Becoming Antonia Part 26.

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Warning, the following chapter contains very technical writing. You have now been warned, and I don't want any comments or PM's about that fact. ENJOY the chapter for what it is. A STORY!

Becoming Antonia Part 26.

Written by Toni Trepasso
Edited by Holly Logan, with my many thanks to her.

 

I followed Jen to Willow Springs, a race track near her house that has both a road course, and an off road track, to meet with Holly Hart from Peterson Publishing. I’ve read her articles in Hot Rod, and found that she is pretty much a straight shooter, when it comes to what’s going on with the cars she covers. Jen and I both dressed in jeans and polo style shirts for the shoot that the magazines, and once again, with her in the Hummer and me in the Viper, I found I had a much harder time than I should have, following her. Not really a surprise, since she knew the area, and the truck she was driving was about as stout in the drive train as the one Robby Gordon races in the Baja race.

Once we rolled up to the track, we parked near a brand new Dodge truck that had a “Peterson” sticker on the door. There were two women standing by it, and I have to say I was a bit shocked by that. I knew Holly was bringing a photographer with her, but usually you find that most of the people in this field are males. Not to say that there aren’t a good number of women, nor that they can’t do as good, if not a better job than most of the men. But it’s not every day that you see a two woman team like this working for a car magazine. I just got out and hung back a bit, while Jen went over to introduce herself to the women from the magazines. I watched as she shook both their hands, and then saw them coming toward me.

“You must be Toni,” said the woman whom I recognized from watching the television coverage of the Hot Rod Magazine ‘Power Tour.’*

“Yes ma’am,” I told her as I shook her hand.

“Holly Hart,” she told me, then turned to her partner. “And this is Gwen Brown,” she told me, indicating the tall woman with the camera around her neck.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I told the taller woman.

Let me see if I can describe the two women who were going to be covering the cars. Holly, is a slender woman, I’d put in her late thirties, maybe early forties. Her deep red hair makes it a bit hard to pin her age down, since her skin doesn’t give any indication, due to the complete lack of wrinkles that most women get. Her porcelain like skin would lead me to believe she is of Irish descent, or possible one of the other UK regions.

Gwen, on the other hand, is in her forties. The stray grey hairs that aren’t noticeable, unless the sun catches them just right give her age away. But that is where the differences stop. If you were to look at them both from the neck down, you’d swear they were twins. The only slight difference is that Gwen has slightly more muscle in her arms. I would have to guess that would be from lugging all her heavy camera equipment around.

One of the unexpected things that struck me about these two women was their overwhelming grasp of the technical aspects of the cars. Not at all what you’d expect from two women who look more like models than Jen and I put together.

The only other thing that bothered me, was that I had been getting a ‘vibe’ off of the two of them. It wasn’t a bad thing, but there was something about them that seemed familiar, almost like I knew them both. The only other person I’ve ever had this feeling about was Jen. I just shrugged it off to being hot, since it was over 100 degrees out and not even noon yet.

All in all, the shoot went pretty well. Holly and I spent most of the day sitting under the umbrella she had set up on the table she brought with her while Gwen was taking pictures of Jen driving her cars on the track.

“So what lead you to want to do this project?” Holly asked me as Jen continued to flog her Viper.

“Well, I’ve known Jen a while now. We’re from the same area back east, and even worked together a while back at a radio station back there.” I told her. “When I came to LA to play hockey with the Columbia Hot Flash out of Santa Fe, I read an article that made Jen out to be a villainess in regards to the environment. I know how to work on cars, and I read in your magazine about Karl Jacob’s new company, and figured I could help her out.”

“Even though some of the most respected customizers in the industry told her it was an act in futility?” she asked me.

“Nothing is ever impossible.” I told her with a smile. “Columbus was called crazy when he sailed west. Henry Ford was told he’d never be able to mass-produce a car. So why couldn’t I prove people wrong when they said it couldn’t be done?”

“So you’re saying you’re on the same level with Columbus and Ford?” she asked me.

“Not at all.” I told her emphatically. “What I am saying is that what I did is part of what makes America great. The dreamers, and the doers are the people who built this country. Besides, I didn’t really do anything that special. Karl did most of the work. All I did was put his system on Jen’s car.”

“But what about the Hummer?” she asked me.

“What about it?”

“Well, who made the kit for that?” she asked.

“No one, that was all custom.” I told Holly.

“So you had to engineer everything yourself?” she asked, as she took notes.

