Sep 5

Lime Rock Historic Festival 44

It’s time for another annual pilgrimage to Lime Rock Park this weekend. It’s been a Labor Day weekend tradition for my dad and I for close to 30 years now. We’ll be there for two days of racing and we’ll have both of our antiques in the Gathering of the Marques on Sunday. Looking forward to Alfa Romeo being the featured marque in the concours and to seeing the historic Trans Am group run. Anyone else going?

https://limerock.com/historic-festival-44-set-to-be-biggest-in-modern-history-for-lime-rock-park/

Sep 5, 2026

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Replies (105)

· Sep 5

Travis, take a bunch of photos!!!

· Sep 5

See you tomorrow Travis!!

· Sep 5

I want pictures from you too Steve.

· Sep 5

Steve, are you bringing one of the cars or just spectating?

· Sep 6

Just spectating. We are likely bringing the Packard to the show at Lionheart Golf Club (formerly Blue Fox) in Avon in October. Had these two out Saturday afternoon to clean the garage - piles of crap everywhere and of course the perfect skies changed and it started pouring. Hope it didn't impact the races too much Travis

· Sep 6

The weather was perfect most of the day until the very end of the afternoon. Then one lone rain cloud absolutely doused us while making the walk back to the car.

· Sep 5

Yes. Some pictures please.

· Sep 5

Just a couple photos today because we were focused on the racing. This is the first lap of the Trans Am race. Third in line is the Jocko’s Camaro that came up in a recent post. He actually won the second race.

· Sep 6

Our favorite place to set up for the races - not too sunny, great hillside makes for comfy viewing of the big "S" turn. Over the years we have seen more than one car end up in the field below but nothing too serious luckily.

· Sep 5

Got a couple shots of two more cars that Orrie Simko has for sale on our walk in. Delage and Amilcar.

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· Sep 6

Orrie is a great guy!

· Sep 5

I understand from Bob Swanson this is the ARCA reunion year? If you could get some pictures of those cars it would be super cool. Gus Schumacher, the guy that built my Stutz did the bodies on the two WIlls.

· Sep 5

Yes, I would assume that they’ll have them featured in the concours. They usually reserve a section for featured race classes.

· Sep 5

They did parade laps with those cars and I definitely want to get a better look at them.

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· Sep 5

I’ll have a lot more photos tomorrow after the concours.

· Sep 6

Great show. Pics coming - got to far side of the track and see Travis & Dad's cars. We almost sat out the rain shower in ypur car, Travis!

· Sep 6

Hah, you could have. You might have just missed us. Good turnout despite the passing showers.

· Sep 6

So many photos. This could take a while. AJ requested ARCA car photos so I’ll start there.

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

This little thing deserves its own post.I Loved it.

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· Sep 6

What is it???

· Sep 7

1927 Look “Henderson Special”. There’s some info on the story board but for whatever reason doesn’t say what the engine is, which I can’t figure out. Tiny little car.

· Sep 7

Does it have period history or is it something recently built?

· Sep 7

Yes, it was built in 1927 by the Collier brothers.

· Sep 7

Of course, it broke down today while they were doing parade laps and had to be towed back to the pits.

· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

One of the sexiest cars there was this 1104 Packard. My lord, that thing was stunning. Not surprisingly, I believe it won its class.

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· Sep 6

Travis, I think there is 4 of them.

· Sep 6

Yes, that’s what the owner was saying. Just awesome. Except for those damn Packard bumper ends.😉

· Sep 6

They are weighted with vibration dampners.

· Sep 6

A couple stunning Alfas.

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· Sep 6

More drool-worthy Alfas.

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

Prewar American. The Imperial roadster was spectacular and I absolutely loved the mostly original looking W-K 66B

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· Sep 6

From the Mark Smith Collection. New owner paid a lot of money at Mark's auction. It was customized in the late 30s and carries a special windshield by Wall Manufacturing outside Phily. Really cool car.

· Sep 7

I would have liked to see it with the top down. I don’t know what the wheelbase is on that thing but it sure looks looong.

