A Cunningham extravaganza and the rarest of Ferraris steal the show
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (Sept. 2) – Lime Rock Park’s “Sunday in the Park” Concours saw the first Ferrari to reach American shores win Best of Show honors from a field of 248 entrants in 29 classes. The 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa, presented by Miles Collier of the Revs Institute, crossed the podium driven by noted restorer Paul Russell and was handed the Best of Show trophy and a Frédérique Constant Genève Healey watch.
Other notable winners include a spectacular 1930 Aston Martin International in the “Risky But Racy – competition machines of merit pre-1945,” presented by Richard and Philip Rader of Briarcliff, N.Y.; a rare and valuable 1967 Shelby-prepped Toyota 2000 GT (Bob Tkacik, Saco, Maine) from the “Speed & Style – GT Cars 1965-1970” category; and a 1964 Ferrari Lusso owned by Roger Werner of Greenwich, Conn., winning the “Businessmen’s Express,” GT cars 1960-1965” class.
A major highlight of this year’s Sunday in the Park was the presence of nearly half of the street Cunninghams built (25). Eleven C3s (including two cabriolets), plus three race cars, were on the property. Cunningham’s daughter Lucie McKinney and Briggs III were here all weekend, too.
It was the largest gathering ever of Cunningham cars in one place at one time. .
Chuck Schoendorf’s C3 Coupe (s/n 5214) won the “Briggs’ Babies” class, while the C3 Coupe (s/n 5209) owned by Leslie Lockard was the Cunningham chosen by Briggs’ daughter herself – Lucie McKinney – for her special award. Then Lucie was awarded Classic & Sports Car Magazine’s “Editor’s Choice” trophy for her own C3 Coupe (s/n 5223), which she’s owned since new.
Yet another Cunningham-related car won the “Road & Track Magazine Car We’d Most Like to Drive” award: the 1960 Chevy Corvette that won its class (GT 5.0) at Le Mans, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman, the car run by Cunningham’s race team.
Another major highlight was the collection of cars brought by Lawrence Auriana. His group of vehicles (listed below) was so impressive that the organizers presented Auriana with a special trophy recognizing the whole lot. Auriana himself was given the opportunity to choose his favourite entrant to award the “Auriana’s Apple” award: he chose the 1951 Cisitalia 202 SC owned by Andrew Benenson of Darien, Conn.
Lime Rock Park President Skip Barber said this was the best group of concours cars he’d ever seen at Lime Rock.
Werner, no stranger to the vintage and historic universe, told Barber, “I’ve never seen a finer gathering on the East Coast in my life.”