The Great Race is an annual, multi-day, time-speed-distance rally run on public roads. Its inaugural event was in 1983, and much has changed since then, but the race has endured all these decades. The 2024 edition was a nine-day, 2300-mile affair, which started in Kentucky and ended in Maine. This is serious competition: its official title is “The 2024 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Coker Tire”, so you see that big names in the hobby are behind it. Competitors are in it for more than guts and glory: this year’s winners, who motored along in a 1916 Hudson (!), were presented with a check for $50,000. Vehicles are required to be from 1974 or earlier, with “handicaps” given based on a vehicle’s age. That sums up what I know. You can read more at www.greatrace.com.
When I learned a while back that this year’s Great Race fleet (136 cars strong) would be making a lunch stop on Thursday, June 27, in Montgomery, NY, and that the public was invited to view the arriving spectacle, I contacted a friend who lives not too far from there, and we joined the throng of several hundred other spectators. Race cars began arriving around 11:30 a.m. and continued to arrive until close to 2 p.m. It was all extremely organized, with dozens of Great Race team workers controlling everything from check-in to traffic flow to parking. Lunch for the vehicle teams was provided under a big tent, and there’s no time to hang out when you’re trying to cover 2,300 miles: participants were given exactly 30 minutes to eat (and presumably use a restroom) before they were expected to be back on the road.
I saw this as a great photo op, but wasn’t expecting the challenge of a crowd lined up along the curb, vying to snap their own pictures. The answer(s) was to use my telephoto lens and get down low, which seemed to be the only way to keep strays (people, not pets) out of my photos. This gave many of my pictures a similar “head on” perspective, a little different than my usual shots. Enjoy scrolling through them; it’s a bit of a photo dump with 50 pics included, and I’ve made no attempt to identify vehicles, but most of the post-war cars should be recognizable. If the 2025 edition of the Great Race comes anywhere near your location, I suggest that you check it out!
About 2 miles from my house is a public park with a paved circular track. I head up there several times a week to walk or jog. It’s deserted on weekdays, while on weekends, one or all 4 of the soccer fields are active (oh, and the pickleball courts are always packed). Last weekend, while returning to my car after a jog, I was taken aback by the sight of a collection of British roadsters. They were tucked into a corner of the crowded parking lot, and were obviously a pre-arranged group. Despite the cloudy and cool conditions, most of them had their tops down.
There was no choice but to wander over and find out their raison d’etre. I inquired of the first owner who would speak with me and he quickly filled me in. They (“they” being members of several local car clubs) were about to embark on a road rally, and had just been handed their route instructions. He pointed to the first car which was being flagged out, an Austin-Healey 3000. One young lady was more than happy to show me her father’s immaculate green-over-tan MGA, and was very quick to give her dad full credit for the restoration. “But do me a favor”, she implored, pointing to her father, “and ask him to turn up his hearing aids”. Oh boy, I said to myself, I’m staying out of this one.
As I turned around, I spotted an intruder. Was the guy in the silver Alfa invited to join these UK-built cars, or was he crashing the party? I wandered over to find out. When I told him that I owned a GT Junior Coupe, he said, “Oh, the green one? I know you and that car. You were with us on that Hudson Valley run a while back”. It’s a small world when you own an Alfa Romeo. (He cared not a lick that his was the only non-British entry.)
My wife and I were going to be headed to our grandson’s baseball game in a short while, so my time to gaze and chat was limited, but I did manage to fire off several shots with my always-available phone camera. It was great to see old sports cars on the road, being used as their makers intended them to be!
We had had such a grand time on the 2013 New England 1000: we saw old friends, made new ones, and the Alfa performed almost flawlessly. That rally ended a 6-year drought, and I was determined to drive the Alfa in the event again in 2014, but rally brother Steve had some scheduling conflicts. I turned to another Volvo alumnus, my friend Bob, whom I knew was a fan of European sports cars and had the additional advantage of residing in central Massachusetts. Bob said he was in, so the Alfa was prepped and away we went.
Alfa and I, ready to depart Neshanic Station
Some of the work done to get the Alfa in shape included the removal of the air conditioning system. The factory belt-driven fan and shroud were reinstalled, and not only did the overheating problem cease to be, the engine actually ran on the cool side, at least according to the water temp gauge. This gave me great peace of mind given the distances we would be covering.
The 2014 host hotel was the Harraseekent Inn in Freeport ME, ironically, the same host hotel for our very first rally in 1998. The drive from my domicile to Freeport is over 6 hours in a modern car, a bit longer in the Alfa. Bob’s house, coincidentally, is almost exactly halfway between the two, and he and his wife graciously invited me to stay over, breaking the drive up (and back) in half, which was a pleasure.
