Phil Hill – Gentleman, Sportsman, Champion

The Research Center at Watkins Glen honors the life and career of this great sportsman and friend.

For an American motor sport enthusiast or would-be race driver – there could be no better role model than Phil Hill.

Phil and mechanic Henry Pickett share a laugh at Glendale, 1955 (Jim Sitz Collection)

The quiet but intense man from Santa Monica simply did it all, and he did it with grace and style. Phil Hill was the first American World Champion, the first to win the classic Le Mans 24-Hour race, and the first since Jimmy Murphy in 1921 to win a major European Grand Prix.

When Phil Hill arrived in Europe on a full-time basis in 1956 he was a mature 29-year old and well established as the premier American road racing driver of his era. He had been an early participant in the rebirth of road racing in America, particularly in his native California where by the early ‘50s he was clearly the man to beat on circuits such as Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, Carrell Speedway, Palm Springs and many others. By the time he first raced at Watkins Glen in 1952, he had attained a national reputation. At the inaugural race on the new Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake in 1955 Phil Hill in a Ferrari Monza won a thrilling duel from Sherwood Johnston in Briggs Cunningham’s D-Type Jaguar. People still recall this as one of the closest and most exciting races in the history of the Wisconsin circuit.

His international reputation was already developing. Epic drives in the Carrera Pan America – Mexico’s answer to Italy’s Mille Miglia – proved his mastery of rugged road racing under the most trying circumstances and honed his intuitive skills and ability to concentrate for long periods of time.

When Phil Hill joined the works Ferrari team in Europe for the 1956 season, he was very much the junior man on a team of giants. These drivers included Juan Manuel Fangio, Eugenio Castelloti, Luigi Musso, Peter Collins, Alfonso de Portago, Paul Frere, Olivier Gendebien and Maurice Trintignant. On this intensely hierarchical team, and despite being the sole non-European with the disadvantage of seeing most of the circuits for the first time, Hill quickly established himself as fast and dependable and co-drove the winning car with Trintignant at Kristianstad in the Swedish Grand Prix to clinch the manufacturers’ World Championship for Ferrari.

1958 was a year of growth and recognition for Phil Hill. He had his first real drive in a Grand Prix car in January during practice for the Buenos Aires GP. Impatient for his opportunity in Formula 1, and despite pressure from Ferrari not to do it, he drove a privately entered Maserati 250F at Reims for the French Grand Prix. This was the final Grand Prix start in the great Juan Fangio’s career, and also the race that claimed the life of Luigi Musso. For Phil Hill it was the beginning of a Formula 1 career that was to lead him to the World Championship.

This was also the year that Phil Hill won Le Mans for Ferrari – he repeated in 1961 and 1962 – co-driving with Olivier Gendebien and the Sebring 12-Hour with Peter Collins. His experience at Sebring that year helps to portray his unique character. He drove to Sebring, Florida, from Santa Monica, California, in the classic 1939 Packard he had personally restored. He entered the Packard in the Concours d’Elegance and won his class, and then drove the car back to California. And of course he had won the 12-Hour race itself for Ferrari – the first of three times he achieved that feat.

In October of 1958 Phil Hill helped make history at Watkins Glen. He qualified on pole position in a Ferrari 4.1 Testa Rosa for the International Formula Libre – the race that set the stage for Watkins Glen to eventually be awarded the United States Grand Prix in 1961.

By 1959 Phil Hill was one of Ferrari’s lead drivers in Formula 1 and sports cars. His victory at Monza in the1960 Italian Grand Prix was the first European Grand Prix win for an American in 39 years. It was also the last ever championship win for a front-engined formula one car.

Phil Hill’s championship year in 1961 has been well chronicled. Winner of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, he clinched the World Championship at Monza by winning the Italian Grand Prix. The tragic death early in the race of his teammate and closest competitor, Wolfgang Von Trips, along with 12 spectators, doubtless stole from this sensitive individual some of the satisfaction he richly deserved. The final race of the season, his home Grand Prix of the United States at Watkins Glen, should have been the site for his title celebration. Instead Enzo Ferrari withdrew his team in response to the Monza tragedy and Hill was honored at Watkins Glen as Grand Marshal.

Although never again to find himself in the right car at the right time in Formula 1 Grand Prix events, Hill remained a major factor in every race in which he competed. He won Can Am and World Championship sports car races where he was always a force to be reckoned with – and often a dominant one.

