Occasionally, on steep hills,
it was necessary for Charles F.Wake to
supplement the 1899 Winton's 8 horsepower
by lightening the load and using an
auxillary power source, Plain Dealer Auto
Editor Christopher Jensen-making it a true
muscle car.
photo by TIM McKINNEY
| Old guilt reflexes about speeding die
hard.
Charles F. Wake and I were on N.Y. 5
near Dunkirk, headed for New York City,
when we rounded
a corner and saw three
state patrol cars with their lights flashing
and .the road blocked.
Speed trap, I | figured. There was the
first chilly tingle of a cold sweat, but with
a maximum speed of about 20 mph in our
8-horsepower 1899 Winton, we were the
ultimate law-abiding citizens. Unless, of
course, we were about to be arrested for
obstructing interstate commerce.
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Chuckles and Grins
We slowed down -- as if that seemed
possible -- and the troopers responded
with chuckles and grins. Perhaps they
had been sharing an amusing story about
the peccadilloes of their lieutenant, or
perhaps it was because we looked a little
like two middle-aged gargoyles perched
on a moving ledge.
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We chugged to a halt, the one-cylinder
still banging away. Never one to pass up
a predictable line, I declared: "OK, you
got us. We admit we were speeding."
They laughed again and simply waved
us on. "I like your hat," shouted the last
trooper in line, a man with a sense of
irony. It was an old baseball cap...
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