Lost Roadside Attraction: Vintage Racing in Steamboat Springs

Once upon a time, when classic racing cars were younger and cheaper than they are now, somebody thought up the idea of attracting summer visitors to a ski town by closing off a few streets and letting car clubs run races on them for a weekend.  This worked for awhile in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and the heyday of the event was in the decade of the 1980s.

Racing continued well into the 1990s, but towards the end of that decade, after vintage racers had attained more value as collectible art objects than as weekend warriors, development and complaints by neighbors ended a freewheeling era of summertime fun. Back during that golden era, you could see a wide variety of historic racers, from open-wheel single-seaters to SCCA production sports cars to Group 4 and Group 6 racers. These included the Lotus 30 (or perhaps 40; differences were mostly hidden) and early McLaren shown below...

And this Cooper Monaco, which originally came from the factory with a mid-mounted 2.5 liter Coventry Climax twin cam four.

A pair of Shelby AC Cobras, including a road car and a 289 racer, lounge between events…

A Porsche 904 with the 4-cam, mid-mounted 4 cylinder, roller-bearing crankshaft engine…

A pair of Siatas including a 300BC (these often had 750cc Crosley or Fiat 1100 engines) parked in front of a bigger Gran Sport coupe, likely powered by a 1400cc Fiat…

A Morgan Plus 4 Plus, one of only 26 fiberglass-bodied, TR4-engined coupes that the Malvern Link factory built from 1964 to 1967, makes an unlikely vintage racer.  

Participants from several states managed to show a sense of humor on their personalized plates. Here's a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica* from the early 1950s.  No, it's not a replicar, it's a replica of the car the factory raced at Le Mans...

The owners of this 3.8 liter Series I E-Type Jaguar coupe wanted to share their joy...

The race crew on this E-Type roadster, however, were more circumspect...

And some cars eligible for the races provided entertaining rides home for racegoers.  This 2-cam, short nose Ferrari 275 GTB provided elegant transport for two…

According to Kyle Popejoy at Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, the group first presented the vintage races at Steamboat Springs in 1984, and continued them as an annual summer event through 1998.  Eventually, complaints from some condominium residents about being trapped within the perimeter of the track, as well as about the high noise levels, spelled the end of the Steamboat Car Weekend.  The photo below shows how close to the action those ski condos were...

The spirit of road racing has not quite left town, however.  Though developers have built a hotel in the middle of the original race course, today Steamboat Springs hosts bicycle stage road races and footraces. They're a lot quieter than those old cars, and the residents probably appreciate that. Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing has gone on to host other events, including the past two years of racing at Snowmass.  Information on RMVR membership and scheduled events can be found at the website, rmvr.com, or by calling Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, Ltd. at 303-319-3062.

*Footnote:  The Bristol-engined postwar Frazer Nash is featured in the Archives for Feb. 3, 2017, in "Frazer Nash Part 2: When a Replica Is Not a Replica."

Photo credits:  All photos are by the author.

Nineties Concept Cars Part 5: Lamborghini Raptor and Lagonda Vignale

The 1997 Pebble Beach Concours featured an outdoor museum of concept cars, both old and then-new, on the upper lawn.  These included Zagato's Lamborghini Raptor in the foreground below, the Pontiac Ghost Car with transparent plexiglass body from the 1939 World's Fair, and in the distant background, Bertone's Corvair Testudo* from 1962.  The Raptor, essentially a lightweight version of Lambo's all-wheel drive Diablo chassis, combined wraparound glazing with Zagato's signature double-bubble roof contours.  The periscope air intake for the mid-mounted V12 is lodged in the trough between the bubbles...

The photo below shows the Raptor's odd up-and-over wraparound rear window, as well as that center air intake.  In order to save weight compared with the "standard" Diablo, the Zagato team deleted the anti-lock braking system as well as the traction control, and deployed carbon fiber in the bodywork.  

Partnering with Alain Wicki, Zagato endeavored to make a production-ready prototype, in the hope that it would be adopted as Lamborghini's successor to the Diablo.  Perhaps for that reason, the designers loaded the car with ideas that sometimes seemed to compete with each other.  For example, that twin-hump roof was part of the canopy that lifted in a single unit (oddly like Bertone's Testudo) to provide access to the cockpit...

...and then the bubbled portion could be removed to create a an open roadster with fixed windows surrounding the occupants, as shown below.  It's not clear whether the fighter plane style canopy would have met safety standards in the Eurozone or Lamborghini's export markets.

As it turned out, the car's fresh, distinctive form failed to convince Lamborghini to adopt it as their next production car.  This was possibly due to practicality issues, though the previous success of the Miura and then the Countach would seem to indicate that Lamborghini's customers were not obsessed with practicality.  In the coming years, Aston Martin would turn out to be more easily persuaded by Zagato's ideas, and Italian ideas in general...

For a brief time in the mid to late Nineties, it looked like Aston Martin was all set to produce a Vignale concept to replace their aging, very angular Lagonda sedan.  The decidedly non-angular prototype can be glimpsed above, opened up to reveal a sumptuously detailed interior, and got as much attention from show goers as any of the supercars on display.

