Trying to learn a little history about my car...

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 02:47 AM

The PO told me it was omned by Peter Fraun who was roommates with a John Woods. John supposedly raced GTU and Trans Am series. He also owned a shop called "Autobahn Inc." in Framington MA. My car was supposed to be setup suspension wise like Johns race car. Does John Woods or Autobahn inc. ring a bell with anyone?

magilla · 01-10-2003, 03:34 AM

I searched the Web, and found a place in Natick (next town over from Framingham, MA):

AUTOBAHN AUTOMOTIVE INC
127 W CENTRAL ST # A
NATICK, MA
(508)647-1500

I don't know anything about them, or even if they are still in business. You could give them a call.

Keep us posted.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 03:52 AM

Thanks.
I will call them today.

RPMClassic · 01-10-2003, 04:44 AM

You most likely have a very interesting car if you can link to those people for certain. In 74/75 John Woods ran COM events in my area, as well as the 6hrs of Watkins Glenn and Mid Ohio. John was partners at a shop that retained some of the best wrenches and fabricators in the business. Unfortunately, he was better at building cars then building a financial empire, and the business ultimately went under. John went on to VA to run Supervee. Shortly after, he moved to Princton NJ to open a Chevy/Ferrari dealership. After making a $$ killing with custom Cameros for a few years he opened John Wood Porsche/Audi - also in princeton.

Back to the car...... during 74 and 75 Bill Scott Racing ran 2 911's. #57 had welded trailing arms,hand made RSR rear spoilers. The second tub in the stable was purchased by John Wood from Mike Keyser. This car featured an Al Hobert inspired "Monza type" rear deck lid. The original color of the tub was yellow, but painted purple/gold and then white during the 70's.

Question is what tub do you have?

There is ABC TV coverage of the 6 hrs Watkins Glenn in 74. The #57 car came into the pits for tires/gas. During the refill, the vent line got plugged, and the tank overfilled - thus starting a fire with puddles of gas underneath it. In what seemed like forever, but was actually only a few minutes - the car was pushed out of the way of the fire,cleaned and back on the track!!

RPMClassic · 01-10-2003, 04:46 AM

By the way, the shop address above has nothing to do with John Woods. Wrong people and wrong location. Johns old shop is now an industrial warehouse.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 04:53 AM

My car was owned by Johns roommate Peter Fraun. Supposedly they set up the suspension like Johns GTU car. It has a sticker on the rear vent window. "Prepared by Autobahn Inc." Framington,MA. I just want to try and find out how they set it up. The car handles extermely well. It started out gold, then purple, and now it is gaurds red.

RPMClassic · 01-10-2003, 05:05 AM

If it was Peter's car, it was purple and gold at the same time. Purple with Gold stripes. If you send me the vin, I can most likely dig up some pictures of that car. The painter of that car is still alive. As for the suspension specifically, the welded and reshaped trailing arms are the best clue to start looking at.

Do a search for John Woods Porsche/Audi in NJ. I'll call the painter and see what he remembers( which may be tough, they didn't believe it masks those days - they just held their breath! while painting).

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 05:36 AM

The VIN# is : 91131006840
This is getting interesting. Although in it's current condition I can't see that it was ever a race car. I will look at the trailing arms tonight.

atlporsche · 01-10-2003, 05:39 AM

if it was a race car, it'd have a couple tell tale plates on the floor where the cage was welded in right???

sjd

thrown_hammer · 06:14 AM

Here is a copy of the e-mail the PO sent me after I had purchased the car. It is from Rene at Rensport.
"To the best of what i remember peter's (Peter Fraun) car that you have
was
never been raced
proffesionally, but it was set up suspension, and engine close to the
g.t.u.
car
that his roomate at the time john wood owner of AUTOBAHN. raced in the
trans
am
series that we won the six hours of watkins glen."

Appearantly the shop name is now Rensport and Rene is the guy that setup the car. I am gonna do some digging at there website.

magilla · 01-10-2003, 06:18 AM

I take mine to Rene. He is a great guy! He is a small (one man) shop in Framingham.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 06:46 AM

Okay here is what I know so far.
The car was owned by Peter Fraun. John Woods was his roommate.
Rene at Rensport formally Autobahn Inc. set up the car.
I am gonna wait and see if RPMClassic can dig up any dirt with the VIN#.

Vipergrün · 01-10-2003, 07:11 AM

Wow Hammer, this is too cool. Almost as good as a *found in the barn* story. Could you let us know some details on the suspension when you find out about it? If I recall, your car has a 3.2 in it? Wonder if it has the Max Moritz (SP) conversion stuff....

Keep us posted

RPMClassic · 01-10-2003, 07:38 AM

If the car has a 3.2 liter in it now, what happened to the original GTU spec engine that was in it? Did you put the 3.2 in it, or did a previous owner? Mike keyser is still alive and so is John Woods - they most likely can provide some of the missing links to this story. Mike keyser has a website and the business listing in NJ should help you find John Woods old Audi dealership.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 07:47 AM

The engine was blown by the PO and he had the 3.2 put in. I asked him to throw in the original engine and he said no. I wouldn't know what a GTU engine should look like but I remember the engine had the sportpipe that has two outlets in the center.

RPMClassic · 01-10-2003, 07:55 AM

Do you have pics of the orig motor? Is it injection or carbed? You might order the kardex from Porsche and try to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 08:00 AM

I don't have any pics of the original engine but could proably bug the PO to send me some. I really don't think this car was a race car. It has a sunroof and remnants of the original A/C stuff. I wonder if Peter had a race car and a street car and had the suspension set-up on his street car to mimick closely the GTU cars? I will call Rene at Rensport and see if he has any answers.

thrown_hammer · 01-10-2003, 12:48 PM

Okay,
Here are a couple of shots of the rear trailing arms. I don't know if they are modified or not. I assume you were talking about the pickup points for the shocks?

I am going to try to call Rensport this weekend.

Bobboloo · Bobboloo's Garage

Looks stock to me.

Bobby

thrown_hammer · 05-01-2003, 06:13 AM

I just sent an e-mail to Rene at Rensport with the VIN# and the history of the car that I know. We will see if he can turn over any more stones. I also asked him if he knew anything about my early car sunroof drains. Can't wait for his reply.