We East Coasters caught a real break with the weather, as our climate moved away from the hot and humid conditions of July and August and into cooler and less humid (but still sunny) days to close out the month. This made our annual trip to Lime Rock Park on the Sunday of Labor weekend even more enjoyable. This year, two of my NJ-AROC (NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club) buddies rode along in the persons of Bob C. and Paul M., both of whom took care of all the driving! All I had to do was sit back and relax.

We arrived at the track at exactly 10 a.m., grabbed some coffee, and proceeded to the show cars. As always, there were special classes designated by the show organizers, as well as the popular “Gathering of the Marques,” populated by local clubs as well as individuals who wanted to show off their rides without preregistering for any particular class. This year, classes included the 50^th Anniversary of the BMW 3-Series, One-owner Cars, “Body Doubles” (essentially replicars), Porsche 356s, Spirit of the Roadster, Designs of Giorgetto Giugiaro, Hemi Evolution, and Classic Ferrari V12 Coupes. In other words, something for (almost) everyone.

As we began our stroll, someone tipped us off that the cars in the “Marques” section might start to leave early, so we decided to beeline to the end of the show, where we would reverse our direction and slowly take in the displays. I’m glad we did because vehicles began departing by 11:45 a.m.! This was the only disappointing aspect of the day, but we still got to see what we came for. One highlight was the larger-than-usual turnout of Alfa Romeos, including two modern 4Cs and three Zagato GT Juniors. Mustangs were out in their usual large numbers, but the BMW headcount looked a bit shrunken, especially lacking in 2002s. The Ferrari V12 coupes were my personal highlight, as it included two 330/365 GTCs, my all-time favorite model from this fabled Italian marque.

The award ceremony began at 1:30 p.m. and concluded soon after, and that’s when the real exodus started. Mental note for next year: try to arrive a little earlier and be aware that many show cars depart sooner than might be expected. We three decided to tour the paddocks, as we were in no rush to hit the road, finally getting underway about 3:30 p.m. Except for some unexpected traffic on the NYS Thruway, the drive up and back was a joy. Lime Rock’s Labor Day Sunday show is a permanent event on my calendar.

 

 

ONE OWNER CARS

A more careful reading of some of the placards on cars in the class revealed that several of them are “one-family owned,” slightly different than “one owner.”

 

 

 

This class disappointed me, not for its cars, but for its paucity, although I suspect that a few cars in this class may have departed before I got to this display.

 

CLASSIC FERRARI V12 COUPES

The Ferrari 330 GTC (later renamed 365 GTC when its engine was enlarged) has a shape which has charmed me since I first saw a photograph of one in a magazine as a thirteen-year-old. This year I was honored to find two of these on display, one in classic red and the other in Pino Verde (pine green).

 

THE GATHERING OF THE MARQUES

ALFA ROMEO

OTHER ITALIAN

LORENZO’S 308 GT4

Fellow NJ-AROC member Lorenzo proudly showed his unrestored Ferrari 308 GT4 in the “Barn Find and Unrestored” class. He performed significant mechanical reconditioning to make it roadworthy, and he’s doing his best to preserve the original lacquer paint.

BRITISH

 

GERMAN

 

 

 

AMERICAN

PARTING SHOTS

 

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