A good look at the design, one of two built by Ghia (like Vignale, then owned by Ford) to Moray Callum's 1993 design, shows why.  The form avoids straight lines or flat planes, using rounded, subtle contours to create visual interest. The way the front fender surface is extended to fade into the rear door is especially deft.  While Callum and Vignale aimed this production prototype at Aston Martin Lagonda (also owned by Ford back then), the first two prototypes were built on Lincoln Town Car chassis, and powered by Ford's 4.6 liter SOHC V8.

The smoothly tapered rear integrates the tail lights in to the shut line for the deck lid, and carries more than a hint of 1950s Jaguar flavor…Jaguar was also owned by Ford during this period. Unlike the Raptor, the VIgnale captured the attention of its target audience, and Aston Martin built a third prototype at Newport Pagnell.  This car incorporated a V12 engine, and independent rear suspension. Two cars still exist; all three prototypes feature the Art Deco cocoon interior sketched out by David Wilkie.  These cars are still fresh-looking today, especially compared with many of today's designs, with their multiple computer-generated folds and creases screaming for attention. Sometimes less really is more...

*Footnote:  Giorgetto Giugiaro's design for the Corvair Testudo was featured in our post entitled "Getting Over the Corvair, Part 2" and can be found in the archives for March 18, 2016.  The Lincoln Sentinel was featured in "Nineties Concept Cars Part 4", from Jan. 17, 2019.

Photo Credits:  

Top & 2nd:  the author

3rd & 4th:  woiweb.com 

5th & 7th:  the author

6th & 8th:  Astom Martin Heritage Trust

Nineties Concept Cars Part 4: Lincoln Sentinel and Mercury MC4

The Lincoln Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company was looking for a shot of magic in the 1990s. After the best "suicide door" Continentals* in 1963. and the last ones in 1968, body design became more timid and conformist.  The Town Cars of the 80s and 90s were especially heavy-handed visually, with none of the simplicity or mastery of proportion and detail shown in Elwood Engel's Continentals.  Compared to the first Continentals of the 1940-41 range, they had no distinction at all.  By the mid-1990s, the first and second generation Ford Taurus (and related Mercury Sable) had saved Ford, and given their design staff the confidence to pursue new directions.  Teaming up with Ford-owned Italian coach builder Ghia, they launched the Lincoln Sentinel concept car as an example of their New Edge design direction.

A fully-functioning prototype was built on a modified Jaguar chassis (Ford had purchased Jaguar and Aston Martin). Massing and proportions ditched the leaden look of recent efforts, emphasizing large-diameter wheels and shorter overhangs.  At the front, twin air intakes with vertical bars recalled the grilles of Edsel Ford's 1940 Continental.

Bright metal trim outlined the edges of the sheer, undecorated flanks, as on the 1961 Continental. The rear-hinged rear doors, "suicide doors" to Lincoln fans, also echoed the 1961-68 cars.

The tapering tail lent and minimal trim lent a purposeful air from the rear.  At least two cars were built in 1996, this fully functioning one and a silver gray display car.  Unfortunately, Ford decided on a different direction for Lincoln, and in 1997 introduced the Navigator SUV, a "badge-engineered" version of the Ford Expedition.  By 1998 the Mark VIII coupe would have an SOHC V8, 4 wheel independent suspension and disc brakes shared with the Thunderbird, but no New Edge.

Over at Mercury, designers were brainstorming a follow-up to the successful (up until the 1996 restyle) Sable, perhaps something with more sporting character than the last couple generations of the Mercury Cougar, which had turned out to be Thunderbirds with squared-off rooflines.  They took the 1997 Thunderbird chassis and got their metalworkers working on something that very much predicted the "4-door coupes" produced by German manufacturers a decade later...

As with the Sentinel, the four doors opened at the center of the cars flanks, but there was no center post, and the front doors needed to open before the rears, with an electronic fob. There were no external handles.  

The luggage compartment featured these gullwing doors, opening along a central structural spine.  The design traded a high rear lift-over sill for better side access; more important, it attracted attention. The front door armrest is a clever detail, with an extension of the dash surface outlined in bright metal forming an "X" with the lower armrest.  

The view with the doors closed underlines how well the MC4 concept anticipated the later German 4-door coupes.  Instead of expanding upon their idea of a high-performance 4-door T-Bird, perhaps with differentiating features like all-wheel drive, Ford decided that future Mercury cars would be nothing more than Fords with fancier trim.  The last Mercury rolled off the assembly line in January 2011.

Photo Credits:  All photos are by the author, except for the last one, which is from the website carsofinterest.com.

*Footnote:  Elwood Engel's groundbreaking design for the 1961 Lincoln Continental is featured in our post "When the Sixties Really Began" from November 18, 2015.

