Strolling Amok

Just off the boat at Lucerne and eager to get to the hotel, Eberhard Jr. finds the apex of the first turn with the rental car.

Looking for a late-night bistro, Becky Sue Ann in the back seat of the car ahead snaps a shot of Eberhard Jr. keeping up nicely in the second rental car.

Crew Chief Nigel Teabag performs a brake test of the rental Bimmer while approaching an intersection. Nigel was favorably impressed. “Jolly good brakes and a first-class hooter,” he said later. This photo was taken by a pedestrian.

Here’s a nice shot of the BMW taken by another pedestrian, the photo supplied courtesy of his estate and the French judicial system.

Well, here’s a little unexpected mishap as Eberhard “Fireball” Faber Sr. shows the French press how he used to run moonshine back in the early days. The press car and cameraman in the following car were sure surprised!

The exploding moonshine in the trunk begins to lift the rear wheels of the car off the pavement. “I was thinkin’ about bailing out,” Fireball recalled later, “but I had clean air up where I was, and for all I knew, them Frenchies back there might run me over, so I stayed put.”

Fireball Faber rides it out. The Fabers had packed a single token quart of real home-brew for this prearranged demonstration. Fireball attributed the mishap to a loose cork and a short in the trunk wiring. “It’s happened a’fore,” he said later. “Good thing it weren’t a trunkful o’ gallons this time.”

Eberhard Jr. narrowly avoids a pedestrian safety zone as he finds a way past a traffic jam in Milan, Italy.

Oops! Fireball readjusts a Swiss motorcyclist’s rear pannier. Naturally, Eberhard Sr. was disappointed, but his passengers encouraged him enthusiastically. They were impressed he even kept it between the lines, since he’s considered to be legally blind back home.

Becky Sue Ann, in the lead rental car approaching Munich, Germany, suddenly spotted what looked like a shopping mall (just out of the picture above left) and dived down a ramp to get to it. Crew Chief Nigel Teabag and the boys try to catch up to get her turned around.

Becky Sue, still motivated. Notice that Nigel, himself a two-time former World Cup Rally Champion, finds himself unable to gain ground despite the fact that she is the one creating the pathway.

Fireball Faber took this shot from the back seat of the second car. Eberhard Jr. is riding shotgun. You can now see the mall straight ahead. Becky Sue has gained a car length, which impresses Junior. “She’s rolled a couple Fords doing this back home,” he recalls, “If she gets it into her head there’s a sale going on, ain’t no stoppin’ her.”.

Becky Sue finally manages to roll the rented BMW on the top level of a Munich mall parking garage. She was disappointed that the cupholder lost her can of “sody-pop”, which was open at the time. The Fabers were impressed when at this point some German officials personally escorted the group back to the French border! And the French were kind enough to fly them by private jet straight back to the dock at Lucerne! Now that’s real European hospitality!