events | New England Auto Museum

14 Aug

Make It Six: Historic Festival 33 adds Lauren’s ‘Count Trossi’ SSK to Special Mercedes Collection at Lime Rock Sept. 6

Photo by Michael Furman

LAKEVILLE, CT – Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 33 Chairman Murray Smith scored another coup by securing yet another historic Mercedes competition car to join the five already confirmed; he’s arranged for one of the very few remaining 1928-1932 Mercedes-Benz SSKs to join the already outstanding display.

In particular, it’s the streamlined SSK built for Count Carlo Felice Trossi. The spectacular “Trossi SSK,” owned by Ralph Lauren, won best of show at the 1993 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the 2007 Concorso D’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The SSK’s extreme performance and numerous competitive successes made it one of the most highly regarded sports cars of its era. Fewer than six entirely original SSK models remain. The SSK was the last Mercedes-Benz designed by Ferdinand Porsche before he left to found his own car company.

As of today, here’s the outstanding collection of Mercedes competition cars that will be at Historic Festival 33, September 4-7…

The “722” 300 SLR driven to victory by Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson in the 1955 Mille Miglia
1954/55 W196 Grand Prix Silver Arrow
1939 W154 Grand Prix Silver Arrow
1930 Mercedes Trossi SSK
1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car (French G.P.)
The 1908 Mercedes “Brooklands”

Photo by IMS

The 1908 Mercedes Brooklands, is the sole survivor of only three produced. A Mercedes Brooklands finished fourth in the inaugural 1911 Indy 500 driven by Spencer Wishart, just 10 seconds behind Ray Harroun’s winning Marmon Wasp.

In the 1912 Indy 500, two Brooklands started – one by Wishart and one by Ralph De Palma – and De Palma very nearly won. In the car he nicknamed the Gray Ghost, he led 195 laps, but then a connecting rod broke. De Palma was able to coast one more lap but in the end he was classified 11th, behind winner Joe Dawson. (Wishart completed 82 laps and finished 15th.) These Brooklands were fitted with 583 cubic inch 4 cylinder engines.

The records of the individual Brooklands cars are difficult to distinguish from each other; the racers were leased and loaned to many owners and drivers. De Palma’s Brooklands was later lost in a fire. The Mercedes Brooklands has been kindly lent to Lime Rock by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

“It was the Brooklands models that built the very foundation of Mercedes racing success from the early 1900s onward,” Smith says. “A spectacular grouping, all of these very rare, very special Mercedes in one place at one time? Well, that pretty much speaks for itself, doesn’t it? I can’t tell you how pleased Lime Rock is to bring these cars to its fans and the media in such an intimate, beautiful and historic setting. Having Sir Stirling Moss and Jochen Mass as the weekend’s Honored Guests will add immensely to the Mercedes celebration, of course.”

About the Historic Festival: Since 1983, the East Coast’s premier vintage racing and concours event has been the Historic Festival at Lime Rock Park, held annually over Labor Day weekend. No other venue in the U.S. has three days of on-track racing sandwiching a prestigious concours event all on the same property, all at the same time. Historic Festival 33 is Thursday, September 3 (17-mile Vintage Race & Sports Car Parade) through Monday, September 7, while the Sunday in the Park Concours d’Elegance & Gathering of the Marques is September 6. Historic Festival 33 features Honored Guests Sir Stirling Moss and Jochen Mass, and one of the most distinctive gatherings of Mercedes-Benz competition cars in recent memory. Schedule: Thursday, Vintage Race Car Parade; Friday, Practice & Qualifying; Saturday, 18 races and demonstration laps; Sunday in the Park Concours; Monday, 18 races and demonstration laps. Ticket and other information at limerockhistorics.com & limerock.com

11 Aug

Goodwood Revival preview 2015: Freddie March Memorial Trophy Sept. 11-13

West Sussex, UK – Jaguar C-type vs Aston Martin DB3S – is there a more evocative Goodwood confrontation than that? Particularly when the cars are roaring through the Sussex night, lights ablaze?

