In Pictures: Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

by 28-Cars-Later

July 30th, 2015 9:00 AM

in pictures pittsburgh vintage grand prix

I bet you didn’t know the longest continually running vintage car race and show in the nation is held in Yinzerville. That’s right. Every summer since 1983, Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park becomes the scene of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. The course consists of a 2.33 mile stretch of road inside the park that challenges drivers with its twenty three turns, walls, telephone poles and other common features of an ordinary road.

This event routinely draws drivers, spectators and car buffs from all over North America and Europe, with this year’s attendance being 200,000 over the week of events. The Vintage Grand Prix raises money for the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Valley School and, since its inception, has raised $3.9 million dollars for these charities. Your humble correspondent just happened to be in the area a few Sundays ago and made an unplanned stop at the event.

The race itself draws better photographers than I, although I was able to snap some half decent shots of the first race with my cell phone (I wish I had brought my SLR believe me).

But the show itself is what many spectators come to see, here you will find some very unique automobiles such as this pre-war Bentley.

Ford Thunderbird

Packard

Lincoln Continental

Porsche 550 Spyder

Mercedes 300

Pontiac Firebird

Cadillac Coupe de Ville

Chevrolet Corvette C2

And also some newer models such as the Porsche 918 Spyder…

…this Alfa Romeo with Ontario plates…

…a Mercury Marauder fit for the Mehta household (the cardboard note says: “Free beer to any Corvette owner with a better slip time.”)…

…and a Ferrari driving home.

For more information about the event, visit their website at www.pvgp.com.

#Classic #CommenterSubmission #InPictures #Photos #PittsburgVintageGrandPrix #Pvgp

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4 of 46 comments

Ryoku75 on Jul 30, 2015

Using your phone-can actually sort of makes the pics look as "vintage" as the cars, in other words, it actually kinda works! Thank you for the pics, we oughta make your stuff regular. Lots of neat pics with minimal text. Now I need to get out my Dads old Mid-America Raceway pics.

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- 28-Cars-Later on Jul 30, 2015
  
  Thanks. I would have preferred one of my SLRs but I actually forgot the day of the event and just happened to be in Oakland that Sunday.
  
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Funky on Jul 30, 2015

The two major races of this ~2 week event are held at Schenley Park and the Pittsburgh International Race Complex (the race at the Race Complex occurs during the weekend prior to the Schenley Park race). Having attended both (as a "lifelong" attendee, beginning back in the 1980s when the event first began), I would recommend, if you really enjoy watching the vintage racing rather than the car show, vendors, and various VIP and car club exclusive tents/gatherings, checking out the race at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. At the Pitt Race complex the spectators have a view of 1/2 to 3/4 of the 2.8 mile track (instead of having a view of one turn or a very short segment of the Schenley Park track which is often obstructed by the high paying VIPs who have exclusive rights to the best viewing areas). Both events are very nice, depending on one's perspective/interests. The real racing fun, however in my opinion, occurs at the Pitt Racing complex portion of the ~2 week event.

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- Xeranar on Jul 30, 2015
  
  I'm with you, the old Beaver Valley now PIRC course is where to go if you like to watch them truly race since more tend to show up for qualifying and you get a good time to watch them go fast. But if you're into walking pit row and just want to chat up people about cars they're passionate about the Schenley Park event is better. I'm more into the park scene because there I've had the pleasure of talking to quite a few fun folks, helped load more than a few cars, and gotten to drive in a Bug-eyed Sprite.
  
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