SAAC-33 Aug. 15-17, 2008 Thunderbolt, NJ Motorsports Park, Millville NJ
Well, SAAC-33 is in the books... and many have rated it one of the best national meets in recent memory.
Going into the summer months, there were the dark concerns over the fact that the new facility may not be finished in time, and the SAAC-Shelby legal issues would dampen the fun. But the Octane-Gods smiled on us with a weekend of spectacular weather, a track that delivered all that was needed and an eleventh-hour settlement that made a renewed SAAC and Shelby relationship put fun back into the hobby.
All were cause for celebration.
NJ Motorsports Park is about a three-hour drive from NYC, so we left Thursday, after traffic, and got in early afternoon.
(sorry for the delay in posting on this event... 4-days off and we came back to a ton of problems at work...)
I will post an assortment of images to try and give a good flavor for the event. I had a new toy, a little Flip, that records video...so I also will post a few clips of some of the scenery and the action.
When we got to the NJMP on Thursday, we saw the line of early-birds waiting for the gates to open at 4 p.m. As you see the pictures of the facility, there are areas of recent landscaping and a lot of dirt area...when the grass takes for next season, this all should be a memory.
The Ticket House just outside the Main Gate served as Registration central.
Pre-registration helps a lot...you just pick up your passes and your goodie bag.
Off to the right is the Clubhouse, exclusive lodging, restaurant and bar...plus nice meeting rooms.
Here's Cobrajeff setting up the main desk for the Car Shows... the Hi-Performance Motors show for vintage cars...and the Shine and Show for general entries.
The Vendor Alley being set up at the crack of dawn.
The full Shelby Autos line-up, with a few owner's cars parking in the area during the weekend.
As the day began, attendees settled into their Garage spaces for the weekend.
Almost immediately, the line started to form for Tech Inspection of the cars that would participate in Open Track.
At 9 a.m., there was the Driver's Meeting in the Garage Meeting room. Joe Volpe, with Howard Pardee at his side (seated), go over the Track layout and the rules of the road for the open trackers. You can see the crowd that was there, indicating how popular this is at the convention.
Your garage is on the first level...and your residence (hotel room) is just above you.
This building, known as the Barn, has the food concession all around the ground level, and a 500-seat banquet room on the second level, where the Saturday dinner was held.
You can grab a picnic table and watch the track action while you have lunch.
Legendary Motorcars (Dreamcar Garage) brought some beautiful specimens..
The paddock starts to fill up...and some snack wagons provide easy access.
Dan Reiter does some commander-time in the Timing tower, as the Open Track session prepares to start.
Last edited by computerworks; 08-24-2008 at 09:41 AM..
The Concours judging was held Saturday morning, and lasted well into the afternoon. I work on the Cobra Team and we thankfully had two 427 cars to judge.
The Shine and Show judging was all day Saturday, althought the display was open for both weekend days. This is a very popular area.
Another shot of the Concours judging line-up.
In the foreground, behind this soon-to-be-a-lake, is the full Hi-Performance Motors Show, where vintage- only cars are judged.
Last edited by computerworks; 08-24-2008 at 08:16 AM..
There was a nice assortment of original Cobras at SAAC-33.. I actually expected more than we had, given the population in the region, but, nevertheless, there were a few new ones (to me) and that was goodness.
Lots of other Ford muscle shown in the car show area
Sunday morning, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Sam Feinstein, the pilot of CSX3009 after the SAI days of racing and well into the 70's
Sam showed up in his Cobra replica, painted in a reminiscent fashion after "Ollie the Dragon"
Sam had a crowd around him all day as he told one story after another... Great that he showed up!
Last edited by computerworks; 08-24-2008 at 09:15 AM..
SAAC-33 Trip Report
Nice to see that!
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