“Not everything,” I told her. “I mean there’s a company out of Santa Fe that makes the electric engines, and battery system. And a company out of Baja makes the magnets I used on the suspension.”

“But what about the RBS Jen told me about?”

“That came from Renault. They’ve been experimenting on a small system to be able to be used on Formula 1 cars. All I did was adapt what they already had to work on the Hummer,” I told her as I started to feel uncomfortable with her giving me all this praise for my work.

“But didn’t you also adapt a couple of other sets of the magnets on the suspension, so the Hummer could have full off-road capabilities?”

“Well, yeah, but it wasn’t that hard. All I did was hook one set up with reverse polarity, so when the switch was in one position, one set is repelling, while the other two are grabbing. Then when you flip the switch, they reverse. I’m really surprised no one has done it before now, to be honest.”

“So is it true you made the trip from Santa Fe to LA on two tanks of fuel in the Viper?” Holly asked me.

“Yeah, I started out with some racing Methanol I had at my house. Then about half way, I added eight gallons of premium pump gas to the mix. Then once I hit LA I topped off the tank with another eight gallons of E-85.”

“You mean to tell me that you went eleven hundred miles on only sixteen gallons of fuel?” she asked me in shock.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” I told her. “I’m not sure of the exact mileage from door to door, but it was only sixteen gallons added to the tank on the trip.”

“I take it that wasn’t really hammering on the throttle, what it?”

“Not even close.” I told her with a giggle. “I wasn’t going for any milage records, but I did motor along with the cruise control set at a steady seventy.”

“So you didn’t really hammer it at all?”

“Nope, the last thing I need is a speeding ticket. Besides, racing should be done on the track, not the street.” I said lowering my head. “Just like the late Wally Parks* wanted it.”

“You are a remarkable woman, Toni,” she told me with a smile. “So off the record, how long have you been a woman?”

I was shocked. Blindsided would probably be more appropriate. Here we were talking about the cars, and she just pops that question at me like nothing is wrong.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I told her, staring at her in shock.

“Look, I don’t claim to know what is going on, but I know a little of Jen’s past,” she told me, “and from seeing what I’ve seen in my own life, I can tell that you’re one of us.” she said with a wink.

“One of us?” I asked her.

“So how did you change?” she asked me bluntly. “Mine was a chemical bath after a bad fire I had in my house. They tried a new treatment on me for my burns. I wound up changing into a woman when the chemical pumps they used for the chemical bath they had me in shorted, and started over pumping the nutrients to help heal my body. Apparently, from what the doctors told me, it was a combination of the chemicals, and an electric shock that rewrote my DNA.”

“Wow,” was all I could manage after she told me her story.

“Look, I’m not going to out you,” she told me as she took my hand in hers. “I just find it interesting when I meet more people like myself.”

“Alright, but mine’s not that interesting.” I told her, with a little moue of discomfort. “Basically I just fell down a hill behind a college in Western New York, and fell into a large puddle of chemicals what had been leaking from barrels behind the Bio-Chem building.”

“That’s it?” she asked, a bit confused.

“That’s it.” I shrugged back. “That’s all I can remember. I was awake for the whole change, though.”

“Well, that’s a bit different.” she told me. “Everyone I’ve been able to meet has told me they were out for the whole process. You’re the first one who was able to watch themselves change.”

“Yay for me,” I told her in a mocking tone.

“I’m serious. That’s something the rest of us didn’t have to go through.” she told me sternly. “It takes a strong person to go through that and not do something rash.”

“I have a strong support system with my fiancee and father.” I told her.

That was when Gwen and Jen came back over to us. Gwen suggested that she get some action shots from inside the Hummer, and Holly suggested that all four of us go for a ride. We all packed into the truck and Jen took us all on a little off-road adventure. While we drove, Gwen asked me the same question that Holly had, about my change.

“Wait, you too?” I asked her from the back seat as she shot pictures from her seat at “shotgun”.

“Yup.” she told me. “About, oh, wow, has it really been ten years? I was a high voltage electrician, and while trying to fix a high tension line in the middle of a big storm, I got struck by both lightning and the current from the line. I woke up a month later, looking like I do now. Well, except for a few more grey hairs now,” she said with a giggle.

“So how come you’re not still working as an electrician?” I asked her in shock. (No pun intended)

“I didn’t want to risk my life any more, so I found the opportunity to combine two of my passions, cars and photography,” she told me as I could see a smile cross her face.

