Category: Race Cars

Dear All,

The 70th Anniversary celebration of the Pebble Beach Road Races and Concours d’Elegance kicked off with a press conference in the Concours Village before the start of the annual Tour d’Elegance.  The backdrop was all 5 of the Pebble Beach Road Races winners positioned in front of our 50 foot Celebration Display.  Sandra Button, CEO of the Concours opened this year’s event.  Derek Hill, Phil’s son, moderated and spoke of his father’s recollections of the inaugural 1950 race and his win in the Jaguar XK-120.  Robert Devlin, motorsport historian, continued with details about the Pollack Allard J2 (’51, 52), Hill Ferrari 250 MM (’53), Edwards Ferrari 375 MM (’54), and the Hill and Shelby Ferrari 750 Monza (’55,’56) as well as commentary on the historical importance of those early road races.

We created two sets of Celebration Displays, the first for the Concours d’Elegance.  The second was located in the Rolex Monterey Historic Reunion exhibit area at Laguna Seca.  The Pebble Beach Road Races winners were on display in front of it on Saturday. They did a few demonstration laps at the lunch break and riding in the #14 Allard was driver Bill Pollack’s daughter Mellette.

Our Paddock Rows J and I were again a rolling museum exhibit of early 1950’s motorsports history in California. We displayed a late 1940’s Kurtis Kraft Midget, the dominant local oval track attraction during and immediately after WWII.  Also the Baldwin Payne Special, one of the first hot rods built as a sports car in the late 1940’s for Southern California drag races, hill climbs and speed events, prior to the first road races in 1950.  We had an extraordinary display of our early 1950’s imported and domestic sports cars.  The two-time Pebble Beach winning Ferrari sports racer and the Devin Chevrolet Special closed our era in period, and demonstrated where the sport would be headed.

Our Race Group 4A track sessions were well fought, exciting racing.  Pollack, Hill or Shelby didn’t drive those cars any harder when they were new than we drove them last weekend, 70 years later! All that great racing in a respectful, no contact experience: that’s what fun on a race track in a great old car is all about.  The track announcers were very well informed this year and demonstrated their skill and interest in our cars in each of the 4 sessions. These were also live streamed over the internet and followed closely by our many friends and fans who couldn’t attend this year.  While the live stream commentators were ill informed and apparently uninterested, the track announcers can be heard in the background. You can still watch it at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M40SjhDf74 and race 2 starts at about 6 hours 22 minutes in)

Marcus Bicknell was following the streaming cast in England and doing simultaneous written reports of each race.  Here are the links to the correct page of our web site.  These are not to be missed!
Race 1: http://www.dmtrg.com/race1-report-14-august-2021-monterey-reunion/
Race 2: http://www.dmtrg.com/monterey-race-2-report-14-august-2021/

Photo by Jim Rose courtesy of Celac Colvert, editor of Victory Lane.
Buddenbaum, Manson, Streets in Race 2.

Our web site also carries pieces on the Huffaker Healey, the descendants of the original Pebble Beach drivers, the 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti Spyder, the article on us in Victory Lane, and the 1956 Cleary Crosley Special, all available by scrolling down http://www.dmtrg.com/category/news/

There were daily posting on each of the cars and drivers in Race Group 4A on our FaceBook page (https://www.facebook.com/MontereySportsCarRoadRacers)  prior to Thursday the 12th.  Also posted are many glorious photos taken during the event by Colin Warnes, our illustrious DMTRG photographer, David Gentry and others.  You might want to check yours out.

We issued 3 Press Releases and others were sent out by the Concours and Reunion press staff. We’ll put together a folder of those and the articles in online and print magazines that they produced.

David Gentry is the artist who did the original artwork of several of our cars, the graphics and the composition of the 70th Celebration Displays, the Rows J and I Information panels and, of course, our Del Monte Trophy Race Group logo.  He is as passionate about our cars and the stories that they tell as we are.  He volunteered his talent and time to create a wonderful presentation for us and for spectators at both the Concours and the Historics..  His web site is www.machinemadness.biz. Please visit it to see more of the extraordinary motorsports art that he creates.  Your car may be there, and if it isn’t ,you may want to commission him to do it.

Our fellow DMTRG Allard racer Jon LeCarner, whose company TotalExpo, Inc. specializes in convention exhibits, did the production and provided the structure for all of the displays.  Their web site is:  www.totalexpo.com

The black and white period photos that we have been privileged to use in the displays and throughout the pits are used by permission of the Julian P. Graham, Pebble Beach Company/ Lagorio Achives.

