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That difficult question on the exam: You’ve narrowed it down to choices A, B, C, and D, and you had an E for “all of the above.” The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is your E—for everything. You don’t have to choose between attending a car show, meet-ing with friends, learning about how to care for your car, or watching vintage racing. Just choose all of the above.

Our friends at the PVGP describe it as “ten-plus days of automotive enthusiasm and racing that features the best of vintage cars and best of Pittsburgh.” We’ve heard members call it “automotive

bliss,” “automotive Mecca,” and “car heaven.” The early part of the official PVGP event each year includes an opening rally, the Blacktie and Tailpipes Gala, and then the PVGP Historics at Pitt Race with vintage BMWs, Jaguars, Lotuses, Alfa Romeos, and Porsches joined by classic American muscle—and even historic Formula race cars. The week continues with addi-tional soirées throughout town—the Tune-Up show literally covers the Roberto Clemente bridge with more than 100 entries—more tours, parties, and shows, all leading up to the second weekend—a Choice E in itself. Schenley Park Race

Weekend includes more than 2,500 vehicles on display, with an estimated 200,000 spectators and six-teen heats over two days of 150 vintage race cars whip-ping through an otherwise sedate public park road, less than fifteen yards from the BMW CCA corral.

As a club event, how-ever, the party starts—and continues… and ends—at the host DoubleTree Hotel. The parking lot quickly evolves into a perpetual Cars-’n’-Coffee meet, but thanks to folks like Ted Kalman, maybe more like a Cars-’n’-Canadian Beer, with more than 40 BMWs parked between circles of

lawn chairs from the late afternoon until the day runs out of minutes.

Arriving on German Hill at the park in the morning is cathartic, starting with the friendly smiles and waves from folks like Jim and Chris Williams—who we are certain embraced those roles because they got to wield giant foam sticks while directing cars. Then you’d encounter the energetic welcome from Allegheny Chapter presi-dent George Snyder and his wife, Johna; Brett and Dee Snyder; Ron Vivian, who’s helping out with the smooth registration process and more, supported by Tiffany

THE PITTSBURGH VINTAGE GRAND PRIX HAS BECOME ONE OF THE BMW CCA’S MOST POPULAR EVENTS.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY KYLE VAN HOFTEN

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Nolan, Allen Christian, Michael and Marianne Meehan, and Darlene Lipovsek.

Many CCA board members count this as a must-see event. Darlene Doran, our national secretary, Tim Beechuk, the North Central RVP, and Lou Ann Shirk, the North Atlantic RVP, all attended and helped out, too! Lou Ann and her husband, Lonny, drove the 500-mile round trip in their 1970 2800CS, the Parker Spooner coupe. “Every year I am amazed when I see the various models of BMWs on display on German Hill,” Lou Ann exclaimed. “The PVGP event is like a sea of cars, with waves of every marque you can envision lining the hills of the gorgeous golf course. The love of cars and socializing with friends while surrounded by the roar of the vintage race cars in the background is what brings us back each year!”

The hill was covered with fantastic BMWs, each with its own story and creating its own interest. Some were pristine M-car examples. There was even a barn-find 2002 (that Griot’s did their best to resuscitate!).

There were even four Alpinas lined up next to each other.

Michael McClosky has owned his Isetta for 39 years, having bought the unique cabriolet in 1978 for $60. We have not missed a decimal point or two—that’s sixty dollars. When he rolled onto German Hill, there was little concern that this little 60-year-old picnic-basket-toting oddity would leave skid marks across the lawn with its one-cylinder engine pumping out a robust twelve horsepower. That’s one cylinder for each door—also one. This slide-window cabrio-let might have come in second place in the miles-per-gallon battle with the two i8s present; Michael’s Isetta gets 60 mpg!

What’s your preferred flavor of BMW? If it’s a 5 Series, you were in luck, because that was the featured model, bringing almost

30 Fivers to German Hill, including a Bavaria, an E12, E28s, E34s, E39s, E60s and E61s, and F10s. If you liked M cars, you definitely had your options to admire, including M2s, M3s, M4s, M5s, M6s and M coupes.

