PASS IT ON
MY DAD GREW UP in rural Santa Ynez, California, two hours north of Los Angeles, a set of mountains between him and the coast. There was little for young Curtis Smith to do there aside from admire the faux-Danish architecture in neighboring Solvang. The outside world could only be reached via the road to Santa Barbara-a tire-scuffing sprint over the San Marcos Pass on Route 154. By the time I was born, my dad's affections had turned to sublime BMWs and robust Volvos, but he learned the Pass in his first car, a 1971 Ford Pinto.
Like many of California's great roads, the San Marcos Pass winds across a mountain range and connects very different worlds-farmland with a forest, a desert with the Pacific Ocean. It has turns that open past their apexes to reveal face-smacking beauty and switchbacks that are often clotted with belching semis. The San Marcos crests at 2250 feet and has widened and grown busier over the years, but in the late Seventies and early Eighties, it was perfect: a two-way proving ground that divided where Dad was from where he wanted to be.
This story is from the June - July 2023 edition of Road & Track.
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This story is from the June - July 2023 edition of Road & Track.
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MYTH BUSTING
Judging by past speculatory magazine articles, a mic-engine Corvette had been in the works nearly as long as the car has had a V-8. Road & Track’s role in this fantastical vision goes back to at least 1967. Inside GM, though, not so much.
RIDE HEIGHT
“YOU CAN SEE FROM MILES AWAY that it’s a Bentley,” says Jai Bolar, the automaker’s head of design strategy and innovation.
WINGMAN ONE MAN'S QUEST TO REUNITE A 300SL WITH ITS PAST AT THE 12 HOURS OF SEBRING.
GOOSE BUMPS. “I couldn’t believe I was sitting in this seat, in this car, about to throttle onto the track at Sebring,” says Juan J. Escalante.
END OF THE ROAD
TO SKIRT THE TEDIUM OF THE L.A.-TO-VEGAS SLOG, LEAVE THE PAVEMENT BEHIND.
Magical Realism
Singer conjures up a fantastical take on the 911 Turbo.
OUT OF REACH - THE MOST ASPIRATIONAL WATCH IS ONE YOU CAN'T HAVE.
THE BUCKET-LIST WATCH is a dangerous game. It’s good to have a motivating goal, no doubt. But the problem is what happens when you reach that goal. Years, months, or even days later, you need a new holy grail to chase—bigger, pricier, and harder to get than the one you just got.
FAST PARADE - EXCESSIVE SPEEDING IN SERVICE TO THE NATION.
“ARE YOU FREE ON SATURDAY?” my friend Larry asked on the phone. “We need drivers for the motorcade.”
GRAND TOUR
THERE'S NO QUICKER WAY TO FULFILL ITALIAN DREAMS THAN IN A V-12 FERRARI.
LEARNING TO FLY COMING DOWN IS THE HARDEST THING.
SEPARATING A CAR from the ground is simple physics. Drive over an incline at a high-enough velocity, and momentum will briefly relieve your tires of their primary function. The higher the velocity or ramp angle, the higher or longer the flight.
THE KIMI SPECIAL
A NIGHT CAROUSING WITH THE ICEMAN REMAINS MEMORABLE, DESPITE THE COPIOUS AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL.