It was the sights, sounds and sheer rivalry of racing like that that kept Goodwood spectators spellbound in the 1950’s. Now everything is set for a re-run, Revival style, with the first race to kick off the 2015 meeting on Friday September 11. And, yes, this year a superb field of cars – and assorted C-types and DB3Ss are just the start – will be running into dusk. (Head) lights, camera, action indeed!

Today the race is the Freddie March Memorial Trophy; then it was the Goodwood Nine Hour.

The Nine Hour was Britain’s attempt at a mini Le Mans, complete with drivers sprinting to their cars for the 3pm start. Not all spectators may have lasted until the midnight finish, but there could be no doubting the spectacle of such beautiful machinery – driven by the likes of Stirling Moss, Reg Parnell, Roy Salvadori, Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt – roaring through the night. It was the first night race in the UK and always full of drama, including the odd pit lane fire…

A great deal has changed since the last Nine Hour, run in 1955. For one thing, the nine-hour endurance marathon is now a 90-minute, two-driver sprint race. It’s less demanding of cars and drivers (and spectators!) but as regulars to the Freddie March will know, there’s more close racing than ever and plenty of thrills and spills.

The crucial thing is that the cars taking part today are truly in the spirit of the machines that battled for victory in the 1950s. Despite there being just three Nine Hour meetings – in 1952, ’53 and ’55, and all won incidentally by Aston Martin – all have gone into Goodwood legend.

Today the racing is about far more than the factory Jaguar and Aston teams battling it out. In 2014 the Lagonda V12 of Darren McWhirter stormed to victory, followed home by a Cunningham C4R and Austin-Healey 100S.

For 2015, there’s no Lagonda but there is a Cunningham C4R and several Healey 100Ss, plus HWMs, Maseratis, Frazer Nash Le Mans Replicas, an Alfa Disco Volante, Mercedes Gullwing, Tojeiro and Coopers with both Jaguar and Bristol power. Not forgetting of course five Astons and six Jag C-types!

With plenty of tail-out action on the track (and often on the grass, too) the Freddie March Memorial Trophy should be an exceedingly close race as well as a spectacular start to this year’s racing at the Goodwood Revival. The Freddie March wasn’t run as a dusk race last year but our highlights video still gives a great taste of the action.

What will happen this year? The only thing GRR can say with certainty is that whatever does happen, it will be spectacular.

Source: Bob Murray, Goodwood Revival
https://grrc.goodwood.com

11 Aug

October 8th, 2015 Survive the Drive “Behind the Wheel” at Lime Rock Park

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Survive the Drive will be holding a “Behind the Wheel” Defensive Driver Training event on Thursday, October 8th at Lime Rock Park. “Behind the Wheel” offers teen friendly, comprehensive, cost effective defensive driver education. The hands-on defensive driver training course was developed to demonstrate:

Crash Avoidance Maneuvers
Skid Capability
Vehicle Control
Braking Exercises
New Car Autonomous Technologies

Survive the Drive’s “Behind the Wheel” Defensive Driver Training program was created based on information and experience gathered by Survive the Drive’s professional staff and Board of Directors, each offering decades of service, education and experience in driver training, transportation safety and auto racing instruction.

Call Today at (860) 806-3042 to Register or Find Out More!

Participants Must:

• Present a valid DMV Drivers license or permit
• Provide proof of insurance
• Be accompanied by parent or guardian
(If under 18 years of age)
• Provide proof of registration of their participating vehicle
• Wear flat shoe, no sandals or open toes
• Wear comfortable clothing
• Have good tires and possess one spare tire or run-flat tires
* Be sure to check your gas gauge before arrival!

More about Survive the Drive:

Survive the Drive is an independent, not for profit, educational resource that provides risk awareness presentations and safe driving instruction to individuals, schools and community groups

The organizations program is designed to educate novice drivers through the use of a multi-media presentation and a hands-on defensive driver training course. The presentation focuses the students attention on the detrimental activity of texting, reading, drinking, phoning and any other activities that impair consciousness to the ever-present operational hazards of their heavy, moving equipment. The hands-on defensive driver training course was developed to demonstrate crash avoidance maneuvers, skid capability, vehicle control, braking exercises and new car autonomous technologies.