· Sep 7

31 Chrysler CG is 145" I believe.

· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

Nice. Rare color combo on a Cord.

· Sep 6

It looked great in that blue.

· Sep 6

Some general pics - I have to agree the 34 Packard was absolutely stunning. 9 year restoration of a one of four car that was rescued from a junkyard after a fire. Unreal!

An MG TF with original paint!

Travis & his Dad's 30 Model A Deluxe coupe

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· Sep 6

This survivor Marmon was great. I believe this won its class as well. And do we have another contender for best radiator mascot?

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· Sep 6

More general pics

Olds woody wagon & several cars entering the event.

Children's car class - Mary really liked this - Beast of Turin and a Riley fitted with a full size Riley grille

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· Sep 6

A couple ARC cars I think Travis may have missed - between the 2 of us that's the class. The Auburn is owned by the original owner's son and the MG belongs to CT collector Gerry Lettieri.

Willys-Knight with sleeve valve engine

Wiilys Sedan - and a new friend. Guys we need to pull this guy into the fold. Another 40-ish guy into prewar cars. He rewooded this Willys sedan himself! We exhanged info since he in one town over - going to get him on Rumblseat!

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· Sep 6

I was talking to the guy with the Willys there last year and he said he was working on the roof of the car. It was nice to see it there.

· Sep 6

For the Brit fans:

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· Sep 6

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· Sep 7

A RHD Mini!!!!

· Sep 7

That was a later Rover Mini that had been upgraded to full Cooper Works spec. I wanted it. I wanted it bad.

· Sep 6

Ok a few random pics of odds and ends - while the focus is obviously soortscars at a road course they literally have something interesting to see for just about anyone...

53 MGTD - another car Orrie is selling. Tell you what Orrie has a ton of documentation on this car including a big spread in Hemmings Classic Car . He owns it and it was priced very reasonably at 13,500. Very tempting..

Wild Alfa (I know nothing about these but very cool)

Bronco, porsche 912 w original owner still & Ponton MB.

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· Sep 6

That Alfa is wild for sure!

· Sep 6

Even something for the French fans. The Matchbox cars inside the light cover of the Citroen were great. Also, that Alpine coupe is an incredibly rare sight on this side of the Atlantic.

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· Sep 6

The Delage is awesome but I'm not sure how I feel about the two tone.

· Sep 6

It looked pretty good in person AJ

· Sep 6

Yep, I wouldn’t kick it out of bed for eating crackers.

· Sep 6

Some brass.

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· Sep 6

Never understood why the electric manufactures were so in love with the tiller steering.

· Sep 6

It had to be a bit unnerving at times.

· Sep 6

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· Sep 6

Any shot that steam car is this one?

YouTube ↗

· Sep 6

I’d say there’s a strong likelihood. It had three ginormous cup trophies with it.

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· Sep 6

That car was my introduction to the Steam car world. Thank god I never bought a car.

· Sep 6

A few trucks.

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· Sep 6

Some Germans. The brown pagoda was original, showing some age but I think it pulled off the color quite well.

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· Sep 6

Steve will be all over the Pagoda.

· Sep 6

Some muscle cars. I didn’t get a photo of it by itself but note the shooting brake resto-mod 80’s Camaro next to the GTO. Definitely not my style but I can appreciate the amount of work that was put into it.

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· Sep 6

1968 XR7-G is pretty cool. They made a few with the 390 four speed.

· Sep 6

This one was an auto, as I recall. They did an awesome job on it. Pretty much perfect.

· Sep 6

I went through a Cougar phase for maybe 5 years so I learned more than I need to know. The "G"is for Gurney. Has the GTE hood, sun roof and some other special items.

Google says 23 total four speeds of which only 14 were the 390 so that would make them the holy grail of the "G" cars.

· Sep 7

72 was a favorite year of mine for GTO. Last year before they change the bodies. Wheels are very cool.

· Sep 8

Love that 72 also. You could get the 455HO with the M22 Rock Crusher. Sweet combo. Things went south in 73.

