Joe Michelini...Now there is a name from the past
South side of Chicago...what a shop! 1961, John Toprahanian and I went to Nationals in De Pue. My first time there. I was so happy to be going to Nationals as a young lad of 17 or so. Especially without my parents. WOW! The adventure only had one draw back, I didn't get to race in 'A' Hydro. John and I left for De Pue bright and early Tuesday morning. I started driving, as Toprahanian driving scared the Hell out of me. He had a habit of repainting the right side of his car. His favorite color was 'Guard Rail White!' So as a young roster, I kept on driving. John would constantly say every four or five hours, "Do you want me to drive?" Of course I would respond with a firm, "No!, I'm fine." He said that I would end up paying for it. And as usual, he was right! I was so tired when we arrived on Friday noon, when it came time for bed Friday night, I didn't wake-up til Saturday evening around 6:00PM. I missed my elimination heats Saturday afternoon.
Back to the reason of this post. Joe Michelini had one heck of a shop. I was really impressed. There were so many KR's, SR's, PR's and 460's. Everything from reed valves to tuned exhaust. Wild looking units, boats and props. This man had everything. Talk about funny, this man was funny as all get out. We spent a lot of time on Friday in the shop.
On the way home, I also meant a man in TexArkana. Another great shop with a dock right on the lake. Comes home from work, eats, wraps a rope around the flywheel and away we go. By the time it is dark, you can be in your garage correcting any problems. Testing 99% of the time! What a way to live!
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