Each year, at our Del Monte Trophy Race Group gathering, we honor two of our group who have raced and finished; one in the Under 2000cc and one in the Over 2000cc Classes.  Two previous honorees choose this year’s winner.  On our behalf Gregor Magnusson and Kaiden Marouf chose Robert Davis and his Siata 208S as this year’s  Under 2000cc honoree and   John Buddenbaum and James Heth, standing in for Tim Barnes, chose Rob Manson for Over 2000 cc. Their names will be added to the perpetual Del Monte Trophy along with the past winners going back in each Class to 1950.  Congratulations to the honorees and to the selectors!

The Del Monte Trophy Race Group Logo cloth patch should have been received by everyone in Race Group 4A and hopefully is now firmly attached to your race suits.  But…There’s more swag for anyone looking for birthday or Christmas or just everyday stuff with our logo on it.   Any profits are for the DMTRG Project.  Go to:   https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/84120896  

•    Thanks go to everyone in the Race Group for the hard, clean racing and for making this 2021 Historics so much fun.
•    A special shout out goes to Marcus Bicknell in Chalfont St Giles, England, David Gentry in San Francisco and Jon LeCarner in Placencia.  We couldn’t have accomplished all of this year’s projects without their dedicated efforts.
•    Thanks also go out to; Dave Nelson and his initiative to create a cinema house in the bright sunlight of a race track parking lot (“Racing Through The Forrest” has to be one of the only car movies you could want to see twice);
•    to Bill Rooklidge who created the Phil Hill Award for the Jaguar XK-120 that is first to finish (and isn’t the Parkinson).
•    and to Colin Warnes, DMTRG photographer and all around Allard resource.

All the Best, Rob Manson

DEL MONTE TROPHY RACE GROUP
70th Anniversary of the Pebble Beach Road Races

Race 1 report Saturday 14^th August 2021

Our 24 sports racing cars from 1948-1955 rolled up to the start at Laguna Seca at 10h45 on Saturday as the morning mist lifted off the top of the Corkscrew.  In pole position, Rob Manson’s red #9 Kurtis 500S Dodge but the white and blue 1953 Tatum GMC Special driven by one of our most eminent guests, Blake Tatum, son of the car’s creator Chuck Tatum and a well-known racer, Editor of “The Wheel’ and Board Member of the Northern California Region of the SCCA, out-dragged him over the top of the hill. The other big bore V8 Californian road racers were line astern…, Skip Streets in the yellow #15 Streets Manning Special (son of the car’s co-builder John Streets), John Buddenbaum in the white #3 Jaguar Parkinson Special and Don (‘Slim’) Pepperdene in the dark blue #77 blue Baldwin Mercury Special.

But John “quick-start” Buddenbaum was not going to stay in grid order exiting the Turn 2 hairpin a few hundred yards later.  He turned tighter than Tatum and it was he who emerged in the lead heading for Turn 3 for the first time. Rob Manson, Skip Streets and Slim Pepperdene were on their tails. These five cars had already made a small break from #183 Lars Mapstead (Jaguar XK120, sitting admirably high after qualifying), #60 Gregor Magnusson (Porsche 365 Coupe), #51 Stuart Hanssen in his striking alloy-silver #51 Baldwin Special, #13 William Rooklidge (Jaguar XK120) and #63 John Mote (Allard K-2). That was the top ten at the end of lap 1.

All this action was being viewed by me on the live stream, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M40SjhDf74 which you can still access now to have a look yourself.

Lap 2 started with excitement when Blake Tatum took on a pace suited to the multiple Regional Formula Vee Champion which he is, and bustled down the hill through the shallow Turn 1 hot on the gas. Whoops. Hairpin coming. The4-wheel lock-up under braking was a joy to behold for everyone except the car’s owner and blew clouds of rubber smoke into the morning air for 50 yards into Turn 2 and half way round it. The commentators surmised he had blown his engine, such was the smoke, until they saw Tatum continuing to chase after Buddenbaum. Now they settled momentarily and at the end of Lap 2 it was the five big V8 specials in line astern, Buddenbaum, Tatum, Manson, Streets and Pepperdene.  Mapstead, Magnusson, Hanssen, Rooklidge and Mote still made up the top ten. Down the field the battles raged, the order being #33 James Alder 1952 Jaguar XK120 OTS), #72 Leland Osborn (1955 Crosley Shannon Special), #14 Robert Davis (1953 Siata 208S), #55 Kaiden Marouf (1951 MG TD Special), #29 David Nelson (1955 Triumph TR2), #44 Ben Wysard (1952 Porsche Glockler), #1 Bernard Dervieux (1950 Allard J2), #58 James Cleary (1955 Crosley Cleary Special 1), #114 Jean Pierre Molerus (1954 Nichols Panhard Special), #71 Rick Cannon (Cannon Mark 1) and #116 James Smith (1955 Rae Special). #2 Tazio Ottis (white and blue 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza) was trailing at the back due to overheating problems and he retired shortly afterwards. They got it fixed for Race 2 though… read on.

