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By Mark Hershoren foreignaffairsdesk@vclassics.com
The following account was dictated from a pay phone in front of the New Holstein Supper Club.
Dateline Elkhart Lake: At Barefoot Bay Resort, situated on Elkhart Lake, the various Volvo 1800s began to appear on Friday until there were perhaps forty or fifty of them. Present too, was a very nice 142 with hood louvers, a 123GT and two PV544s. The guest list read on an international level with cars from points in Canada and the United States.
One group of three cars The owner of this car was the recipient of the "Will-it?" award. Also in the trio of So-Cal Volvoistas was Jeff Perry, who was awarded the prize for longest distance traveled.
The event was the end product of a two-year-long effort on the part of Raymond Freiwald, a member of the Board of Directors of the VSCDA. The lion's share of Ray's energy was devoted to a two-year "begathon" in Simultaneously, he was also applying the same tactic on the Volvo fans: coming to this event would induce plenty of vintage race-prepared Volvos to appear on the scene. A feat requiring tact, diplomacy and (probably) a little arm twisting. All in all, the concerted behind-the-scenes work of Freiwald and many others was an unprecedented success. Many among us wondered how this event could be topped next year.
Back at the "Bay," fine old Volvos were getting bathed and buffed. Judging would be held at the track on Saturday. Naturally, much milling about and schmoozing was going on as people roamed the grounds of this turn-of-the-century resort and requested looks under the hoods of each other's cars. On Saturday morning, shortly after sunrise, people gradually began to emerge from their rooms for a light breakfast and to put the finishing touches on the pet cars. Some of us left ahead of the rest to get an early look at the track. Others stayed behind to participate as the procession of 1800-bodied Volvos paraded through Elkhart Lake and then out to Road America, some five miles away.
 Once on the track compound, it was hard to decide where one's attention should be placed first. One might have to reason that if one were to stop first at the area where over two dozen race-prepared vintage Volvos congregated, there would still be ample time to inspect the GT40 Fords. Choosing to check out the GT40s first did not seem any more comfortable. There was almost just too much for a vintage sports car buff to process. Misfiring synapses were heard all over the place.
In the lower infield, near the beginning of the Start/Finish straightaway, there were tents and trailers -- huge trailers, some of them. Around this sat five 122s, five 140s, four 544s and thirteen 1800s. Some folks involved in the racing scene were attired in dirty sweatshirts, others in freshly starched uniforms in team colors.
Some of the racers arrived alone. John Morley of St. Catharines, Ontario, hitched the trailer holding his 1800 racer to his 740 wagon and made the trip without company. When the clutch pressure plate on the car failed and needed to be changed out, Some racers arrived with an entourage. Parked at one end of the Volvo area sat one black trailer and red one, a Kenworth and a Peterbuilt hooked up to the points. Large awnings on the side of the trailers shaded an 1800 and a 122, and the portable rubber flooring on which they sat.
Among all of the great-looking Volvo vintage racers, a couple managed to
stand out from the pack. Joe Brabender's 1965 122S (numbered 123) had
chrome bumpers front and rear and a lovely dark blue-grey finish. As the Saturday noon approached, participants in the track-touring session gathered near Turn Five to hear instructions delivered by the Chief Steward -- a very serious guy (and rightfully so), who said something to the effect that "There have been two deaths this year at Road America, and there will be NONE during this hour!" He then went on to say, "I don't mind telling you I consider this the most dangerous hour of this race weekend." Next, the rules of the track-touring session were detailed: "The speed limit is 70 MPH. There will be no passing in the corners, or as soon as you are in the numbered braking markers before the corners. You will be sharing the track with actual race cars. Use hand signals indicating where you want them to go around you -- not indicating what move you intend to make. The pace car will take you around once, and after that, you're on your own unless we take exception to your driving behavior. Have fun and be careful..." Sidelong glances exchanged among the track-tourists, and the slack jaws which accompanied them, seemed to indicate a common silent thought among the group: "You're going to let us do WHAT?!?"
