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The Significance of Watkins Glen to the History & Heritage that is Corvette. The Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival: a Pictorial Essay By Mike Waal: March 2021 The year is 1929, two young brothers and a third young man meet while attending Yale. They are all car enthusiasts, and like racing cars. The two brothers are Miles and Sam Collier. The third young man is Briggs Cunningham. They all come from ‘well-to-do’ families. Collier family was in advertising and media sales [Collier Advertising Agency, NYC], and land development in Florida, Collier County, thru Legislative act, named for the family. Briggs Cunningham was an heir to Swift / Amour meat packing, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, and his father was an original investor in a little company started by a couple of guys named William Proctor & James Gamble. With a few of their friends, they started the Automobile Racing Club of America, ARCA [the same NASCAR ARCA of today] in the early 1930s, while Sam Collier becomes a distributor for MG cars. A Collier Advertising Agency young employee is handling the advertising, obviously, for Sam’s car distributorship: layout; design; and illustrations. And while at that, the employee is assigned the task of also handling the ARCA Newsletter: layout; design; and illustrations. They all become very good friends, these, now, four young men, with contacts in Detroit via racing activities. Auto Execs in Detroit were not living in a vacuum when it came to racing activities. One particular Auto Exec found the work of the Collier Advertising Agency young employee for Sam’s car distributorship and the ARCA Newsletter to be quite good. So good, in fact, that the Auto Exec approaches the boys about hiring the ad agency employee, which he does, in 1935. The Auto Exec is one, Harley Earl! The young Collier Advertising Agency employee is one, Bill Mitchell! WWII clearly puts a stop to all these things. But during WWII, the SCCA is formed, an outgrowth of ARCA, around 1944. WWII soldiers were coming home, having learned about British and European sports cars, and sports car racing, bringing with them purchased sports cars, looking for a place to race. Enter Cameron Argetsinger, a law student at Cornell, living at his family’s Watkins Glen/Seneca Lake vacation home, an avid car and racing enthusiast. He comes up with the idea for a street road race, similar to those of Europe, right in Watkins Glen. He approaches the SCCA, Town Officials, Chamber of Commerce, business leaders with the idea. What results are The Watkins Glen Grand Prix races. Argetsinger selected 6.6 miles of mostly paved roads with a short dirt and gravel stretch surrounding Watkins Glen. He obtains permission to close a NYC railroad track, three different Counties roads, with the SCCA sanctioning the event. The first race was held at 12:00, noon, on October 2nd, 1948: the very first street road race in the US, a four lap, standing start, qualifying race. Next, 15 cars line up and start the 8 lap, 52.8 mile, Grand Prix Race. 10 finish. The winner was Frank Griswold, of Wayne, PA, in a pre-war Alfa Romeo 8C2900 coupe. Closely following Griswold, in 2nd, was Briggs Cunningham in his famous Bu-Merc. Other prominent entrants included: John Fitch; William Milliken, the noted Aircraft and Race Vehicle dynamics expert (who rolled his Bugatti 35 on the last lap of the qualifier, giving "Milliken's Corner" its name); Charles Addams, the cartoonist who created the Addams' Family; Miles and Sam Collier, all major figures in the history of Road Racing on either side of WWII. The event grows to a three-race weekend event, taking place the first weekend after Labor Day: The Seneca Cup; The Queen Catherine Cup; and The Grand Prix. From 1948 thru 1952, the THE ORIGINAL 6.6 MILE STREET ROAD RACE COURSE OF 1948-1952 Map orientation - the top is West SATELLITE VIEW OF THE ORIGINAL 6.6 MILE COURSE The Town of Watkins Glen is at the right, the Start/Finish Line on Franklin Street is at the Red Pin Head, the map orientation - North to the top. Seneca Lake southern shore line, top right. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: the FIRST YEAR, Brothers SAM & MILES COLLIER [left, facing forward], talking to LESTER SMALLEY, Smalley’s Garage, Getting Gas. This garage is still active in Watkins Glen. SAM came in 4th, Miles 5th, they would eventually drive Cadillacs for Briggs Cunningham at LeMans. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: OTTO LINTON-MG [DNQ] helps fellow racer GEORGE CASWELL-BNC [DNQ]. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Lining up for a race, in the 3rd row are Cunningham’s BuMerc & Griswold’s Alfa Romeo, behind the light post. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: BILL MILLIKEN famously rolls his BUGATTI TYPE 35 during qualifying. The corner becomes known as MILLIKEN’S CORNER. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Painting depicting Bill Milliken before his crash, above. 