Now we settled down for a couple of laps. By lap 5, Skip Streets in the #15 Manning was wondering whether he could nip by Rob Manson… Streets pushed the Manning along and starting hanging reh back ou under acceleration, especially a leary one on lap 5 at Turn 6 coming up the hill towards the Corckscrew, which drew gasps from the commentators. Blake Tatum had not given up either and by the end of lap 5 he felt that Buddenbaum was waning. Under the bridge on the home straight and Tatum took the lead under braking to Turn 2. All that locking up on Lap 2 at the same place was just a rehearsal. Tatum-Tatum in the lead. Close viewing of Buddenbaum showed that his Jaguar Parkinson was understeering (pushing) on several medium speed corners and by lap 7, Tatum was stretching his lead and Rob Manson in his Kurtis was snapping at Buddenbaum’s heels.

At the end of lap 7 the order was 25, 3, 9, 15, 77, 51, 60, 183, 13, 63, 72, 33, 14, 29, 44, 71, 1, 58, 116 and 114. It looked like #55 Kaiden Marouf (1951 MG TD Special) and #2 Tazio Ottis (white and blue 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza) were no longer running.

Most of the drivers were aiming to complete their 9 laps with a view to having cars in onme piece for the Rolex feature race tomorrow Sunday. Except, that is, Blake Tatum who was having much too much fun in the lead. On the final lap Blake Tatum had a massive lock-up going into the Corkscrew but he kept it together and maintained his 4 second lead over John Buddenbaum, still in second with Manson and Streets in attendance. Pepperdene had dropped off from the top four but was out-of-sight clear from Hanssen, Magnusson and Mapstead.

Blake Tatum brought the Tatum built by his dad home in first place, Buddenbaum hung on for 2^nd ahead of Manson and Streets (photo above). Here’s the finishing order as seen on screen, and subject to official confirmation:

1. #25 Blake Tatum, white and blue 1953 Tatum GMC Special
2. #3 John Buddenbaum, white Jaguar Parkinson Special
3. #9 Rob Manson, red Kurtis 500S Dodge
4. #15 Skip Streets, yellow Streets Manning Special
5. #77 Don (‘Slim’) Pepperdene, dark blue blue Baldwin Mercury Special.
6. #51 Stuart Hanssen in his striking alloy-silver Baldwin Special,
7. #60 Gregor Magnusson (Porsche 365 Coupe),
8. #183 Lars Mapstead (Jaguar XK120),
9. #13 William Rooklidge (Jaguar XK120) and
10. #63 John Mote (Allard K-2).
11. #72 Leland Osborn (1955 Crosley Shannon Special),
12. #33 James Alder 1952 Jaguar XK120 OTS)
13. #14 Robert Davis (1953 Siata 208S),
14. #29 David Nelson (1955 Triumph TR2),
15. #44 Ben Wysard (1952 Porsche Glockler),
16. #71 Rick Cannon (Cannon Mark 1),
17. #1 Bernard Dervieux (1950 Allard J2),
18. #116 James Smith (1955 Rae Special)
19. #58 James Cleary (1955 Crosley Cleary Special 1),

#114 Jean Pierre Molerus (1954 Nichols Panhard Special), #2 Tazio Ottis (white and blue 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza) and #55 Kaiden Marouf (1951 MG TD Special) were not running at the end.  Kevin Pitts in the Jabro #75 and Tommy Trabue in his Denzel 1500 were not seen on the live stream of the race; I will try to bring some more information.

Download the official results in pdf here

More tomorrow. Marcus Bicknell at 21h British Summer Time near London.

Contact:  Rob Manson 831 601 0645 [email protected] on site or Marcus Bicknell +44 7748 111444 or [email protected] for web-site, social media and these reports

For your publication or web-site you may download many period and modern images of these 1950s road-racers at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hz5SYuv48FF_2292kA0St2pd09EYkezx