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As with any event that is a regular “must-do”, some years are more eventful or remarkable than others, and one can’t help but compare them. This is especially so with the Watkins Glen Vintage Grand Prix Festival, which in 2005 had selected Alfa Romeo as its featured marque. This year, however, it was Porsche, but even so I had the good fortune to link up with a caravan of Type 356 “bathtub” Porsches (to which our Alfa buddy Len Cannizzaro belongs with his pretty yellow ’68 912) that was heading out to the event from eastern Massachusetts. I was joined by my long-term Alfa-caravanning pals, Gene and Judy Durso. In something akin to infidelity, however, this year Gene drove a new shiny red Lotus Elise out to the Glen; Judy said it was only “slightly” more comfortable than Gene’s ’74 Spider, which, like all such cars, is a bit drafty and leaky compared with moderns. Somehow, Judy said the ride was even closer to the ground than the Spider’s. Go figure.

Now last year, driving your Alfa was a must and Gene was no exception, I am happy to say. Nor were about a dozen or so other AONErs who made the journey out for the Tour de Marque. I think the result is that the 2005 event will be the year all subsequent VGPFs will be measured against, for better or worse. Which is another way of saying, “Come on out for next year’s Vintage Grand Prix Festival!” Next year, BMW is the featured marque; I will say no more. Drive what you will, but drive! (Hear that, Tom Lesko?)

Anyway, after splitting up with the P-cars in Lee (they wanted a southern route), the Lotus and my Spider retraced last year’s ground, meeting up with Cal Crouch in his Ferrari and following the fast back roads into the Glen. This year, I was driving (with Cal in the navigator seat) in the Glenora Run, which was a blast, ending with a car show parked in front of Cam Argetsinger’s law office in Montour Falls, with the hundred-foot-high falls and its thousands of gallons per minute cascading a stones throw away at the end of the street.

Later, lunch and laps over the old course filled most of the afternoon, with the balance spent getting good photo locations for the vintage race re-enactment. A nasty first-lap incident in the latter event (in which a woman in the passenger seat of a ‘30s era racer fell out of the car as it took the sharp left as you begin the ascent of Old Corning Hill, and the rear wheel of the car rolled over her) delayed the race for about a half hour. Last I heard, this person was recovering from rib and shoulder injuries and doing okay, but there is an investigation going on by the festival promoter and you will probably see a requirement that any car in the vintage re-enactment must have—and use—seatbelts for as many occupants as there are seats.

Meanwhile, the Dursos, Signor Crouch and his band of merry race fans, and yours truly were set up at the Old Stone Bridge, where we got some great action pictures once the race resumed, including one of a Penske Camaro that overcooked it coming out of Stone Bridge and did a ‘180’ in front of the other traffic; no harm done except to knock some dust onto a few well-oiled spectators.

The main racetrack this year held both Can-Am and Trans-Am re-enactment races along with its regular vintage events, and they were great entertainment. Derek Bell was Grand Marshall this year, and he actually hung out and talked with us regular folk for a while at the “Pyramid”, making himself available for autograph hounds. The old car show was a treat, and those entered into it got three parade laps (a very fast parade) on the WGIS main course. The only thing I can’t figure out is how Gene got his 2006 Lotus qualified to get on the track with the cars entered in the old car show—a neat trick, showing those Porsches up! We later spent some quality time with new friends Dave and Carol around their campfire in the infield camping area, enjoying the waning days and cool-ish evenings of late summer. Earlier, my brother Dean even came up for the afternoon, and I gave him a driving tour of the old course and visited the historic, um, establishments. I know what you’re thinking, but believe me—even I don’t know how I squeeze all this stuff in.

Yeah, I guess every Watkins Glen Vintage Grand Prix Festival is different—unique in its own way as the cars that are the featured marque in any given year. Of course, you will never know that unless you are there. See you next year!

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