by Kevin Murphy
AONE Legal Counsel

I had been looking forward to this event ever since I first heard it announced, back in late March, via the Alfa Digest. The event is called the Knapp Roadster Tour, after the name of the vineyard located between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, a few miles north of Watkins Glen. For $40, my car was entered in the event that actually started the next morning, with a gathering of all participants at the International Motor Racing Research Center (“IMRRC”) on the backstreets of Watkins Glen. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I have to tell you about the 400 mile “run” to get there in the first place.

Finally, I broke through the steady rain at the last food stop in Massachusetts, parking next to a bunch of 50’s hot-rodders heading up to Lake George. It was a huge event, according to one of the drivers. All hot-rods. I chose to get off the interstates just about 20 miles west of Albany, NY, where Interstate 88 drops down and is intersected by U.S. Route 20. The latter used to be the major east-west route before they built the thruway back in the late 50’s. When you drive it today through Central New York, much of it is four-lane, and very empty. Add to that great scenery, and you realize that that guy in the spider is one very lucky individual. No sign of the local constabulary, a phenomenon which was to blessedly repeat itself over the long weekend.  About 70 miles down Route 20, I hung a left on a north/south road (another 2- or 3-laner that was fairly empty) and in another 10 miles turned right onto a series of smaller and smaller country lanes. Near the crest of a hill, and right on a sharp curve, was the driveway I was looking for. A cardboard sign, hand lettered, had been put on the lone mailbox. “Italian Car Genius at Work” said the letters; I knew I had found the home of AONE’s westernmost member, Cal Crouch, of Pasta Fazoom Rally fame. Cal waved at me from over a quarter mile away down his driveway, and I proceeded in.

Once I reached Cal, I realized that there were a few Alfas (Milanos and a 164) scattered around, as Cal says, works in process. His main project, which he hopes to finish in time for next year’s driving season, was a beautiful yellow Fiat X1/9 Spider up on jack stands in his garage; in the meantime he drives his VW winter beater. After a refreshing drink and chat, we consulted his local maps and took off, with Cal in the lead, over a maze of back roads through Hamilton, NY (home of Colgate U. and Hamilton College—location for that offbeat 60’s movie “The Sterile Cuckoo”). Cal’s directions from this point sent me off for the remaining 100 miles to Watkins Glen, going through pretty country and over great roads. I admit, I was kind of worried that these roads would be nasty at points, and that I would wish I was back on the (yeccch) interstate, but that is simply not the case! The roads were well marked, mostly smooth as glass, and not overly traveled. In fact, I never hit traffic until I got to Ithaca, which is at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake. And that was no fun. I guess the big business of education has caused growth problems in that town, including traffic like you’d find on Route 1 in Saugus, around 5:30pm on a weekday. After 15 minutes in that nonsense, I finally broke free of the town and was heading west over roller-coaster hills to my final destination. This last stretch was fast and pleasant, with the slowly-setting sun as a guide. I reached the Glenora Inn, where I had managed to book a room for the four days, around 6:00pm.

The next morning, I joined the rest of the tour at the IMRRC. Jim Lehman, the tourmaster, had arranged for us all to wander around and enjoy the IMRRC, which is like a museum of motor racing history, emphasis on “the Glen”. Coffee and bagels were there, and a welcome sight they were as my inn did not serve breakfast until long after I had left in the morning. Eventually, driving instructions were handed out for the run from the IMRRC up to Knapp Vineyards (probably 10 miles, I didn’t count) and I met my navigator, Marcia Douglas, one of Jim’s volunteer workers who kindly volunteered since my navigators had all begged off (truth is, I didn’t really push them, given the time and travel commitment). We pulled into a long line of roadsters—many MGBs, MGAs, Triumphs, XK Jags, Datsun 2000s, a few Morgans and Fiat 124 Spiders, even a few Miati (cringe). I was one of three Alfa Spiders. Jim Lehman had one of the others—a pretty blue 67 Duetto.

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	Taughannock Falls located between Ithaca and Watkins Glen
	AONE member Cal Crouch with the author's Spider at the IMRRC
	An exterior shot of the IMRRC showing some of the cars gathering—but nowhere close to what a 360 degree pan would have shown—cars lined up everywhere!
	An interior shot of the IMRRC showing a 1950 XK120 in factory aluminum
	Seneca Lake right at its southernmost tip, in Watkins Glen at the end of Franklin Street

Ahead to Part 2 — The Event