We snuck away from the rigorous campaign schedule in Samoa to attend the Vintage Races at Waterford Hills and also attend the Concours d'elegance at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan, this past weekend. I've been to both these events in years past and this year was another great to-do.

After a grueling flight from the island to Cherry Capitol International on Saturday, we grabbed the 245 and stormed I-75 for the four hours it takes to get down to the Detroit area. Arrived at Waterford Hills Race track about 15 minutes before the first race began. Wonderful Daimler SP-250s with their surprisingly throaty 2.5 liter V-8s, lots of Minis collectively sounding like a stirred hornet's nest , a full compliment of Lotus products, a Hillman Imp-based Ginetta. Some Ford ground pounders from the mid 1960s and even a 1964 Pontiac Tempest which I watched race in the early 1970s there.

Volvo was represented by the All-European Auto Supply Team, campaigning a pair of 142Es, and by Dick Reynolds of Grand Rapids in a '62 544 that is said to have been run in the 1971 Trans-Am series. The 142s did well but Reynolds' 544 did not finish. Curiously, both Dick's 544 and his son's Datsun 510 were placed in a race that otherwise consisted of V-8 powered cars.

I missed seeing the Bentley special run but got a chance to hear a Bugatti type 35 being warmed up. On display and not intended to be driven at this event, it was assembled from parts obtained just after the Bugatti factory's closure. These parts were warehoused until being discovered just a few years ago! The sound of its blown, twin cam straight-8 being run on alcohol made the hairs stand on end.

The weather also put on quite a show about mid-afternoon. After having spent much of the previous couple of weeks being rather broiler-like, the Civil-defense siren (remember those?) went off at about 3:00 p.m. We looked up and saw not a squadron of bombers, but a very menacing mass of clouds. What happened next was that the cars came off the track as the first drops of rain hit and then the lightning struck down all around us. Not to be outdone, the wind picked up dramatically to the point that the rain was hurled horizontally. I stood in one of the enclosed car hauling trailers, which was grounded. Deb sat in the car. Another group of about six people hung onto an awning to keep it from being blown to bits. They got drenched. When things died down, we learned that a tornado warning had been declared. Damage at the track was minimal and limited mostly to turned over trash barrels. Areas surrounding the track did not fare as well.

After the severe weather conditions diminished, the racers sprang into action to squeeze just a few more laps in before the six o'clock noise curfew went into effect. The Improved Touring class race, which included the 140 series cars, was postponed until 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Come Sunday morning, after an enjoyable stay at Rotem and Kathy Gill's home "The Hotel Gill" we caravanned back to the track to see the IT classes run. While technically not part of the vintage event, this group of women and men put on a great show on the track. Their presence was intended to show spectators that racing need not be done in excessively sophisticated machines. Some were and some weren't. These IT cars are supposed to be basically streetable cars in the configurations that the manufacturers intended, with the inclusion of a full roll cage.

Represented last weekend in this class was a Porsche 944, a BMW 325 and the two Volvo 142Es. Of more humble origin were a brace of Ford Festivas and, believe it or not, a Chevette!

The 142 of Dr. John Paine, while said to be a real handful, took a Checkered Flag in the race which was staged by my brother, Joel Hershoren. The grid was set up in two groups consisting of the slower group of cars and those with the slowest times positioned in the front of the pack, and the faster cars progressively towards the rear. It made for truly high action as some of those faster cars squared off against the others while contending with the slower traffic.

Having seen both the vintage cars and now the IT race, we packed up and headed over to Oakland University and the Concours at Meadowbrook.

The cream of the crop are here and it is said that this is the Midwestern equivalent of Pebble Beach. More Bugattis than I've ever seen in one place (almost two dozen) including one owned and driven by Ralph Lauren. Perhaps you've heard of him I think he owns a company that makes house paint. Of course, there were Duesenbergs, Packards, Pierce-Arrows (including one with a Pierce-built camping trailer) and all other sorts of grand American cars, but also there were plenty of stunning imports. The C-type Jag was stunning and the normally reserved audience in the viewing stand erupted into spontaneous applause when the Dino was turned off after being driven to the judging stand. The noise it made confirmed that this was no meek contrivance. A big surprise for me was the Czechoslovakian-built Tatra 87 with its rear mounted, air-cooled V-8 and its center-mounted extra headlamp. Looking at this car and knowing a little about Tatra's previous models makes me suspect that Preston Tucker's ideas where not completely his own.

Deb and I stood near the photo-shoot area that is beyond the judging stand as the Bugattis were driven off. They sounded magnificent at idle and in first gear. Deb commented that she wished to hear them in full song. I quite agreed.

I could go on but I really shouldn't, as it would take several more pages of text to do justice to the experience. So instead, here is just a taste of what it was like.

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