John Fitzpatrick
Porsche’s 924 Carrera GT was a successful race car in its class and was a pleasure to drive fast on the road – until the California cops pulled me over...
survives a brush with the law flat-out in a Porsche 924 Carrera GT
The Porsche 924 was originally a joint venture between Porsche and Vw/audi to develop an affordable replacement for the 914. VW subsequently pulled out of the project and the car was developed and sold as an entry-level Porsche. Eventually Porsche successfully marketed a turbocharged version and developed the racing 924 Carrera GT, with 400 built to satisfy homologation requirements. The car did well at Le Mans and won its class.
I was living in San Diego at the time, competing in the IMSA championship. My sponsor, Jerry Dominelli (Jdavid), saw photographs of the car in a magazine and, because it was not available in the US at the time, asked me to buy him one in Europe. I ordered the car and collected it from Stuttgart on the way to a race at the Nürburgring. I used it for a while before putting it on a plane for Los Angeles, and it was a really great road car. Smooth, quiet and a great high-speed autobahn cruiser. It was a big improvement over the standard 924 which had sold so well since 1976.
When the car arrived in Los Angeles, I picked it up and drove to Laguna Seca for an IMSA race. We drove up Route 101 out of LA, where there is a section of road that winds its way through some very hilly countryside and the north and south carriageways are separated. The road was very quiet and we were able to really stretch the legs of the Porsche, cruising at 100mph – it was a real pleasure to drive.
In one particular section, the southbound carriageway was 200-300ft up the side of the mountain, looking down on the north-bound road. I happened to glance up and saw a Highway Patrol car. I didn’t give it much thought because there were very few change-of-direction opportunities and there was not a lot of traffic. A few miles up the road, we came up behind two large trucks travelling side-by-side along the freeway at around 40mph. There was no way to overtake, so I settled down to wait for them to go back to single file. Once we’d overtaken we settled down to a steady 80-90mph cruise, but I soon noticed the patrol car catching us up at high speed. The cruiser pulled me over, so I stopped and waited for the officer to walk to my open window with his hand on his gun.
I could see that the officer was very overweight and his shirt was soaked with sweat; he was very red-faced and he had obviously had a hard time catching us up after he’d first spotted us. It took him a while to get his breath back, and once he had, he asked, ‘You in a hurry, sir?’
‘No officer,’ I replied. ‘Just going to Laguna Seca for the weekend.’
He took another look at my licence and told me to take it easy. Then, with a smile, he wished me good luck for the race. Having expected a big fine, I had a puzzled look on my face until he added, ‘I was at Riverside last month and saw you win. You take care now, you hear?’
Talk about the great escape. Sometimes it’s good to be recognised.
John Fitzpatrick began his racing career in the British Saloon Car Championship, winning it in 1966. He was European GT Champion in 1972 and 1974, and became a team owner in 1981.