Lloyd Loring is well known as the Voice of Solo. For many years Lloyd brought his combination of wit and knowledge to many of the events across what used to be the Central Division of the SCCA (now split into the Great Lakes and Central Divisions Ed.)As part of our continuing quest to inform our readership about the people who make Solo what it is we are delighted to be able to offer a glimpse into the life and times of this remarkable man. But first a little personal history.
RR: We would like to learn a little bit about the man, Lloyd Loring. What was your ‘day job’ back in the day?
LL: When I first joined the SCCA I was living in Detroit, MI. and selling hi-fi equipment. Later I went into advertising working out of a South Bend ad agency. I eventually had my own one-man advertising company.
RR: What about your family?
LL: I was married for 18 years. Divorced and remained single ever since. My son William is quite active in the SCCA and as an autocrosser; he is a far better competitive driver than I will ever be. My daughter Elizabeth is not a car enthusiast but I love her anyway.
RR: Age?
LL: I am now 81. I don’t feel any older than that at the moment.
RR: How long have you been a member of the SCCA?
LL: I joined the SCCA in 1954 as a member of the Detroit Region after purchasing my first Austin Healey 100. I wanted to try rallying and gymkhanas as well as get involved in the operation of amateur road races.
RR: What were some of the activities that you participated in when you first joined the SCCA?
LL: In addition to going to meetings, I competed in gymkhanas (predecessors of the current Solos) as well as TSD rallies. In the early days you were expected to attend every regional function every month. As time went on I became quite involved with rallying as well as working at races, especially timing and scoring, as well as a registrar and scrutineer. Solo came later.
RR: You have been around a long time and have seen a lot of changes both within the SCCA and the world of Solo or autocross. Briefly describe how autocross has evolved over the years.
LL: Early gymkhanas were held on small lots and were greatly limited in speed. Some were “gimmick� events with silly non-driving challenges, but drivers increasingly wanted to go faster and faster. In a few years “high-speed� gymkhanas became popular. These started to get out of control from a safety standpoint (for instance some were staged on a race track with no pylons and with few rules for helmets, seat belts or other safety issues!) At this point efforts to control the safety of these events resulted in national SCCA rules—largely based on those written by Vern Jacques of southern California (and others)—being adopted in 1968 and the 2-page rules became the foundation of our present Solo rule book.
Solos were primarily a local activity at first, but in our area, the Lake Michigan Autocross Series (LMAS) was formed with a mix of SCCA and independent clubs. It was a way to find more competition. In addition, the PAX Grand Prix Series of Street Solos were staged by Jim McKamey patterned after the street event held annually in Portage, Indiana. Divisional and National events were also becoming increasingly popular and important, and eventually, the LMAS series gave way to the CenDiv Series which morphed into the GASS series and now the GL Divisional championship.
RR: What kind of car did you start autocrossing in? How long did you actively autocross?
LL: My first serious competition was primarily in TSD rallying, but I did gymkhanas in my two Austin-Healey 100s as well as my several Porsche 356s. I also autocrossed a 1976 Alfa Romeo GT and a VW Golf. I have also owned a Jaguar Mk VII sedan, an original VW beetle, a Porsche 912, and a few others including my present Mazda Miata. And of course, a 1982 Plymouth Voyager van.
RR: When did you first pick up a microphone and begin announcing?
LL: I found some success in both Divisional and National TSD Rallying as a driver, but Solos were something else. I found early on that I could earn more respect announcing Solos rather than driving and so most of my Solo career has been behind the microphone. I found it hard to interrupt the flow of announcing with a serious effort to go fast, and thus both endeavors suffered. So I concentrated on the announcing.
RR: What is it that attracted you to announcing?
LL: My first announcing was at gymkhanas in my Porsche days when I mounted a loudspeaker to the engine lid (instead of a ski rack) and added a small home-made transistor amplifier under the seat. I would park next to the timers’ card table until it was time to run. I found people liked the idea of someone keeping things going and it was fun and easy for me. I moved to an Alfa Romeo 4-door sedan and then an Alfa GT coupe. These were too small to hold all the equipment I eventually felt was necessary to properly cover an event. In 1982 I bought my van and it still can be used for announcing to this day. It was necessary for big events like the Portage Grand Prix and eventually it went to Salina, KS for several SCCA Nationals as well as a host of CenDiv events.
RR: What are some of the qualities that make someone a good announcer?
LL: There are any numbers of ways to be a good announcer. For me I always felt that the most important thing I could do was to keep the event running smoothly and keep everyone fully aware of what was going on and who was on the track. Announcing times was essential and keeping track of class standings at major events was vital.
RR: As I recall everyone you announced for was ‘special’ i.e. you always had something good to say about everybody. How did that come about?
LL: I didn’t know many of the competitors early on, other than the top drivers and those from my own region. But I tried to give everyone a good introduction and tried to be positive about what they did. If they were slow I would talk about how much they had improved during the day. Or how I liked their car color or whatever struck me. Spins and goofs were mostly ignored and jokes at their expense were a no-no. I wanted every driver to feel they were wanted and important when they were at the line or had just finished a run. That’s one reason I still announce the final results of every competitor at our local events, not just the trophy winners.
RR: I remember from the old CenDiv Solo Series that you arrived in your own van with your own equipment. When did you first start bringing your own equipment to events? How did the equipment change over the years?
