Monterey Car Week 2022: A Day at the Races

Owing to scheduling conflicts and the $525 ticket price for the Pebble Peach Concours, our experience of this year's Monterey Car Week was limited to attending race qualifying at Laguna Seca on Thursday, August 18, visiting a hidden trove of classic cars the next day, and checking out the Concours d'LeMons (no, that's not misspelled) on August 20.  The two free events were enjoyable in different ways (see our previous 2 posts), and as with our previous visit in 2018, the best value for money of the ticketed events was the $50 charged for a day at the Monterey historic automobile races, now known as the Motorsports Reunion.  

Why is this?  Well, it could be that the most focused car designs in terms of engineering and aerodynamics are race cars.  And the variety and depth of the cars on view at Laguna Seca is never disappointing.  During our time there, we saw dozens of cars that would each be worthy of an hour of detailed examination and photography if encountered on the street.  We begin with the above car, the Sadler-Meyer Special from 1958, which featured a Pontiac V8 and De Dion rear suspension with ladder chassis and lightweight bodywork designed by Canadian engineer Bill Sadler, who built light aircraft and race cars from 1953 to '61 after working with John Tojeiro (see our post "Forgotten Classics: Designed by John Tojeiro", Aug. 13, 2021)  in England for a year. The Sadler cars include sports racers Mk. 1 through 5, as well as Formula Junior and Formula 3 cars, with a wild variety of engines, from England's Jowett flat four to a Chevy V8 mid rear-mounted in a single-seat racer for the first time.  Sadler's total output was under 2 dozen cars.  

There were other rarities, like this C-Type Jaguar from the 1951-'53 period.  C-Types put Jaguar on the map in endurance racing by winning Le Mans in '51 and '53, the latter year with newly-introduced 4-wheel disc brakes.  Wondering why there-s a C-Type Jag, but no A or B-Type? The name came from XK-120C, for Competition. The car added a lightweight tubular chassis to the 120's twin-cam, 3.4 liter six, 4-speed gearbox and live rear axle, and those pioneering 4-wheel disc brakes. An aerodynamic alloy body completed the package; there were 11 "works" (factory) racers and 43 customer cars.   

The D-Type that appeared in 1954 was even more aerodynamic, often with a vertical stabilizing fin on the alloy bodywork designed by Jaguar's Malcolm Sayer.  D-Types won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955, 1956 and 1957.  There were 71 D-Types including 18 factory team cars, plus 16 weather-protected (sort of) XKSS versions.

D-Type styling was a near-hypnotic composition of ovals in plan, section, elevation and details like the air intake, and even in the flattened wheel arches.  (For more on this masterpiece by Malcolm Sayer, see "Shipshape, From an Aircraft Point of View: Jaguar D-Type", in the blog archives for July 28, 2017). 

The guy racing this Series 1 E-Type fixed-head coupe agreed with my assesment of the stock Jaguar cooling arrangements: barely adequate, and inadequate for racing (or for the kind of weather they've had in the Mother Country this summer). He's replaced the whole lot with something that cools better.  This car, down to the color and the knock-off alloy disc wheels, seems a near-twin to the Briggs Cunningham coupe that notched the best Le Mans finish for an E-Type in 1962 (4th place, noted in "Racing Improves the Breed: Briggs Cunningham's Jaguar E-Types", our post for Aug. 13, 2017) and shows how Malcolm Sayer refined the theme of repeated ovals used in the D on the E-Type that appeared in 1961. Engineers added independent rear suspension to the semi-monocoque chassis with stressed bulkheads below the doors (a bit lower than on the entry-challenged D-Type), and a tubular subframe like that on the D-Type carrying the proven twin-cam six that ran from 3.8 liters to 4.2 on the Series 1.

The Series 1 E-Type roadster parked next to the vintage Bentley is a reminder that there may always be an England, though things don't look so great right now...

This Birdcage Maserati is, like the E-Type racer, in the category of fast white cars you'd like to drive home.  It was part of Maserati's effort to provide a competitive racer to privateers like Lucky Casner's Camoradi Racing after Maserati closed the factory team.  Advanced specs. included light alloy bodywork over a lightweight spaceframe chassis welded of small diameter steel tubes (the birdcage), powered by a twin-cam, twin-spark inline four of 2.0 liters (Type 60) or 2.9 liters (Type 61) sending power to the road through a 5-speed, rear mounted transaxle. There were 6 Type 60s (one was converted to a 61) and 16 of the more powerful Type 61. The Type 60 was named after the year it first raced...

Yet another fast white car you'd like to drive home is this Alfa Romeo SZ from the 1961-'62 period. A lightweight coupe with rounded alloy contours by Zagato, it's powered by the Veloce version of Alfa's 1,300 cc Giulietta twin-cam four, with its lightweight and durable aluminum block and head. By coincidence, we had a closer look at one of the rouglly 170 SZs in a private collection the next day ("Sleeping Beauties Somewhere in California, posted Aug. 23, 2022).

