| Ron Hathaway's son Jeff
& grandson Kevin share their memories:
"It was a pleasant surprise
to be cruising the net and see these old pictures of my father, Ron Hathaway.
I remember when I took the day off from school and went with him to San
Francisco to pick up the Lola that had just arrived
on a ship. When
my father wasn't racing, he was watching the races. I have vivid
memories of being with him at Riverside, Laguna Seca and Vacaville.
My dad was a hell of a
driver and even though he quit racing in the 60's, could never resist a
mountain road up until the day he died. I left many a 'wet spot' on the
seats of his cars as, the tighter the turns got, the faster he would go.
I spent some time yesterday
looking at your site and was fascinated by the current shots of Riverside
and Vaca Valley. I'm 51 now and was very young when we used to go to those
tracks but I still remember them very vividly.
My dad used to take me,
my brother and his Lola to Vaca Valley with him on weekends when the track
was closed. The gate was chained locked but could be lifted off its hinges
allowing us to sneak in. We would spend the day there, with us boys sitting
in the timer's box and my dad driving the course for hours and hours. Every
now and then he would take each one of us for a few laps with him.
In retrospect, I'm sure
he toned it down when we were in the car with him but, to this day, I don't
recall ever going that fast through turns at any other time in my life.
It was a mixture of exhilaration and fear. Thanks for the site. It
was a wonderful era."
Jeff Hathaway
"Ron Hathaway was my grandfather.
My uncle stumbled across your website, and passed it on to me. We have
some pic's of his 65 427 Cobra, which he sold in 66 for $10k (that hurt),
and a few of his Ferraris. He did better in construction than racing
(ha ha). He loved driving fast, and would take me on rides in his
Porsche 930 Turbo and Ferrari 275 GTB 2+2 all the time. That was
a real kick. He died in 1999."
Kevin Sidensol |