2015 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: And here we are, First State Corvette Club members, driving this very same stretch of road during the Festival Reenactment. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: A rare color photo of the winning ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900B. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: The winning ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900B, BILL GRISWOLD driving over the STONE BRIDGE. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: A painting of the winning ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900B coming back onto Franklin Street from Milliken’s Corner. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Taking the checkered flag on FRANKLIN STREET. 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Winner-BILL GRISWOLD [left], 2nd-BRIGGS CUNNINGHAM, who drove a Buick-engined-Mercedes nick-named, “BuMerc!” 1948 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Briggs Cunningham in his “BuMerc” (Buick-Mercedes). Notice the license plate, “BUMC”. Such was his relationship with GM, GM assigned a Buick Engineer to help build this car. 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: As the caption reads, 1948 MG TC in the starting lineup. 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV talking to Bill Milliken, with wife Elfi, in his #34 Allard J2 with a Ford Flat-Head V8 equipped with ARDUN aluminum hemi-heads he and his brother Yura famously designed and manufactured. Zora would race in the 1949 and 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix. And he would get to know Briggs and John Fitch. Part of the early nucleus of people that is of historical-significance to the history, heritage and success of Corvette! Ed Cole and others at GM/Chevrolet are watching! Check out the cast-iron front straight-axle on Duntov's 1949 “state-of-the-art” race car. 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: WINNER-MILES COLLIER, driving the ARDENT ALLIGATOR FORD RILEY; Briggs Cunningham came in 2nd; John Fitch, 5th in an MG-TC; Dave Garroway (future TODAY Show host), 18th, Jaguar SS100. 1949 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Winning car in front of the Ford Dealership, The ARDENT ALLIGATOR FORD RILEY. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: A very rare color photo, staging the starting line-up. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Either unloading to race or to go home. … but definitely at speed here. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: ERWIN GOLDSCHMIDT driving his ALLARD J2 CADILLAC, came in 1st PLACE, Phil Walters in a Cunningham Healey-Cadillac came in 2nd. The above Allard J2 is in the Saratoga Automobile Museum. These are pictures I took when we visited this Museum on Gordon English’s First State Corvette Club Vermont trip. The Allard was the “Shelby Cobra” of their time, well before there was a Shelby Cobra. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: The JOHN FITCH MODEL B SPECIAL, nick named “The Fitch Bitch”, a Fiat 1100 chassis, a Ford Flat-Head engine, and a Crosley body. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Cameron Argetsinger in his Healey Silverstone. 1950 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: SAM COLLIER crashed in this race . This is his memorial as you drive around the old course. SAM was leading the race in a Ferrari 166SC he borrowed from his friend, BRIGGS CUNNINGHAM. Brother MILES COLLIER, winner in 1949, never raced again! And passed away 4 years latter. 1951 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Cars being assigned grid spots on Franklin Street. #54 is a Cunningham C2-R, John Fitch driving. Bill Milliken directing traffic! Notice Cunningham’s car designation, “C2-R” again. The car's designation is how we refer to Corvette Generations today. Just ahead of car #54, to the right of the light post, is where Harley Earl and his LeSabre concept car are parked to watch this race, more below. 1951 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Cars Coming Down Hill Into MILLIKEN’S CORNER. Leading this group is the #55 Cunningham C2-R [with Chrysler Hemi engines now], Phil Walters driving. Watkins Glen Grand Prix: September 15, 1951, is to me, the most significant date in Corvette history! Parked just a few feet from the curb & racing action [arrow] is where Harley Earl drew inspiration, and decided it was time for an American Sportscar! Harley Earl was Race Grand Marshall and the LeSabre was the Race Parade Car! The top photo is terrible, it is what it is. It is on this day/date that Harley Earl conceives the idea America needs a sports car and GM needs to build it! This is better, taken from a negative of home movie film of the races on this day/date. I can only suspect that Bill Mitchell is in this picture, somewhere. Maybe to the viewers right? 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix: Rare color photo of the line up. CUNNINGHAM CARS #53 [Briggs Cunningham], and #54 [John Fitch] C4-Rs, can be seen in back column on this starting grid.
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