The Rich and Bob show: new team, new adventure
The assortment of interesting and unusual cars was even more so this year. There was a Corvair Fitch Sprint, a Fiat Abarth, an Arnolt-Bristol, a 1955 Chrysler 300, a genuine Studebaker Avanti, and a very rare Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Berlinetta Speciale, which despite its rarity was driven to and from the event as well as the 1,000 miles of the event. It was also nice to see an MGB and Triumph TR-6 as reminders of the good ol’ days when the NE1000 field was populated by more popular (and affordable) sports cars.
Corvair Fitch Sprint
Fiat Abarth
Arnolt-Bristol
Ferrari 250GT Pininfarina Berlinetta Speciale
This was my 8th time out on the NE1000, run by Rich and Jean Taylor of Vintage Rallies, and to my recollection, this would be the first time that the entire rally remained in one state. If we had to select a state to do this, Maine would not be a bad choice. It’s large, diverse, lightly populated, and extremely picturesque.
2nd year in a row that the rally book included pic of the Alfa (taken during 2013 rally)
As always, documenting the official license plate install
The traditional Sunday car show had us jammed onto the Harraseeket’s lawn
One of the many perks provided to us rally participants is the chance to visit car museums and collections, both public and private. This year we made it to the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum and the Bob Bahre Collection. Even though I had been to both on previous rallies, there always seems to be something new to take in. One such highlight was Bahre’s ‘30s-era unrestored Alfa Romeo 8C, and I had to pose with it.
Alfa and I again (different Alfa)
The weather stayed cloudy and cool, with little precipitation. The overcast skies helped with the photography, but it was a bit nippy on the optional boat ride. One thousand miles over four days goes by very quickly, and before we knew it, it was over. On our way out of town Friday morning, we took advantage of the proximity of LL Bean’s HQ store literally just down the street before heading home.
The Alfa did it again! I had owned the car a little over 14 months and had already put close to 3,000 miles on it. It was a keeper, and I had every hope of driving it in next year’s NE1000.
Jaguar XK-150
Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster
Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
Porsche 911
MGB
The queue to depart a checkpoint
THE BOB BARHE COLLECTION
Bob Bahre keeps his vast collection in a specially-built “garage”, if one can call a 2-story building where each floor can accommodate about 30 cars a garage. The majority of his collection focuses on American luxury cars of the 1930s, but it does get eclectic. The less interesting cars stay in the cellar. The fact that a Tucker lives in the cellar tells you something about this collection.
’30s era cars on main floor
A few spare engines too
Basement: Studebaker &
Tucker
Couple of black beauties at Owl’s Head
The Alfa poses with Maine shoreline in background
Arnolt-Bristol & Ferrari keep Alfa company
Arnolt-Bristol is a car most of us haven’t seen until now
Fiat 126 (never sold in U.S.) found in Maine parking lot
Happy New Year! It’s winter, with not much going on in the garage or out in the collector car world, so it’s a good time to catch up with some old business. Below is my summary of our participation in the 2013 New England 1000 rally. Previous reports for the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2007 rallies can be found at the highlighted links.
It was the dawn of 2013. We (my rally brother Steve and I) had not driven in the New England 1000 since 2007. Why the six-year layoff? Life had gotten in the way. Whether still in the way or not, we threw caution to the wind and signed on to participate once again. In the 2007 rally, we drove my ’68 Mustang California Special. The Mustang was sold in 2012, and was replaced by my 1967 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior, so the Alfa was the ride of choice. Steve, still living in Southern California, was flying east to be co-driver / co-navigator.
The helmet twins about to depart NJ. The ’12 Ford Focus and ’03 Volvo V70 are both gone.
In hindsight, it was a bit of a gamble to be taking the Alfa on a roughly 1500-mile journey. I had acquired the car only two months prior, in March of 2013, and had put hardly any miles on it. Some early teething problems were already addressed: the battery had died and was replaced, and the hard-as-a-rock tires were swapped out for a new set of Vredesteins.
Overheating was still a concern, though, as (previous owner) Pete’s attempt to install an air conditioning setup overtaxed the car’s cooling system. Even with the A/C turned off, the removal of the factory fan and shroud to make room for the compressor, combined with the extra weight of the compressor and its bracket, made the coolant temperature creep up at idle and low speeds. An aftermarket electric fan was bolted to the radiator, controlled by an on-off switch on the dash. The driver’s job was to constantly monitor the water temp gauge and engage said fan as necessary. It usually worked, but one had to be on constant alert.
The ceremonial attaching of the plate
This year’s host hotel was the Sagamore Resort on Lake George NY, where we had stayed during previous rallies. Much of the week’s itinerary kept us in New York, with dips into New Hampshire and Vermont. (The “New England 1000” takes liberties with its name; please, no angry missives from you Revolutionary Patriots. You know who you are.)