LL: I almost never used anything other than my own PA equipment. I knew what it could do, and I didn’t want to drive several hundred miles only to find an inadequate PA or a broken system. It started with a rather primitive system but I added speakers on tall stands I had invented, plus lots of wire and also added an FM transmitter that filled in many spots where speakers couldn’t cover the entire area. I also added two-way radios so that timing could be in another vehicle and they could radio times and penalties to us in the van. Because the timing area was often a “zoo� with lots of shouting, this separation was beneficial to both of us.
I was always tinkering with the setup to make it reliable and flexible. It was designed to have redundancy so that even with partial failure it would still do a fair job. My years of connection to the audio industry made it easier to assemble a quality system from odds and ends.
RR: In the age before computers you had an uncanny ability to know where everyone stood while the event was in progress. How did you do that? Was there a special someone who helped you over the years?
LL: My ability to keep track of relative standings even in large classes was no accident. With the help of my long-time assistant Jeanne Ruble, we created pre-printed forms which we used to write down every time, complete with pylon penalties. With up to 15 drivers per page, we could easily find the leaders and keep track of changes in standings. This meant putting the names, hometowns, regions, cars, and other facts into the sheet the night before. Jeanne did this so well. And then she wrote all of the times in a form I could use. And she was as interested in making each event “special� as I was. It was a vital part of our success. It helped that in those pre-computer days the entry blanks had a lot of info we could use. Those days have gone forever, I suspect.
RR: What are some of your fondest memories from your years of announcing? From your general involvement in the SCCA?
LL: I have so many fond memories I have a hard time sorting out the “best� ones. Introducing the general public to autocrossing at the Portage Grand Prix and other street Solos was an early challenge that was a lot of fun. Meeting some truly great folks time and again was special. Watching drivers react when I preceded their time with the statement, “Are you ready for this?� was always great fun. They knew it was a special and impressive time.
RR: In the years that you actively announced at big events is there any one competitor that sticks out in your mind? Are there several?
LL: Drivers I fondly recall include Joyce and Davie Looman. Roger Johnson was always exciting. Jim McKamey was truly special. George Bowland was awesome. Chuck Sample was another standout. And the Obenours were important in so many ways. Hank Beachy was another character and there were a whole host of standouts from Detroit, Evansville and Louisville. George & Dee Schwiekle are another pair. And who can forget the Bean Lady (Debbie Fessler Ed.) and her T-shirted Mario? There are just too many!
RR: There are a number of people that I am personally aware of that are ‘beloved’ in the Solo Community. You are one of those people. Can you talk about why?
LL: The people who stand out in the history of CenDiv/GLD solo do so because they worked very hard to make it a sport of quality and substance. They set high standards for performance and they didn’t just “show up and run.�
RR: What prompted you to ‘retire’ from announcing at larger events?
LL: I retired because my 1982 van was getting tired and so was I. At my age, it isn’t as easy as it used to be to get up at 5 AM to set up speakers, announce for two days solid, and then be the last to leave on Sunday evening after winding up all the wire and putting everything back in the van to be ready for perhaps several hundred miles of driving back home.
RR: We will ever ‘hear’ the Voice of Solo again at something other than a local event?
LL: I continue to announce all the SBR solo events, plus our race at GingerMan and the One Lap of America Skid Pad Challenges at the Tire Rack. That’s still about a dozen days a year. Most of my equipment has been donated to the SBR trailer so that the van can stay at home, slowly rusting away.
RR: From your perspective is there anyone announcing now that captures the ‘spirit’ of Lloyd Loring?
LL: I have no idea who is announcing these days. I rarely go to other events so I’ll take a bye on this question with this proviso: Raleigh Boreen. Raleigh and Velma and I first met while we were working T&S at Road America. We both were active in the late days of the LMAS and early days of the CenDiv Solo series. In some ways Raleigh is a better announcer than I ever was. He has read my SportsCar articles on the “Nuts and Bolts of Announcing� and the “Confessions of a Loud Mouth.� He then tossed out the drivel and made his own way. Good for him! I admire him very much.
RR: Given your length of involvement with the SCCA is there any one thing that you would change if given the chance? This can be with the SCCA in general or Solo in particular.
LL: There are a host of things I would change in the SCCA and in Solo if given the chance. And I still complain to the officials if I see a problem that needs fixing. But in the overall picture the club has met my needs over the years and while there are some dumb things being done, it is still a good group with great people.
One of my biggest regrets is the alteration of the Roundtable from a mutual regional self-help opportunity to just another platform for our “leaders� to tell us what to do, plus a place to finalize our racing schedule. I was proud to have helped create the concept back in 1962, but sad to see it change out of all recognition.
RR: Parting thoughts?
LL: No parting thoughts. I haven’t left. Although I do have a big collection of great memories. Trying to announce two courses at once at the National held in Chicago that ran into the dark because of a broken timing system. Not fun! Most were better memories, however. The WMR events at the Ionia Free Fair where the course was on bumpy access roads with course records at stake, but the parties were a ball. Detroit autocrosses that used part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. The Solo at the Indianapolis Zoo where we had to avoid a steaming, fresh elephant “dump� and where I got to drive Scott Holley’s fantastic Porsche 911. The fun events at Put-In-Bay where the autocross was really an excuse for a pub crawl. And watching as a ferry boat crew member drove Davie Looman’s FV on and off the boat to the island. The great events at Fort Knox, KY and Evansville, IN. Street events at Springfield, IL, Milwaukee, WI and (would you believe) Bangor, MI! And working with all the wonderful people at so many clubs and regions over the years. Probably more than 20 groups in all. My thanks to all of them for making me feel welcome and a part of their program.
We want to thank Lloyd again for taking the time to enlighten and delight us all!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }
You must log in to post a comment.