Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen

January 2007

The 2006 Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen featured the 40th Anniversary of Can-Am and the 40th Anniversary of Trans-Am Reunion, The MotorCheck Enduro Series and the Mike Stott-UBS Sprint Racing Series. Founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1932 by George G. Blaisdell, Zippo has proudly sponsored the Watkins Glen Grand Prix for fourteen years.

The Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International is hailed as the largest vintage racing weekend in America. This year the event showcased the 40th anniversary of the debut of two great racing series at The Glen, the thundering SCCA Can-AM Challenge and the muscle cars of the SCCA Trans-Am. Another added bonus was the three-liter F1 cars that showed up for competition. A special tribute was paid to the career of British driver Derek Bell, a four-time GTP winner at The Glen, who joined the weekend's activities as Grand Marshal. He made his American racing debut at the 1968 United States Grand Prix held at The Glen. He is an accomplished driver and a three-time winner of the IMSA Camel Continental at Watkins Glen International. He won two World Sportscar Championships and five victories at LeMans. He was a driver in Formula 3, Formula 2, and Formula One competition for Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees, and Tecno. To this day, he remains active in motorsports as a television commentator and the occasional driver.

Not all of the activities at the Watkins Glen GP take place on the track; there is a giant antique car show held on the infield during the weekend. On Friday afternoon, action shifts to downtown Watkins Glen, where a Race Re-Enactment highlights the Grand Prix Festival. Activities for the 'downtown festival' starts with the Tech re-enactment at Smalley's Garage, followed by many activities including a Concours d'Elegance, Driving Tours, race re-enactments on the original course, and more. The race re-enactment has become so popular that a lottery is now held to determine who will take part in the event. The main thoroughfare in the village, Franklin Street, is closed to regular traffic and opened for the vintage racers. Spectators are able to get up-close views of how vintage racing used to occur. The lucky drivers selected are given the opportunity to drive two laps around the 6.6-mile circuit designed by Cameron Argetsinger. This is more than a re-enactment of The Glen's 58-year racing legacy, it's also a history lesson and an opportunity to re-live and experience the past.

On the track there were many series to behold including Trans-Am, Can-Am, Formula 5000, Sport 2000, and IMSA GTP. Spectators are not confined to the Grand Stands; the Watkins Glen 3.4-mile circuit provides plenty of prime viewing opportunities. There are 11 corners and an inner loop which provide all types of racing conditions from high speed straight stretches, to sharp corners, to gentle rolling terrain.

Pre-War

It was a pleasure seeing the colors of blue and red racing around the track, Bugatti and Alfa Romeo respectively. The pre-war group of cars proved they still had what it takes to make it around the challenging course while being driven at full throttle. An entertaining entrant was the Franziss Special - if you haven't heard of this marque, don't feel bad. The vehicle has a Frazer-Nash derived chassis and powered by a Curtis OX aero engine. It's a one-off special with the name ‘Franziss' formed by merging of the names ‘Frazer' and ‘Nash'.

The fastest car in the pre-war group was a 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 driven by Peter Freenfield. A 57 Cooper T43 driven by Richard Longes finished in second while Charles McCabe and his Maserati 250F finished in third. The 9-liter Franziss Special driven by Roger Sweet finished in 12, though it had some of the better laps times of the pre-war group.

TransAm

The Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am Sedan Championship debuted in 1966 and came to The Glen in 1968 where Jerry Titus brought an end to Mark Donohue's eight-race winning streak. This eight-race win streak would remain until the 1990s when Tommy Kendall drove his Roush Mustang to nine race victories. Some of the biggest names in American racing, such as Roger Penske, Bud Moore, Dan Gurney, Jim Hall, George Follmer, Parnelli Jones, Peter Revson, Sam Posey and Carroll Shelby fielded teams. America's ‘Pony Car' took center stage, including the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, AMC Javelin, Dodge Dart, and Plymouth Barracuda. Every manufacturer of ‘Pony Cars' were involved in this sport and, in time, marques from many different countries took part in the competition as well. During the early years for the series, the Trans-Am vehicles were road-going cars with slight modifications. There were two classes - an ‘Under 2 Liter' and an ‘Over 2 Liter' class. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue dominated the early years with Donohue winning 20 victories between 1967 and 1970.

The Trans Am big-bore production cars were one of the nosiest as well as heavily competed events of the day. There were four different leaders during the race and a slew of position changes throughout the entire grid. The race was heavily contended with the first five finishes being separated by only a few seconds. There were about 19 Ford Mustang's on the track. The second biggest group was the Chevrolet Camaro. It was the Mustangs, though, that clinched the first five positions. The first Camaro to cross the line was in 15th place and behind 10 other Mustangs.

