NART Reunion at Saratoga

Among Peter Sachs’ tasty collection was the perfect car to bring to the NART Reunion, held at Saratoga, New York on September 10-12. This Ferrari 365 P2 was sold new to Luigi Chinetti and entered under the NART banner. It won the Reims 12 Hours in 1965 for Pedro Rodriguez and Jean Guichet, was 2nd at the Bridgehampton 500 Kilometers (Pedro again) and had top-10 placings at Le Mans and Daytona in 1965 and 1966 respectively. It is shown in its Le Mans livery.

By Michael T. Lynch

Photos by Michael T. Lynch unless othewise noted

Saratoga, New York is a beautifully restored city that thrives on horse racing (both thoroughbreds and harness racing) and the performing arts.  It became a spa in the 19th Century because of its mineral waters and gambling also became part of its attraction. Once home to the Grand Union, the largest hotel in the world at the time, the town fell on hard times as the airplane replaced the train for luxury travel. Fortunately, a foresighted municipal government, concerned citizens and cooperating non-profit organizations and their volunteers began to turn things around in the 1960s. There was also the serendipity of the completion of Interstate 87, which cut the travel time from New York City considerably. 

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) was completed in 1966 and since has seen artists as varied as Margot Fonteyn, the London Symphony, Beverly Sills and the Grateful Dead perform. From its inception, it has been the summer home of the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Symphony. 

Today, the great mansions of the past have all been restored as well as the downtown. There is the National Racing museum (horses), the National Dance Museum and even the Saratoga Automobile Museum, in a former mineral springs water-bottling plant. Besides the arts, horse racing and gaming are still mainstays and Skidmore College anchors the educational complex in the region.  A leisurely walk of Broadway, the main shopping street, showed nary a vacancy despite the present economy. Luxury mid-rise condominiums dot the landscape.

As Ferraris go,

this one is about as legenday as it gets. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum’s Ferrari 250 LM won the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours as a NART entry. It was the last of Ferrari’s nine wins on the Sarthe circuit and the end of a six-race Ferrari streak there. Long-time NART starwart Dick Fritz (blue blazer) chats with Jill Bachman at the right of the frame. This car won Best of Show in the competition class.

For the last eight years, one of the biggest charity events on the calendar has been the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival.  This year, SPAC and the Italian Trade Commission made the festival a salute to the food and wines of Italy.  Another great Italian export was also honored in the form of a Fall Ferrari Festival. The theme of the latter was a North American Racing Team (NART) reunion. It was organized by Bob Bailey, Chairman of the Saratoga Automobile Museum, and Dick Fritz, a former NART official. 

This famous American team, run by Luigi Chinetti, Sr. and Jr., contested the great endurance road races of the world, usually entering Ferraris, winning at venues like Le Mans, Daytona, Reims and Bridgehampton. They also set records at Bonneville with Paul Newman as one of the drivers. The core of the team was gentlemen drivers who bought cars from Chinetti, who was the sole American Ferrari importer for a time, but when the stakes were high and the money was available, the team employed drivers of the caliber of Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, the storied Rodriguez brothers, Richie Ginther, Nino Vaccarella, Roger Penske, Graham Hill, Jim Hall and Ludovico Scarfiotti. Luigi Chinetti, Sr. won Le Mans in 1932, 1934 and 1949, and Luigi, Jr. won the Index of Efficiency there in 1971, so the 24 Hour race was always the highlight of NART’s season.  The team was the entrant for the first Ferrari finisher at Le Mans on six occasions.

Publisher David Bull, Luigi Chinetti, Jr. and Michael T. Lynch pose with Laurence Auriana’s Ferrari 512 M. In a typical NART Le Mans performance, Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz finished 3rd in 1971 in this car, beaten only by the legendary Porsche 917s. The Ferrari/Porsche duel saw speeds of 239 mph on the Mulsanne straight. Credit: Michael Keyser.

The Adirondack Road Tour took place on Friday for Ferraris and Maseratis. It wound through the scenic roads of the area, skirting local lakes. The lunch break was at the historic Lake George Club on a terrace overlooking the lake. Again, the finest in Italian food and wine was served. A bonus was rides in an Italian Comitti all-mahogany speedboat. It’s sophisticated hull design and powerful marine V-8 offered a Ferrari-like experience on the water.