The queue to get past the starting checkpoint
It was great to be back with some familiar faces and vehicles, and it was equally great to meet new folks and see their rides. The classics were again out in force: Mercedes 300SLs, various Jaguars and Maseratis. We noted that modern machinery represented an increasing percentage of the cars: the rally book listed no fewer than 5 new 2013 Porsches, plus several Ferraris less than 10 years old. Our class of three included an MGB and a Morgan 4/4. In the bigger picture, though, our 95 horsepower Alfa was significantly outgunned by the more powerful 6-, 8-, and 12-cylinder ground missiles. The NE1000 of old, with its preponderance of quaint 4-cylinder ‘50s and ‘60s European roadsters, was not to be seen again.
A photo of the Alfa made it into the rally book.
By Monday morning, we were already experiencing a highlight of the week when we stepped into the private car collection of Jim Taylor. Jim is the CEO of Taylor Made Products, and judging by what he has been able to amass, business has been very good.
THE JIM TAYLOR COLLECTION
Jim Taylor’s building
Mustangs & Shelbys
Jaguar E-Types
Jim Taylor on the left
Signage including Alfa
Red cars incl Benzes & Maseratis
Nick is Pink Floyd’s drummer
Brock Yates’ Challenger
Jim also collects guitars
Lake Placid NY was another déjà vu, as we had stayed in this Olympic town during the 2001 NE1000. The Mirror Lake Inn is situated on the body of water after which it’s named, and the views are stunning. The view from the top of one of the ski lifts is equally stunning in a very different way!
This is why it’s called Mirror Lake
Lake Placid ski jump
We decide to NOT look down
We left Lake Placid and headed to Whiteface Mountain, still in NY. Although the day was cool, driving up the steep mountain started to push our car’s temperature gauge into uncomfortable territory. Flicking on the electric fan didn’t help, so half-way up the mountain, we opted to reverse direction, but not before losing one of the car’s hubcaps. If that was the biggest tragedy we were to face, so be it.
Our turnaround point; note missing hubcap
Driving into New England proper, we stopped at a perennial favorite: the RPM Repair & Restoration Facility in Vergennes VT. Not only has the Markowski family provided wonderful technical support to the rally through the years, they also run a top-notch workshop which can fix anything automotive, with a special focus on Ferraris. This was the 3rd or 4th time the rally has dropped by, and we were again given free run of the place. This gearhead could stare at disassembled 12-cylinder engines all day long.
RPM, VERGENNES VT
Ferrari 330 GTC (my ATF)
Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 “queen mother”
Fiat 600 in the basement
Stephen wrenches on another
Body on rotisserie
12-cylinder nakedness
My recollection is that, with the exception of the occasional sprinkle, the weather held up during the week, but I also recall driving home on Friday in torrential downpours (which at least kept the Alfa’s engine cool). Aside from the slight trouble on Whiteface Mountain, the Alfa ran flawlessly for us, and it was an easy decision to proclaim the car fit for duty for future rallies.
Modern Porsches
C2 Corvette
Morris woody wagon
Ferrari 365 GTC/4
Ferrari 250 GT Lusso
This unrestored Maserati…
… was a crowd favorite
Lamborghini 350 GT
Acura NSXMaserati Ghibli
Something old (Morgan), something new (911) The Alfa with some of its competition
ACs and Alfa
We pose with the Alfa, which was a real champ all week
The 2018 edition of the New England 1000 rally was held during the week of May 21. The rally started and ended at our host hotel, the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY, with additional overnight stays in Newport RI and Lenox MA. The group also visited Wayne Carini’s F40 Motorsports and Mystic Seaport.
In all, about 35 cars drove in the event (the number is estimated because first, not every car listed in the tour book showed up; and two, some of the cars spotted earlier in the week seemed to have dropped away by the end of the week). The oldest vehicular participant was a 1952 Cunningham convertible. Tied for newest set of wheels were a 2017 Audi R8 and 2017 Porsche 911.
For rally co-driver and co-navigator Steve Hansen and me, this year was a double-milestone: it was our tenth NE1000 (although not all 10 were driven with each other), and it was the 20th anniversary of our first such rally in 1998. We both recall that during our initial drive to Freeport ME in Steve’s Tiger, we pondered what other vehicles might be joining us. Instead of the resto-modded Camaros and slightly rusty Chargers we envisioned, the first car spotted in the hotel lot was a white four-door Bugatti. We instantly knew we were in for something special.