But you didn’t need an M badge to draw interest. The E30 corral was so deep it seemed to descend into the surrounding forest! In addition, there were fantastic roadsters in a wonder-ful array around the adjacent putting green, and 2002s of almost every kind and color—tii’s, round taillights and rectan-gular, modified and stock.

Nittany Bimmers Chapter president Devin Madonna and his wife, Rebecca, made the 3½-hour drive to PVGP with some other friends from

the chapter. “The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix has become a weekend that after four years, my wife and I won’t miss,” Devin explained. “From the thousands of cars from hundreds of differ-ent makes, races literally 30 feet away, food, vendors, the overall atmosphere, and especially German Hill, it really is a special event and has no comparison. We look forward every year to the spirited drive in our worked 1989 325iS with friends from the Nittany Bimmers Chapter in central Pennsylvania, but the best part of the weekend is the chance to meet new people and catch up with old friends from the Allegheny Chapter. They certainly know how to throw a great party and make people feel welcome. The impromptu car show/tailgate at the DoubleTree

Allegheny Chapter volunteers share a

cold one in Schenley Park.

The barbecue lunch has become a primary attrac-tion of the BMW CCA Corral at the

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.

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Hotel is also a huge highlight that makes the weekend. We are already looking forward to next year.”

With a little longer drive (Maine!), Andrew Wilson again graced a BMW CCA event with his 3.0CSi, Athena. “The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is one of my favorite events of the year,” Andrew said. “Having lived in the Pittsburgh area in the 1980s to the mid-1990s, the event is a sort of homecoming. The BMW CCA Tour on Friday is always a lot of fun, especially on some of the old familiar roads. The PVGP is a must on any BMW fanatic’s calendar. I attended from 1986 to 1993, so it’s great fun to return with one of my classic BMWs.”

Two attendees who we know

had a blast were Harrison and Samuel Gouwens. Their beaming smiles could not be confined even by the new BMW CCA caps they immediately donned. Harrison, age seven, and Samuel, four, brought their mom, Ellen, a fifteen-year club member, and their grandpar-ents, Harry and Sally Penny-packer, 40-year members! “I just got my fifteen-year pin, and it’s now on Harrison’s new hat!” Emily told us after the event. “Between my dad and me, that’s 65 years of club membership!”

It wasn’t just members and spectators embracing Choice E so well. Chris and Jim Wil-liams not only enjoyed it, they created it—and they’ll help do it again next year. “We don’t really have specific titles; maybe

the ‘get-it-done guys’?” Chris offered, between guiding cars in, and helping prep the tent, the lunches, and more. “We had more than 250 cars on Saturday and almost 200 on Sunday. Next year’s event will be epic!” The Williams brothers, along with help from Team Cunningham, will be hosting the autocross at O’Fest here next year.

Part of Choice E was the interaction among the people at the event, but it wasn’t just for those bringing cars there. Griot’s Garage brought a truckload of samples and equipment, and spent the weekend engaged with members and their cars, demon-strating how we can continue to care for them. The Griot’s team was represented by Rod Kraft, Matt Perry, and Kaytie Straw.

BMWs sandwich an interloper

through Turn Thir-teen in front of the BMW CCA corral.

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They quickly understood how this is such a great event with such great people. “I was blown away by all the help we received in getting our tent and products up the hill where we needed to set up,” Rod recalled. “Several people pitched in without asking, and helped unload the truck, take the tent and products up the hill, and even helped set up the tent!

Not only did Griot’s enjoy Choice E themselves, glancing up to watch the cars race by during conversations with members, but with boxes and boxes of samples, they certainly added even more value to the members’ weekend.

