John Carmack and Bob Norwood in the 90s | FerrariChat

John Carmack and Bob Norwood in the 90s

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by FutureF, Aug 29, 2019.

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  1. FutureF

    FutureF Rookie

    Nov 28, 2017
    14
    Full Name:
    Tom N
    John Carmack talks working with Bob Norwood and forced induction Ferraris in the 90s.


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
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  2. Eric_H

    Eric_H Rookie

    Apr 24, 2020
    32
    #2 Eric_H, Apr 24, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2020
    Hi - I am a super long time lurker but just registered. I finally figured I might have something to contribute. :) I was there during his F40 dyno, and soon after at a track event where Norwood also brought out Carmack's F50 and TR.

    I posted an old Mustang vid of mine years ago on my YouTube channel when I went to a dyno. What shows up during my testing? Carmack’s F40 at the time he was talking about in this interview and the subject of many old threads here on FerrariChat. Anyway, years later in 2019 my vid starts getting views and I knew it wasn’t due to my :D Mustang . Someone commented about the JRE story bringing up John’s cars.

    Last week I just dug up another VHS of mine of his F50 and TR and posted it up too. I saw no other vintage vids out there about his cars so I thought folks might want to see ‘back in the day’ when these cars ran the streets here in Dallas.

    Automotive Playlist - at the bottom the oldest vids. I'll try to post the Carmack specific ones as well:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZMx07yh3v1_Oi0b0_7weoA/playlists
     
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  3. Eric_H

    Eric_H Rookie

    Apr 24, 2020
    32
    #3 Eric_H, Apr 24, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2020
    A trip down memory lane: This is video from 1998 from two dyno sessions with my 1989 Mustang 5.0 LX. Back in the late 90's having a daily driver Mustang with 500+RWHP was FAR from common, after all they had about 200RWHP stock. It was fun I must say - the good old days!! I bought it in 1989 while in high school, supercharged it in 1993 and sold it in January of 2009. Fully loaded it weighed 3350lbs with me in the car so it moved pretty well! Video starts with a walk around of the car, some dyno runs, driving home from track, and ends with some interior and exterior photos of the car.

    If you are not interested in my Mustang, you might want to at least watch the Ferrari F40 that showed up in the middle of my dyno session! In 1998 the F40 had only been out of production for about 6yrs. The F40 was stock and owned by John Carmack - creator of of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake etc. I recall at the time he also owned a twin turbo charged Ferrari F50 (I have video of that too somewhere) and a turbo charged 1000hp Ferrari Testarossa - neither of which came with turbos from the factory. He and I grew up in the same home town and I would see him driving his cars around all the time. At this dyno session they were simply adding a few PSI of boost to the stock F40. The tuner was Bob Norwood. The dyno shop is long gone (Team Dynotech, 4730 Carol Lane, Dallas TX). A crew of 7 or so showed up to watch my dyno session; each of which quickly forgot my Mustang once the F40 showed up (me included). I apologize in advance for our giddy laughter. We were kids and come on... we were playing with an F40!

     
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  4. Eric_H

    Eric_H Rookie

    Apr 24, 2020
    32
    This one I just posted last week:
    NOPI Import/Domestic ID DRAG WARS @ Texas Motorplex – Dallas (Ennis), TX - first ever NOPI event in Texas.

    Online there seems to be nostalgic interest regarding the history of John Carmack's old Ferrari collection along with his partnership with Bob Norwood. I had some old video so I thought I would post it up. I have edited my video to focus specifically on John's modified Ferrari F50 and Testarossa. Back then we all loved that John was not afraid to modify his cars. He did not attend this NOPI but he could frequently be seen driving his cars to work and around town. It is a pretty awesome story - a young computer kid from my town making it to the big time! Being both a computer and car nerd I really thought this was super cool. Although his cars did not have a strong showing at this event, they certainly had a strong showing running around the streets of Dallas. We were all in our early to mid 20's at the time and his cars totally blew our minds. ;)

     
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  5. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Oct 29, 2010
    19,897
    Wyoming
    super cool, thanks for sharing all of these vids!
     
  6. amenasce

    amenasce Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Oct 17, 2001
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    Joe Mansion
    Awesome, that F50 did pretty good!
     
  7. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
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    haaa, awesome videos! :D
     
  8. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
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    Apr 24, 2004
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    I was a kid when I first got exposed to Doom and it was the first video game that ever truly blew me away, so I have been a fan of John Carmack for a very long time. He is a hardcore car guy and even gave away his first Ferrari to the best Doom player, Dennis Fong. I remember reading an article about John and how everyone told him he was a failure and couldn't do anything with his life- that is why he kept a piston of his F40 that he blew the engine on from modifying it too much. To remind him of all the doubters and that he could do it. Naturally I am a purist so I don't like modified Ferrari's but I do admire John.
     
  9. Eric_H

    Eric_H Rookie

    Apr 24, 2020
    32
    Thanks all, I was hoping someone would enjoy them. I know for me John Carmack was someone I really thought was pretty awesome. He was my age, in my town, loved cars that I got to see pretty often driving around, and I spent bazzilion hours playing his games which at the time were by far the best and most advanced. I don't know him personally but those aspects were pretty damn cool for sure.
    I am sure at least the the TR's engine blew up, I think maybe the F50 did too, but I am not sure the F40 ever did. Ha - anyone that highly modifies a car knows the game (no pun intended), but John's was just on a whole other level.
     
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  10. paulchua

    paulchua Cat Herder
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 1, 2013
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    These are great @Eric_H

    Much appreciated!

    Enjoyed Doom Eternal, my favorite of the series.
     
  11. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    May 28, 2003
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    Bastuna
    Hi @Eric_H

    I just wanted to say thank you for posting this. I love may F40 beyond words and having this piece of its history and the dyno chart is so awesome. Thank you.
     
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  12. thorn

    thorn F1 Rookie
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    Aug 7, 2012
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    Tallahassee, FL
    Just for historicals - Fong won playing Quake, not Doom.
     
  13. dustman

    dustman F1 Veteran
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    Jun 12, 2007
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    Good guy, very passionate about his craft back in the day. His “.plan file” set the stage for transparency with your players that continues today for some of us.
     
  14. GameMaker

    GameMaker Formula Junior
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 17, 2014
    443
    WA State
    Great stuff. I was actually at E3 and watche Thresh win the Ferrari that Carmack gave away (and had the chance to talk to Carmack at the time).

    I was hugely interested in his cars back in the day, really stoked my interest in Ferrari. Being in the game industry I was also inspired by his work of course.
     
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