Talbot-Lagos are associated by many with swoopy, custom-bodied road cars, but there were sports and GP cars too. This burly, cycle-fendered roadster was powered by a 4-liter overhead valve inline six that racer Phil Hill likened to "a Plymouth with Ardun heads" and was part of the racing program that Antonio Lago started after taking over the French Talbot firm in 1935.  It worked, though, and the 4.5 liter, twin-cam (but not overhead) version built after WW2 worked even better until the money ran out.  Gearbox was a Wilson pre-selector.  (For more on Talbot-Lagos, see "Talbot-Lago: Darracq by Another Name" posted here on May 22, 2020).

Louis Delage's car-building firm competed with Talbot-Lago and Bugatti at Le Mans during the Thirties. This 3-liter, inline six cylinder road racer was built after Delahaye took over Delage in 1935. Unlike its sister car, the Delahaye 135, the Delage kept the hydraulic brakes Louis Delage favored.  (For more on Delage, see "Delage: A Car for the Ages", posted here on May 20, 2018.)

No lineup of French road racers from the Thirties would be complete without a Bugatti Type 57, and this is the rarest of the breed, the low-chassis Type 57SC, with supercharged aluminum twin overhead cam inline eight of 3.3 liters. Bugatti quoted about 220 hp for this engine, conveniently matching the power of the competing Alfa 8C 2900B.  Just 43 of the surbaisse (low-chassis) Type 57S left the Bugatti factory before WW2, and only two of the supercharged Type 57 SC (the C is for compresseur). But many T57S owners went back to the factory for the supercharger. Unlike Delage, Alfa Romeo or Talbot-Lago, the Bugatti retained a rigid front axle and mechanical brakes. One delightful aspect of the Laguna Seca event is the interaction with the mechanics who maintain the cars and the people who race them.  One of those guys came out as we studied the car, opened the engine lid, and said, "Now you can get a picture of her."

The Delahaye Type 135 below completes our survey of French road racers from the 1930s. Here we have a 3.5 liter, overhead valve inline six powering a cycle-fendered roadster of the kind that competed with Delage, Talbot and Bugatti at Le Mans.  Shifting was often by the Cotal pre-selector gearbox, especially after the war. (See "Golden Days of Delahayes", posted June 30, 2018 for more on these cars).

The Stanguellini Formula Junior car is unusual in being mid-engined; most Stanguellinis ("The Etceterini Files Part 5: Chasing a Mirage, the Last Stanguellini" March 21, 2016) were front-engined.  The body design, including twin-nostril air intake, closely follows the design of Ferrari's 1961 Formula 1 Championship car, and the engine wasn't much smaller.  GP races from 1961-'65 were run on a 1.5 liter formula, and Formula Juniors were run on a cost-saving formula of production engines (usually Fiat, sometimes Lancia, Ford or BMC) of 1.1 liters.

This yellow car was built by Ambro* in Rochester, Minnesota between 1961 and 64.  The first Ambro fiberglass body covered a Triumph-powered special; later examples had engines ranging from a 2-cycle, 3 cylinder DKW to an aluminum Buick V8.   

This Porsche-engined special was apparently mid-engined like the company's 550 and 718, but by which power plant, we are unsure.  Intriguing though...

The British Peerless firm was known for making a Triumph-powered GT coupe in the Fifites and early Sixties, and we've never seen a Peerless single-seater.  But this open-wheel single-seater showed up at Laguna Seca, and has a Peerless badge on the nose...

Frank Costin's aerodynamic body for Colin Chapman's  Lotus 11 from 1956 made it an instant classic.  Power came from a 1.1 liter Coventry Climax overhead cam fire pump engine, which made the lightweight tubular chassis car competitive in its class.  Like the Birdcage Maserati, it took the design of front-engined road racers to a minimalist frontier.

That frontier was crossed by mid-engined racers like this Lotus 23 from 1962-63, which offered less frontal area and moved the center of mass closer to the driver.  It didn't seem like the driver could get any closer to the road.  Lotus 23s were powered by a variety of engines from Coventry Climax, Cosworth and Lotus itself, ranging from 750 cc to 1,600.

Perhaps no closer to the road, but shooting down it at even greater velocity, was the driver of this Lotus 78 from 1978. One of those drivers was Mario Andretti, and he won the Formula 1 World Champtionship that year.  Power was by the Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 liter V8. 

We found this Porsche Abarth Carrera in a shelter full of wonders.  The Italian-bodied (mostly by Rocco Motto) Abarth Carrera from 1960-61 was lower and lighter than the factory-bodied Carrera, and shared its 4-cam, air-cooled 1.6 liter flat four.  