Phil Hill ended his driving career in characteristically understated fashion after winning his final race – the 6-Hour BOAC 500 World Championship of Manufacturers race at Brands Hatch in 1967. He was co-driving the works Chaparral with Mike Spence.

Since ending his racing days he fulfilled his many other passions and interests. These included restoration and collecting of objects of art ranging from musical instruments to fine vintage automobiles. Single throughout his race career, Phil Hill married in 1971 and enjoyed a happy and fruitful family life. Younger race fans came to know him as a prolific and uniquely insightful correspondent for the American magazine, Road & Track.

Author Pete Lyons to speak in Watkins Glen

Pete Lyons, noted writer and photographer, will be the featured speaker at the International Motor Racing Research Center’s annual Open House on Oct. 4.

Lyons is well known and popular in the racing world. His books and his years as the preeminent Can-Am scribe and as the top American writer on Formula One have left him with an enthusiastic following around the world.

His talk will be at 3 p.m. and is open to all. The Open House is a daylong event and is the Center’s way of thanking its supporters. The Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen.

Lyons is an appropriate keynote speaker for the Center’s Open House as it celebrates its 10th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of racing in Watkins Glen.
“The good old Glen was practically my home track as I grew up,” notes Lyons. “I've seen some of the world's greatest racing drivers, racing cars and racing there over many years. It'll be fun to be back.”

Lyons is the author of six books, including Can-Am and Can-Am Photo History, both for MBI Publishing. His work has been honored with the Dean Batchelor Award of the Motor Press Guild, an Award for Journalism given by the Road Racing Driver’s Club and the International Motor Press Association’s Ken Purdy Award. He also has contributed to such publications as AutoWeek, for which he is a senior contributing editor; Car and Driver; Racecar, for which is a former editor; Racer, Road & Track; Vintage Motorsport; Vintage Racecar Journal, in which appears his regular column “Fast Lines”; and many others.

The Historic Grand Prix Association periodically awards its Pete Lyons Cup to owners of vintage F1 cars whom Lyons feels best recreate the spirit of the historic times he remembers so vividly, according to his Web site, www.petelyons.com. Lyons lives in Southern California.

The Racing Research Center was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of racing in Watkins Glen, the home of post-World War II road racing in America. The Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of motorsports, all series and all venues. It is open to the public without charge and welcomes the casual race fan as well as the serious researcher.

Joel Finn to Discuss Book on Road Racing, ’48-’50

(May 9, 2008) – Motorsports author Joel Finn will discuss his newest book, “American Road Racing: 1948-1950, The Sport Revived,” at the International Motor Racing Research Center on Saturday, May 17.

The free talk will be at 1 p.m. The talk is part of the Center’s on-going series, Center Conversations.

Finn will discuss the difficulties of researching and confirming the information that fills the 435 pages of the book.

The challenge, he says, is determining “what actually happened compared to what people think happened.”

“American Road Racing” has more than 600 historic photographs of the cars, drivers and events, many never before published, as well as extensive race results charts.

Races at Watkins Glen are, of course, a major component of the book.

Finn, of Roxbury, CT, has been a competitive driver in road racing for more than 50 years. He has written a number of highly-regarded histories of road racing, including “American Road Racing: The 1930s” and “Bridgehampton Racing: From the Streets to the Bridge.”

Center Conversations is a free monthly talk series that takes listeners behind the scenes of motorsports. The talks are informal, and everyone is invited.

Cameron R. Argetsinger, legend in American road racing, dies April 22

Cameron Reynolds Argetsinger, founder and organizer of the first races in Watkins Glen and president of the International Motor Racing Research Center from September 2002 until mid-2007, died April 22 at his home in Burdett, NY. He was 87.

In addition to his international involvement in motorsports, Argetsinger was an attorney, graduating from Cornell Law School and practicing law in Schuyler County, NY, for 48 years.

Argetsinger’s contributions to motorsports in America are virtually unparalleled.

Inspired by his love of fast automobiles and the area’s natural beauty, in 1948 he conceived, organized and drove in the races through the streets in what would become the world-famous Watkins Glen Grand Prix.

In that first race, he drove his MG-TC to a ninth-place finish. He remained active as a driver through 1960.

