Vintage Festival
at
Lime Rock Park
Reported by Kevin Murphy
Well, I am still drying out
my car from the rains that fell on Labor Day, but we had a
great time after all. Actually, on Saturday and Sunday the weather was great. Monday was
the monsoonal washout that we had all feared would show up. By some kind of miracle, the
clouds parted just before 1 PM and we had enough clear weather to quickly unsnap the
ragtop and take three parade laps around the track—kudos to the Fiat/Lancia Club and
AROCT for sticking with it despite the weather! Also, thanks to the AONE people that came
for this event—Steve Silverstein, wife Ellen and toddler Harry with their dark green
164, Jonathan Kirshtein with his white 164, Andy Kress, and Mark and Laura Diamond with
their freshly restored red GTV6 Balocco. The latter was just like showroom new, a treat to
see. Our friend from Maine was there with his GTV, and forgive me for not mentioning any
other AONE members that were there (I’m still getting to know everyone).
Saturday’s time trials were as much fun as the race to watch and had their own
eventful moments—such as when Keith Goring’s Tubolare (TZ-1) came limping in
(well, hardly, even when limping it’s a formidable car) with a broken U-joint. I
think he was able to get it fixed in time for Monday’s race. If you recall, Keith had
that beautiful ’67 Stradale that must have been written up in every enthusiast rag
(except Hot Rod) over the past year. Seems that a buyer in Belgium convinced Keith to part
with it, and the deal included the TZ-1 in partial trade. As Keith said pulling into the
pits on Saturday, it must take an awfully long time to develop one of these cars for
racing, but given his proximity to Lime Rock and his business (Alfas Unlimited), I got a
feeling we’ll see that car a lot more. And what a gem to see at full speed! I let my
Spider hang out in the paddocks with the TZ-1 and the other Alfa racers there, but it
didn’t seem to rub off.
Sunday’s car show was a blast. There were quite a few Alfas, including the Alfetta of
the Ranneys, a beautiful ’67 GTV (red) driven by one of the AONE folks from Maine and
his significant other, and quite a few Giulietta Sprints and Spiders. Of the non-Alfas,
Barney Oldfield’s Peerless had to take the prize for oldest race car. One fellow I
met had an ’81 Ferrari 400i sedan and took first place in his class (Ferrari 2+2)
because he was the only one there. He said it happens all the time. Many Ferraris, no
2+2’s. The TZ-1 should have been in the show, but it was busy. Tip: If you’re
going to enter your car in the Concours, be prepared to stay with it, trackside, for most
of the day. And it does get hot. So bring a chair, lots of cold beverage, shades and hat
or umbrella. Actually, that formula would work well for the entire weekend.
Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view.
Photos by Andy Kress except where noted
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A gorgeous 1948 Nardi/Alfa
6C2500, only three ever built |
 |
And
another shot of the same. The Alfa |
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A view out
the passenger’s window of the |
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Keith Goring’s TZ-1 took first in class |
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A quartet of Alfas at speed along the front straight |
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Andy Kress took the photos,
so he gets to see a picture of a Giulia TI in print |
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Harry Silverstein takes a victory lap
after setting the track record in his class (under four years old) |