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I haven’t done this in 30 years. Young whipper-snappers showed me a thing or two. Let’s see them do this when they’re 77
Maximum Bob Lutz concedes defeat to TTAC’s Jack Baruth with dignity and a little feistyness. Cadillac is estimating Lutz will finish “in the top five or six.”
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He gets points for being a fun guy. Good for him.
As for the cars, the times, and the drivers: it seems hard to draw any conclusions about the cars since the drivers are all different.
It is my dream to be out on a track driving a CTS-V (or equivalent) when I hit 77. Hell, I’d like to be doing it today.
A salute to Maximum Bob!
Middle of the pack, plain vanilla performance just like the company.
At 77, though, I’ll give him credit for holding his own and representing well.
I give Bob credit, it takes courage to put balls to the wall at any age.
Always an excuse!
I said in the other thread:
I’d love to lap like Mr Lutz when I’m 77. Really.
This gentleman, today, fully earned his Maximum nick, and took it to other level.
Se paró en la arena y no se rajo.
Praise for Lutz in the TTAC comments… Wow.
Props to Max Bob!
Class act and one helluva driver for a 77 yo.
Hearty congratulations to Lutz on a job well done.
Kudos to Bob from an ardent critic.
I think Howard Head was still skiing in his 80s (Jerry Ford too I think), hope I am too.
A hat tip to any guy or gal still engaged and trying hard at this age.
For once truely,
Respectfully yours, Bob.
Bunter1
http://twitter.com/Cadillac
Final lap times: John Heinricy in #CTSV: 2:46:560, Aaron Link in #CTSV: 2:48:902, Brian Redman in #CTSV: 2:49:596…
Michael Cooper in BMW M3: 2:50:424, Jack Baruth in #CTSV: 2:51:153, Lawrence Ulrich in #CTSV: 2:53:157, Bob Lutz in #CTSV: 2:56:321
Michael M in BMW M5: 3:05:398, Wes Siler in Mitsubishi EVO: 3:08:126; Chris Fairman in #CTSV: 3:14:292, Archan B. in Jaguar XF: 3:15:670…Tom L. in Audi RS 4: 3:15:702
4 minutes ago from web
Yes, great racing to my fearless leader Bob Lutz and all. What a vicariously fun day!!!
Although I am a severe Lutz critic I must admit that was an impressive performance for a 77 year old.
Props to Lutz for having the balls to pull this thing off, but I thought the deal was that he would beat the challengers.
Lutz gets bashed nearly every day on this site. I think he earned one day of praise. We may not all agree with him, we would should respect him. GM built a hell of a car on his watch, and he pulled off a very successful ad campaign with this race. Every blog on autos has reported on this race.
Say what you will, but the man backed up his talk, and did it at age 77 when many of us would’ve been hardpressed to miss an episode of Matlock, or whatever the future elderly entertainment is out there.
Good for you Bob, I hope I’m just half as feisty at your age.
Credit to MB for coming 5th in a largely pointless event.
They are showcasing a car which is going to be retired. Will this help them sell more Malibus? More Aveos? More Crossovers? No. Because people in the everyday don’t give a flying fig about cars like this and this event proves GM haven’t learnt a flipping thing.
Still ignoring the mass market, where the profits lie.
Let’s see if this event raises sales figures for November…..I’m guessing it won’t.
TTAC should have treated this event with the contempt it deserved. Going with it meant that TTAC played into GM’s hands. By the way, did any taxpayer money go to hosting this event…..?
At 77 most folks are holding up traffic in their Town Cars so full credit to Maximum Bob for putting it on the line and giving a competitive performance.
The CTS-V is the overall winner as the times show.
OT: Is it me or is the TTAC website been a lot slower to respond since the IT changes done earlier this year?
The CTS-V is the overall winner as the times show.
One article I read phrased it really well. “Out of the actual contestants (excluding the obvious ringers), the BMW M3 placed first, but the times were so close it was likely a difference in driver skill that won today’s race.”