Nineties Concept Cars Part 3: Chrysler Phaetons and Thunderbolts

One thing you can do when you give up trying to photograph the vintage Bugattis and Bentleys normally surrounded by swarms of fans "on the lawn" at the Pebble Beach Concours is climb to the upper display area, which has a lawn usually reserved for display of recent concept and show cars by manufacturers and coachbuilders (or did, back when we had coachbuilders). Back in 1997, you could take a break from the comprehensive collection of historic steam cars and micro cars and have a look at this Chrysler Phaeton, parked in front of a preview of Chrysler's upcoming "cab forward" LHX.

Tom Gale was head of Chrysler Styling at this point, having moved over from Engineering.  This position allowed him to popularize two design trends of the 1990s:  the short hood, transverse-engine with front wheel drive Cab Forward look, and Retro Design, which drew inspiration from classic cars of the golden era.  The golden era the designers had in mind was often the 1930s, but any period was fair game.  When the first Mazda Miata appeared for the 1990 model year, it was pretty clear the designers had been thinking about the mid-60s Lotus Elan.  The prow of the Phaeton shows off a grille and teardrop headlight surrounds that could have been sourced in the 1940s.

At the rear, the shape formed into the deck lid harks back to the Twenties and Thirties boat-tail speedsters, as does the dual-cowl layout of the passenger cabin. One car the designers may have had in mind was the 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton shown below. In sheer size the cars are similar, and the Imperial also features the strong horizontal rib formed into the flanks of the car (on the newer Phaeton it's an indent).  The '52 Phaeton was a mixture of then-current features (Imperial grille and bumpers) with fender shapes and full wheel openings predictive of Virgil Exner's 1955 Forward Look...

Three Imperial Parade Phaetons were made on stretched, 147 inch wheelbase chassis. In 1955, the cars were returned to Chrysler for restyling which incorporated most of the forms and details from the 1956 Chrysler line, including prominent tail fins. Among the things on the '56 Chryslers that the Phaetons lacked were side windows, external door handles, and full convertible tops. There was, however, a sort of pup tent for the rear passengers... 

But maybe the 1997 Phaeton show car derived some its swoopy curvaceousness from the Chrysler Newport show cars of 1940 and '41. These were designed by Ralph Roberts  at Chrysler and were built by the revered coachbuilding firm of LeBaron.  Built like the later parade cars on a 147 inch wheelbase, the vast Newports (five were built) were Chrysler's first-ever show cars. Once you get past the dual cowls, a feature then disappearing from production cars, the features you notice call to mind smaller, sportier cars of the 1950s. The way the front fender tops angle down to meet the teardrop rear fender, and the flush sides without running boards predict the Jaguar XK120 of nine years later, though these shapes could also be seen on BMW's Mille Miglia racers of 1940.*

The rear view gives a better sense of the flowing fender lines, and looks forward to the envelope bodies of the 1950s, when fenders were subsumed into the overall body form.  The general lack of applied decoration is striking.  The headlights are hidden behind doors, as they were on Gordon Buehrig's Cord design from 1936.  Here only the doors move, and the lights stay put...

In 1993 Gale's crew at Chrysler unveiled the Thunderbolt show car.  Chrysler was committed to the Cab Forward look at this time, which can be credited, like Gale's less adventurous K-cars from the early 1980s, with saving the company from bankruptcy another time. Along with unadorned, compound-curved  surfaces, the Thunderbolt showcases a long-wheelbase, short-overhangs design, with the large wheel diameters that were then taking hold...

From the overhead rear view, however, the Thunderbolt appears to be trying to do too many things at once.  The vast goggle of the rear window is indented along the centerline, hinting at Zagato's famous "double bubble" competition coupes for no apparent reason. When combined with the wrap-around, visor-like shape of the windshield and side windows, the windows erode the roof form, and prevent a coherent shape from emerging.  It looks as if the design team were told to use up all their ideas in one place, because this would be their last-ever show car.

On the first Thunderbolt, built by LeBaron in 1941 to a design by Alex Tremulis, you encounter a variety of ideas, but they have a more coherent impact. Tremulis had added the external exhaust pipes to the 1937 Cord, and carried the hidden headlight idea into the Thunderbolt, along with a simplified version of the Newport's flush sides, here with the skirted front and rear wheels which had appeared on Joseph Figoni's Talbots and Delahayes a few years earlier... 

The knockout feature, though, was this electrically-operated hardtop which dropped into a huge well forward of the trunk. The Thunderbolt was built on a 127" wheelbase, so it took up a lot of ground for a two-passenger car.  Five were built, each in a different color scheme and with minor trim variations, like the brass trim on the car below.  Looking at the Thunderbolt in this view, it's easy to see that it might have had some influence on postwar Hudsons.  By the early 1950s, LeBaron was out of the coachbuilding business, and the Chrysler design team would delegate the task of crafting their show cars to Ghia. That, however, is a story for another day.

Photo Credits:

Top & 2nd:  the author
3rd:  imcdb.org (the Internet Movie Car Data Base)
4th:  wikimedia
5th:  Chrysler Corporation
6th:  wikimedia (photo by ZInc)
7th thru 9th:  Chrysler Corporation
10th:  the author
11th:  wikimedia 

*Footnotes:  The BMW Mille Miglia car and XK120 roadster are discussed in "Game Changer", our post for July 16, 2017.