Bob Lutz remains a busy man, despite stepping down as “the car guy” at General Motors and, before that, Chrysler. One of his most recent gigs finds him penning pieces for Road & Track, where he covers a variety of topics.
In the most recent slew of letters, Lutz responds to too many vehicles among one lineup, fun-to-drive performance cars and what makes for a long-lasting, successful marriage. Nothing is too big, or too strange for Lutz to handle, apparently.
Lutz responds to a letter regarding the capabilities of the Fiat 500 Abarth, and the author questions his sanity over having so much fun in what would be consider a “Cracker-Jack toy” by so many, especially after spending his youthful days behind the wheel of 1963 Chevrolet Impala.
Simply, Lutz states:
Modern muscle cars have enough power to push through any series of corners, whereas a small-displacement, high-revving, tiny sporting car encourages you to hone your driving skills, conserve energy going into a turn, and come out the other side with as much momentum as possible. It’s a distinct pleasure, one I think you’ve found in your Abarth.
As for a successful marriage, Lutz says he not really the right guy to ask, since he is now married to his fourth wife. But, he does provide a few words of wisdom:
Infidelity doesn’t work. Yes, it’s tempting, but the minute you start hiding a portion of your life from your spouse, you’ve destroyed the emotional intimacy.
Comments
To be honest the less power full cars and not perfectly tuned cars build a lot of skill. The cars that make you drive them can teach you a lot.
It is kind of like todays race cars. You can be much faster in todays F1 cars but few of the drivers I feel could be as fast as Dan Gurney in his Belgium winning Eagle that had no down force and so little anything else.
I have easier and faster cars to drive but my Fiero makes me work harder to be a better driver. If you can 4 wheel slip dift a Fiero in a Corner you have really done something. If you can do it with that car you can do it with many others.
I totally agree with Scott3. And Dan Gurney was and is the greatest there’ll ever be. In that era, all the aids & refinements didn’t exist. Aerodynamics was @ a fledgling stage and computers, thank God, hadn’t invaded the cockpit. The Eagle also preceded wings and sponsor names all over everything. A wistful memory of a wonderful era. Gurney did it when it really meant something. And look at the legends he raced with……and beat! Clark, both Hills, etc. Ah, those were the days!
Also I have gotten to meet him several times. No better person in the world.
I was talking to him at Mid Ohio and he was called away because of a qualifying issue on one of his cars. A couple hours later he caught up to me in the garage area and we finished our chat. With so much going on he remembered to find me when he had no reason.
He is a class act.