Survive the Drive presentations can be scheduled as a single assembly or as an accompanying presentation that will focus on each student’s competence and the desire to be their “Best Behind the Wheel.”

05 Aug

Special Memories as duPont Family Members Prepare Historic Automobiles for Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance August 16

The Riegel family with their 1931 duPont Model H Sport Phaeton at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

PEBBLE BEACH, CA – Richard “Dicky” Riegel III, a member of the duPont family, has a strong first memory of the only duPont Model H in existence. As he and friends emerged from their first grade classroom, his grinning father awaited him in the one-of-a-kind car.

“Dad’s enthusiasm and love for cars was infectious,” says Dicky. “Dad wasn’t always a man of many words, but you wanted to be with him because you could sense how much he appreciated the vehicles he was around—which immediately sank into me. My early love of cars was inevitable, unavoidable.”

Dicky’s father, the late Richard “Jerry” Riegel Jr., bought the 1931 duPont Model H Sport Phaeton in 1962, and after driving it for decades he restored it for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2005. There, it was First in Class and Most Elegant Open Car—an award often just a step away from Best of Show.

“This was one of the defining moments in my father’s life—and my mother, my sister, my wife, my son and daughter, and I were all there to share that super moment with him,” says Dicky. “I can say with a high level of certainty, the Phaeton will always be a member of our family.”

This year Dicky returns to Pebble Beach with the same Model H, now co-owned with his son Richard. Six other duPont family members will also be bringing their elegant automobiles to the forthcoming Concours on August 16, where duPont is a featured marque.

Only 537 automobiles were created by E. Paul duPont in a short twelve-year span from 1919 to 1931. About 30 remain in existence, and more than half belong to duPont descendants. Whether inheriting a legendary automobile or landing one at an auction, taking ownership of a duPont car has become a rite of passage. The duPonts now strive to keep the marque alive.

The duPont family transformed the early automotive world in many ways. They held leadership roles that helped define the multi-tiered nature of General Motors, they saved Indian motorcycles from an early demise, and their fast-drying paints and modern fabrics decorated classic cars from a multitude of marques. Their automotive legacy continues on in the world and in the lives of many duPonts today.

Automotive enthusiasts from around the world will flock to California’s Monterey Peninsula the second week of August, culminating with the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, August 16. As usual, several events will take place across multiple days, including auctions, historic races, art exhibits, and more.

Ferrari is this year’s featured marque. A special class will include examples of Ferraris that competed in the Pebble Beach road races of the 1950s, a street competition that predated Laguna Seca Raceway on a course that took drivers through the narrow, forested roads near the grounds of the current Concours. The last road race at Pebble Beach was in 1956, when driver Ernie McAfee fatally crashed his Ferrari into a tree.

1949 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta

The days of competitive street racing at Pebble Beach are gone, but spectators will have the chance to see many of the Concours d’Elegance entrants in action on Thursday, August 13, driving down a route that spans 17-Mile Drive and a portion of Highway 1.

Besides a collection of cars that bear the DuPont nameplate, this year will also feature designs by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring, postwar examples of cars built by America’s Cup racer Briggs Cunningham, and early vehicles by Pope, a Hartford CT based bicycle manufacturer that experimented with several models, including electric vehicles.

27 Jul

Four significant M-B competition cars confirmed for Historic Festival 33 at Lime Rock Sept. 3-7

Lakeville, CT – Competition cars from Mercedes-Benz will be the stars of Lime Rock Park’s Historic Festival 33, September 3-7, 2015. Event Chairman Murray Smith has confirmed the presence of four outstanding race cars:

From the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Stuttgart, Germany

The “722” 300 SLR driven to victory by Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson in the 1955 Mille Miglia
A 1954/55 W196 Silver Arrow grand prix car

From The Revs Institute, Naples, Fla.

1939 W154 Silver Arrow grand prix car
1914 Mercedes grand prix car (French G.P.)

Smith is currently in conversation with additional entities regarding other rare and significant Mercedes-Benz competition cars; announcements to follow.

