Text and photos by Derek Meluzio –
Alfa Romeo won the first ever Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1948. Frank Griswold drove his 8C 2900C to victory ahead of names such as Briggs Cunningham, Sam and Miles Collier, and Cameron Argetsinger. Nearly 75 years later Alfa Romeo stole the show again at Watkins Glen but this time the big winner was Bernardo Martinez in a 1966 Alfa Romeo GTV.
The 2021 Hilliard U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at famed Watkins Glen International was held recently and the Speedtour/SVRA sanctioned event was once again a huge success. Vintage cars from all across the country and across many SVRA categories, the Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli, and the Internatiional GT series all took to the track over multiple days. An incredible variety of cars were present including the group 9 class with F1, F2, CART, Indy Lights, and F5000 all represented as well as group 11 with not one but two Audi R8 LMP entries.
There was actually so many cars there it would take forever to highlight them all so for the purposes of this article I am sticking to the event’s marque race and the honored make…Alfa Romeo.
Nearly 50 Alfa Romeo race cars from all over the country gathered to not only compete in their regular SVRA classes but to also contest the Governor’s Cup Marque Race on the final day. The weekend really was a who’s who of Alfa Romeo vehicles. The paddock was full of GTV, Spider Veloce, Guilietta, GTV6, GT, and Milano examples. There was even a rare 1987 Alfa Romeo 75T EVO IMSA owned and raced by Nick Fonte on hand and a beautiful Alfa powered LaBoa Mark II owned by Alfa guru Mike Besic.
There was a tent in the paddock area displaying many special Alfas and also a corral of numerous street cars of all years and varieties. One real treat was a display of pre-war cars including the absolutely stunning 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 owned by Peter Greenfield.
The Governor’s Cup marque race was a great one with Besic in the LaBoa and the 75T EVO IMSA car of Fonte out front early. Both cars were fast (Fonte recorded the fastest lap of the race) but both encountered trouble and the GTV of Bernardo Martinez took the lead and held it to the end.
Beautiful cars, beautiful weather, and a beautiful track made for the perfect weekend celebrating the storied Italian make that is Alfa Romeo.
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THE AUTHOR: Derek Meluzio grew up in a car loving family in Central, PA. He still lives there with his wife, daughter, and car loving sons. Derek is an amateur autocrosser who attends track events, Concours/shows, and Cars and Coffee events all over. He has an appreciation for all cars but especially anything Porsche.
Derek’s 6:34 long video of this event is below.
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