Vintage Machines

by Ken Handman

This Zamboni is no tractor

Recently, I saw a frame that said the driver's "other car" was a Zamboni. I thought that was pushing the joke a little too far. Fortunately, immediately afterwards Lyn Zamboni, of the ice tractor family called to say that he will be racing his Porsche 911 at the LA Street Race again this year.

I have seen a lot of mismatched vehicles and drivers. Examples: a guy with a big ego and checking account, who buys more horsepower than anyone else, but can't push the machine to it's limit.

Or the talented "kid" in a third rate car who can garner a lot of rearview mirror glances, even if he can't win. But Zamboni and his car appear to be well matched, because neither vehicle or pilot are pushing the outer limits of car technology or driver intensity. The Porsche drive line is basically stock and the 50-plus-year old driver is very mellow, a guy who enjoys racing but doesn't bring an ego onto the track.

But don't be fooled by the "nice guy" laid back look. Lyn won class championships in Porsche Owner's Club events from 1989 through 1995. He won the grueling three hour "Tribute to Le Mans" race at Willow Springs in 1993. Lyn currently holds track records at Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca, Phoenix and Las Vegas International Raceway. With all his success he admits that he may have learned car control driving the "Zamboni Machine" at the family ice skating rink.

You may recall that I said the 911 Lyn will race at the LA Street Race has a "basically stock" drive line. Don't be fooled by that statement either.

Seems that Callas Rennsport in Torrance has made "a few modifications" to the valve gear and computer, now the engine can live at high RPM, where the horse power resides in Porsche engines. It makes 300 horsepower.

Callas and Performance Products have teamed up to provide the car with a few other racing goodies that apparently make it very competitive at the bumpy LA track. My take on what Lyn said about the car is: what its missing in brute power, is made up in dependability and chassis preparation. A thoroughly sorted out car/driver team.

The third annual LA Street Race (July 15-16) is part of the PRO Racing Series. Lyn won in his class last year and is looking to repeat this year. Some of the drivers call it more of a demolition derby than a road race. The difference is, on a traditional road course, the turns have flat "run-out" areas, but at LA the course is lined with concrete barricades. Cars shunting into the wall are a common sight and Lyn said that was what ruined his chance for a win the first year, when he got caught-up in someone else's crash. Last year he won by driving a conservative race and pitting for fuel at the earliest opportunity.

Lyn is a "low budget" racer and greatly appreciates the help he gets from EZ Lube and Mobil One Racing Oil, in addition to the wonderful preparation provided by Callas Rennsport and Performance Products. South Bay Ford and Zamboni Racing are helping Hollygrove Children's Home by providing free tickets to the event.

Talking about events, I put the hard sell on Lyn to bring his car (and maybe some of the other PRO cars) to our Project Touch/Easy Reader Car Show Oct. 22 at Clark Field in HB. He said Zamboni Racing will be there. ER