Coldplugs - Lime Rock Park


Fiat engined Stanguellinis (like #19) owned Formula Jr. until rear engined rockets like the 2 Lotus's behind it took over. #8 is Harry Carter's Lotus 20. The Lotus behind that (an 18) is an earlier model, and is the one that really made the front engined FJ's obsolete. The C-Jaguar of Gordon MacKenzie looks absolutely huge in this company. [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]	#7 is Phil Cade's 250F Maserati. Stu Rutherford is in the red coveralls and Omer Norton in the checked shirt & arm band. These were the days of huge drum brakes and skinny tires - both exemplified by the Maserati. [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]

Malcolm Donaldson working on his Zink Petite Mk II H-modified special. Hamilton Donaldson (at right) provided the picture. 1967.	Dave Duburl's very unusual OSCA. This was a 2 liter Type S-498. As delivered, the engine had constant bottom end problems. This was later determined to be caused by a design that was overenthusiastic in sending oil to the head at the expense of bottom end bearings. Restricting an oil passage fixed the problem. Dave's was likely chassis 2006 with engine 2006 and was one of two made. The picture may not have been taken at Lime Rock but I'm guessing that it was, probably in the seventies at a VSCCA event. [Thanks to Alessandro B, Jim C, and Mike D for the info]

Porsche RSK, Lotus 7A, and a Porsche Speedster about to head out. #71 looks like a Maserati. [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]	Looks pretty chilly. Bob Fuller looks on as Pete Becker and the Eichacker brothers do something clever to the Kieft. Believe it or not, Cyril Kieft himself reviewed this very website once and commented that all Kiefts sent to the US had wire wheels. Ours had alloy wheels, so I guess it was brought in privately. [Photo courtesy of Peter Becker]

A Frazer Nash, owned by Frank Twaits. The year is 1958 or 1959.	If you know when this was taken, please contact us. It is most likely Autumn of 1958 or 1959. [Photos courtesy of James Trigwell]

A 750cc OSCA. Does anyone which car this is? Is it 758? [Photo courtesy of Paul Rainville]


Halloween day, 1964 at Lime Rock. I know that pace laps & rolling starts are far safer, but few things match the excitement of a start in a big bore event like this one. Pete Sacks in the yellow Brabham is on the outside front row, Tom O'Brien is in the center, and that's probably Ed Lowther in a Genie Mk.8/Ford closest to the starter. Don Adams' Lister is behind Sachs, Bob Grossman in a Ferrari 275LM is behind the Genie. Finsh was O'Brien - Sachs - Grossman. [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington, detailed info provided by Willem O.]	Big Bend on the first lap. A very typical picture from the early sixties. Porsches, Alfas, and the usual horde of MGA's. I think that the last car (the one behind the headless man) is a DB Panhard but can't tell for sure.

Stanguellinis all over the place, with Charlie Rainville's front row center. [Photo courtesy of Paul Rainville]

Into the first turn right after the start of a Formula Libre race (Anything goes). A D Jaguar leads, followed by a Porsche 550 and a C Type. The open wheel car on the outside is probably a Jomar driven by Ray Siedel. Although not obvious here, Porsche Spyders (550's, RSK's, etc.) seemed to be tailor made for Lime Rock.	This was a second lap accident involving the Jag and the open-wheeled Jomar driven by Ray Saidel. The D-Type bobbled a bit and collided with the Jomar, which sent it spinning down the escape road. Pieces of the Jag's taillight ended up on Ray Saidel's seat! The Jomar survives to this day. [Does anyone have the date of this race, and the identity of the Jaguar driver? It was possibly a LISCA race, probably 11 June 1960.]


Gaston Andrey in the 2 litre Ferrari he raced for several years. This was the best sounding car ever to appear at Lime Rock (my opinion). The car carried serial 0706.	This is Andrey again, about 4 years later in a birdcage Maserati (Serial 2455). He appears to accelerating out of the pits - normally cars are nose-down at his point on the track since it's near the end of the main straight, just before a hairpin turn known as "big bend". Gus liked the number 25, and his cars usually had Swiss heraldry.

Don Adams' DB2 Aston Martin braking for the hairpin. The car still had its original rear axle here, although I think the Chevy smallblock had already been installed.	This is not a very good picture, but it was a great race if it's the one I think it was. Reed Rollo in an Alfa Veloce battled Duncan Black in a Daimler Dart right down to the wire. Possibly the best race I've ever seen. Rollo led onto the straight almost every lap but Black caught him before the Start/Finish line every time - except the last. [Bob R - thanks for cleaning it up]

Elans like this were perfect cars for Lime Rock. Here's Pete Pulver - Dutchess Auto was the east coast Lotus distributor. [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]	A beautiful shot of Thomas Foreman in his D Jaguar. He bought the car for $4,000 (sigh.....) and in later years raced a Cooper Monaco. These cars loved fast, smooth, tracks and were more at home at LeMans than tight tracks like Lime Rock. Has there ever been a prettier race car? [Thanks to Cpl. Marc F. for the information.] [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]

Jack Crusoe was a tough guy to beat in his black Alfa for many years. He later moved to Formula V if this picture is any indication. (He looks a bit like Jack Brabham here, I think.) [Photo courtesy of Jim Shellington]	Bob Russell in his Autodynamics Formula V on the downhill before the straight, about 1968. [Photo courtesy of Bob Russell]

Frederick Becker in his Alfa. The 1300cc Alfas held their own against much larger cars at Lime Rock. Note the license plate - "Race on Sunday, drive on Monday" was the saying. [Photo courtesy of Peter Becker]

Ask any Lime Rock veteran about The race and they'll know exactly which one you mean. John Fitch has called it "the best race ever held by anybody, anywhere". It occurred on July 25th, 1959 - the race was sanctioned by USAC, paid prize money, and the invited drivers could race what they wanted. The mix of cars and drivers was incredible.