Cameron R. Argetsinger is in his Healey Silverstone at the 1950
Watkins Glen Grand Prix. With him is his mechanic, Tony Weinberg.

Argetsinger brought full international races to Watkins Glen in 1958 and in 1961 inaugurated the U.S. Grand Prix for Formula 1, which had a successful 20-year run on the Watkins Glen circuit. 

From the start, Argetsinger was a strong voice for international and professional road racing during a period in the 1950s and early 1960s when the political tides were directed elsewhere. He received the Grand Prix Drivers Association award for the best-organized Grand Prix in the world in an era when promoters negotiated with each team and handled all details of transportation and logistical movement of cars, equipment and personnel. He had the complete trust and confidence of all the European teams and drivers and settled everything on a handshake.

Ultimately, he restructured the entire payment system to accommodate the needs of promoting a major event in America and advanced many professional innovations essential to establishing the success that Grand Prix racing enjoyed in America during that period.

After leaving Watkins Glen in 1970, he was executive vice president of Chaparral Cars and was subsequently director of professional racing and executive director of the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA, from 1971-77. He also served as commissioner of the International Motor Sport Association, IMSA, from 1986-92.

“Nothing that Cameron did was ordinary,” said Bill Milliken of Williamsville, NY, a close friend and who served as head of competition for SCCA at the early Watkins Glen races and in the Formula 1 years would serve as steward of the meeting.

“Cameron’s interests were totally different than the average person. It’s amazing. He had the capability of dreaming pretty big dreams, and then he had the fortitude and strength of character to realize them,” Milliken said.

Argetsinger was appointed president of the International Motor Racing Research Center in 2002. At that time, John Bishop, IMSA founder and first chairman of the Center’s council, cited the experience Argetsinger was bringing to the post of president.

“No one that I know in racing could possibly bring the same expertise and sense of organization and ethics as Cam Argetsinger,” Bishop said. “Cam has done everything there is to do in racing, from being the pioneer road racing organizer, to top official, to president of a sanctioning body to commissioner of a sanctioning body. Nobody brings the breadth of experience that Cam has.”

Argetsinger was a member of the inaugural induction class of the Hall of Fame of the Sports Car Club of America in January 2005. He also is in the Schuyler County (NY) Hall of Fame.

Argetsinger was a visionary who made things happen. Despite his many professional successes, honors and recognitions, he always considered his family his greatest accomplishment.  He remained close to his children, was proud of the achievements of his grandchildren, and took great delight in his great-grandchildren.

He leaves his beloved wife of 67 years, Jean, their nine children, 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

In addition to the grand- and great-grandchildren, he is survived by Jean and his children J.C. and Joan of Montour Falls, NY; Louise and Tom Kanaley of Rochester, NY; Michael and Lee of Chicago, IL; Marya Smith of Elizabeth, IL; Margretta (Getchie) of New York City; Peter and Sjoukje of Sebring, FL, and Watkins Glen, NY: Rob and Elizabeth of Sunset Beach, CA; Sam and Joan of Burdett, NY; Philip (Duke) of Phoenix, AZ; and Susann Gary Argetsinger of Burdett, NY.

Argetsinger lived in the farmhouse near Burdett where his father was born in 1883, overlooking the family vineyard and Seneca Lake.  The only child of Attorney J. Cameron and Louise Williams Argetsinger, he was born March 1, 1921, in Youngstown, Ohio, and spent his childhood summers with his grandparents in Schuyler County.  During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the Army.

A funeral Mass will be conducted on Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s of the Lake Church, Decatur Street, Watkins Glen. The family will meet with friends thereafter at the Racing Research Center, 610 S. Decatur St. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Racing Research Center. Arrangements by Vedder and Scott Funeral Home, Montour Falls, NY.

“A Tribute to Cameron Argetsinger” Planned for Saturday, April 26

The Center’s originally planned Center Conversations program on Saturday, April 26, of Jean Argetsinger and Bill Milliken sharing their stories of the early racing years will be, we hope, merely postponed. We sincerely hope that some day Jean and Bill will again agree to do this talk.

The plan now is to host a tribute to Cameron Argetsinger, who died Tuesday, April 22, led by Bill Green, with everyone in the audience invited to share their stories and memories.

The event will be at 1 p.m., next door to the Center in the Elementary School auditorium.

