Cardinal Car Series (from Weathers)

(The picture - elaborating some obvious point or another - is from one of my car books. All those books started with the Cardinal Car Series.)

Wm P's recent post resulted in a star burst of neural activity. In no particular order, and with no particular attempt at artistry...

• When we started the car series I didn't know shit about how cars worked. I mean I really didn't know shit. I had to learn about coils while we did the the electrical testing programs.
  
• Because none of us knew shit, we did some stupid things. We were going to do one unit that required the student to remove the distributor from the test car (and remember this was all hands on training with a student doing the work live). Something happened and a screwdriver got dropped down the distributor shaft. I recall that it hit the oil pan with a wet thunk.
• A photographer named Massey shot some of the first units. He showed up with a cardboard box full of Nikons and Hasselbads (or at least one Hasselblad).
• I procured cars from local car dealers for some of the units. They never asked questions, just gave me new cars for God knows what.
• My best procurement was the 400cc Yamaha trail bike that I got from the local Yamaha dealer to illustrate something in the Wankel series. Slick Eddie and I kept the bike for a weekend, riding it across vacant lots and back alleys all over Charlotte.
• One picture in the Wankel unit showed a hand holding a can of oil near the gas filler cap of the test car (was it Wm P's Wankel powered Mazda?). I don't remember the point I was trying to make, but McGaughey got really mad because the picture implied that you were supposed to mix oil with the gas - which would have ruined the engine.
• Claud H and I traveled to New Jersey to investigate using model airplane Wankel engines in the automotive series. It was in the middle 1970's. Claud wore a pastel leisure suit and I wore my father's hand-me-down polyester suit (maybe plaid). The waiter in the airport restaurant corrected my pronunciation of the "filet mignon".
• On another trip to New Jersey I met one of the Cardinal sales guys in Newark and we drove over to the North American headquarters of Mercedes Benz. They wanted Cardinal to develop a library of training units for repairing old, classic MBs. It looked very good but when I got back to Charlotte McGaughey killed the deal because the work violated Cardinal/DART principles. This still makes me cringe.
• Although nothing ever came of the idea to use model airplane Wankels I jealously guarded the little jewel-like engine that the guy gave us and when I left Cardinal the engine left with me.
• I also made it home with a variety of Sun Electric test equipment (timing light and volt tester) but gave it all back when the Sun deal fell through.
  
• Shuman the Human and I went to Roseville Mn to investigate doing work with Marquette Test equipment. At night we went to a cavernous bar where a lovely Norwegian chanteuse entranced us with her rendition of "Jerimah is a Bullfrog."
  
• I don't remember exactly how it happened but one day Claud, our technical advisor, said he had been approached by Little Brown to do some text books but that he didn't want the bother. I said, then or not long after, well I'll do the writing. Over the next 15 years or so, he and I did those five books. Weird.