Ferrari GTO fans, and who isn’t, will see the cars in action during the GTO race at Mazda Raceway. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is known for its special displays, and one of them this year will also feature Ferrari 250 GTOs. Photo by Dennis Gray.
Lynch previews key activities during this year’s Holy Week
By Michael T. Lynch
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion continues to refine its format in its second year. Maintaining the tradition of an honored marque, Jaguar will be the honoree. The focus will be on the 50th Anniversary of the E-Type but there will be an incredible range of other Jaguar models both on the race course and on the property.
C-Type Jaguars will be plentiful at the Rolex Reunion this year. Here are the first two in the U.S. at Elkhart Lake in 1952. George Weaver and Phil Hill (dark car) drove them out from New York. Phil won the Sheldon Cup on Saturday, beating Phil Walters in a Ferrari 212 Vignale coupe. It was a great confidence booster for Hill, as Walters was considered the best road racer in America at the time. Credit: Nell Family Archive.
Certainly the E-Type is one of the most memorable street models the English company ever made. The great driving champion Stirling Moss once called it, “The greatest crumpet catcher of all time.” A tremendous gathering of these models is to be expected and there will be an invitational race just for E-Types. It’s hard to believe it’s been 50 years since the E stunned the motoring world with its timeless styling and price/performance ratio. It also fought a valiant battle in production-based racing both in World Championship and club events.
There will be plenty of D-Types at the Rolex Reunion this year. The car pictured was raced by the Cunningham team and spent time in Cunningham’s museum before passing to the Collier Collection. It is posed by the old water tower at Sebring. Back in the day, the little village pictured had a wonderful café. When you went in for breakfast you might be seated next to Fon Portago or Mike Hawthorn. Or, your tablemate might be a local pilot or aircraft mechanic.
A large gathering of C and D-Type Jaguars is also in the works. These two competition models won seven Le Mans 24-Hour races between them and certainly put the Pace into Jaguar’s 1950s slogan, “Grace, Pace and Space.” Besides their wins at Le Mans, they also established the firm’s racing reputation in the U.S. with victories at many American venues including the Sebring 12-Hours. D-Types won on courses around the country, especially in the Northeast where the Cunningham team Jaguars carried Sherwood Johnston and Walt Hansgen to Sports Car Club of America National Championships in 1955-56-57.
The Rolex Reunion always has a strong pre-World War II entry, and this year is no exception. It provides a feast for Italian and French automotive connoisseurs with examples of Bugatti (7), Alfa Romeo (6), Talbot Lago (2), Maserati, Delahaye and last, but certainly not least, George Wingard’s 14-liter 1911 FIAT S74. Among the favorites will be Mark Gilles’ Maserati 4CL and Peter Giddings’ Alfa P3.
Although the Ferrari GTOs on the lawn a Pebble Beach this year will be a prime feature, they’ll hardly be the only Ferraris there. Others are placed through the classes like this 212 Vignale coupe last year.
Another treat for the assembled crowds will be a race for Ferrari 250 GTOs, the legendary model that dominated World Championship GT racing. In 1962-3, GTO’s entered 23 World Championship races and won the GT class 20 times.
It should be mentioned here that events like the Rolex Reunion, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and The Quail – A Motorsports Gathering are the bedrock of the Monterey Peninsula automobile week. It is refreshing that their organizers eschew turf wars and work together to make a better show for the spectators and thus benefit the entire region with the business they create and the charitable contributions they make.
The GTO race came about after Pebble Beach announced they would have a special display of these Ferraris this year. Sandra Kasky Button, the Chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours worked with racer Bruce Canapa who is on the Governing Committee of the Reunion, as well as Gill Campell, CEO of Mazda Raceway and Barry Toepke, VP of Historic Racing and Communications. Button made her GTO entrants aware of the possibility of a GTO race during the Reunion weekend and it came to pass, providing a heightened experience for the GTO owners as well as the spectators. Not everyone can say they’ve raced at Mazda Raceway and shown at Pebble Beach on the same weekend.
