Well, I flew to Phoenix AZ and we were greeted by our hosts and taken to the Wild Horse. A very nice resort where, only a couple of weeks earlier, the New York Giants stayed while in AZ for the Super Bowl.







the view from the poolside adult beverage dispensing counter (chilled there until dinner)


they had some goofy trees around there


but some nice rides in the parking lot


The next day we loaded up and headed out to discover the reason we made the journey

The Bondurant High Performance Driving School

 

At the start we received a brief tour and history lesson and discovered that our timing couldn't have been better as it was the 40th anniversary of the school and a large celebration had been planned for Thursday night and we were invited (more on that later)

the school started out with 240Z's


and they moved to Mustangs for a little while


but we were here to drive C6's


and mine was #22


after some instruction and skills tests in both the C6's and the skid car seen here and some more instruction we called it a day


the next day greeted us with warmer weather and more instruction and then the hot laps started






our group also had an opportunity to meet the man himself Bob Bondurant (in the center)

 

The anniversary banquet was great. Many x-racers were in attendance and some of the cars on display were awe inspiring

Factory Five GTM


not a kit car Daytona Coupe


Cadillac LMP


Cheetah


The Pace Car for Firebird raceway


with more hot laps in the rain the next day ...

 

all in all pretty cool stuff and a pretty cool trip but, when I flew out to Dallas on Saturday morning and rented a car to drive to Shreveport Louisiana I was able to complete my 4 year plan ... Yes, I have been saving for a new car for four years ... and here she is.





the drive home to South Bend Indiana was rather uneventful and boring. 40 - 45 degrees and rain the entire trip but, I beat the snow by about 6 hours

 

congrats on the car... that school seems like it was fun...

 

thanks

 

great trip pics! congrats on the car.

 

congrats on the new car! great pics and seems like a lot of fun!

 

Wow, what a trip. I am jealous. Then you topped it off by picking up a nice 996. The car is beautiful. Now all that you have to do is start modding since the weather in South Bend is probably frigid right now . . . . may I suggest short shift and clear side markers for starters.

 

After driving the corvette and your porsche, how's the comparison?

 

welcome back to reality

 

the Vette offers great performance and typical GM interior and build quality. They are getting better and have greatly improved from the past levels of execution but, they started so far back they have a long way to go to catch up. In reality the C6 is a great value in the sportscar world but it still needs more refinement and less plastic. I could probably out run my 911 in a straight line. On a road course it would most likely outrun the 996 for 2 or 3 laps but, after that point the 996 would reel it in and eventually pass it because the Vette would over heat the brakes and tires and be much slower from that point on .....

in the end the Vette is a steak knife and the 911 is a scalpel. Both do what they are supposed to do very well. With that said remember we are talking about a 2008 Chevrolet and a 2001 Porsche ... and yes I have driven a 997 and that comparison would just not be fair

 

Awesome! I attended the Bondurant School back in 2000, and we drove the orange Mustangs from your pics. It's crazy how things have changed since then. Their skid car was an OLD Mustang GT (circa 1993), and their instructor cars were bright yellow SVT Contours.

 

How much does the school run?

 

great trip, great pictures, congratulations!!