Coffee, Cars & Conversation

by Bill Kruder, Region President photos provided by Chris Chilton

So another chance meetingthis never gets old to me. We were attending a Mavs & Mochas at a new venue for us called Cypress Waters in Dallas off 635 and Denton Tap Rd. I was running in to grab a cup of coffee and as I came out, I ran into this guy and said “hi” and asked if he was new. Well as luck would have it, he was new so we spent the next 20-30 minutes chatting. I introduced him to some of the regulars. Since then, I have seen him out many times, sometimes at an event and one time at the “repair shop” we both apparently use on occasion.

So here is the next in my series of “conversations” I would like to share with you….

Chris Chilton, Member since 2022, Enthusiast since 1971 1980 SC Targa

Bill Kruder: We always start with “where are you from?”

Chris Chilton: Well, we moved around a bit, as my stepdad was a B58 pilot in the Air Force but yes, I am from right here in Fort Worth.

BK: I think you were telling me that you lived in a couple of interesting places on or near bases right here in the US?

CC: That we did. I think it was 1961; we were stationed at Bunker Hill, now Grissom Air Force Base, located about 12 miles north of Kokomo, Indiana, about an hour north of Indianapolis. Back then it was home to the B58s. Today it is home to KC 135 Stratotankers. Later on we spent time at SAC (Strategic Air Command) Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base just south of Omaha, Nebraska.

BK: I hear your high school years were not the most “normal”?

CC: That depends on “normal” (smiling). Yes, it was different. In 1967, as I entered 9th grade, I was sent to Allen Military Academy in Bryan, Texas. That lasted just a year then I returned home to attend public school for my tenth and eleventh grade years. This was followed by my twelfth grade being once again shipped off to military school, Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, Texas, graduating in 1970.

BK: What did you do after college for a career?

CC: My first job was back in Fort Worth at Radio Shack. I was running a store then and from there was in the corporate office in marketing for the OEM computer group. I left there in 1984 and would spend the next 20 years in the tech world doing marketing and PR. My last years I was head of marketing for BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas) retiring in 2020.

BK: Tell me about how you and Mary met?

CC: Let’s see. My brother, his girlfriend, and I were cooking dinner one evening and we needed an extra pan, so she tells me to run next door and borrow one. Needless to say, I do, and who is there but Mary. Suffice to say we have been together ever since, well kind of (smiling).

BK: Hmmm, sounds like a story, but when did you get married?

BK: Those are some high school years! How about college?

CC: Ha, that is a lot less complicated. I went to SFA (Stephen F. Austin) in Nacogdoches, Texas. I graduated in 1976 with a BBA in Marketing. Only hiccup was I had too good of a time, so it took me that fifth year (smiling).

CC: We were married very shortly thereafter in 1981. The “kind of” comes because we separated for a year in 1983, realized we really were meant to be together, and reunited in 1984. Three years later we had our son Thomas (1987) and two years later our son Andrew was born (1989). Andrew is married and lives in Denver while Thomas will be married this March 31 and lives here.

BK: Let’s change subjects now. What was your first car?

CC: That would have been my 1964 Karmann Ghia. I was 18; two friends and I drove it from here to San Francisco.

BK: What was your first Porsche if not the 1980?

CC: As I told you, I have been an enthusiast since 1971 and that’s because it was a ‘71 914 that started it all. Funny story to that is my mom said she would buy me a car. I pick the 914 so she goes to the dealer and looks. She calls me with some questions, one of which was “do you want a 4 or 6?” Yes, she asked me that, and I said “oh the 4 is fine” (laughing). Worst decision of my life at that time (smiling)! That car was also part of the reason I took five years to get through SFA.

BK: Tell me about the SC?

CC: I always admired the SC as a great period for Porsche and of course I love the Targas. So after looking I found this in Alpine White out east in Maryland two years ago. Since then I have slowly been getting the bugs out of it. In doing some research on the car I think it spent some time in Europe.

BK: Now tell me about this love of open wheel racing you have and how that started.

CC: Let’s just say I grew up with Jim Clark as my idol. In 1965 he is racing at Indy and he wins the race. He is taking his victory lap; I’m in the stands sitting low in Turn One. Clark enters the turn and as he makes the turn he looks up and for that split second we made eye contact it was like the “moment” the world stopped. It was after that race I said, “I’m racing cars, too.”

BK: To this day I hear you go to the Indy 500?

CC: Yes, I do. I have been to every race since 1980. Funny story: years ago I wanted to get seats that were once used for only the press. They are like on the “50 yard line,” so I send this crazy letter to the director of tickets explaining how much I wanted those seats. To help seal the deal I also sent her a dozen roses . . . and yes, (smiling) I have those seats today. A quick postscript on the 500: In 2019, while I was racing at Indy, I actually got to meet her AND she remembered my letter and roses!

BK: Tell me about your open wheel racing?

CC: In 1984, I bought my first Formula Vee car, a Lynx B. They are all rear engine, open wheel cars using a 1200cc VW engine, with a top speed of about 115 mph. We raced that car all over the state for the next 10 years. Then in about 1996 we lived in Montreal and bought a Canadian Formula Vee and raced it at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, the former Canadian F1 track. Once returning to the states, I bought another Lynx B and raced in a vintage series from 2012 to 2022, upon which, after 38 years, I decided to retire from the program.

Driving Friendships on track or on the road! It never gets old.