Nothing could seem less like the compact Abarth Porsche than this fearsome, 4.5 liter flat-twelve-powered 917 that exceeded 200 mph at Le Mans in the late Sixties and early Seventies.  It was air-cooled, like its ancestors, but any pretense of being an adaptation of a practical street car had been abandoned.

Ferrari's 250 GT Tour de France was, however, a car that you could drive to a race, compete  with a reasonable hope of a trophy, and drive home…at least if you could afford it.  From the 1956-58 period, it was one of a vanishing species of "dual-purpose" sports cars.

Less dual-purpose, but sharing the basic 3 liter V12 engine design of the Tour de France, the 250 Testa Rossa was focused on racing only.

The 250GT short wheelbase berlinetta, known as the SWB, took 8 inches off the Tour de France wheelbase, now down to 94.5", but shared the same 3.0 liter V12 Colombo engine design.  As with the Tour de France, body design was by Pinin Farina.

There aren't many places where you'd see two of the 3 dozen Ferrari 250 GTOs parked alongside each other, but Laguna Seca was that place the day we visited. The GTO combined Bizzarrini's low-slung tubular chassis with a dry-sump version of the 3 liter V12, and a disc brake at each wheel.  Still with a live rear axle, it was simple and reliable enough to be a winner.

The 250 LM followed the GTO as Ferrari attempted to convince race organizers that it was some kind of variation on his production cars, as he had done with the GTO.  But it was a mid-engined, relentlessly focused road racing projectile, and it wasn't even a 250; cylinder displacement was now 275, for 3.3 liters, which made for a Le Mans winner in 1964.

The Mercedes 300SL that won Le Mans in 1952 looked like this car, lacking the streamlined blisters over the wheel arches, the front fender vents, and the rectangular grille of the production version of the Guillwing from 1954-57. 

The Iso Grifo A3C road racer was a product of Giotto Bizzarrini's imagination after he left Ferrari and designed the Lamborghini V12 engine.  It later became the basis for Bizzarrini's own Strada GT coupe, bodied in fiberglass instead of alloy. There were 20 A3C coupes bodied in alloy by Piero Drogo's Carrozzeria Sports Cars.

The owner / driver told me that this Alpine Renault M64, which had competed at Le Mans in 1964, was one of only 3 built.  The M64 won its class at Le Mans and Reims that year; power for the mid-engined streamliner came from a twin-overhead cam inline four of 1,150 cc.  Later in the decade, Alpine would make similar-looking cars with a 3.0 liter, 4-cam V8.

No lineup of Sixties road racers would be complete without some Shelby AC Cobras.  Here are three of 'em... 

There was another Ferrari SWB on the track, getting ready for a qualifying run...

Right next to this Aston Martin DB4.  Back in 1959-61, it was really the shorter, lighter Aston DB4 GT that would face off against the Ferrari.  Still, it made all the right noises...

This Corvette resembled GM Styling's Stingray prototype from 1959, as styled by Larry Shinoda. Clues include the fender and side vent shapes, driver headrest and lack of flip-up headlights.  We'd thought that car was in GM's museum, though...

The Ford GT40 reminded us how successful that car had been at Le Mans, Sebirng and Daytona.  Ford won Le Mans with the exact same car in 1968 and '69, and used far fewer cars than Porsche to win the Manufacturer's Championship.

The 3.5 liter V6 powered Ford GT introduced for 2017 and currently available, sends 647 turbocharged hp to the rear wheels.  It's the second effort by Ford to make a modern mid-engined production supercar. The previous one was a V8 looking a lot more like the original GT40, and was offered from 2005-08. The new car offers modern electronics, but less cabin space because of the deeply indented air intakes. You can't have everything, apparently...

This Lola T70 coupe is one of over a hundred T70s built, and was designed in 1965 by Eric Broadley's firm, which had earlier developed the groundbreaking Lola GT. The open spider versions came first, followed by coupes for endurance racing. Lola's also competed in the Can-Am Series, with John Surtees winning the Championship in 1966 in a Chevy V8-powered car, and Dan Gurney notching the only Can-Am victory for a Ford-powered car, pictured in our Lola survey from Aug. 28, 2018, "First Impressions of the Monterey Historics: Whatever Lola Wants". Closing that circle with another Lola is a good place to conclude this survey.

*Errata:  

The yellow car was at first mistakenly identified as a Sadler by someone whose name we won't mention.  Eagle-eyed reader Mike Fuchs correctly identified the car as an Ambro, and sent info on the car's builders.

Photo Credits:  

All photos were taken by Bob Jecmen except the following, which were taken by the author: Top thru 3rd from top, 6th thru 13th, and 8th from bottom (AC Cobras).