CanAm

The original Canadian-American Challenge Cup, commonly known as Can-Am, was raced from 1966 through 1974 with few rules or restrictions placed on the vehicles. The series had unrestricted engine capacity and no rules governing wings, active downforce generation, or weight. This quickly became one of the most exciting series of racing in North America as teams often fielded cars with over 1000 horsepower with some claiming more than 1500 horsepower. There were originally six fall races run in both Canada and America. After three years the series incorporated the U.S. Road Racing Championship series growing to a circuit of 11 races, including Watkins Glen. The 87-lap race had cars traveling at speeds exceeding 130 mph with Bruce McLaren finishing in first place in his McLaren M8B followed by teammate Denis Hulme. Chris Amon finished in third with his Ferrari 612.

This years New York Governor's Cup race, a celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Can-Am Challenge Series, had John Burke and his 1972 McLaren M8F jump into an early lead followed closely by Juan Gonzalez in his 1974 Shadow. At the end of the first lap, Gonzalez had managed to negotiate his car into the lead and was showing promise before he was forced to retire prematurely. By the end of the race, Burke had managed his way back to the front of the pack. He was followed by Hamish Somerville in a 1967 Lola T70 MKIII Spyder. James Freeman was in third with his 1967 Matich SR3. A 72 McLaren and 66 Ford GT40 rounded out the top five positions.

Collier Cup

In 1985 Miles Collier established the Collier Cup race for MGs, the first stand-alone event at Watkins Glen International. In its first year there were eight entries. Fast forward to the early-2000's and the list of entrants grew to over 150. In modern times, the contestants are split into two groups with the first group comprising of prewar MG cars such as the ‘T' and selected ‘A' cars. The second group of cars was mostly ‘B' cars. The Collier Cup was named in memory of brothers Sam and C. Miles Collier. Both were racers and promoters of road racing and the MG marque, dating back to the 1930s. Their brother Barron Jr. is credited as bringing the first MG to America in 1932. Sam became the first US MG agent in 1934 when he founded the MG Sales Company. Before long, the brothers had created a racing circuit on their family's estate at Overlook, New York. Their enthusiasm was contagious and soon spawned the Automobile Racing Club of America. In 1948, Sam and Miles entered a pair of MG TC's at Watkins Glen and emerged in an impressive fourth and fifth place. Driving an Ardent Alligator the following year, Miles won the Watkins Glen Grand Prix. In 1950, Sam lost his life as he lost control of his car during a race at The Glen. A granite marker and memorial plaque now mark the place where Sam left the track. A few years later, Miles fell victim to polio. The brothers' contributions to the sport of racing were later honored by the creation of the inaugural Collier Brothers Memorial Trophy race for MGs at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix. Since that time it has evolved into the largest MG race car gathering in American motorsports history and possibly the world's most significant MG racing event.

The 21st annual Collier Cup for MGs was led by Jerry Richards and Les Gonda in MGB/GT-V8s. John Zwerner's MG Midget was able to break into third position in very early racing. Marcus Jones and his 1964 MGB were able to pass Zwerner and claimed the third place finish. Richards and Gonda finished in 1st and second, respectively. The participants of the race voted David Smith and his white MGA to be the recipient of the Collier Cup for his support of MG Vintage Racing.

Group 1

Group 1 cars were made up of small displacement production sports cars and sedans, but there was nothing slow about them. The little Morris/Austin Mini Coopers, MG Midgets, MGAs, Triumph Spitfires, Austin Healey Sprites, to name a few, had lap times comparable to a few other groups that raced throughout the day. Three Cooper S cars took the top three positions followed by a pair of MG Midgets.

Group 2

The top three finishers in this group had 'fastest lap times' that were nearly identical. Cars in this group were comprised of formula racers, such as Formula Fords and Formula B, which conformed to the Monoposto Classic Rules and Regulations. At the completion of the race, it was five Brabhams taking four of the top five positions. Mark Harmer drove his 1968 Brabham BT21 to a first place finish followed by Joe Blacker in his 59 Brabham BT29. Travis Engen in his Chevron B7B was able to break into the third position.

Group 4

This was another group that had the younger generations turning to the person next to them and asking ‘What kinda car is that?' The field was made up of sports cars, GT cars, and racing specials created in limited production prior to 1960. Chevrolet powered cars took the top three positions. In first was Doug Karon in his Devin Chevrolet followed by a Lister Chevrolet driven by Udo Horn. Bob Harvey drove his Corvette Roadster into third position to hold off Brian MacEachern who finished in fourth with his Lotus Eleven. The Lister and Devin marque's, in various configurations, took five of the top eight positions.

