At the time we were involved in crazy car stuff, a gymkhana was an event where cones were set up to make a course and one car would drive at a time. Points were added to your time if you knocked a cone over. If you got off course, you went back to the place you transgressed, as the clock kept running. Otherwise, you were disqualified.
Nowadays, they might be called autocrosses or Solo 1 and Solo 2. Times are changing!
Anyway, we had lots of gymkhanas..some complicated and some kind of Mickey Mouse. Because Texas had what was called the Blue Law then, we were able to use business parking lots. The Blue Law required businesses to close either on Saturday or Sunday.
All of these events were fun, and our little Sprite preformed well. We won more than our fair share of these events. Most of the wins didn’t come with trophies, but we were awarded dash plaques, which we proudly displayed on the dash of our cars.
The Mickey Mouse, or out of the ordaniary, events were the most fun and memorable. At one such event, the driver was blindfolded and the passenger would tell which way the car should turn. Our friend, Carolyn, was teamed with Kent Clark, aka Superman. She sat behind him, on the deck of “The Bird.” She would turn his head in the direction he needed to go. The only problem with that plan was the tightness of some of the turns. I think she nearly broke his neck or twisted his head off. It was interesting to see the different methods people used to finish this event.
Another fun event was wrapping a rope around a pole. A rope was tied to a light pole. There was a knot at the other end. The passenger held onto the knot with one hand. If the rope touched the ground there was a penalty. Wrapping it around the pole wasn’t much of a problem, but unwrapping it was a different matter. It was a challenge to see how high or how far away from the pole you could hold the rope. Anything to keep it off the ground and still hold on to the knot. Some people stood up to hold the rope high and hang onto the windshield with the other hand. We remember one person climbing over the driver to hold the rope as far to the left as possible.
One time we had an event at a small dirt track a few miles outside of Lubbock. We went out one at a time, so it wasn’t like a race, but it was a timed event. As I was going around the track, Bill and PeeWee were standing on the edge watching. PeeWee said, “I’d give $5.00 to see her spin.” Just then I did. Bill held out his hand to collect.
Zan, Carolyn, and the two of us went to the small town of Tahoka. We met with the sheriff to discuss having an event in their town. The downtown was typical of towns in those days...a court house in the middle of a square. The sheriff arranged to have the streets blocked off on Sunday. We were able to set up cones all around.b We had a lot of spectators. It was a unique event, but I don’t think we were ever invited back.
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