by Kevin Murphy
AONE Legal Counsel

As I was saying last month, I had just pulled into line with 60 other roadsters of various makes and vintage at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, NY, the town being the site of American Grand Prix and Sportscar Racing’s post-war resurgence. I was on the first leg of the inaugural Knapp Sporting Roadster Tour, a day of events that included a tour, lunch at a local winery, a “fun” rally, three laps of the original 1948-1952 road course, and special exhibition parking for the vintage race held through the streets of the town later that day. The Tour leader was a dedicated guy named Jim Lehman, and he had even provided me with a navigator for the event when I came up short-handed. Cal Crouch had hitched a ride in his pal Pablo’s cool-looking go-fast Fiat 124 Spider, and would meet up with us at the Knapp Vineyards. Pablo had driven his car from his home on Grand Island that morning along with his young son, and Cal had the jump seat in the back.

	Marker shows the Start/Finish of the first race in 1948
	The Vintage Race weekend's Sponsor, "Zippo" and its wheels of choice

Just as we started our engines to leave for Knapp, which (I must now correct my guesstimate of last month) was actually 30 miles away, it started to rain again, lightly, verging on a mist, but rain indeed, the kind that made me put up the “hood” (as my navigator called it—big English sportscar tradition in this town) and turn on the headlights once we were out of the streets of the “Glen” and out on the open road.

Even in the rain, the run northward on Route 414 paralleling Seneca Lake’s eastern shore was spectacular. The lake is so long and broad (and cold-looking!) that you can imagine you’re in a foreign, northern land. Four-fourteen was as long and as straight as the lake, and it was easy to build up a good road speed, even in a caravan of 60 cars in the rain!

In what seemed like a few minutes, we arrived at the Knapp Vineyards, which had a very nice indoor/outdoor patio-style restaurant, a large pond complete with swans, and of course the store for those wishing to take some of the vineyard’s product along with them. Just as we arrived the rain shut off, as if on cue. We gridded the cars out back next to a large barn, and after a half hour or so of car cleaning, a little prep, and gawking at all the other cars, we proceeded to the restaurant where a nice box lunch awaited us. I must admit that you can meet some really interesting people on these tours, and they really love their cars and driving them.

After lunch, it was time for the drivers’ meeting and departure on the “fun” rally. There were so many cars (95 altogether) that Jim and his staff of volunteers had actually devised two different rally routes and divided us up between them. I was on the Cayuga Lake-West route, which was fine with me as it got me into some new country and roads I had never been on before. I was joined by 46 other cars, and a total of 43 cars went on the other route, called Seneca Lake-East. Five drivers opted out and just headed back to the Glen to rejoin us for the rest of the events. 

	Rallymaster Jim Lehman at the Knapp Drivers Meeting
	Roadster Tour drivers grid up for the Knapp rally
	Cal looks on as Pablo makes the 124 ready for rallyin'
	Roadster tours...if they make them, I will come.
	Knapp Winery: Nothing to Grape About Here

The rally was a blast and didn’t have a lot of silly gimmicks to it that, in my humble opinion, interferes with a nice ride in the country. Oh, to be sure, there were little clues along the way and a few fill-in-the-blank questions, and your odometer was zeroed at the start and the mileage checked, but it was mostly fun, and not of the tension-filled variety where you constantly get lost (like me) while looking for a turn or a barn-style mailbox. A real plus was that the route was a fast two-lane initially, but then you were on smooth but narrow paved roads winding along the shore of Cayuga Lake.

Once back on the main road, we were directed to pull over onto an access road at a sign that simply said “scenic falls”. We pulled into it, drove about 100 yards in and walked over to an old stone gate, and were suddenly treated to a full view of Taughannock Falls about 600 yards away surrounded by lush greenery on both sides. It was a stunning view and, according to the sign, is only about 20 feet lower than Niagara Falls. It was the kind of sight you would expect in a South American rain forest, not the rolling hills of upstate New York The falls had originated at the close of the last ice age, and had originally poured its waters directly into Cayuga Lake, but was now about a half mile inland.