Weinert had been convinced by a couple of scoundrels to drive from Manitowoc and enter the Citroën in the track-tour. Time for lunch. Road America is renowned among the cognoscenti as not only the most beautiful track of it's kind in North America, but also home of the finest "track food." Nothing pretentious here, mind you. It's buttered corn-on-a cob in the husk, fresh bratwurst and fresh beer -- and more: the concession stands are all over the place and are run by local churches and civic organizations. The lunch-time needs of the 1800 club members were met by the good people of St. John the Baptist. An unbelievably great omelet was found at the stand (whose name is regrettably forgotten) in the first building one sees upon entering the paddock area. Full now? OK, lets check out the paddocks!
Also in attendance were an Allard J2X, a Kurtis M500, scores of pre- and post-war T-series MGs, including a '33 Midget with a blower tucked between the frame horns in front of its grille. One could stroll right up to not one, but two GT40s, Augie Pabst's Scarab, a pair of Alpine A110s, a polished aluminum bodied E-type coupe, a Stanguellini -- think of any car you'd like to see that has any sort of road race history, and it was probably there. Among the entrants which seemed least likely to appear on the list, but did, were the '64 Ford Falcon and the '83 GMC pick- up -- don't ask; they actually looked great on the track.
Dinner, whose main courses included swordfish, stuffed pork chops, prime rib and chicken, was excellent. For "afters," the attendees were treated a variety of fine desserts and coffee. The after-dinner speaker for the evening was Mitch Duncan, former President of Volvo Cars North America. Duncan is heading up a new operation called Genuine Classic Parts. GCP has located much of the tooling for the parts used in older Volvos and is gearing up to reproduce spares to maintain the fleet many of us harbor. Some owners have experienced a diminished availability of replacement parts through the dealer network in recent years. Duncan stressed the point that we, as owners of old Volvos, have not been abandoned by the company. On the contrary: Volvo Cars has a vested interest in GCP, owning 20% and channeling GCP's parts through the North American Dealer network.
 Prizes for various cars were awarded (regrettably, a list with all the details was not secured). It is certain that the People's Choice Award went to John Patrick of Eaton Park, Florida. Most cars attending had a "something" which garners admiration; Patrick's 1962 P1800 all but demanded it -- off-white with a red interior and clean, clean, clean wherever you cared to look. Modifications to the car, including the addition of air conditioning employing a rotary compressor, were so subtle as leave the an impression of an as-built example. As the evening grew late and the crowd thinned out, some adjourned to a terrace in front of the main building of the resort to enjoy the midnight breeze off Elkhart Lake and continue the revelry. Sunday morning, the shrieks and snarls of racing machines could be heard in the distance. The club and cars left the lodgings and returned to Road America for another day of racing. Some signed up for a repeat of the track tour and others, witnessing the spectacle of Saturday's tour, decided they too must have a go at it. This reporter had a chance to ride in Brooks Townes' 1800ES. Townes offered me the option of enjoying a Hank Williams tape with the tour. Under the circumstances, I declined. Not normally a good passenger in most cases, I quickly felt at ease with the skill of my driver. Only after the tour was over was it learned that Townes is a graduate of the Bob Bondurant School of Driving.
While only small portions of the track can be seen from any vantage point, the work of photographers Bill Hodson of Richfield, Minnesota, and Michael Schultz of Maple City, Michigan, afforded one the opportunity to see even more. As the day wore down to sunset and the crowd and cars thinned out, a few of the stragglers assembled and grouped their cars for a portrait, bade farewells, exchanged addresses, and set out for home. The vehicles of the staff at the North Central region office of Volvo Classics Interactive Magazine set out for the second half of a twenty-hour round trip. A family in a 700-series wagon waved enthusiastically as they passed on the freeway near Green Bay. When they arrived at their exit point, the PV544 and 123GT Volvos treated them to a full-throttle salute. Across the Atlantic at Goodwood in the UK, during the same dates as the Vintage Volvo Grand Prix, five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell summed up the Goodwood Revival with a statement which surely must apply to the Road America event as well: "Don't go out through those gates over there," he said. "Because outside those gates is the real world..."
