Back to part one

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?!?"

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.

Weinert had been convinced by a couple of scoundrels to drive from Manitowoc and enter the Citroën in the track-tour. 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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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