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California's famed Monterey weekend started with the
Pebble Beach road races back in the early 50s. It has grown
over the last five decades to an event that now lasts more
than two weeks, with the most intense activity the final
weekend. There is so much to see and do that missing it just
because of the crowds shouldn't even be a serious thought.
For racing enthusiasts the Monterey Historics, on the
Laguna Seca circuit, offers some of the best vintage
competition and paddock scrutiny on the planet. Saturday
is usually the biggest day, as many over-stretched enthusiasts
elect to attend the Pebble Beach Concours on Sunday.
Pick the era you love best and go early enough so you can
see the machines at tech on Thursday or practicing on
Friday; then decide which races will provide the best show
and spread a picnic lunch on the hillside overlooking the
famed corkscrew.
Each year the Historic's impresario Steve Earle selects a
marque to honor and this year it was Cooper. Casually one
would not have thought that that relatively obscure English
constructor was in the same league with Ferrari or Porsche
in terms of gate appeal, but they would have been wrong.
The draw from Cooper enthusiasts all over the world was
phenomenal on the grid, and the support from new-era
Mini Cooper enthusiasts was staggering. When marque
owners were invited for the Historics' annual parade lap,
the officials had to shut off the line of Minis entering the
track, as the starting group led the ever-increasing field
completely around the 2.4 mile circuit and half the grid
was still in the paddock!
Sir Jack Brabham was this year's honored guest at the
Historics. The famed racer, a three time World Formula One
Champion – in 1959, 60 and 66 – stood proudly next to the
hastily converted F1 car that he drove in the 1961 Indy 500,
a car which influenced that competition forevermore as
engines subsequently all moved to the rear. Surrounding
him were literally dozens of Cooper formula cars of all
types and sizes including sports racers from the 60s and
even 500cc motorcycle-engined racers from the late 40s and
50s….the cars that Cooper invented and that literally put
England back in the racing game after World War Two.
The racing format starts with the earliest cars running
first. The field is too diverse and covers too many early eras
for any real wheel to wheel competition, but the cars are
fascinating if you have any interest in how we got to where
we are today.
One of this year's stars in the old crock class had to be
George Wingard's early 1922 Delage GP racer with enough
history to fill a book on its exploits. The restoration on this
car, complete with an engine-turned, bare, alloy body was
spectacular. Mark Gilles, who normally drives a ‘34 ERA,
took on the giant-killer role with the race leaders, Peter
Gidding's ‘31 Alfa 8C and Rod Smith in his ERA. Gilles in
a 750cc Austin Seven built in 1935 finished seventh overall,
humbling many giants of the time.
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