What’s all this—hay bales stacked infront of utility poles, fire hydrants,
and parking meters? Behind miles of snowfencing are thousands of people and in onearea are drivers and mechanics working onpriceless cars under the shade of mightyoaks. Mix in 22 turns and 17 elevationchanges over 2.3 miles of uneven citystreets, a few of these miles lined withimmovable stonewalls and what you have isthe Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, avintage-racing event like no other.
Since 1983, they have been racingthrough the park that was created in 1889when Mary Schenley donated the land withthe stipulation that there would be no chargefor using it. In keeping with tradition, the250,000 visitors to the PVGP are admittedfree to the biggest vintage street race inAmerica. The City of Pittsburgh allowed thePVGP use of Schenley Park as long as theevent raised money for charity. During thepast 30 years, to that end the PVGP hasraised $3.2 million for the Autism Society ofPittsburgh and Allegheny Valley School.
The Schenley Park race weekend is theconclusion of a 10-day festival of races, carsshows and parades. The first racing eventtakes place the weekend prior at thePittsburgh International Race Complex, amodern road course in nearby Beaver Falls.The Vintage Racer Group (VRG) organizesthat weekend of racing and donated$10,000 to help celebrate their 10 years ofinvolvement. The Marque of the Year wasthe Mustang and this event featured morethan a few from the glory days of the SCCA
The dedication ofvolunteers and the allureof the PVGP make the31st annual event atremendous success.STORY ANDPHOTOGRAPHY BYBILL STOLER.
Life’s aLark atSchenleyPark
PVGP Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Association
Michael Stein rips along inhis ’56 Austin-Healey 100-4.
Garrett Van Camp’s ’54 Davis SpecialRoadster was looking good.
Dick Snyder’s ’59 Porsche356A has Scott David Janzen’s’68 Triumph GT6 and other
Trans-Am. In addition, a 2014 Jaguar F-Type served as the pace car for the event.
A new event was added to Saturday’slineup this year. The British Heritage Cup,sponsored by The Roadster Factory, featureda field of MGs and Triumphs racing for achance to hoist the silver cup. Pittsburgh’sMichael Zappa had a great start in his ’62MGB and went on to capture a victory overMichael Barstow who was racing a ’53 MGTD. Zappa took his victory lap waving a“Terrible Towel.” The late Steelers broadcasterMyron Cope inspired the famed towel—aPittsburgh Steelers fantradition. An autism awarenessadvocate, Cope was one of theoriginal founders of the PVGP.
Winners Circle FeatureRaces (eight laps each) gotunderway on Sunday withSports Cars over 2.0 liters. BobLeitzinger in his ’65 Lotus 26Rwon, setting a new group trackrecord of 2:20.692. Finishing2nd in a ’70 BMW 2002 was Perry Genovawith Todd Hahn finishing 3rd in a ’71Porsche 914/6.
The Select MG-T and Pre-War race wasnext. Manley Ford in a ’52 MG TD grabbedthe lead quickly from pole-sitter MichaelBarstow in a ’53 MG TD. Barstow wouldfinish a very close 2nd, followed by PaulFitzgerald in the ’53 MG TD. In victorycircle, race announcer Ted Sohier stated,“You raced like you wrote the book on thistrack!” Ford has indeed written a guide toracing at Schenley Park, which he offers forsale to rookies and donates the proceeds.Ford indicated in a post-race interview thatwithout the help of his fellow racers, healmost didn’t race on Sunday. His clutch had
Charlie Dolan gives chaseracing his ’57 MGA in
Group 3 action.
Those are big flares onLiam Dwyer’s ’62 Sprite.
A rare machine is Leonard McCue’s ’53 Nash-Healey Le Mans. Nice to see!
Having too much fun is BillSwartz in his ’59 Porsche
exploded on Saturday and his rivals pitchedin overnight with parts and labor so hecould race. Vintage racing is about so muchmore than the cars.
Prewar group action also featured somevery rare cars at Schenley Park, including a’28 Riley Brooklands driven by Ray Morgan.Leonard McCue piloted a rare ’53 Nash-Healey Le Mans to a 10th-place finish. TonyParella was a crowd favorite in his beautifulblack and red ’34 Chevrolet Indy racer.