That evening, a gala was held at the Performing Arts Center, an imposing neo-Classical structure that hinted at the Caesars. Over 100 of Italy’s best vintages were liberally poured and every Italian specialty imaginable was served at dozens of stations. One of my favorites was redolent of the traveling restaurant on the present day Mille Miglia. Giant rounds of Grana Padano cheese were halved and servers dug out sizable pieces with small chisels, handing guests several to a plate.
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On Saturday, crowds walked through tents where importers, vendors and creators of Italian wines and delicacies were handing out their wares.  A choice assortment of vintage Ferraris was arrayed on the lawn of SPAC, including some of NART’s most notable entries, including the 250 LM that was the last Ferrari to win Le Mans (1965). The first NART Spyder was there as well. This was one of only ten of these convertibles commissioned by Luigi Chinetti on 275 GTB/4 chassis. Denise McCluggage had driven it in the tour the day before as well as at Sebring in 1967 when it was new. In the 12 Hour race there, she finished 2^nd in the GT class, barely beaten by a Shelby GT 350 Mustang. There was also a lineup of Ferrari and Maserati’s current offerings.

In the morning, there was a panel discussion that included Luigi Chinetti, Jr.; driver and TV commentator, Sam Posey; journalist and race driver Denise McCluggage; the photojournalist who often documented NART’s race entries, Tom Burnside; long-time associate of the Chinettis, Dick Fritz and mechanics Francois Sicard and Roger Colson. Ed Lucas, a well-known Concours announcer, handled the moderation.

           
When asked to describe the structure of NART, Luigi Chinetti, Jr. simply said, “Catch as catch can”, referring to the random way the team appeared to approach racing, belying their strong results. In that spirit, others mentioned that some people raced under the NART banner without even knowing it, simply because they bought a car or rented a ride from the Chinettis. Sam Posey remembered race weekends where he never knew which car he was driving until the last minute.  It usually worked out well as with his 1971 third place at Le Mans in a NART Ferrari. Sam attributed this to Luigi, Sr.’s counsel to “Go slow at the beginning – fast at the end.” Posey said this was just the opposite of the Ferrari factory team.

In the same park as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is the Saratoga Auto Museum, set in an impressive restored mineral water plant. On display was Luigi Chinetti Jr.’s Kurtis 500D-Ferrari. Fitted with a 6C straight six Ferrari engine from a 121 LM sports car, this concoction was commissioned by the Italian Bardahl importer as an Indianapolis 500 entry for World Champion Giuseppe Farina. Unfortunately, although final prepared by the Maserati brothers and tested on the Monza banking, it never got near qualifying speed in 1956.

Luigi, Jr. remembered the great Le Mans victory in 1965. After all the Ford and Ferrari factory entries fell by the wayside, the battle in the early morning was between the 250 LMs of NART and the Belgian importer Ecurie Francorchamps.  The NART car was pressing the Belgians when the factory suggested that if the Belgian car won, Chinetti would receive some sizable economic benefit from Ferrari. Lou, Jr. said to his father, “What should we do, Dad, there’s a lot of money at stake.”  Chinetti, Sr. replied, “Do you want to tell the mechanics and the Goodyear technicians who have worked so hard for us that we should give away the race?” Of course nothing was done. There was a tire war as well, Goodyear (NART) vs. Dunlop (Ecurie Francorchamps). Ultimately, the Belgians suffered a tire failure and the Americans won. It was the first victory by a private entrant since 1957. All the panelists agreed that racing then was a great deal less serious than it is now and the concept of sport vs. business was mentioned several times. All were in agreement that NART was the epitome of sportsmanship even as commercial interests were taking over racing.

Luncheon on the Saturday Tour was at the Lake George Club at Diamond Point. The magnificent architecture was strictly Adirondack, but the view from the lakeside deck reminded many of the Italians present of Lake Como.

The discussion ended all too soon, but the old colleagues and many other friends of the team continued to visit throughout the day. With the judging finished and the prizes awarded, the crowd moved into a tent for more food and wine as well as silent and live charity auctions. The Ferrari crowd certainly has no corner on philanthropy, but it appeared to this observer that Ferrari-centric tables won almost all the major auction items and some of them were coveted. One example was a week in a Tuscan villa that included both winery tours and cooking lessons. No one seemed to mind, since it was all for a good cause.

The event was successful before the Ferraris arrived, but the addition of the cars seems to have taken it to another level. I hope I can return next year and my advice to others making the journey is to allow yourself some time to explore the town of Saratoga before the festivities begin.

If you are in the Saratoga area, don’t miss the car museum, http://www.saratogaautomuseum.org