There were international stars like Pedro Rodriguez, landmark cars like Bill Mitchell's Stingray (the model for the later Corvette Stingray), well known US sports car drivers like George Constantine, Denise McCluggage, Dr. Dick Thompson, Chuck Daigh, and Lance Reventlow, and American good 'ole boys like Roger Ward with a Kurtis Midget.

Who would you bet on? Daigh, with his ex-Fangio Formula 1 Maserati? George Constantine in (probably) the fastest Aston Martin in the world? John Fitch in a Cooper Monaco? Would you have even given a thought to Roger Ward in a 91 cubic inch Offenhauser powered midget, with a one speed transmission, rear brakes only - an eleven year old car with over 1,000 races to its credit?

Note regarding the pictures - These were taken by a friend [and mentor - thanks, Joe] at the race. They are mostly 8X10 inch prints with some tears and wrinkles which show in the scans. Nevertheless, they're the best of the I've seen of this event anywhere, published or unpublished. Details for many of the captions were provided by David Seielstad.


A 250F Maserati (Chassis 2529) run by Camoradi USA. This was before they went big time - at this point they just lugged their race car around with a Ford station wagon like everyone else. With Chuck Daigh driving, it finished second. "The Team Camoradi car was ~THE~ factory Team car that Fangio raced most of 1957 winning the French GP and his great Victory at the '57 Nurburgring. It was later owned by Joakim Bonnier (58-59). At it's lowest point in life, was sold by Camoradi to Alabama's Chuck Nervine and was then advertised for sale in October 1962's Road & Track for $3,650. Many years later, it was restored in the UK and sold for the highest amount of any 250F, a reputed $4,000,000." - Barrie Hoblirk The car is now in Germany.	A Porsche 550 Spyder driven by Denise McCluggage. She finished twelfth. These cars were tough to beat at Lime Rock.

Lister Bristol, clearly showing the hump needed to cover the tall 6 cylinder engine. Original chassis number BHL 7, British reg. NVE 732. This car later was fitted with a Buick V8. See this shot at Thompson. Driven in the race by Bob Columbosian.	Herb Swan's Ferrari 166 Barchetta using a 4.5 Offy engine(!). Serial is 0054. Sold new to Bill Spear. Note the primitive timing "tower" in the background - a lot different from today's beautiful building at about the same spot. [Thanks to David S for corrections and additional info]

This XKSS was in the spectator parking area. Today, this car is worth more than all the rest of the cars in the picture combined. I think it may well be the most beautiful and desirable car ever made. It was a D-Type with road equipment.	XKSS interior. Production of these cars had just started at Jaguar when a fire destroyed the production line. They got the facility up and running again very quickly but never resumed building the XKSS. It always amazed me that this car was designed in the same country as the Austin Atlantic.

Topo? Are you in there? Looks like Mille Miglia candidate if there ever was one. Ferrari Monza, powered by a Chevy V8 and driven by Jocko Maggiacomo. [Thanks to David S. for corrections.]	Nash Healey "Le Mans" coupe. The Coupes weren't made until late 1953, so this is either a '53 or a '54. The cars used a 6 cylinder Nash Ambassador engine of about 125 horsepower. There's an MG TF to the left, and a 1958 Corvette behind it.

Pedro Rodriguez in a Maserati 300S leads Lance Reventlow in a F2 Cooper.	Chuck Daigh, of Scarab fame, in Lucky Casners 250F Maserati being chased by a midget. I'm not sure who was driving the midget, but it isn't the wining car.

Denise McCluggage is in the Porsche. If you're looking for some good car related reading, find her book By Brooks Too Broad for Leaping.	George Constantine in the Aston, John Grimaldi in the D-Type, and Roger Ward trailing. Ward won two of the three heats, thereby winning the event. [Photos of this event are all courtesy of Joe Terranova]

From 1957 through 1962, an endurance race was held at Lime Rock called the Little Le Mans. John Fitch came up with the idea of having stock small sedans race for 12 hours - this was more than a dozen years before Showroom Stock originated. The races attracted some big names - from Rene Dreyfus to Walter Cronkite - and just about every driver of the era with a competition license. Volvos were the most successful, although a Team Roosevelt Fiat-Abarth won in 1959. Although intended to be a 12 hour race, it was actually 10 hours until it evolved into an 8-hour FIA sanctioned race in 1960. It also attracted factory entries that year. The series ended in 1962, largely out of concern that factory supported entries would cause expenses to skyrocket.

	TVR (Gerry Sagerman), Couriers, A Porsche and a 120S (Driven here by Dick Newton) into Big Bend. Sorry about the blotch. The "Ecurie Antique" Jag 120M won the New England regional title in D Production driven by John Howe. Probably 1964.
	I'm pretty sure it was a real Gran Sport. The Cobra is guaranteed not to be a replica. I don't think the dust cloud was as serious as it looks here.
	Ferrari and Corvette. 1964 Ferrari GTO serial 5573 bring driven by either Walt Luftman or Bob Grossman.
	Corvette and Cheetah(?)


These pictures from Fred Molina were taken in 1961 or '62. If anyone can tell for sure, please let me know. This one shows a bunch of Saabs going into the esses, with what might be a Simca on the grass.	Volvos were the hot setup for these races, with Art Riley and Bill Rutan winning in '57, '58, and 1960 with their PV-444. A factory entered Volvo P-1300 won in 1962 - this was a 122-S Amazon with an 1800cc engine.