For automobile enthusiasts as much as Mother Nature, spring is the season of rebirth. Beloved automobiles are taken out of storage, cleaned, checked out mechanically and returned to the highways of upstate New York for long, scenic rides or short hops to cruise-ins and car shows.
For 2009, the Saratoga Automobile Museum has engaged this spirit of rebirth as well. A second day has been added to the museum’s popular Spring Car Show. The location will be new, a road rally to Lake George will be part of Saturday’s activities and unique trophies have been commissioned for the winners in all classes.
Set for Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, the 2009 show will feature The Spring Invitational on Saturday, while Sunday will bring the museum’s traditional show with hundreds of cars on the show field, newly moved to the area directly across the Avenue of the Pines from the museum. The Atlantic Coast Old Timers vintage racers and cars from the Mo-Hud Region of the Sports Car Club of America will be displayed on the museum lawn, as well.
The inaugural Spring Invitational will feature a collection of elegant pre-war automobiles, with a focus on pre-war racers, to be judged by Ken Gross and Al McEwan, renowned experts who have judged at Pebble Beach and similar major events in the past. Gross, a consultant to the museum, will also be conducting a tour of the museum’s newest exhibit, `Mid-Century Marvels: Great Cars from the 1950’s to 1960’s, The Dennis Dammerman Collection,` at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The Saratoga to Lake George Classic Car and Motorcycle Rally, which will include lunch and conversations with fellow enthusiasts, is expected to reach the 60-car reservation limit well in advance of May 16. The event is open to beginners as well as seasoned rally participants and will leave from the show field at 11:15 a.m.
Change has also come to the trophies given out at the car show, as sculptor Craig Booth has been commissioned to do bas relief artwork of the famed `Poison Lil` Maserati on display in the museum’s Racing in New York gallery.
The winner of each judged class in Sunday’s highly competitive show will receive the unique trophy.
Information about the Saratoga Automobile Museum and the 2009 Spring Auto Show is available online at www.saratogaautomuseum.org, where advance registrations are being taken for car show participants. Art and automobilia vendor space for the weekend is also available.“