Taking a winner for a ride!
It was a delight to see the name of Doug Curtis pulled from the huge pile of entries for our Gulf Oil GT40 competition last issue.
Long time readers will recall seeing Doug’s letters to the editor, often accompanied by a copy of his colourful, hand drawn pictures of the cars he was writing about. A Gulf travel bag (so coveted by photographer Terry Marshall that we had to keep it out of his sight!), coffee mug and a 1/18 scale GT40 which the Editor was seen trying to steal as well, were part of the prize package, with the main attraction being hot laps of Ruapuna in Gulf ’s GT40 replica, piloted by editor Tony.
The last time Doug flew into Christchurch it was when he was in the army in a DC3 so Jetstar’s Airbus was a step forward in speed and comfort. He may be in his 80s now but his sense of adventure and fun is undiminished and the grin threatened to split his helmet as he was strapped into the passenger seat of the GT40 and prepared for action. We had Terry on hand to record the event and Eoin Young as Gulf Oil’s motorsport PR man from the 1960s, making sure we all did it properly.
After our lappery, it was time to adjourn to the Brewers Arms for a refreshing beverage and a bite to eat, with Doug proudly showing us examples of his artwork, including coincidentally, a rendition of the car he had just been riding in before he was finally presented with the rest of his goodies, thanks to our friends at Gulf Oil.