This year the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated its 50th anniversary, making it one of the longest-running vintage motorsport events in the world.
The following 10 (actually 11) vehicles were our favorite discoveries in the paddock area during the event.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion has its origins in a vintage racing weekend organized by Steve Earle at the Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey in California in 1974. Vintage racing was still in its infancy at the time, and Earle developed a series of races that would put the cars and their drivers through their paces, usually without any accidents or injuries.
Interestingly, Laguna Seca was built to provide a safe racetrack to replace the tree-lined 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach which had been used as a European-style road racing circuit in the 1950s. Sadly, the close proximity of the large pine trees to the road made it dangerous, and the death of driver Ernie McAfee in a Ferrari 121 LM in 1956 sealed the fate of the 17-Mile Drive races.
Laguna Seca would be built nearby a year later in 1957, and it would quickly become one of the most important tracks in the United States. Steve Earle’s vintage racing series at Laguna Seca would be called the Monterey Historics until 2010, at which point it was renamed the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
The 50th anniversary of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion took place this year and Silodrome was in attendance, along with our friends from Undiscovered Classics and The Bad Blonde. The racing is hard-fought and various classes exist for cars dating to well over 100 years old right the way through to 1980s-era Formula 1 cars.
This post showcases our favorite discoveries in the paddock area where attendees are free to roam and see the cars up close, talk to the owners and drivers, and watch as the vehicle are prepared to race. Perhaps the two most notable drivers of the day were Ford CEO Jim Farley and McLaren CEO Zack Brown – both of whom are known within the community as skilled and competitive drivers in their own right.
The WD Denzel – This is a rare WD Denzel, a sports car developed by Wolfgang Denzel. Much like early Porsches, the Denzel used many uprated Volkswagen parts. Approximately 300 examples of the WD Denzel would be made, the most famous of which won its class in the 1954 Alpine Rally.
The Shelby Cobra – The man standing next to the car on the right there is Ford CEO Jim Farley, he’s giving a TV interview between races. The Cobra belongs to him and he’s made quite a name for himself racing it at tracks across the country, often finishing up on the podium.
The Warrior Bristol – This car was originally a Cooper-Bristol that was badly damaged in an accident. It was then rebuilt with a new aluminum body and renamed the Warrior Bristol after the owner’s company – the Warrior Tap Tools and Die Company.
The Bocar XP-5 – This car was developed by American racer and low-volume automaker Bob Carnes in the late 1950s. He wanted an American-made sports car that would be faster than his modified Jaguar XK120, and he succeeded. A number of teams used a line to secure the marquee roof to the car, presumably because the car is heavy, and if the wind gets strong enough to carry away both the roof and the car then racing is done for the day anyway.
The Lexington Minute Man Six – This is the car that won the 1st Pikes Peak Hillclimb in 1920 with driver Otto Loesche at the wheel. After the race the car was given a freshen up and sent on a tour of the United States, with Otto at the wheel, to promote the company.
The Bobsy SR3 – This car is based on a triangulated aluminum tube chassis which was renowned for its lightness when compared to similar steel chassis. It’s powered by the Porsche 901 engine, but has a unique in-house designed aluminum suspension system, and an aerodynamic fiberglass body. The car is said to be highly competitive, and it weighs in at just over 1,000 lbs.
The Bob Estes Mercury Cougar – This car is said to have been originally bought by a secretary who traded it back in after not liking it. It was then transformed by former Shelby employee Bernie Kretzschmar into a race car, using many tricks that had been applied to the Shelby GT350. The car would win a slew of races, becoming one of the most successful racing Mercury Cougar’s of the time.
The Greenwood Corvette – Greenwood Corvettes were built by American brothers Burt and John Greenwood, they significantly modified the cars with wider bodywork, uprated chassis, beefier brakes, and vastly more powerful drivetrains. Greenwood Corvettes would compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and many more smaller events coast to coast.
The Alfa Romeo 8C Berlinetta Aerodinamica – This car was designed and built by Alfa Romeo to compete in the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans. It would later race in the 1940 Mille Miglia where it finished 4th overall. During WWII its original body was removed and its history was lost for many years, it was eventually rediscovered and rebodied to its original specification.
The Ginetta G4R – Known as “the giant killer,” the Ginetta G4R is the motorsport version of the Ginetta G4. It has a stiff tubular steel chassis, a lightweight fiberglass body, independent front and rear suspension, four wheel disc brakes, a twin cam four-cylinder engine, and a curb weight of just 454 kgs or 1,000 lbs.
Honorable Mention: A Stroppe Baja Ford Bronco – Bill Stroppe made a name for himself building some of the fastest and most successful desert racing Broncos of the 1970s. He would later work with Ford to develop a tougher version of the Bronco that people could buy from their local Ford dealer. Known as the Stroppe Baja Bronco these 4x4s are now among the most collectible original Broncos that money can buy.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