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· Sep 6

Some cyclecars, a microcar, and a Benelli that I’m sure @ShawnG will like.

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· Sep 6

Cycle and Micro cars are cool. Sometimes I think I need to pivot to something smaller. Then I see prices like this and think I should stay in my lane.

https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/pa26/lots/n0012-bugatti-type-57sc-atlantic-childrens-car/

· Sep 6

Not quite a cycle car but Offy midgets are so cool.

· Sep 6

Very cool, I restored a Messerschmitt KR200 a few years ago!
That's a Benelli 4, I think they were 350 or 400. Moto Guzzi rebadged them and sold them for a short while as well. I'd have to look in my books to tell you anything about them. I've never really paid much attention to them since the engine is in the frame the wrong way.

· Sep 6

Oh okay, well you know more about the Benelli than I do anyhow. I just thought it was good looking bike. What do you mean by the engine being in the frame the wrong way?

· Sep 7

Moto Guzzi has traditionally used a flying twin engine. A 90 degree V-twin, mounted north-south in the frame with a dry clutch and separate transmission, very similar to traditional BMW motorcycles.
The inline four in the Benelli is mounted crossways in the frame, they are unit construction (crankcase and gearbox are in the same housing and share the oil supply) with a wet clutch. More like Japanese motorcycles (Benelli licensed the 4-cylinder design from Honda).
Guzzisti (weirdos like me) usually joke that bikes like Harleys, most Japanese bikes, etc have the engine in the wrong way.

· Sep 7

Ah, I see. That makes sense now.

· Sep 6

Allard and Cunningham.

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· Sep 6

Those J2 & J2X cars are pretty cool. My dad came very close to owning one 40 years ago. Shame he missed out. Would have loved to drive one.

· Sep 6

Somehow I missed the photos of the Pierce. Quite the machine.

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· Sep 6

A 66? That would be a very very big boy toy.

· Sep 6

Yes on both counts.

· Sep 6

Some postwar American.

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· Sep 6

Rare color for an Avanti.

· Sep 6

My dad was saying that his cousin had one in Avanti Gold in the late 60’s. I’m sure he probably wishes he still had it.

· Sep 7

Another car on my list that will probably never happen. I want an R2 4 speed with traction lok. You would think they made every one of them with a posi, but nope.

I swear 1/2 of them are that blue aqua color.

· Sep 7

Seems like you see quite a few in white too. I’m no fan of white cars anyhow but it really doesn’t suit an Avanti in my opinion.

· Sep 6

A couple old school hot rods.

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· Sep 6

Like the HEMI car.

· Sep 6

Actually those are Ardun heads on a flathead Ford.

· Sep 6

I should know better. Been a long time since I hung out on the HAMB.

· Sep 6

I was in my glory when I saw that they had a homologation special class. A Lancia Stratos, 037 Stradale, and a Delta Integrale side-by-side. And then a Renault 5 Turbo2 right next to them. Also an immaculate BMW M6 elsewhere on the track which rounds out my modern dream car list.

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· Sep 7

Fortunately, the weather at the track wasn’t terrible aside from a couple passing showers. The drive to and from, however… I guess I need to get my windshield wiper working

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· Sep 7

RainX is typically better than prewar wipers.

· Sep 7

2nd the motion on RainX.

· Sep 7

I immediately remembered that I had forgotten to put RainX on when it started pouring.

· Sep 7

Another year in the books. One of my favorite parts about vintage racing on a road course is seeing little 4-cylinders cars turn lap times that thoroughly emasculate a lot of the V8 cars. The historic Trans Am cars are a perfect example. They’re a lot of fun to watch because of the noise, but the quicker cars in that class were doing approximately 1:06 laps. For reference, a very quick Mini Cooper from another class was managing 1:04.

· Sep 7

Travis, if you don't have a copy, be sure to get one of these.

· Sep 7

I’ll have to look for that, it’ll be right up my alley. I love the old racing specials.

· Sep 8

It is a complete history of ARCA along with the cars, drivers, etc. A number of the cars you saw this weekend are featured in the book.