• Historic Festival 33’s Honored Guests are Sir Stirling Moss and racing legend Jochen Mass, Mercedes-Benz Classic Center driver

• The Honored Collector for Sunday in the Park 2015 is Jim Taylor, of Gloversville, N.Y. Jim’s unique perspective focuses heavily on collecting “survivors” – cars that show their history and wear it proudly, and aren’t always washed much less restored – as well as eclectic, special cars with significant character. Among the cars Mr. Taylor is bringing to Historic Festival 33 are:

“The Evangel,” a 1935 Ford V8 “gospel truck”
1937 Horch 853A Cabriolet
1953 Allard J2X Le Mans
1964 AC Cobra (289 – CSX 2171)
1958 AC Ace Bristol
1962 Chevrolet Corvair wagon (with special factory 4-speed manual transmission)
1932 Ford hot rod

• The Honored Motorcycle Collector for Sunday in the Park 2015 is Rob Iannucci – Team Obsolete – of Brooklyn, N.Y. Rob Iannucci is one of the great stewards of the vintage motorcycle racing community in North America and internationally. Through his racing organization, Team Obsolete, he has participated in and won most of the important vintage motorcycle racing events in the world. Mr. Iannucci’s collection primarily focuses on bikes from Matchless and AJS, with a sprinkling of racing Harleys and other two-wheeled masterpieces. Not just any bikes, these are some of the most famous racing bikes in the world coming to Lime Rock Park.

1954 AJS 7R3 “Triple Knocker,” ex-Rod Coleman, 1954 Isle of Man TT winner
1959 Matchless G-50 #1709, ex-Al Gunter
1969 Arter G-50 “Wagon Wheels”
1967 MV Agusta 500/3; this is one of the legendary “triples” used by Giacomo Agostini to win 13 of his 15 F.I.M. World Championships… The Ultimate!
1972 Harley Davidson 750 XRTT – Cal Rayborn’s last and best XR750TT… The Holy Grail of all the XR 750TT Harleys

• New... Sunday in the Park is now accepting post-1985 cars in select classes to spotlight modern marvels (click here) to see the complete class list, some of which have post-1985 divisions)

• Lime Rock Park has made a multi-million dollar investment in its infrastructure as part of the Road to 60 Project. The facility is now substantially improved as compared to 2014 and prior. Rebuilt and/or all-new include: Paddocks, restrooms, viewing areas, walkways, landscaping, Wi-Fi system, PA system and more.

Find more information at www.limerockhistorics.com

16 Jul

Misselwood Concours enters its 6th year July 25 – 26

Beverly. MA – In 2010, the launch of a Concours d’Elegance show on Boston’s historic North Shore area was welcomed with great enthusiasm and excitement. Since then, thousands of people have roamed the Misselwood Estate to explore the magnificent display of antique cars and motorcycles, each significant in their own field. While concours car owners consider the spectacular oceanfront setting to be the Pebble Beach of the East Coast, the sloping lawns, hidden corners and manicured landscaping make for one of the most scenic concours shows in America if not the world.

Concours d’Elegance shows date back to the 17th century, whereby horse-drawn carriages paraded in the parks of Paris. Over time, these carriages were replaced by horse powered automobiles to be judged on their appearance in a “concourse of elegance”. The Misselwood Concours d’Elegance honors that tradition, as cars and motorcycles compete for various Best in Class awards, and ultimately for the coveted Best of Show Award. In 2014, the top-honors were given to a 1914 Locomobile Model 48 Berline, owned by Pebble Beach and Amelia Island judge Bill Alley. Alley is a former Olympian and a retired mechanical engineer who is committed to the preservation and history of the early automobile. For a full list of the 2014 award winners, please click here.

While the awards reflect the true uniqueness of the participating vehicles, it is gratifying that funds raised by tickets sales of the Misselwood Concours d’Elegance are dedicated directly towards student scholarships, providing current and future students the opportunity to start or successfully finish their educational dreams at Endicott College. Linking classic cars and motorcycles with supporting young adults in their pursuit of a college degree makes the Misselwood Concours d’Elegance truly distinctive.

Those not yet familiar with this region of New England should come and discover the history, traditions and rich heritage of the area and explore everything from scenic route 127, to Beverly, Salem, Gloucester andr Cape Ann. The area of the concours was often referred to as the “Gold Coast”, and became a summer destination for wealthy Bostonians and New Yorkers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Set in this idyllic backdrop, literally at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean the Concours celebrates its 6th anniversary on Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26, 2015 and the organizers look forward to welcoming back show car owners and classic car lovers to this beautiful setting in coastal Massachusetts.