One of our rally "stop and get out the car" points along the way. Taughannock Falls is only 20 feet lower than Niagara Falls.

Back in the car, we proceeded through the rest of the rally route westward to the Glen. Again, the car sung as it climbed up and sailed down the rollercoaster roads that characterize the paved terrain between the lakes. Both the car and its driver were having the greatest of times!

Once in the Glen, we headed down the main drag, called Franklin Street, and up Old Corning Road to the “Pool Entrance” to Watkins Glen State Park—located just across the street from the legendary Seneca Lodge. The Pool Entrance gave us a huge paved oval on which all of the cars on the tour could grid if parked two-by-two, and from there, after our “pit” stop, we departed on the warm-up lap over the old road course, where we eventually got to do three laps (over 20 miles!). Our instructions were to have fun, be safe, and pass if you can. Which is just what we did.

	Roadsters stage for the three laps over the Old Course—Watkins Glen State Park, Pool Entrance
	Forming up for the start of our three laps over the Old Course. Seneca Lodge on right, just out of view.

I’ve read the chapter on racing on the old course in 1952 in Burt Levy’s The Last Open Road, and I cannot come close to describing a fast run around it like he did, but I’ve got to say that there are a few places on that course where you get a whole lotta excitement. For instance, the first time we hit Schoolhouse Corner, I had no idea what to expect (as it had been a while since I’d read that book) and I had no idea, up to then, that I could brake and downshift so fast. Immediately after that, you are on downhill zigzag esses that bottom out on the old Stone Bridge, at the end of which is another right-hand nearly-90-degree turn. This is followed by fast, slightly climbing, but gentle sweepers through the woods, and then, as you clear the trees and without warning, a sharp off-camber left that had me hanging the tail out. Recover from that, speed up, and suddenly you are at Archy Smith’s corner (named after a farmer whose stucco house is at the corner). Here, I just kind of said what the hell, put both feet in, cranked the wheel right and then powered out of the corner in second, quickly upshifting while entering a long set of gentle sweepers. About a mile down came the railroad track crossing (the airborne part of this I had nearly perfected by my third lap—honest!). I must confess, before I got to the tracks on the first run, I had to give an annoying Z3 driver a “point by” before he got us both killed. Cruel as it sounds, I was kinda hoping I’d see him broken down in a ditch ahead and wave as I went by, but new cars are so damned bulletproof these days, it was not to be.

The rest of the run was a long left sweeper called Friar’s Corner, as it borders land owned by the Franciscan Brothers, which flows into a long gentle right-hander on a fast downhill a mile or so long called “Big Bend”, with a great view of the Lake below. That dumps you out on Milliken’s corner, the sharp left that takes you back, sharp right, onto Franklin Street. It was a nice thing to do, naming a tricky turn after the early drivers who had to first negotiate them, and learn them the hard way (the latter was where Bill Milliken, a racer from Buffalo in the '48 race, overturned his Bugatti but emerged unscathed, much to the delight of the crowd). I also thought it a nice period touch that the course volunteers had stacked hay bales to soften our landing, just like in the old days.

After three runs like this (and the road wasn’t really closed, adding another heart-stopping element to it) the cars in our group were parked nose-first along Fifth Street, just off Franklin, where we got out to enjoy the crowds, the cars, and the festivities. Jim Lehman caught up with me and my navigator, Marcia, to see how the run was, and Cal rejoined us for a while. Speaking of old “BS” Levy, I ran into him at a booth hawking his books and T-shirts. I graciously agreed to watch the place while he ran off to slake his thirst. Since the “open container” law had been suspended for the day, he came right back with a cold one (I never touch the stuff) and I was then free to roam amongst the vintage racers who were beginning to grid up along Franklin Street.....

	The Concours Parade—Ferrari 275 GTB
	My "wish list" lines up for the Vintage Race over the Old Course
	Preferred parking given our tour/rally group (62 cars) after laps; time to tour the town and see the race.
	1951 Austin A-10, a rare bird in U.S., awaits start of tour
	Crowd Scene at Franklin and Fifth prior to start of Vintage Race
	Spectators await the return of vintage racers sweeping down Franklin Street.