Casualties of Targa California

[Tamas Opra]

First of all I'd like to thank the organizers putting this rally together.
This was my first year running it and it was a hell of a fun!We signed up with 2 of my cars,my 61 hotrod volvo 544 and my 82 sc(not so much stock either.)
It was good to see friends and other car nuts having fun.Everybody was helpful and looking out for each other,great spirit indeed.
The Porsche performed well,my street tires not so much
The volvo was hauling ss as well,however the stock drums got cooked pretty quickly after some serious driving on big tujunga.Got to the point that my friend had to stop the car Flinstone style,basically putting his foot down )So the volvo just needs a brake job,Im thinking installing the p1800 4 piston calipers and rotors in the front,it already has a built b20 motor from an 1800.Besides this the volvo survived.
Now the Porsche,well thats a different story.Tires are done,flat spotted,got a flat on one of the rear tires.Sorta fixed it,but will take it to my tire guy next week.I got a cracked fog light and a dent in the valance due to some head bumping with the wildlife.
My starter took a crap so we had to jump it a few times,special thanks to all that helped me
Ran into a speedtrap on friday,as many others,ouch.
Saturday we went up to sonoma where I bought a 67 123gt ,canadian model,uber rare.
On the way backby bakersfield late at night another speed trap.Well this time I wasnt so lucky.Chp officer surely wasnt enthusiastic about my little porsche,nor my international drivers license,matter of fact he was a huge $%#@!
After herrasing me a half hour of what do i do for a living,where we going ,why are we speeding-btw he never got me on the radar,i was just rolling with the traffic in the slow lane.Half hour later tow truck shows up,I knew were *&^$%.Then he calls me back to his cruiser and says to me that what do i think im doing,i have a speeding ticket and an accident in the past 2 years.I replied I payed my ticket,didnt even had to go to court and the accident wasnt my fault.He told me he is impounding my car and I can come on monday to pick it up with 2 licensed drivers.
Of course the impound yard is a chp yard so they will be charging me storage fees sat,sun and monday plus 210$ for the dispatch fee.Way to go chp,its not enough I payed thousand of dollars for registration fees for all the cars i had this year,they want more!He told us(yelled) to go stand by the tow truck.Then he takes his flash light and searches my car,without my permission of course.
The tow truck driver was a total idiot to,after I warned him to put leveling blocks to drive it onto the bed,he totally ignores it,scrapes the nose of the car,stalls the car,rolls it back and rips off my front license plate.Im like WTH??
Courtesy of the bakersfield CHP was that they took as to the next exit,told us to take our **** from the car and left us at the ihop in the middle of nowhere 11pm.
I checked the ticket and it says speeding 70+,what thats supposed to mean?The speed limit is 70mph on the 5.
I generallly dont have anything against the law enforcement ,but when Im haslled and pushed around,wrongfully searched and left in the middle of nowhere,that pisses me off.How come a young guy like me has a nice car like this was his probable cause to wrongfully search my car?Well let me tell you mr officer I work my ass off 12-15 hours a day working on cars,thats how!
After arriving to our lovely lodging,steel bench in front of an ihop,my navigator decided to cheer us up.Ran to the shell station and grabbed us a few premixed margaritas.After waiting a couple of hours,my friend Radu came to our rescue and drove us back to LA.
Overall great event with manageable losses.
Will upload photos soon.Feel free to add photos of your own.

[Tamas Opra]

[Noah930]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Tamas. Radu did a lot of driving that day.

I was hoping this was the only real casualty of the weekend. Rock: 1, Rota Fox: 0. What's that saying about when all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?

[Tamas Opra]

Ouch,that doesn't look to good,but I'm sure it can be straightened.As long as its not cracked you should be ok.

[911SauCy]

If thats how the story really went...that cop broke the law numerous times...

Regardless, he doesn't sound like a very friendly fellow. Yikes!

[Tamas Opra]

Yep that's how it happened.Will see how it pans out in court.

[gostraight]

10:20...Arrived home after driving 500+ miles with no brakes
10:25 phone rings
10:30 on the road ahain for another 230 miles to pick up some poor B@$!@r&$...