Another great collaboration is the Reunion to Quail run, where a group of race cars from from the Reunion leave the track with a motorcycle escort and drive over the sinuous Laureles Grade to the Quail Lodge, where they join the Quail guests for lunch and then return to the track. Gordon McCall, Courtney Ferrante and Laurie Courtright from the Quail team worked with Mazda Raceway management to make this one of the high points of the week. A select group of Jaguars will make the trip this year. The Quail will have its usual display of sporting machinery and a selection of food stations that many say is the best of the week.
Best of the rest of the week…
Although we’re wandering a bit off topic from the Rolex Reunion, it’s hard not to stray as one begins thinking about other events during the week. On Tuesday, Doug and Genie Freedman’s Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours on the Avenue will be back to full strength this year with over 170 entries. Last year’s edition was featured on Wayne Carini’s Chasing Classic Cars show on HD Theatre. Also on Tuesday and extending into Wednesday is Tony Singer’s Automobilia. This is an automotive memorabilia show to end all others. It is showcased at the Embassy Suites in Seaside. Wednesday evening is Gordon McCall’s Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Airport. Private jets and collector cars and the people who own them enjoy exceptional food and wine in a unique setting surrounded by the elite of the winged and wheeled world.
Thursday’s stop off in Carmel to view the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance cars while their owners have lunch in Devendorf Park is one of the week’s most popular freebies. That evening, the planned Monterey Museum of Automotive Arts continues to communicate its progress and will be holding a reception including an art auction at the Perry House in Monterey.
On Friday, Concorso Italiano’s owner, Tom McDowell, continues to lead this long standing show’s climb back into the top rank after a near death experience in 2008 when under different ownership. An interesting feature this year will be unrestored Italian cars built up to 1973.
The 2011 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will see over 550 cars competing in 17 races. If you can’t find something you like, you just don’t like cars. Here, in last year’s 1955-61 under two-liter event, Steve Hill’s center-seat Porsche RSK leads Ed Nigro’s Lola Mk 1, Rob Walton’s Maserati T60 Birdcage and Chris Orosco’s Lola Mk 1 through the famed corkscrew.
To return to Mazda Raceway on Saturday, there will be a Jaguar Heritage display in the infield. Close by will be a new feature, the Showcase Stage. The idea here is to bring eight or so cars across the ramp during the weekend and have expert hosts talk about their significance and sometimes include interviews with people associated with the cars. Another event will be the Picnic with Jaguar hosted by Le Mans winner Martin Brundle and Bob Tullius, whose Group 44 Jaguars won two Drivers’ and one Manufacturers’ Championships in the 1977-78 Trans Ams. They will share their memories with the public. Look for lots of artifacts of British life in the good old days.
Once again, if you’re a car person, it’s time for the chain of events that are like Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one when you were a kid. Here’s a chance to feel that way again.
“The great driving champion Stirling Moss once called it, “The greatest crumpet catcher of all time.”…….. Henry Manney said this in 1964 while testing an E-Type for Road & Track magazine. I don’t have the particular issue, but do have the road test annual, which includes the test and statement.
Phil Walters, who drove a Ferrari 212 at the Glen and was defeated by Phil Hill, was also known as “Ted Tappet” and drove midgets at oval tracks professionally. He drove for a Long Islander (Hewlett) named Frank Curtis (no relation to Frank Kurtis). Both men were somewhat notorious for winning on the weekend, then selling the car, which never came close to winning again. – Don
Walter,
The R&T road test of the was in April 1964. The road test was not attributed to Henry Manney or any other writer — it carried no byline. A paraphrase was at the beginning of the article. “The greatest crumpet catcher known to man.” Although it was in quotes, there was no indication of who was being quoted.
Don,
The race pictured where Phil H. beat Phil W. was Elkhart Lake, not Watkins Glen.