Photos:
Jeff Babcock's racer (#122), Gary Jebsen (#4) chasing Dave Rauch (?), VSA meet group, Fred Baxter's C-sport racer (#771), Volvo Gran Prix start, Homeward bound = ©1998 Michael Schultz and Mark Hershoren
Track touring sequence = ©1998 Brooks Townes
Rob Edwards' 544 racer (#42) = ©1998 Bill Hodson
Citroën H-Van = Steve Weinert
Easy-print version of this article |
Intrepid correspondent Mark Hershoren from the Foreign Affairs Desk and photographer Michael Schultz departed from the North Central region office of Volvo Classics Interactive Magazine on Thursday, September 17. The assignment required they each drive Volvos at least thirty years of age, cross the Mackinac bridge and drive hell-bent for leather across Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the general direction of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, home of Road America.
Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival race event hosted by the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association, the Volvo Sports America club's annual meet, a Vintage Volvo Grand Prix, and a tour for antique automobiles. Corporate sponsorship by Volvo Cars North America was in evidence with the appearance of the new S80, C70s in coupe and convertible form and a Cross Country all-wheel drive shooting break.
left the San Diego area on September 13th and got as far as Flagstaff, Arizona, on Monday, the 14th, when one car suffered a blown head gasket. Once expedited parts were on hand, the lame car was again made roadworthy with a few hours of committee-style repairs performed in a motel parking lot. In the Federal Express package, along with the new head gasket and sundries, was a torque wrench and an alignment dowel.
which he adeptly managed to convince the vintage Volvo race drivers that, if they showed up en mass, there would be Volvo fans to cheer them on.
Common interest in the Volvos among us in many cases evolved into realizations that there was much more to each of us than just the cars we drove up in. Most folks fell into sleep mode shortly after dark in eager anticipation of the events to come the next day.
The feeling was reminiscent of the wonder you hopefully had as a four-year-old on Christmas morning.
a good Samaritan walked up and offered a hand to help Morley get it all apart and back together again in a couple of hours. Having already driven practices and prior races, Morley still was able to participate in the Vintage Volvo Grand Prix owing to his own hard work and that of the kind passerby.
It had a look to it that recalls the days when weekend warriors would race in the hopped-up family vehicle on Sunday and drive the same car to work on Monday. Several doors down from #123 sat Ralph Paine's maroon 544 replete with fabulous flames and enough louvers to suggest that someone really enjoys punching slots in sheet metal. The finish on both these cars made you want to dip a spoon into them and taste.
The touring session went quite well, with only one or two drivers being black flagged for either misconduct or mechanical concerns. There were about fifty cars on the track (some of them actual race cars of various makes). This reporter's white 544 was running not perfectly, but quite well for having just been woken from a long slumber. Until the binders could be detected by nose after the third or fourth lap, the car braked very well.
Michael Schultz's 123GT had two passengers on board during the tour. One was Brooks Townes, a name familiar in the pages of Wooden Boat Magazine as well as other published venues. Townes photographed the track sequence. The other passenger was Steve Weinert, who appeared briefly on Saturday in a blue Citroën H-van.
This plan was soundly scotched by officials, who took exception to the lack of seatbelts in the truck. However, Weinert may have had the last laugh, as several laps into the tour, a full-race Citroën 2CV (not as oxymoronic as you may think!) appeared, seemingly out of thin air. It seemed to defend his honor.
There was something for anyone interested in the history of road racing. Beside one semi-trailer, under an awning, sat the Flying Shingle, the legendary MG special built by Ken Miles. As significant as this car should be, its aura could not help being overshadowed by the comparatively huge and gorgeous 1930's-era Alfa Romeo 2800C coupé which shared the awning.
A full day of racing on Saturday was capped by a return to Barefoot Bay Resort to wash up and dress for the dinner held as part of the VSA's event. Attire ranged from suit and tie to one character sporting a "Finzio's Sinclair Service" tee shirt. More about Finzio's in a coming issue of Volvo Classics Interactive.
Plenty of spectacular racing; truck loads of spectacular machines. When the moment finally arrived for the Vintage Volvo Grand Prix, some two dozen examples of Sweden's larger auto manufacturer's production lined up on the grid. Also included was Fred Baxter's C-sport racer, utilizing an MGA chassis and a Volvo B18 mover under the bonnet. The sight of so many race prepared Swedes was great; the sound when the green flag dropped was the thing that specialty Compact Discs are made of.
Volvos in various packs, storming the track and delighting spectators, completed the hour-long event far before most fans had seen enough. A spectacular shot of the #42 PV544 with inside wheel in the air on a tight corner is quite a souvenir.