“Wow, I never would have guessed with any of the three of you, if none of you had told me.” I felt a bit down. “I mean, I’ve been getting some weird vibes off the two of you since we rolled up today, but I just chalked it up to being tired.”

“It’s not tired.” Gwen told me. “Have you ever watched the movie ‘Highlander’?”

“Yeah, I own the complete DVD box set, of the movie and the TV show,” I told her.

“Alright, think of those vibes you were feeling, are kind of like what they feel in the movie,” she told me. “They know when another like them is close. Well, those like us, those that I’ve met anyway, feel something like that.”

“Wow.” was all I could manage to say. As I tried to let this all sink in.

“So how did you change, Toni?” Gwen asked me.

“I fell into a chemical spill behind the Bio-Chem building at a college,” I told her, as I felt myself blush.

“And she was awake for her complete change,” Holly piped in.

“You were?” Gwen asked, surprised. “Wow! I think you’re the first one I’ve met that’s had that part happen.”

“Just how many of “US” do you know?” I asked her.

“Oh, a few ...” she told me.

“Alright, leave the poor girl alone,” Jen said, coming to my rescue. “Toni hasn’t been a woman very long,” she told them. “What’s it been, nine months?”

“Yeah.” I felt myself blushing again.

“Wow, I’d never had guessed it was that recent,” Holly told me. “You carry yourself so well.”

“Yeah, if I hadn’t had the feeling when I shook your hand earlier, I would have guessed you were born a woman,” Gwen followed. “It took me almost a year before I was comfortable with my mannerisms.”

“Well if you had the Physical Therapist I had ...” I told her with a giggle. “Seriously though, I’m FAR from comfortable. I just try to blend in as best I can.”

“Unless you’re playing hockey,” Jen piped in with a giggle.

“Quiet, you!” I told her as I swatted the back of her seat.

“Oh come on, I think it’s funny how the other teams try to skate away from you on the ice,” Jen told me.

“Why do they skate away from you?” Holly asked me.

“Because she checks harder than many of the men can,” Jen told her, causing me to blush again.

We ended our ride in the Hummer and after I exchanged numbers with Holly and Gwen, I followed Jen back to her place for the night. I was a bit tired after all the stress I’d been put through, so after another great Gertie dinner, and a quick call to Sarah, I went to bed early.

The following morning, I went searching for my slippers, and there, under my bed was one Tasmanian Devil, while the other was across the hall, just like Jen had suggested. Over breakfast, I started asking Jen about the racing movie she was going to be doing, and she told me she’d give me a copy of the script to take with me. I felt honored, since I still hadn’t had a screen test, yet I already was getting a copy. She told me on the way to the airport that she’d call me once she had my test set up, and that Holly would be sending each of us a copy of the magazines the article would be in.

I settled into my seat on the studio’s jet, and tried to relax. I couldn’t though, since this was my first time actually riding in a private jet. With nothing else to do, I sat down and started reading the script Jen had given me.

I found out, it was going to be a story of a woman who started racing a bit later in life than you hear about in this day and age. She and her friend had built a car as part of a sorority project while in college. The Greek organizations at the school were going to be having a race, and they ended up building the winning car. Jen’s character would be bitten by the driving bug, while the character she had in mind for me to play, just loved getting her hands dirty, turning the wrenches.

After graduation, they both started getting serious, and worked their way quickly through the ranks of racing. Both the driver and the crew chief were good at what they did, and together, they became unstoppable. They caught the eye of a NASCAR team, and while not well received in the garage area, they proved they belonged.

The climax had Jen’s character winning the Daytona 500 after coming back from a bad wreck the previous season. The whole thing kind of reminded me of ‘Days of Thunder’, but with a woman’s touch. I figured I’d at least give it a try when they called me for a screen test. After all, what did I have to lose?

After I got home, things settled down a bit, and I could concentrate on the three things in my life that mattered most. Sarah and the baby which came first, and then hockey. About a month or so after the photo shoot. I got a large envelope in the mail from Holly. Not only was it the issue with the article about Jen’s cars, but I saw that she used the picture of Jen and I leaning on the cars with the sun setting over the mountains behind us, on the cover.