Ted Kalman made the seven-hour drive south to Pittsburgh from Ontario in his amazing Alpina B10. No stranger to car events himself—Ted hosts the eponymous TedFest in his home town—he hasn’t missed PVGP with the Allegheny Chapter since 2009. “I met Brett and Dee Sutton during registration then, and asked them if they would like a Canadian beer. They said

yes, and we have been friends ever since,” Ted says. “There is so much to do besides watch-ing vintage cars race through a city park. You can go to the pits and talk to the drivers and view their cars up close. There’s the 2,000-plus car show through-out Schenley Park during the weekend. There are vendors, refreshment stands, and spon-sors selling new cars. Every year the Allegheny Chapter members of the BMW CCA are terrific hosts up in Turn Thirteen, serving lunches and keeping us hydrated.”

Kalman is correct about the

racing part of PVGP: It can’t be missed because of the cacoph-ony surrounding each heat as the cars barrel their way toward Turn Thirteen in front of the BMW CCA corral. But it sure is appreciated. Sure, many of us have been to concours and car shows, but how many of us have had vintage race cars careen-ing through a 23-turn course, replete with stone walls, narrow bridges, hay bales—yes, hay bales!—manhole covers, and more? And how many of those races involve these cars at full throttle (and often full brakes) within fifteen yards of us?

Mike Renner gives three shocked pas-sengers a thrilling

hot lap through Schenley Park.

BMW roadsters surround the

putting green on German Hill.

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Racing Groups Four and Five included twelve BMWs, many of which were 2002 models, fore-shadowing next year’s anniver-sary of the model. Half of those entries were driven by BMW CCA club members, too!

It wasn’t just the vintage racing cars that got people’s atten-tion in Schenley Park. BMW Performance Center instructor Mike Renner spent Saturday and Sunday disturbing the peace by giving hot laps in between the racing heats. Now, vintage cars, especially during the heats for sports cars under two liters and sports cars over two liters, do have distinctive sounds. But then, when the quiet interlude between heats is interrupted by the bellowing thunder of Renner’s F80 M3 blasting side-ways around the course, often heard three turns ahead, hot dogs are dropped, beer is spilled, cameras click late, and gasps of “Did you hear that?!” linger almost longer than the smoke off the sliding tires.

Ask club member Ken Larow what he likes most about PVGP, and he’ll reply, “Seeing the cars, enjoying time with friends, and watching the races!” Larow’s Choice E explains why he’s come to PVGP all the way from his North Carolina home five times. But he took Choice E one step further: He met his current

fiancée, Sara McLean, through their mutual appreciation of BMWs, and now she joins him at PVGP as well! Ken and Sara weren’t the only fans who made the trek from North Carolina. Their then-three-month-old Chow pup, Kyleigh, shared the camaraderie with fellow enthusiasts and dog-lovers alike. Kyleigh appears to make it three in this family who love cars—she spent the day posing in front of her favorite BMWs.

“I’ve been a club member for about ten years,” recalled Larow. “I’d say that while my favorite part of these events are the people, cars and racing, my favorite part about the club is Roundel magazine, but I also enjoy the occasional driving school, too. My BMW passion came from my father. When I was young, he was in the army

and had three separate tours in Germany.”

Larow’s not kidding when he references his BMW passion; he’s owned fourteen BMWs, including eight 5 Series. We can count Sara’s 1994 530i Touring as #15 soon!

Whether it was the cars, the tours, the people (or dogs!), the friends, the food, the environ-ment, or the racing, it was great to not have to choose one or the other with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. By visiting this now-35-year-old event, you automatically choose E, all of the above.

But if you missed it this year, you may get a bigger “all of the above” at PVGP 2018, when the BMW CCA brings Oktoberfest 2018 to Pittsburgh, mixed with all of the PVGP excitement!

Microfun: Michael McCloskey’s 1957 Isetta slide-window cabriolet created a stir all weekend.

Rod Kraft dem-onstrates Griot’s

car-care options.

Roy Hopkins and his Targa New-

foundland-winning 2002 rip through

the Schenley Park course.

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