The Under 2.0-liter Production andPreservation Class was the feel-goodmoment of the weekend. In May of 2011,Sgt. Liam Dwyer, of Southbury CT wasseverely wounded by an IED while servingin Afghanistan. The Wounded Warriorultimately lost his left leg above the kneeand suffered major damage to his right legand arm. Driving a ’62 Austin-Healey Spriteowned by fellow racer David Thomas, Sgt.Dwyer captured the win. However, itwouldn’t be easy.
After struggling with an electricalproblem and a broken axle in Saturdaypractice, Sgt. Dwyer took to the track forqualifying, only to find problems with hisbrakes, qualifying 8th. Repairs were finishedonly moments before the call to grid. Forthe first time all weekend, the car was at fullsong, allowing Liam to go from 8th startingspot to 3rd by the end of lap 1. It wouldtake a few more laps to chase down theleaders, and Dwyer took the lead on lap 4.
Finishing 2nd was Steven Hirschtritt in a ’65Austin-Healey Sprite followed by DougBruce in his ’59 Austin-Healey Bugeye.
In the Production Cars Under 1.5 litersBuilt Before 1975 race, Chris Meyerscaptured the top spot in his ’57 MGAfollowed by Nate Scigliano in a colorful ’59Elva Courier. Mark Palmer’s ’57 MGAfinished 3rd.
The always entertaining Sports carsUnder 2.0 Liters group saw RickMaloumian Jr. capture the win and set agroup track record of 2:21.51. His ’56Austin-Healey 100-4 ran great throughoutthe race. Finishing 2nd in his first visit toSchenley Park was Dr. Lee Talbot, just a fewdays shy of his 82nd birthday. Talbot is nostranger to sports car racing and a legend inthese parts. Finishing 3rd was MichaelZappa in his ’62 MGB.
The Vintage Sport Racers and FormulaCar group was won by Miles Whitlock in aLotus Formula Jr. over the ’62 Lotus SuperSeven of Dr. James Smith. Finishing 3rd wasthe ’62 Lotus 23B of Darren Mann.
The 2014 PVGP Marque of the Year willbe Mini. Visit pvgp.org for news andupdates leading to next year’s event.
experienced some health issues andwouldn’t be able to compete. He offeredthe car to his friend, Mark Maehling ofPittsburgh. But there was a smallproblem—the car was in pieces. Maehlingreassembled the car in time for the 2002PVGP, qualified 3rd and was running 2ndbefore overheating issues ended his day. The best finish for the team would bethe 2005 SVRA event at Watkins Glen,capturing the pole and finishing 2nd. Butseveral days after returning home toPittsburgh, the car and trailer weredamaged by flood waters from HurricaneIvan. As a result, the car would undergoanother complete restoration. Like so many vintage racers, the teamof Maehling and Jones have no plans ongiving up. They continue to gather spareparts from all over the world andfabricate what they can’t find. Look for this most unusual AbarthScorpione SS to continue navigating thestone walls of Schenley Park in pursuit ofa top spot on the podium for many yearsto come.
A familiar sight at the PittsburghVintage Grand Prix is the 1969 AbarthScorpione SS owned by Mark Maehlingand Kirk Jones. One of only five builtby the legendary Karl Abarth, it isbelieved that only three survive andthis is the only one still competingregularly on racetracks. The rear engine/rear wheel driveAbarth is powered by a 100hp Fiat 124engine outfitted with twin Webercarburetors. It has a Fiat 850 4-speedgearbox, disc brakes, and independentcoil over suspension. Logbooks indicate that the car wasraced in Germany during the 1970s and’80s before competing at Sears PointRaceway in 1990. After 1990 the owner decided tooffer the car for sale. But not just toanyone. An ad was placed indicatingprospective buyers would beinterviewed, and the owner select abuyer from the proposals. The new owner competed at thePVGP several times, but in 2002
PICK OF THE LITER 1969 Abarth Scorpione SS
Beautifully prepared was LeonardMcCue’s pristine ’59 MGA Coupe.
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