Spectacular Environmentally Friendly Rebuilds
Remember when cars had personality and style? You can still find them if you’ve got the dough. But that isn’t the only price, as film star Jen Stevens found out while trying to have her two favorite toys made more environmentally friendly without losing the zip she got her Dodge Viper SRT10 for, or the go anywhere capabilities of her H1 Hummer.
Sounds impossible? That is what she seemed to be finding everywhere she turned, even as environmentalists began calling for boycotts of her film.
Then she was approached by a fan, Toni Trepasso. Yes, the same Toni Trepasso hockey fans know, who has been terrorizing opponents in her role as an enforcer for Santa Fe’s “Columbia Hot Flash” Women’s Semi-Pro Hockey Team.
She had some ideas along that lines, and knew that Karl Jacobs had started a company, SVS, specifically designed to give the Dodge Viper flex-fuel capabilities. She had heard the catcalls being thrown Jen’s way, and contacted her to see if she might be interested, only to find that Jen had been looking for something of the sort without success.
Needless to say, a deal was quickly struck, and Jen’s viper was soon in Toni’s garage. By the time Toni had disassembled it as far as needed, Karl’s premium conversion kit had arrived, and she got to it. It took Toni just a week to replace the heads on V-10 with ones that features direct injection for each cylinder, and convert the electronics over to allow cylinders to be cut out when their power isn’t required.
You might think that would be enough, as in ordinary around town driving, the mileage is up to three times better than the stock Viper. But no, Toni installed a twin turbo package in place of the mufflers, giving a peak power output nearly double that of the original engine when floored, yet retaining the improved mileage when not running under track conditions. Emissions are well under the specs of any factory Viper, which will allow it to be registered in California , with its strictest in the nation requirements. She actually did a bit better than the figures SVS provided California in qualifying the package.
When Toni delivered it from her place inn New Mexico to California, she covered the nearly 1100 miles in just a bit over 16 gallons of gas. She started the trip with a tank of racing methanol , added 8 gallons of pump premium at the first fill-up, and put in just over 8 gallons E-85 just before delivering the car to Miss Stevens. That’s 1100 miles on really, one tank of fuel, you environmentalists out there. That’s over 49 MPG!!!
When I asked Toni if that included any hot-rodding, she replied, “I’m a notorious lead-foot, so I had it on cruise control the whole way to avoid temptation, though I did hold it on the posted limit the entire way. I wasn’t trying for super economy. I did the hot-rodding on a test track before heading to LA. Let me tell you, this car is the most fun I’ve ever had sitting up.”
Toni reports that the new electronics package handled the changeover from one type of fuel to another as if it was all the same grade.
After delivering the Viper, Toni took Jen’s Hummer home for improvement. Jen now owns an H1 Hummer that can run on anything from bio-diesel to pump diesel,
This conversion took a lot longer than the Viper had taken, as the changes are much more extensive. To start with, Jen’s H1 is now a diesel/electric hybrid, giving it many of the environmentally pleasing attributes of any hybrid car. But the additional step in the drive train, is a flywheel for regenerative braking. The takes the strain off the batteries, as they never have to see large inrush currents during braking, or provide huge currents under hard acceleration. Both of these are the hardest strain on Hybrid batteries, and Jen’s Hummer should never see them.
The rest of the package should excite you off-roaders. Jen’s Hummer can electro-magnetically decouple the standard suspension, while a second set of airbags takes over to provide higher ground clearance and the flex you guys like. Now it handles better on the highway than ever before, with an increase in peak acceleration, and better off-road capabilities than a standard Hummer. And for you environmentalists, it gets over 25 MPG on the highway, using non-fossil fuel and more than 30 on petrol-diesel.

I for one will be contacting Toni to have my new Ram 1500 converted over to run on flex fuel, and perhaps she can up my Hemi’s output as well. If anyone is interested in finding out more about what Toni can do for you, contact us here at Peterson Publishing, and we’ll forward any inquiries to Ms. Trepasso.

As I finished reading the article in the copy Holly sent to me, I couldn’t help but think, “OH FUCK! What did I just get myself into?”

No sooner had I finished reading, than my phone rang. It was Jen calling. Probably to tell me when my screen test was scheduled.

To be continued......

Jen Stevens appears courteously of Bob Arnold. All rights reserved. ©

*Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour: A coast to coast caravan of Hot Rods, Muscle cars and Classic cars that starts at the Peterson Publishing building in California, and ends at the "Good Guys Nationals" car show in North Carolina.