Group 7

This year's Group 7 race was made up of center-seat CanAm cars, Can-Am cars as raced after 1967 on slicks, World Champions for Makes sports cars as raced after 1970 on slicks, and under 2.0-liter sports cars as races after 1972. SCCA, ASR & BRS, and Sports 2000 cars were also invited to join in on the fun. Examples from this Group include McLaren, Lola, Chevron Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Royale, March, and Porsche.

Rick Bell's five-liter Prophet CanAm car easily outclassed the rest of the group. Howard Katz's TOJ 205C finished in second place. There was a battle for third between James Freeman's 1967 Matich, Joel Finn's Chevron B23, and John Burke's McLaren M8F. We were glad to see the M8F in competition; the day prior in practice/qualifying it had nearly been involved in an accident. The M8F was following the Chevron B31/36 when the Chevron spun going into one of the turns. As a result of some quick maneuvering, the M8F was just barely able to avoid the Chevron but found itself stuck in the gravel trap. Being buried up to its chassis in rocks did not seem to affect the McLaren M8F on race day, as Burke was able to drive his car from sixth position into third. Burke was also the winner of the New York's Governor's Cup CanAm race. The Matich finished in fourth, followed by five Chevrons and a Fabcar-Porsche.

Group 9

The Group 9 cars, Formula Cars using wings and slick tires complying with Monopost Racing Formula 70 rules, had no less than seven Formula 1 cars on the starting grid. Among them was a Lotus 79. The predecessor to the 79 in history was the Lotus 78 which introduced ground effects to the Formula 1 sport. The Lotus 79 John Player Special Mark IV took it to the next level. It was so superior in competition, that in the years to come, other competitors would mimic the design of the Lotus cars. Divina Galica drove her Lotus 79 on race day competition to a sixth place finish. All of the cars in the top positions were Formula 1 cars, as would be expected. The Williams FW07B driver by Hamish Somerville managed to finish ahead of the pack. The Williams FW07 was one of the cars that mimicked the design of the Lotus 78/79 and proved its potential in 1980 by winning the team's first constructors championship. The FW07B was introduced a year later and again, earned the team the coveted constructors championship.

In second place was the Tyrrell 009 followed by a Williams FW08C. Ralt cars took the next two positions.

Group 10

Group 10 had cars from the 70's through the 90's; lots of Porsche's and Corvette's in this group. Stew Tetreault in his turbocharged Porsche 935 easily rolled into first place. He was followed by the 1996 Porsche 911 GT2 Evo driven by Norm Goldrich. The battle for third was a fierce one, contended by Jeff Bernatovich in his Corvette and Terry Bookheimer in his Mercury Capri. Bookheimer was able to hold off the Corvette and the rest of the competition for a few laps but the Corvette muscled its way into third place by the time the checkered flag dropped. The Capri finished in fourth followed by an Oldsmobile Cutlass.

SVRA

Dedicated to providing the best vintage and historic race cars available in close competition at the venues in which they originally competed, SVRA events give fans and participants a great show. Unlike other vintage series, SVRA features all-out racing. Even better, wherever possible, the cars are raced to the specifications by which they were originally raced. And, in SVRA, variety is key to the success of the series. On any given SVRA race weekend, enthusiasts can see a wide variety of racing machinery. From production-based GT racers like the venerable Ferrari GTO and Jaguar E-type to open-wheeled Formula One cars; even vintage stock cars take part in the action.

Most events feature 10 groups of racers competing in the Mike Stott-UBS Sprint Series (usually 30 minutes in length) with several featured MotorCheck Enduro Series events. In addition, most events will have one or two special events, which would place either a marque or type of car in the spot light.

Conclusion

There were 10 Race Groups, two Motor Check Enduro Series races, Pre-War Group, Historic TransAm race, 40th Anniversary Can-Am Championship race, and the 21st Annual Collier Cup race. Every one of them was spectacular; every aspect of the Watkins Glen Vintage Grand Prix, including venue, racing series, accomplishments, cars, and drivers, were filled with interesting stories that were historically stimulating. On the track were cars that transformed the series in which they raced and brought new technologies to the cars that are driven on roads today. The paddock area was filled with drivers and mechanics eager to talk about their car and the event.

The roar of the race cars had the spectators and enthusiasts clinging to the fences in admiration and delight throughout the days of practice, qualifying, and competition. The tradition of showcasing some of the country's finest vintage and historic racing has made this one of the must-attend events for vintage motorsport enthusiasts and racers alike.