The 2009 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix was held July 18-19 at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is unique in America, as it’s the only vintage car race staged on public roads amidst the public 456-acre Schenley Park. The 2.33 mile circuit is comprised of 23 turns, complete with two lane roads, bridges with stone walls, curbs, manhole covers and telephone poles.
The 27th annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix was the largest ever, with record merchandise and parking sales, helped in part by the great weather for every event. Executive Director Dan Delbianco commented, “With the economic situation and many families staying close to home for vacations, we anticipated that the 2009 PVGP would be well attended and we planned for the larger crowds – but the turn-out was even better than we could have hoped for.”
BMW was the featured marque this year and approximately 300 BMW owners took part in the Marque Pavilion at Schenley Park, in addition to a special BMW-only race that was won by Marcus Glarnor in a 1973 2002.
2009 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Results and Picture Gallery (Picture credit, Al Wolford)
Group 1 – Pre-War Cars (7 laps)
1. 1935 Reuter Special “Old Gray Mare,” Ben Bragg, Woburn, MA
2. 1939 MG TB Special, Frank Mount, Caledon, Ontario
3. 1931 Bugatti T37-Ford Special, Sandy Leith, Dedham, MA
Ben Bragg of Woburn, MA finished atop Group 1 with his 1935 Reuter Special named Old Gray Mare
The 1931 Bugatti T37-Ford Special of Sandy Leith defines patina
Group 2 – Post-War Sports Cars Under One Liter (10 laps)
1. 1964 Auto Dynamics Mark I, Keith Lawrence, McMurray, PA
2. 1959 Turner Mk I, Jim Southwood, Wexford, PA
3. 1963 Formcar Formula Vee, Bill Kovick, Canton, OH
Jim Southwood finished second in Group 2 driving his 1959 Turner Mk I
Group 3 – Sports Racers & Formula Cars (11 laps)
1. 1958 Lotus XI, Dick Fryberger, Watertown, MA
2. 1962 Lola Mk I, Bob Gett, Boston, MA
3. 1959 Lotus Seven, George Vapaa, Wilmington, DE
The 1958 Lotus XI of Dick Fryberer won Group 3
1959 Lotus Seven, George Vapaa, Wilmington, DE
Group 4 – Under Two Liter, Pre-1960 (Black flagged after 4 laps)
1. 1958 Elva Courier, Michael Oritt, Solomons, MD
2. 1952 MG TD, Manley Ford, Milford, MI
3. 1951 MG TD, George Shafer, Somerset, PA
Michael Oritt won the black flag-shortened Group 4 race with his 1958 Elva Courier
Group 5 – Over Two Liter, Pre-1960 (10 laps)
1. 1955 Austin-Healey 100M, RJ Mirable, Lower Gwynedd, PA
2. 1959 Devin D, Cliff McCandless, Grove City, PA
3. 1962 Aston Martin DB4, Lawrence Macks, Owings Mills, MD
Group 5 Winning 1955 Austin-Healey 100M of RJ Mirable
Group 6 – Small Bore thru 1965, Modified & H-Production (11 laps)
1. 1961 Elva Mk VII, Tom Grudovich, Palm Beach, FL
2. 1963 Elva Courier Coupe, Stefan Wiesen, Caledon, Ontario
3. 1965 Ginetta G4, Hervey Parke, Waccabuc, NY
Group 6 winner Tom Grudovich corners hard in his 1961 Elva Mk VII
Second place went to Stefan Wiesen driving a 1963 Elva Courier Coupe
Group 7 – BMW Featured Marque Exhibition (11 laps)
1. 1973 BMW 2002, Marcus Glarnor, Port Perry, Ontario
2. 1970 BMW 2002, Perry Genova, Chapel Hill, NC
3. 1975 BMW 2002, John Barhydt, Eureka, MO
2009 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Picture Gallery (Picture credit, Al Wolford)
[Source: Picture credit, Al Wolford]
Maser tipo 151! Is that one that came out of the Kaus museum?
It it is a real one, WOW!!!
A Jag XK120FHC and a Maserati Tipo 151 plus a real road course. Great Alfas and BMW CSLs. Wonderful images, great cars. Wish I had been there for this event.
Good to see the article and nice pictures, but you really need to be careful with your captions! I see an Elva Mk.V described as a Turner, an Elva Mk.VII dated 1961 (built 1963-1964),and an Elva Courier described as a coupe when very obviously an open roadster. Shame to spoil the feature. If you need Elva info then please feel able to make contact. Best regards. Rog (ELVA Racing UK)
suggest a more varied selection of photo sites as there were many available. looks like the photog settled at the serpentine section and got comfy. my first time in the race, group 3, and I will be back. what an experience!! looking for pics of my car, blue and yellow 1959 Huffaker formula junior number 12. Thanks.
Tom –
Thanks for your comments. While we have hundred of photos from all over the track, most of the better ones came from the Serpentine section due to the better afternoon light and more action as a result of the slower speeds in those turns. Cleaner backgrounds as well.
Pics of your great looking Huffaker will be in your inbox shortly.
Thanks again,
SCD
Fabulous cars and pictures! So many memories….. Thank you!
as an ex competitor at Pittsburgh (FJ Terrier) i really liked seeing the report and photo gallery of this “best event in the USA”
great work
thanks
Fabulous isn’t it? It’s all the more relevant as most of the legendary marques have either gone away forever or are now just names that belong to others now bereft of their heritage whose names are just used as marketing tools. The latest of which is Porsche which now belongs to VW. Suffering the same fate as Alfa Romeo (Fiat), MG (China), Rover (Tata), Jaguar (Ford). The list is growing. So it is awesome to see the Triumphs, Alfas, Jaguars of the grand old days strut their stuff in Goodwood. Thank God for these gentlemen and ladies who do their best to keep the real greats on the road even at least for these grand events. My hat off to them.
Amen. Thanks to everyone that participated and thanks to Sports Car Digest for bringing it to us.
Ditto. Many thanks to Sports Car Digest. They deserve every bit of compliment and maybe even more.
We attended the race & had a splendid time. Also Pittsburgh was a wonderful host city. We’ll come back again!
I in any case was happy to see a picture of my car and the results of the Group 4 race which I won. True, there are many good camera angles and the serpentine sometimes does seem to dominate images shown but thanks for all your fine camera work and coverage.
I hope to see you next year.
Best–Michael Oritt, Elva Courier #82