The Great Race made it into Buffalo yesterday along with yet another gorgeous summer day. Seneca Street was back in its heyday as it served as the finish line at Michigan Ave right in front of the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum.
The area surrounding this museum has so much untapped potential, especially when we see what recently transpired with The Larkin District (Larkinville). There are plenty of empty parking lots that need to become productive other than for Sabres games, concerts and events. While many of the buildings are gone, there are still a few that would be great anchors with the right infill. The transportation museum is an impressive draw for car buffs and fans of Buffalo history. I hear that a lot of car clubs won’t show in the city because of safety standards that are required when showing. This seems like a golden opportunity to create staging grounds on a few of the neighboring lots – then promote the heck out of the place as a stomping ground for clubs looking to show in a secure setting. Plus, the museum acts as a natural draw that would only help the car clubs to attract additional car fanatics. When the museum is complete, I’m sure that we will see a lot of great programming such as The Great Race… and hopefully some big auto shows!
You just don’t see this kind of spirit that was shown during The Great Race, which is self-described as:
“A cross-country rally that pits driver/navigator teams against the clock and against each other. This year’s event will be around the Great Lakes, covering 19 cities, 2 countries and 4 states. Entrants will participate in a timed, controlled-speed, endurance competition over scenic public highways and roads. The scores for each team are the result of a team’s ability to follow all designated course instructions precisely. Following specific course instructions, teams navigate through 4 to 7 timed checkpoints each day. Their arrival time at each checkpoint is recorded and compared against the perfectly driven route, with each second off the perfect time, (either early or late) counted as penalty points. The winning team is the one with the lowest overall score (the most accurately driven route) at the end of the event. The vehicles are antique vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles with body and drive train built 1969 and earlier.”
Is this the look of new Buffalo Police cars?
Below is a vintage and collector car competitive controlled-speed endurance road rally on public highways. It is not about speed, but about the ability to follow precise course instructions, and endure on a cross-country trip. You must drive at or below the posted speed limits at all times.
I like the look of the new NFTA Metro buses!
A lady at the Great Race booth told me that they were doing 22,000 miles in 7 days. The race starts in Traverse City, Michigan, shoots into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie, with stops in Sudbury, Barrie, and Ottawa, Ontario before returning stateside at Watertown, continuing on to Buffalo, Warren and Findlay, Ohio, before finishing up in Dearborn Michigan.
Here is the pace car!
Seneca Street was packed with overflow crowds. In the Buffalo fanatic parking area I saw a DeLorean, some beautiful mid-1960 Corvette Stingrays, gorgeous Mustangs and hot rods galore. It was great to see so much of Buffalo making it out for the event.
My favorite race car
It is a 1967 Corvette Stingray. The color is Marlboro Maroon. Perhaps queenseyes can find it in the BRO budget to purchase one for me? Also I favored the two-tone cordovan and silver 1936 Packard. The 1916 black and yellow Hudson seemed have a very large footprint, I forgot that we made cars so large just a short century ago!
Seneca Street downtown was packed… please keep these types of events coming!
Buffalo Rising reader, we would love to hear from you. Please share with us your favorite car from The Great Race…