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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
Offline
I have found that there is always a surprise at some of these vintage events.
At a previous event (at Summit Point), we ran into a fellow who was racing a real (not replica) Sebring Sprite. That's rare enough, but this car was <span style="font-style: italic">Graham Hill's</span> old Sebring Sprite. It was neat to be out on the track with this rare car. I have a poor-quality video of the car from my in-car camera ~HERE~
This time at the New Hampshire Vintage, we attended the Saturday night dinner at a local restaurant with about 50 other racers.
We got chatting in the drinks line with a nice couple and they asked if we'd like to sit with them. So we sit down with Pete and Joanne McManus.
Naturally, over dinner we are talking cars. Joanne is telling us how she was afraid to drive the tow vehicle to a race. But after she gave it a try, it was easy. Linda has never driven our van while towing, but now she wants to give it a try. Joanne is my new best-friend!
Pete asks about my car and I tell him about my dash wiring going up in smoke during a practice session.
( see ~The End of This Video~ to view the "smoke escaping").
He laughs and recounts about some of his Brit car experiences.
He says his car doesn't have any of the original Brit wiring left.
So I ask which car is his?
His car is the Ardent Alligator!
This is the exact car that Miles Collier drove to victory in the 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, beating Briggs Cunningham in a 166 Ferrari.
The car is modified Brooklands Riley with the 1100 cc Riley engine pulled out and replaced with an American flathead Mercury V8. It is an amazing and important part of American racing history.
Despite their famous car, the McManus' are very ordinary and down-to-earth, and they are just as happy to chat about my Spridget as their car.
Later, with the help of Google, I find that the car has been featured in the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen and has won numerous awards at various shows.
But Pete's also out there racing it with the rest of us (until it blew a head gasket).
Pete and Joanne also own a 1934 Railton, a V12 Packard and some other interesting stuff.
More about ~The Ardent Alligator Here~
Here's Joanne cleaning the Alligator after a session.
At a previous event (at Summit Point), we ran into a fellow who was racing a real (not replica) Sebring Sprite. That's rare enough, but this car was <span style="font-style: italic">Graham Hill's</span> old Sebring Sprite. It was neat to be out on the track with this rare car. I have a poor-quality video of the car from my in-car camera ~HERE~
This time at the New Hampshire Vintage, we attended the Saturday night dinner at a local restaurant with about 50 other racers.
We got chatting in the drinks line with a nice couple and they asked if we'd like to sit with them. So we sit down with Pete and Joanne McManus.
Naturally, over dinner we are talking cars. Joanne is telling us how she was afraid to drive the tow vehicle to a race. But after she gave it a try, it was easy. Linda has never driven our van while towing, but now she wants to give it a try. Joanne is my new best-friend!
Pete asks about my car and I tell him about my dash wiring going up in smoke during a practice session.
( see ~The End of This Video~ to view the "smoke escaping").
He laughs and recounts about some of his Brit car experiences.
He says his car doesn't have any of the original Brit wiring left.
So I ask which car is his?
His car is the Ardent Alligator!
This is the exact car that Miles Collier drove to victory in the 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, beating Briggs Cunningham in a 166 Ferrari.
The car is modified Brooklands Riley with the 1100 cc Riley engine pulled out and replaced with an American flathead Mercury V8. It is an amazing and important part of American racing history.
Despite their famous car, the McManus' are very ordinary and down-to-earth, and they are just as happy to chat about my Spridget as their car.
Later, with the help of Google, I find that the car has been featured in the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen and has won numerous awards at various shows.
But Pete's also out there racing it with the rest of us (until it blew a head gasket).
Pete and Joanne also own a 1934 Railton, a V12 Packard and some other interesting stuff.
More about ~The Ardent Alligator Here~
Here's Joanne cleaning the Alligator after a session.