*Wally Parks: Founder of the National Hot Rod Association, as a way to give the budding Hot Rod culture of the 1950's a safe place to compete in straight line tests of acceleration, also known as Drag Racing. Many early racers started racing on the public streets across the United States, with many winding up dead or severly injured. If the racers themselves weren't injured in these illegal races, many more innocent by-standers were maimed or killed from either watching or from being in the wrong place at the right time. The National Traffic Safety Board of the US awarded Mr. Parks many awards for his roll in showing Hot Rodders that the track is the best place for racing, not public streets.

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Comments

Welcome back

I am very glad to see this chapter. It is good that your continuing this story. Since toni is a friend of Jen's, is there any chance of you working with JulieO and introducing Toni to Jirra?

Jessica Marie

Well Toni, Great Chapter

It's great to see another chapter here after such a long dry spell. I don't know which of your series is my favorite though.
May Your Light Forever Shine

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

I second that

Welcome back Toni, Great to see more of your petrolheaded mayhem ;D

Here's hoping it's not to long before the next installment of "Top Fuellers in the 22nd century" :D

And I second Jessica's idea, Need to get Jirra in the mix somehow.

Hugs

Sam

Missing Content

It appears that the content for Becoming Antonia Chapter 25 is missing. IS there a reason for that?
JessicaLK

JessicaLK

Fun!

Becoming Antonia is a great story, but now I have to go back and refresh my memory. Most of this was familiar but the details are a little fuzzy. Welcome back Toni!

hugs!

grover

Yay

New chapter of toni :D Yay !

Welcome Back

Hey Toni,

Its been awhile. Glad to see new chapters in the continuing saga of Antonia. Just want to know, are you also gonna continue with "Mean Girls 3026" as well? I enjoyed that story too.

I have to ask a technical question, Toni ...

If a train leaves LA traveling east at 80 MPH towards Boston at the same time a train traveling west leaves Boston for LA traveling at 75 MPH, how long will be be until the next chapter of Becoming Antonia?

So nice to see your work again. Love the interaction with Jen Stevens, hope to see more of Toni's wife and child and whether anymore of her long dream comes true or not. Does the wife in his dream die at a race track? Does the woman race driver become a paralegic? Does Sarah adopt another child? So far Toni seems to have avoided the mistakes of the path in her dreams -- she has not broken up with Sarah so will be in her sons life from day one and seems on much better terms with her dad -- but will there be hardship ahead?

Toni, the race film sounds good but go for a role in one of Jen's Indiana Jones/Laura Croft-ish adventure films, thatt's where the real money is, or so my Joanie alterego advises.

John in Wauwatosa

P.S. Did you see a team is working on a new landspeed record vehicle, supposedly capable of Mach 1.4 or 1000 MPH?

-- Oooooooooh! --

Joanie, stop drooling, You are not getting THAT !

John in Wauwatosa

Nice to see you and this story back

Hi Toni,

I really enjoyed this chapter as well as the continuation of a favorite story. Thanks for the mention of the Clan Macleod, I'll take my Highlander anytime and anywhere I can get it. There is a brillant Highlander fanfic by Dana Short on Big Closet Classic and Topshelf called Metting of Minds that is equal to or better than any thing I've seen or read about Highlander give it a read you won't be disappointed.

Kindest regards,
talonx

Hi Toni, What a TREAT having

Hi Toni,
What a TREAT having a new chapter about Toni and her adventures. I remember well Wally Parks NHRA activities regarding drag racing and creating drag strips. Have done more than my share of chasing down dragsters both in the AF and as a Civilian LE Officer. Much too dangerous to be doing on the local streets, which sadly is still being done and people still being badly injured or killed.
Didn't find the technical items boring at all; it is just too bad that we simply can't get Detroit to WAKE UP!! Because if we could, all our current vehicles and all new ones could be doing so much better.
Take care and thanks for the story, J-Lynn

More!!!!

I'm one who has always argued that for street use, hybrids are built bass-ackwards. I favored the model used for diesel-electric locomotives for efficiency, with a honking capacitor bank to dump power to the wheels upon demand.

Anyway, as a street racing fanatic who really doesn't know that much about track racing(or legal racing, for that matter) I really enjoyed the story and hope there is more in store.

I'd love a chance to turn that Viper loose sometime in the early morning on the streets around here. I wonder what kind of speed I could manage to reach on brick streets?

I managed 135 down King Street in a hopped up Neon once, I bet I could do 200 in that Viper!

Of course, they just might find me planted in a store window the next morning....

Please keep writing!

Battery.jpg

What an excellent story!

Toni, I said this before Antonia awoke and did the right thing with Susan, and now I am saying it again. You have written another great addition to your story.

Zomba