The results say this to me…If you are a pro/experienced race driver, you will have the fastest sedan if you buy a CTS-V (I would like to see BMW’s driver take the M3 around though). If you are not a pro and want to get the car that you can drive the fastest given your experience/skills, buy an M3.
It all looks fun and Lutz showed up. It’s all good.
regarding this quote:” I think Howard Head was still skiing in his 80s (Jerry Ford too I think), hope I am too.”
Ford wasn’t really skiing, he just fell down a mountain. I don’t know who Howard Head is but what a great name.
Boy, I love it how a few here just absolutely CANNOT say anything nice about the guy or give him credit for anything. Even when it’s painfully obvious that he did something right for a change.
Cammy Corrigan, what kind of lap times could you turn? Oh yeah, you’re too busy slamming Lutz. Guess that’s your expertise, not driving.
And yeah, it does mean something. Car freaks tend to talk. And they’re often asked their opinions on a car by somebody who doesn’t know and barely cares about cars – except when it’s time to buy one.
Getting the car freaks on your side is a big step in pulling yourself out of the hole you’re in.
Tonupboi,
What?! Are you joking?!
So because I don’t race (actually, I’m a pretty fast driver, when I want to be), therefore, I can’t say how pointless exercise this is? Just because people gave it credence doesn’t mean it’ll achieve anything and that’s the point. Yes, Lutz got a fast time, a fast time on something which was pointless to start with. Can you not see the bigger picture? I guess that’s your expertise…
Also, car freaks talk and people ask their opinion. Right I can see how that conversation goes:
Non car person: What car do you recommend?
Car person: Well, the Cadillac CTS-V was really fast at Laguna Seca, so, therefore, a Chevrolet Malibu or a Chevrolet Aveo should be just as good, eh?
Kudos to Max Bob for having such a good time (pun intended) at age 77, from a GM critic. He definitely deserves big credit. Congrats MB, hope you don’t lose too many seconds when you round that track ten years from now.
Howard Head invented the first metal skis and the first metal tennis racket.
I was skiing Beaver Creek 15 years ago when I was passed by Gerry Ford, who at the time was 80. Better skier than me, which you would expect from a star football player at the University of Michigan.
I’ve also driven with Maximum Bob. Scared the pants off of me, which you might expect from someone who owns his own MIG fighter.
>>Ford wasn’t really skiing, he just fell down a mountain. I don’t know who Howard Head is but what a great name.<<
Uh Head skis by any chance?
Just so we don’t get too carried away, Lutz owns neither a MiG nor a fighter. He owns Czech Aero Vochodny L-39 two-seat trainer. I’ve flown the L-39, and calling it a fighter is like calling a Boxster a racecar.
The replies to this post have revealed the haters from the critics. It’s one thing to be critical of decisions made by a certain individual, it’s another when you can’t find anything nice to say with an obvious success staring you in the face. (success being the engineering on this car and the promotion of this event).
basho: +10
Stephan Wilkinson is correct. Bob Lutz flies a MiG trainer (the Aero Vochodny L-39), not a MiG fighter.
Uh, sort of. The L-39 Albatros was designed to train pilots to fly MiGs, but to call it a “MiG trainer” is like calling a Kart a “Formula 1 trainer.” True in a sense but widely open to misinterpretation.
But then to most people any airplane manufactured east of Berlin is “a MiG,” just as private planes are all “Piper Cubs.”
I wanna see this old man do donuts! screw everything else going on here lets just see one hell of an awesome sedan rotate those tires in excess!
If my grandpa, dad of most of my friends had half the skill for driving as Lutz does I’d be a proud grandson/son/friend…
For all the driving Jack does I’m surprised that he wasnt further ahead…oh well. a w is a w i guess
Basho, you’re my man! I just wonder why I didn’t think to say that first. But let’s really be honest. The site has had a tone in recent times, as many have noted, that seemed to encourage that kind of thing. If it had gone on much longer, Lutz might have eventually been accused of not having been born in this country!!
Heinricy only bested Baruth by 5 seconds? He has a heck of a lot of seat time in this car. Dont think Jack did. Way to go Jack!!!
