Exploring the desert with fast friends
and faster cars
Welcome to the seventh edition of Scenic Route: Voices — a series spotlighting the stories of drivers and enthusiasts from all walks of life.
This month, Syd Cummings walks us through a once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive her vintage Saab 99 Turbo through the desert from LA to Vegas for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, how the ceremony and theater of Formula 1 has turned her into a lifelong fan, and the sheer vastness of Death Valley.
Syd is an automotive photographer and car enthusiast based in Vermont.
Trading Vermont hills for one of the
most dramatic landscapes on earth
Words and photos by @yourfriendsyd
If you had told the engineers of the Saab 99 Turbo that in forty-five years, it would be driving
across the Mojave Desert with a convoy of enthusiast cars for display at the 2023 Las Vegas
Grand Prix, they would have been...only a little surprised. The 99 Turbo was a prototype brought
to market, a car Saab was still developing into the 900 Turbo when the 99 Turbo went on sale.
So, when I got the chance to bring my newly unveiled “Project 99” across the country, the idea
of driving through the desert largely untested felt like the best test drive imaginable.
The program itself was as vast as that desert, beginning in Los Angeles and culminating at the
Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“The idea of driving
through the desert, largely
untested, felt like the best
test drive imaginable.”
Rolling into Audi Pasadena, I didn’t know what to expect. But instantly, the lot was filled with
smiling faces, and a wide array of cars. There was a MotoRex R34 Skyline GT-R; a beautiful,
vintage Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan driven by the wonderful Dorian Valenzuela; a 964-generation
RS Porsche driven by racing driver Loni Unser; and a 997-generation 911 Turbo S Edition 918.
The latter two were provided by Betim Berisha of BBI Autosport; his and Dorian’s services
would prove invaluable later.
The departure from LA was an “out of the frying pan” moment. Alongside the contemporary
street and track cars—particularly an E92 BMW M3 and the R34 Skyline, both heavily
modified— the Saab was a long way from the winding, 50-mph hills of Vermont. We quickly
learned that the Saab preferred traffic to high speeds, at least as far as coolant temperature was
concerned. But thanks to frequent fuel stops and even more frequent photo ops, I was able to
borrow the talents of Betim and Dorian, who were as surprised to find themselves poking
around a Saab as I was to have a car in their capable hands.
Together, we made some quick on-the-road changes—a new coolant overflow cap, a rapid
bleed of the cooling system, and getting the Saab’s heat working. Back on the road, their repairs
kept temperatures down, and my little Saab performed flawlessly as our eclectic caravan
traversed the desert. Our adventurous rally finally concluded at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas
with an excellent view of the Grand Prix track
With the car’s reliability proven, we felt comfortable enough to take it a bit farther on Friday:
specifically, Death Valley National Park for some incredible landscapes. The car loved this
amazing place, and so did I. Being able to see my livery displayed in such an otherworldly
landscape—first under the piercing sun, and then the vast evening sky—was a transcendent
experience.
Back in the real world, tension was building for the Grand Prix. Being my first Formula 1 race,
and being a new fan, I didn’t know what to expect. For several weeks, my friends in automotive
journalism had been apprehensive about everything from the overnight schedule, to logistics, to
security activity around the race. But save for a few well-publicized incidents (particularly the
infamous manhole cover), the race activities were as impressive as any Las Vegas show.
The evening began at Caesar’s Palace, where Loni Unser and I got an inside look at the Red
Bull paddock before moving to the Red Bull racing suite. It’s like heart surgery in there; the
process and preparation that goes into a 90-minute race was wild, down to the oil science with
experts monitoring everything that goes on in Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’ RB19 race
cars.
Witnessing the fanfare from the suite was a cavalcade of ceremony. I was grateful to run into
my friend Elana Scherr, senior editor at Car and Driver magazine. She gave me the rundown of
the drivers, the drama, and the politics of F1. As Max and Checo battled Leclerc in a thrilling
sequence of DRS-range passes, she really completed the story for me; by the time the
checkered flag waved and the mad dash to the podium began, I was an F1 fan through and
through.
Overall, I can’t think of a better way to experience the energy of Formula 1 for the first time, and
to be able to bring the Saab 99 Turbo out west and enjoy the landscape was an experience for
which I’m incredibly grateful. Between the new friends, amazing experiences, and newfound
passion for Formula 1, I’d say the trip was a resounding success—and I can’t wait to do it again!
More images from her journey
