Northeast Fall Foliage Run Autumn 2012

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

So that means we can bring:

Fiat 500
Ford 500
Ford Galaxie 500
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Chevrolet Chevy 500 DL
Mercedes 500SEL/500SL
Audi 500
VW 500

Any others?

Isetta 500



Ferrari 500



Facel Vega HK500



Dual Ghia D500

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

So that means we can bring:

Fiat 500
Ford 500
Ford Galaxie 500
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Chevrolet Chevy 500 DL
Mercedes 500SEL/500SL
Audi 500
VW 500

Any others?

Dodge Charger 500

Dang, CA, I forgot about some of them, and only heard of the Facel Vega. Named after the Chevy Vega?

Originally Posted by Kamdog

Dang, CA, I forgot about some of them, and only heard of the Facel Vega. Named after the Chevy Vega?

I almost bought a Facel Vega about 10 years ago. It was newly restored and the asking price was $50,000. They are still somewhat of a bargain but not to that degree.

Facel Vega was a French/American "Hybrid" (not in today's definition of a. "hybrid") and had a French designed chassis and coachwork with an American Chryler Hemi engine and Torqueflight transmission. One interesting piece of Facel Vega trivia is that Albert Camus died in the crash of a Facel Vega. The Dual Ghia was also a European American Hybrid and had Italian coachwork and chassis (from Ghia - yes the same Ghia that built the VW Karmann Ghia) and also had a Chrysler engine and transmission. The American production car sourced running gear makes both Facel Vega and Dual Ghias relatively inexpensive to maintain compared to cars like Ferraris and Maseratis of the same era. Famous Dual Ghia owners included Desi Arnaz, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Richard Nixon. There is a story that Ronald Reagan had one and lost it to Lyndon Johnson in a poker game but that may be an urban legend.

The Facel Vega HK500 may be Ms. Audio's all time favorite car. One or two of them usually show up at the Greenwich Concours.

CA

The total amount of money that was raised for The American Mural Project by the the Northeast Fall Foliage run has now exceeded $4,000.

I saw Sam and Ellen Posey yesterday and they asked me to once again express their gratitude to everyone involved.

CA

I resurrected this thread because those who participated in last October's Fall Foliage Run met Sam and Ellen.



The front straightaway at Lime Rock Park is now officially known as "Sam Posey Straight".


Congratulations Sam! And thank you for all you have done for LRP.







It was successfully kept secret for weeks in order to surprise a racing legend; on Saturday, March 9, at the Amelia Island (Fla.) Concours d’Elegance, where this year’s honored guest was Sam Posey, Lime Rock Park owner Skip Barber announced that the track’s front straightaway is now officially Sam Posey Straight. Barber reported that Posey was rendered speechless by the surprise honor – no mean feat for one of the most erudite, articulate gentlemen you’ll ever meet.

Posey competed in just about every form of racing, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, World Endurance Championship, IMSA, Indy Cars, Formula 5000 and Formula 1. Since 1981, Posey has been one of the most sought-out TV racing announcers, and he’s also an accomplished writer, painter and artist. An avid model railroader, he authored Playing with Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale. Posey not only wrote an autobiography, The Mudge Pond Express, he won a sports writing Emmy in the early 1990s.
“I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park,” Barber said at the Saturday evening 'Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. Gala Dinner Honoring Sam Posey.' “He’s been racing here since he was a teen – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race here, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren.

“Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. One year after that FV race, he was racing a 350 horsepower Bizzarrini 5300 GT at Le Mans.

“And of course, we’ve been blessed that no less than three of the beautiful buildings here, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam,” Barber said.

Although Posey retired from professional driving in the 1980s, he has not retired from the cockpit; he still drives his PRS Formula Ford at speed during Lime Rock Drivers Club track days – consistently under a minute, to boot!

When Barber got back from Florida, he said, “I wanted to do this special thing, for Sam and Ellen and the kids, so that Sam could savor it, appreciate it, in the here and now. That’s not an opportunity commonly afforded. I’ll be sending him the revised track map in about a week...”

Originally Posted by captainaudio

The total amount of money that was raised for The American Mural Project by the the Northeast Fall Foliage run has now exceeded $4,000.

I saw Sam and Ellen Posey yesterday and they asked me to once again express their gratitude to everyone involved.

CA

A tip of the helmet to you for putting the event and the charity together CA, and to all the members of this forum and your 'P-car posse' buddies who so generously made it possible.

Originally Posted by captainaudio

I resurrected this thread because those who participated in last October's Fall Foliage Run met Sam and Ellen.



The front straightaway at Lime Rock Park is now officially known as "Sam Posey Straight".


Congratulations Sam! And thank you for all you have done for LRP.







It was successfully kept secret for weeks in order to surprise a racing legend; on Saturday, March 9, at the Amelia Island (Fla.) Concours d’Elegance, where this year’s honored guest was Sam Posey, Lime Rock Park owner Skip Barber announced that the track’s front straightaway is now officially Sam Posey Straight. Barber reported that Posey was rendered speechless by the surprise honor – no mean feat for one of the most erudite, articulate gentlemen you’ll ever meet.

Posey competed in just about every form of racing, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, World Endurance Championship, IMSA, Indy Cars, Formula 5000 and Formula 1. Since 1981, Posey has been one of the most sought-out TV racing announcers, and he’s also an accomplished writer, painter and artist. An avid model railroader, he authored Playing with Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale. Posey not only wrote an autobiography, The Mudge Pond Express, he won a sports writing Emmy in the early 1990s.
“I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park,” Barber said at the Saturday evening 'Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. Gala Dinner Honoring Sam Posey.' “He’s been racing here since he was a teen – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race here, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren.

“Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. One year after that FV race, he was racing a 350 horsepower Bizzarrini 5300 GT at Le Mans.

“And of course, we’ve been blessed that no less than three of the beautiful buildings here, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam,” Barber said.

Although Posey retired from professional driving in the 1980s, he has not retired from the cockpit; he still drives his PRS Formula Ford at speed during Lime Rock Drivers Club track days – consistently under a minute, to boot!

When Barber got back from Florida, he said, “I wanted to do this special thing, for Sam and Ellen and the kids, so that Sam could savor it, appreciate it, in the here and now. That’s not an opportunity commonly afforded. I’ll be sending him the revised track map in about a week...”

The first person down that straight, the day of the official dedication, needs to be Sam himself.

Originally Posted by DSXMachina

The first person down that straight, the day of the official dedication, needs to be Sam himself.

He sure deserves it
I hope to see the progress on the AMP and meet Ellen and Sam once again this year!