Impossible to draw a conclusion except this one: Caddy can still make world class machinery. Which is the whole point of the event.
Will it sell another Acadia? Who cares? But the popular notion that GM’s engineers aren’t up to snuff is no longer up for debate.
Our tax dollars at work. What a farce.
Bob is great.
Complaining about L-39 military trainer as “not a fighter” is incorrect in my opinion. Its like saying an A4 attack jet is not a fighter (true yet also generally incorrect). Being a fighter depends on who is flying it and why, and when and against what. Its a fast (450 knots is fast to me) agile military plane to train for faster jets. Fine manners. Armable. Its 300k not 100,000k to buy one.
He flies one. He challenges punks to race. He says “F**cking bullshit” to reporters on the record with full knowledge and its OK, well, its good.
For all this, he is a better man than I.
Impossible to draw a conclusion except this one: Caddy can still make world class machinery. Which is the whole point of the event.
Sure, and while gearheads may know about the CTS-V, it will impress people who hear about it. And Lutz deserves kudos for his impressive lap times at 77.
But the whole point for GM isn’t that they can make world class machinery. It’s if they can make world class machinery profitably.
Maximum Bob Lutz backs up his mouth – maybe he wasn’t first but his time was very very respectable – he proved he can still bring it. Also appears that the CTS-V was the real winner
frizzlefry :
October 29th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
If you are not a pro and want to get the car that you can drive the fastest given your experience/skills, buy an M3.
cooper did a few runs in the V but they weren’t timed. i wouldn’t be surprised if he beat his own m3 lap time w/ the V.
A win for Lutz, GM, and Caddy CTS-V. A win for the M3 guy, and a win for the Evo guy for having the balls to bring a car that’s down 250HP, that’s more than most of the cars on the road have.
A lose for all the supposedly independent journos that drove a CTS-V, it just doesn’t cut it. And at the end of the day, GM will point and laugh at you because for all the trash talk, they didn’t have enough real world influence to bring a real whip.
@Cammy Corrigan
Did anyone say or intend this event to sell more Malibus or Aveos? I don’t think so. You are missing the point. There are plenty of buyers for BMW’s, MB, Acura, Lexus, Jag etc who might consider a Caddy if performance is very important to them. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Did it work, yes, because you are talking about it. I am talking about it. The whole site is talking about it.
GM won at this event. Plain and simple.
@Steven02
No, YOU’RE missing the point. Can anyone not see that this whole event is a clear-cut case (nice alliteration) of “Great landing, wrong airport”?
Yes, this event was well organised, yes, it was entertaining and yes, MB got a good lap time, but this event won’t help GM out of the hole they are in now. If this event wasn’t about selling Malibus and Aveos, then it should have been, because that’s where the mass market is and that’s where GM should be.
When the November 2009 sales figures come out and GM’s sales figures are circling the drain, what will be the reaction?
“Yes, our sales figures are pathetic, but Bob Lutz got a good lap time with a world-class car which the majority of the United States can’t afford!”
I’ll be 59 in a few weeks, & live in a country where speed law enforcement is not something one needs to worry about as a practical matter. I get plenty of opportunity to push myself and whatever I may happen to be driving and stay in “practice”, and I don’t even have to pay for gas out of my own pocket, so I can go fast with impunity as often as the spirit moves me. I know I am not up to the same level of effort I was capable of 10 years ago, much less 20 years ago. (30 years doesn’t count – too young, too stupid, too green & too uncontrolled)
Mr. Lutz, whatever you may happen to think of him is 77 years old. Seventy-f*cking-SEVEN. When the very first Corvettes & T-Birds were rolling off the assembly line back in the 1950’s, he was already the same age as the guy who “beat” him by a lousy 6 seconds (yes, even on this track!) in the M3. His driving impresses me as much as Dara Torres taking an Olympic Silver medal in swimming at 41, where she missed the Gold by only 1/100 sec. I know guys just into their early 70’s that drool & can no longer even grip a steering wheel. Not only was Lutz good, at his age to come in anything better than a distant dead last he was exceptional.