While the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out most travel this year, it hasn’t stopped some Hudson Valley drivers from finding adventure on the road. WAMC’s Jesse King reports from the 4th annual Catskill Conquest Rally in Mt. Tremper.
The sun is shining for this year’s rally, with 60 cars lined up for a Saturday of autumn driving. Organizer, painter, and sportscar enthusiast Robert Selkowitz has mapped out a 75-mile journey along State Route 28, starting in Mt. Tremper and weaving northwest through the Catskills to Unadilla. It’s an old route, used in part by what may have been one of the country’s first rallies: the Auto Endurance Run of 1903.
Selkowitz says 125 passengers in 36 roofless automobiles battled the elements for that trip, over 800 miles from New York City to Pittsburgh. They did so for a number of reasons: to put their vehicles to the test, stir up the press, and promote a budding interest in automobiling. But recalling the experience of Edith Riker, the trip’s only woman passenger, Selkowitz notes yet another reason: fun.
“They went through 6 inches of frozen, wind-driven rain in Delaware County," he says. "And she said ‘It is glorious, I think, to fly through the country, night or day, at a railroad speed over all sorts of roads.’ That is the birth of the experience of automobiling.”
Selkowitz says that experience — car culture — pervades American society. Today’s participants love their cars, whether it’s a vintage BMW or a late model Corvette. Many own and restore multiple vehicles at home, dedicate themselves to car history, run vintage car clubs, or host their own rallies.
"Do you see what just pulled up?" Selkowitz asks Jeff Barber, who drove his 1938 La Salle over 100 miles from Waverly for today's event. Barber owns a third-generation automobile auction — he recognizes the new car in the lineup right away: a 1928 Bentley 4.5 liter, from what Selkowitz calls "the old sporting days of Bentley."
“It ran in the Colorado Grand [charity tour], it looks like," adds Barber.
The Bentley is one of the oldest cars in Mt. Tremper this year, alongside a surprisingly-shiny 1917 Ford Model T. They turn a lot of heads, but not as much as another member of the lineup: a 1952 B.S. Cunningham Continental C-3.
Briggs Cunningham was a sportsman best known for his sailing career and multiple appearances at the 24-Hours of Le Mans endurance race in France. He produced a number of cars for Le Mans in the 1950s, dead-set on winning it with American models and drivers. But race organizers only wanted to feature recognizable brands, meaning Cunningham had to put a small number of road cars on the market. Enter the luxuriousContinental C-3, with stylish Italian bodywork and a Chrysler hemi V-8 engine.
Chuck Schoendorf found his C-3 in Connecticut almost a decade ago. It’s a little worse for wear — not nearly as shiny as the rest of today’s fleet — but it’s come a long way.
“The car had been sitting for 15 or 20 years outdoors," Schoendorf explains. "It had extensive rust, corrosion, the front axel had rusted clear through, and the two front wheels were facing opposite directions. We had to replace the front end, a hundred percent of the wiring, hundred percent of the brakes, gas tank, fuel line, fuel pump — just everything. It was a massive job.”
Schoendorf finally registered the C-3 last winter and spent the summer “shaking it down” ahead of this event. Cunningham never won Le Mans, and the C-3 was so magnificently expensive that it floundered on the U.S. market — but Cunningham’s legacy, combined with the sheer novelty, has inspired a cult following. The C-3 is the gem of the day.
Or rather, it would be, if it weren’t for the main event: the road. While Selkowitz speaks of the 1903 rallyers like pioneers, using horses to pull their cars out of the mud in Delaware County, they considered State Route 28 — then called the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike — modern for its time. It had been used as far back as the 1700s, and in the early 20th Century some Ulster County towns began paving their section of the route in crushed, local bluestone.
"There's nothing as satisfying as driving on a smooth road...I say, if you love your car, come and drive it."
"This route was used to set speed records from Chicago to New York from 1903 to 1907. The early history of these early, early years — it was amazing," says Selkowitz. "The person who set the speed record in 1903 then turned around, and in October, drove back on the endurance run."
Today’s rally, of course, isn’t trying to set any speed records. State Route 28 is now the picturesque Catskill Mountain Scenic Byway, and when they’re not leaf-peeping their way through the mountains, drivers encounter local museums, historic houses, small towns, and covered bridges. Ultimately, Selkowitz hopes the byway – and automobiling – continue their tradition of bringing some much-needed tourism to the Hudson Valley.
“There’s nothing as satisfying as driving on a smooth road," Selkowitz smiles. "I say, if you love your car, come and drive it.”
Selkowitz says he’s considering hosting more auto runs this month. The 5th annual Catskill Conquest Rallyhas already been scheduled for September 25, 2021.