[Tamas Opra]

Now to the fun part heres a link to 500+ photos from the event,covering Canepa showroom as well

2013 Targa California Slideshow by oprah85 | Photobucket

[KevinP73]

I must have missed something. On what grounds did he impound the car?

[tevake]

Tamas, thanks so much for posting and sharing this fun event with us. Loved the pics. That tank looks like a M 48, thats the tank that I drove around in V N, Kind of freaks me to see it in a museum as an artifact, I am getting old.

Sorry that your trip ended in such a bummer. Sort of weird how one minute you are cruising along in your sweet ride, the next you are on the group W bench wondering what happened.

Was there something that happened in your interaction with the cop that may have set him off?

At any rate it looked like a fun event.

Cheers Richards

[Tamas Opra]

No Richard,I was very polite.He seemed to be a rookie or something.Either way I'm taking my car out tomorrow 465$ storage fee.
And Kevin,the officer didn't want to recognize my international drivers license.Im from Europe so I hAd my European dl.Either way I will get a California one so they'll leave me alone next time.

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by Tamas Opra

No Richard,I was very polite.He seemed to be a rookie or something.Either way I'm taking my car out tomorrow 465$ storage fee.
And Kevin,the officer didn't want to recognize my international drivers license.Im from Europe so I hAd my European dl.Either way I will get a California one so they'll leave me alone next time.

Ok I'm no lawyer but I don't think it's up to the individual officers to determine the validity of an foreign license. Did he have an issue with your car being registered in Cali but you not having a Cali drivers license ? Even still sounds a little harsh beings as you had a licensed co-pilot.

EDIT: Ok nevermind, I found it. You've been in Cali for a while. Registered cars in Cali without getting a Cali drivers license. He's still a dick for not letting someone else take the wheel for ya.

[tevake]

Tamas, Thanks for not taking offense to my question. Just trying to make some sense out of what seems like totally excessive move on the part of the cop.

I personally find it very embarrassing to think that a person here from another country is miss treated because of his origins. Just isn't right or legal.

I look forward to hearing that the ticket is overthrown.

BTW Nice Volvo!

Cheers Richard

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by gostraight

10:20...Arrived home after driving 500+ miles with no brakes
10:25 phone rings
10:30 on the road ahain for another 230 miles to pick up some poor B@$!@r&$...

You, sir are a good friend to have in time of need.

[Tamas Opra]

Kevin,I've been here for a while but my status didn't allowed me to get a Cali license till just recently,so now it's time to get it.

[aigel]

Good to read about the fun. I always feel left out with the 993 and would attend this drive otherwise.

Sorry to hear about the cop trouble. I am not terribly surprised. CHP doesn't cut slack. Never have seen it. Generally the cops are very strict in CA for licensing stuff. I have a coworker who got his car towed for driving with an expired license (2 weeks over the expiration date). He came to work by cab that day.

G

[Radioactive]

Isn't that the same area where the German tourist got stopped a couple of years ago?


Welcome to America (Cop vs German Tourist) - YouTube

[Tobra]

CHP is one of the revenue generating arms of our gubmint here. You can fight it, but then you will be out more time and more money. The cost to you is pobably at its lowest if you just mail them a check.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by Radioactive

Isn't that the same area where the German tourist got stopped a couple of years ago? Welcome to America (Cop vs German Tourist) - YouTube

Wow... like the poster above, I didn't think anyone actually talked that way outside the movies and perhaps a few isolated southern areas...

[intakexhaust]

Tamas - Bum for ya about the patrol. Still looked like you had some good time and thanks for posting the great pics. Oh yes, I noticed an old car like one had, a 66 Bimmer 2000tiLux!

(ps. Who knows but you might have escaped the attention of the cop by swapping out the French lamps and even though you had a front tag, not a good idea to partially cover the euro plate. Although surprised you were hassled as much with the Intl. license. I recall probably 15 years back and had a guest in from Germany and just for a day road and trail jaunt we took my dual purpose bikes. I don't know what the stupid details or purported violation was, might have been my rear tires knobbys - non DOT or something. My German guest showed his Intl license and after we all had a decent talk and review, all was cool and sent on our way. Have to add, it was always a strange feeling lane splitting in CA including with the CHPs!)