1910 Oakland overlooking the Atlantic Ocean

1932 Duesenberg owned by Fred Duesenberg himself

Story & photos courtesy of Misselwood Concours d’Elegance

28 Jun

NEAM Father’s Day Car Show – 2015 Award Winners

People’s Choice Award
– 1st Place ’58 Jaguar XK-150, David Porter
– Runner Up ’68 Mustang Custom, Casey O’Neill

Mayor’s Choice Award
– ’15 Dodge Brothers Touring, Gwen & Parker Ackley

Best in Show Award
– ’64 Austin-Healey 3000 MkII, Ryan Ledwith

Malcom S. Pray Jr. Foundation Award
– ’25 Ford Model T Coupe, Peggy & Don Morey

Bob Sharp Award
– Pray Museum Dune Buggy, Jerry Cotrone

Lime Rock Park Award
– ’55 Porsche Spyder Replica, Al Baran

McMahon Ford Award
– ’66 Mustang Convertible, Al Muska

Coachmen Car Club Trophy
– ’58 Jaguar XK-150, David Porter

Connecticut Seaport Car Club Award
– ’54 Lincoln Capri, Allan Wilcox

Charles England Award
– ’59 Triumph TR-3B, Russ Jones

Hagerty Insurance Award
– ’68 Mustang 428 Cobra Jet, Vinny Lyons

Designed Sound Award
– ’59 Triumph TR-3B, Russ Jones

Automotive Restorations Award
– ’64 Austin-Healey 3000 MkII, Ryan Ledwith

Dragone Classics Award

– ’56 VW Sunroof, Bic Green

New England Racing Fuels Award
– 55 Ford Custom Fairlane, Frank Colcone

2015-06-21 03.08.01

22 Jun

Sun Shines on Father’s Day Car Show in Norwalk

Jon Hammond with his sons Ben 6 and Dylan 2 enjoy the New England Auto Museum’s Father’s Day car show Sunday at Mathews Park.

Posted: Sunday, June 21, 2015 4:15 pm
By FRANCIS CARR Jr. Hour Staff Writer
link to original article in The Hour

Norwalk, CT - Classic car enthusiasts, antique collectors and spectators gathered for the 10th annual Darien Collectors Car Show for the show’s first year in its new Mathews Park location.

The Darien Collectors Car Show takes place on Father’s Day each year. Despite morning showers that delayed the start of the show, the clouds parted and Mathews Park was crowded with cars and families by noon. Sixteen awards were presented to car owners throughout the day.

Mayor Harry Rilling was on hand to present the Mayor’s Choice award, which went to Parker and Gwen Ackley, of Fairfield, and their 1915 Dodge Brothers Touring Car, the oldest in the show. “He likes the really old cars,” said Gwen Ackley, noting that the prize was a toss-up between her car and a 1926 Ford Model T owned by Don and Peggy Morey of Norwalk.

The Ackleys, who appeared in period dress, drove their hundred-year-old Dodge from Fairfield to Norwalk on Route 136 in the rain. “When we got to Sherwood Island, the sun came out, and we were like, ‘Yay!'” Gwen Ackley told The Hour.

The Ackleys are history buffs, and live in a house crammed with vintage clothing, Victrolas and old radios. They acquired their car on an excursion to Hoffman’s Barn antique store in Red Hook, N.Y., near the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome where the pair were volunteers. The store owner had placed the car in his store to create ambiance, and was reluctant to sell it.

A week later, the Ackleys returned to inquire again. “This car got so much attention in the shop that it was driving (the owner) crazy,” Gwen Ackley said. The car was theirs. “We were very naïve, but luckily we got a great car.”

