----- Original Message -----
From: Dmitr
Nabokov
My
reply to Andrew Brown:
Your
message was not an imposition but a source of pleasure. Although
my allegiance to Ferrari remains unshaken, I have followed the Viper
program ever since what was supposed to be only a concept made its debut on the
show circuit in 1989. I admire Bob Lutz in particular for having
transformed concept into reality in short order in response to the extraordinary
enthusiasm that greeted the prototype. Bob and I became friends when it
turned out, at the Orlando Viper Invitational, that he could recite from memory
more relatively obscure Nabokov than I.
I have
bought four new Vipers: a red '93 roadster, which I brought to Switzerland, a
red '94 that was made to produce 540 hp by the then-respected Mr. Hennessey and
that I stilll keep in Palm Beach, and a beautiful blue,
white-striped '96 GTS that a cooperative factory technician had secretly
equipped with a 500 hp camshaft, which I sold to make way for one of the
very special GT2 le Mans GTS-R replica coupes, only 99 of which were
destined for sale, which I also still have. They have all been a joy on road and
track. The red lemniscate coupe was one of Justin Bell's 500 hp school cars, and
that was tire smoke.
How
nice to meet a Viper colleague on Nabokv-L !
DN
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 4:34 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: mechanical lemniscates
DN,
I apologize for forcing myself on you like this,
but your photograph encourages me to say that my professional work in
automotive writing has included the composition of the U.S. national auto show
materials for Dodge Viper. My art director partner raced his own
Viper on U.S. tracks for several years before losing it in his divorce two
years ago.
Stating this makes me feel like an obnoxious guy
at a cocktail party, but I am proud of being able to follow literature to the
extent that I do while living such a thick-skulled, non-academic
life.
AB