to test, everything from econoboxes to a new E30 M3.

The CRX was a great, nimble car. We selected it as Editor's Choice for the year. As history has shown, it really deserved the award.

2002maniac
2002maniac HalfDork
11/21/10 1:27 p.m.

Love little anecdotes like these. Great column Tim!

car39
car39 Reader
11/21/10 1:46 p.m.

I was at a dealer drive day when the organizer decided to do an impromptu autocross. He moved the start back from where we had been starting. The first driver high centered a brand new company car on an island in the parking lot. $5000 and one engine cradle later, the event was over.

AquaHusky
AquaHusky New Reader
11/22/10 7:57 a.m.
pinchvalve wrote: Did the manufacturer's car deserve it? I mean, did they send you a "sports car" that turned out to be nothing more than fancy hubcaps and rally stripes?

Has GM ever sent a SS to GRM?

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