One of the event’s featured cars was Vinny Lyons’s 1968 Ford Mustang 238 Cobra Jet, one of only 50 such race cars built by Ford and sent to car dealerships as a promotion. At the time, Lyons was a service manager at Rye Ford in Rye, N.Y., and he began driving the car in drag races to promote his dealership. In 1969, Lyons acquired the car for $1,000, and has continued to race it. Today, Lyons drives in about three races per year, in Beaver Springs, P.A., Lebanon Valley, N.Y. and Englishtown, N.J., Lyons told The Hour.

This year’s car show was a fundraiser for the New England Auto Museum planned for Norwalk, said Auto Museum Marketing Director Nick Ord. Proceeds from car entry fees would go to support museum costs, Ord said.

Fathers, for their part, said they planned to relax and spend time with family. Ben Djiounas and daughter Morgan, 2, said they were enjoying themselves, although Djiounas said he is “not intimately” acquainted with cars or car culture. Djiounas said he planned to barbecue with family later in the day. Eric Brean, “absolutely” a car fan, and daughter Amelia, 4, planned to spend the afternoon relaxing. “We’ll probably go out to lunch, and then go home,” Brean told The Hour.

Hour photos/Matthew Vinci

19 Jun

Darien car show steers in new direction

David Porter of Darien behind the wheel of his 1958 Jaguar XK-150 at his home; Porter will be showing the car at the Darien Collectors’ Father’s Day Car Show at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Park in Norwalk Sunday, June 21,2015. Photo: Martin Cassidy / Hearst Connecticut Media

By Martin B. Cassidy
Darien News Review
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
link to article

It took six months of networking three years ago before David Porter found a 1958 Jaguar XK-150 that hadn’t rusted into oblivion or suffered engine problems.

Porter, a retired financier who lives in Darien, said he bought the car from a United Kingdom-based dealer who found the well-preserved specimen under a tarp in an Illinois garage where it had been parked for more than 40 years.

Porter estimated about only a quarter of the roughly 820 XK-150’s created remain, and many are in poor mechanical condition, he said.

“They tend to be rough cars and they can be in bad shape for driving,” Porter said. “… There are also people who claim that they’ve fully restored cars but they haven’t.”

“I’ve been excited about cars since I was about 2,” Porter said. “My father was a car enthusiast and I remember having a pedal car when I was 4. You tend to feel the interest early. ”

Porter, 63, spent the better part of two days last week getting the Jaguar ready to roll for at the upcoming 10th Annual Darien Collector’s Father’s Day Car Show, which will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk, on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21. The registration fees for the cars on display will go toward establishing a New England Auto Museum in Norwalk.

The car show was previously held at Tilley Pond Park in Darien, which the show has outgrown, said Darien resident Nicholas Ord, a principal board member of the New England Auto Museum effort.

“(The show) is getting bigger and there is a lot more opportunity to make the show bigger in Lockwood Mathews, plus we’re establishing more of a presence in Norwalk,” Ord said.
While also a professional racer of vintage cars, Porter said car shows offer the fulfillment of being able to share a bit of beauty and industrial history.

Certain aspects of getting the car looking its best are tedious, such as polishing the 60 chrome spokes on each of the Jaguar’s tires, Porter said. But sharing the car in its restored glory gives Porter a sense he is fostering a historical appreciation for automotive history.

“These cars and others like it should be seen,” Porter said of the Jaguar. “There are so few of them left, especially in this condition.”

Ord said last week about 40 to 50 owners had registered cars for the show, a number that could jump significantly in the days leading to the show.

The non-profit effort launched in 2008 to establish a New England automobile museum is gaining momentum, Ord said, with the group fundraising for a $65,000 market study on whether a Norwalk museum celebrating Connecticut’s role in automotive history is feasible.
Last week the group received a grant for $13,000 from the City of Norwalk toward the study, and Ord said the group is focusing on building the future museum at 24 Belden Ave., the former site of the Norwalk Mall.

The New England Auto Museum would including rotating exhibits with up to 100 automobiles, historical displays about Connecticut’s history in the automotive industry, and an automotive technology academy in conjunction with Norwalk Community College and the Norwalk Public Schools.

“We’ve been looking in Norwalk now for almost three years and it is our favored location,” Ord said.

In most years, Porter will show the Jaguar at half dozen or more events throughout the region, including at the Lime Rock Raceway in Lakeville.

