Training in a 944? Driver’s Ed Was Never Like This

It may be the only time they will get behind the wheel of one, but driving school clients are cutting their teeth on Porsches. “We wanted something above the competition,” said Jim Kirchmeier, 32, who taught driver’s education in public schools before he and his wife, Marsha, opened the Classic Driving School in Carrollton, Tex., outside Dallas. “I noticed that all the teen-agers would stare at the Porsches that drove by, so I knew what they liked,” Kirchmeier said. “I started asking questions, and there’s not anybody who doesn’t want to drive a Porsche.” “Student Driver” signs adorn each of the three bright-red 1986 Porsche 944s that are parked in the Kirchmeiers’ driveway. A 1987 model is on order. Marsha Kirchmeier, 27, said the young customers are in awe of the luxury sports cars and tend to be a bit nervous about driving such an expensive automobile. “I’ve had students say they’re scared to death about being the first person to wreck one,” she said.

--When their Kentucky neighbors asked newly transferred Japanese families questions such as “What binis izyer husban’ in?” and “Howdja git to the U.S.?” they were stumped. It wasn’t that the Japanese were lacking in English, it was just the first time they had run into Southern-speak. Now the families, who have moved to Kentucky with companies such as Toyota Motor Corp., are being taught English “survival skills.” Kenji Okazaki, a professor at the University of Kentucky, said that while most of the Japanese read English well, the majority have never practiced conversing in the language. “We’re taught English in Japan by reading plays by Shakespeare and Rodgers and Hammerstein,” Okazaki said. “Most of the English we know is no longer alive.” To help them meet the challenge, Transylvania University in Lexington designed a course to teach the Japanese how to understand the local dialect, talk on the telephone and cash a check.

--A home-style movie that shows the Beatles relaxing next to a Hollywood swimming pool during their tour of America in 1965 was sold at auction at Christie’s in London for $39,000. The 52-minute, 8-millimeter color film also shows Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon playing poker and at a Hollywood party where the guests included The Byrds and singer Joan Baez. Made by Tony Barrow, then press officer for the Beatles, the film has never been shown in public. The successful bidder for the movie was not identified.