Rallyist extraordinaire Steve H behind the wheel
This year’s rally was different in several ways:
The semi-official featured marque was Cunningham. The realized dream of Briggs Cunningham, a total of 25 road cars were manufactured. Four were scheduled to run the rally, but only three actually did so. It was a rare thrill to see three in the same place at the same time, and even more rare and thrilling to hear them run and watch them move.
For the first time in our experience, one of the four “rally days” consisted of no driving events. Tuesday was spent in Newport RI; participants were given the option to ride on an America’s Cup yacht, visit an automobile museum or two, and/or tour the “cottages”, as Newport’s mansions are euphemistically called.
Also for the first time, there were no optional driving events, such as hillclimbs, gymkhanas, or drag races. In large part due to only three days of touring, we drove slightly less than our usual 1,000 miles. As per the tour book, the mileage total for the week was 837.
Those of you in the Northeast know all too well what disappointing spring weather we’ve had. Things were no better as we departed Neshanic Station on Saturday. We drove in a near-steady rain on Saturday afternoon, the trip made more bearable only by its brevity (Mohonk is just two hours away). Sunday dawned damp and cloudy, but by that afternoon, we saw the sun, and except for some sprinkles on Tuesday evening, we were spared further precipitation.
Our steed, my 1967 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior, was in its fourth (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018) NE1000. Its performance was almost flawless. Tuesday morning, intending to drive into town, the car would not crank. The battery was drained, but the car instantly roared to life with a jump start. With the help of Peter and Keith from RPM (thanks guys!), we determined that the alternator was intermittently charging. It’s very likely that the Saturday drive, with lights and wipers on the entire time, helped accelerate the battery’s depletion.
The local NAPA store, in exchange for some credit card info from me, donated a new battery, and our starting problems were solved for now. From my phone, I ordered a replacement alternator from my preferred supplier, Classic Alfa in the UK. The alternator was on my front porch on Thursday afternoon, a day before we arrived home. How’s that for service?
Participation in multiple events has taught me that rally photography is a tricky proposition. Once the driving starts, opportunities for the camera can be few and far between; after all, I’m either driving or navigating. Below is a sampling of pictures, organized roughly chronologically by location. Please note that all these photos are different from the “Photo Gallery” pictures posted last week. Enjoy the shots!
ARRIVAL, SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Although the official festivities begin on Sunday afternoon, many participants (including us) arrive on Saturday to feel less rushed as we perform any final car prep. Here are some of the cars as they arrived in a lot set aside for the rally participants.
Cunningham
Shelby Mustang
Puma GT
Ferrari Daytona
Jaguar XK120
1967 Corvette
Lamborghini Miura
Porsche 356
Porsche 911T
The ceremonial mounting of the rally plate
SUNDAY CONCOURS
Every year, the rally events begin with an informal “concours” on the hotel property, done as much for the owners to show off as to present our wares to the hotel guests and public. At Mohonk, we were crowded onto a narrow walkway.
The lineup
White cars
Sun trying to break through
Alfa Giulietta interior
Cunningham interior
Ferrari 250GT PF
Old and new
Drivers and spectators mingle
Italian cars
6-4-12
F40 MOTORSPORTS VISIT
On Monday, we made a scheduled stop at F40 Motorsports, the home of Chasing Classic Cars starring Wayne Carini. Mr. Carini was on the premises, and gave a short informal presentation. Better still, he led us into the back shop where many treasures are hidden away. He was warm, gracious, humble, and obviously a very knowledgeable enthusiast.
F40 Motorsports, Wayne Carini
1958 Skyliner in the garage
Domestic cars
Ferrari 330 GTC
THE AUDRAIN MUSEUM
On Tuesday’s “open” day in Newport, we had every intention of visiting two of the local car museums. Our battery issue, while fortuitously falling on the non-driving day, shortened our available time. We were only able to get to the Audrain Auto Museum, located in downtown Newport. The building itself is an architectural masterpiece. The smallish display area featured American muscle.
Audrain Museum exterior
Ford hot rod
1969 Hurst Olds
1969 Mustang
1970 Barracuda
DeTomaso Pantera
MYSTIC SEAPORT
Wednesday found us in Mystic CT, with about 2 hours to kill at the Mystic Seaport Museum before our scheduled lunch. As lunch ended, the parking lot served as an ideal staging area for our departure, and was also a great photo op.
In the queue to get a time out
Corvair Fitch Sprint
Alfa with new battery
Ferrari Mondial
Porsche 944
Red cars
THE RALLY ENDS
By Thursday, everyone feels a sense of accomplishment at just having driven the roads. That evening’s banquet dinner will reveal the final score, including how many teams “zeroed out” (this year, only one). As the cars arrived back at Mohonk, they were prepped to be either driven or shipped out on Friday morning.
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