Last year, Porter raced in the Classic 24 Daytona race, which runs a full day pitting cars with a racing history from eras as far back as the 1960s against each other in a test of automotive endurance. Porter spent part of the race behind the wheel of a 2005 Pescarolo Judd, racing against other cars from the last decade.

The Pescarolo finished fourth in the race overall, after bouncing back from an accident early in the race, Porter said.

“It was an amazing feeling being underneath the lights at Daytona at 4:30 a.m. in the morning,” Porter said.

Admission to the show will be free for visitors, but a donation to the New England Auto Museum is requested. Anyone interested in showing a car can pre-register online at with the fee being $10 per car. More details about the show at www.neautomuseum.org.

05 Jun

Crowd Favorite ’68 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet Returning to Father’s Day Car Show in Norwalk June 21st

Photo Mustang 360

Norwalk, CT – Ask any knowledgeable Blue Oval enthusiast to name the quickest pure-production Mustang of the muscle car era, and most will say the 1968 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet.

It was based on the staid 428-cid big-car engine, but had larger valve heads and the race-brewed 427’s intake manifold. It also had ram-air induction and a functional hood scoop. The scoop mated to a special air cleaner with a vacuum-actuated butterfly valve that funneled air directly into the 735-cfm Holley four-barrel carburetor. Output was around 410 horsepower, but Ford rated it at 335 horsepower in an effort to calm insurance agents and con dragstrip rules-makers.

With 11.5-second ETs at 120 mph, the factory team of eight specially prepared 1968 Ford Mustang 428 CJs obliterated everything in their Super Stock class at the ’68 NHRA Winternationals. The impact was no less forceful on the street. “The entire world will come to recognize this engine — the 428 Cobra Jet — at the pop of a hood,” declared Motor Trend. Finally, thanks to the 1968 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet, the competition was chasing Mustang’s tail.

Ford Factory Team, 1968 NHRA Winternationals, Pomona, CA
Gas Ronda (992), Jerry Harvey (983), Hubert Platt (984), and Don Nicholson (987)

The 428 Cobra Jet was born of Bob Tasca’s desire to win. Bob Tasca needs little introduction with longtime Ford buffs. But if you’re just tuning in, Bob Tasca’s Ford dealership in Providence, RI (now Tasca Automotive Group),was quite active in drag racing back in the ’60s. In his desire to win, it’s safe to say that Bob pioneered the 428 Cobra Jet V-8 using off-the-shelf parts from the Ford parts bin.

Ford Motor Company took Bob’s idea and further developed it with a stronger block, similar head castings, and a more aggressive hydraulic lifter camshaft to conceive the 428 Cobra Jet. What hurt the Cobra Jet’s development was an ugly United Auto Workers strike that shut down Ford during the fall of ’67. Development of the Cobra Jet didn’t really get underway until December of that year, with the production of a couple of Mustang test mules, then the limited-production run of 50 Wimbledon White fastbacks produced strictly for NHRA competition. Some of those fastbacks were shipped to professional drag racers, such as “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Hubert Platt, and Gas Ronda, as an opening salvo for the ’68 season. These gentlemen went to the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona with their fastbacks and earned Ford some respect.

#37 of the 50 factory Cobra Jet 428 drag racers was shipped to Rye Ford in Rye, NY as a promotional vehicle to create showroom traffic. This car was purchased by Vinny Lyons of Port Chester, NY who has owned and raced the car from new right up to the present day in vintage events.

Vinny’s Mustang has been a popular featured show car at the Darien Collectors Car Show, now celebrating its 10th anniversary on Father’s Day, June 21st and moving to Norwalk’s Mathews Park, at 295 West Avenue (near the intersection of I-95 and Route 7).

The event will be held from 10AM-3PM and will offer hundreds of unique cars to view. Admission to the event is free to spectators; a donation will be encouraged and proceeds will go towards the New England Auto Museum’s building and education funds. The New England Auto Museum is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

Come out and enjoy an afternoon of classic cars in all shapes and sizes, talk with the owners, be a judge and select your favorite car, grab a bite to eat and even visit the Stepping Stones Children’s Museum and the historic Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, right next door. It’s a great afternoon for Dad and the whole family!