Legends of Watkins Glen Racing History Jean Argetsinger and Bill Milliken to Speak 

Jean Argetsinger and Bill Milliken, both involved with racing in Watkins Glen from when it was just a dream, will share their memories of the people of racing on Saturday, April 26, 2008, at the International Motor Racing Research Center.

Their 1 p.m. talk, part of the Center Conversations series, is especially appropriate as racing in Watkins Glen is celebrating its 60^th anniversary in 2008 and the Racing Research Center is marking its 10^th year of preserving the history of motorsports.

Friends of the Center are encouraged to make it a racing weekend – come to the talk on Saturday, return to the Center the next day at 8 a.m. to watch the live broadcast of the Spanish Grand Prix on Speed and then head to Watkins Glen International to celebrate the track’s official opening day of the 2008 season.

Argetsinger is the wife of Cameron Argetsinger, founder and organizer of the first races in Watkins Glen. From the earliest days, she was an integral part of the races, though she is fond of saying the people of the sport captivated her interest, not the cars.

Jean Argetsinger was one of the key people in the creation of the Racing Research Center to celebrate Watkins Glen racing’s golden anniversary, and she continues to serve on the Center’s Council.

Milliken competed in the early events, famously rolling his Bugatti in the first race in 1948 at the downtown spot now known as Milliken’s Corner. Milliken and Cameron Argetsinger met when Argetsinger first presented his idea of a road race in Watkins Glen to the Sports Car Club of America.

Milliken wrote the race regulations and served as head of competition for SCCA at Watkins Glen and in the Formula 1 years as steward of the meeting.

Between them, Milliken and Jean Argetsinger have countless stories to tell, and some will be shared on April 26. The talk is free, and all are welcome.

The Racing Research Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. It is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No admission is charged.

Porsche Expert to Speak

Author Jerry Pantis will share his love of Porsche in a talk Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the International Motor Racing Research Center, part of the Center Conversations series.

Pantis is the author of the recently released “The Porsche 904, 906 & 910 In The Americas.” It has close to 1,000 photos, driver biographies, race-by-race coverage of events in North and South America where a 904, 906 or 910 was entered, and detailed chassis histories for about 90 individual cars.

He says that putting the book together was a six-year labor of love as well as “ridiculously indulgent.”

“In the end, I’ve written a book that I wished existed on these cars,” writes Pantis of Pointe Claire, Quebec.

Historian to Speak about ‘Race of the Century’

One hundred years ago, in February 1908, six cars from four different countries left New York City heading west. Their destination: Paris. Historian and author Julie Fenster will discuss her book, “Race of the Century: The Heroic True Story of the 1908 New York to Paris Auto Race,” at the March Center Conversations on Saturday, March 29, starting at 1 p.m. at the International Motor Racing Research Center. The route that those early racers used stretched across more than 21,000 miles over three continents and six countries. Fenster’s book tells the fascinating tale of this great challenge. Fenster began her career at Automobile Quarterly. She has written several on a wide range of historical topics, including books on Packards and Corvettes. Fenster also has written for American Heritage, the NewYork Times and American History.Center Conversations is a free monthly talk series that takes listeners behind the scenes of motorsports. The talks are informal, and everyone is invited. The Racing Research Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. It is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No admission is charged.

For more information about the Center and Center Conversations, call (607) 535-9044

Green Grand Prix Celebrates Alternate Fueled Vehicles

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (March 21, 2008) – Drivers of alternate fueled vehicles and hybrids have a unique opportunity to put their vehicles to the test and have a lot of fun while doing it at the 4th Annual Green Grand Prix in Watkins Glen.

Entries are now being accepted for the May 3 event’s unique time-speed-distance road rally through the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Central New York. The rally is the only road rally for alternate fueled vehicles and hybrids in the United States sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America.

The SCCA has a long association with world-renowned Watkins Glen, which is marking 60 years of competitive racing.

This year’s 4th Annual Green Grand Prix is hosted by the International Motor Racing Research Center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008.

The rally over miles of scenic roadways is one of the highlights of the daylong Green Grand Prix, based in downtown Watkins Glen at the Racing Research Center. After they return to the village, rally drivers and their navigators will join the public in a variety of educational activities throughout the afternoon.

The Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rally is named in memory of a well-known area environmentalist. Bovee taught for many years in the Corning-Painted Post Area School District and was known for her love of plants and birds. She also was involved with SCCA road rallies and was part of the Glen Region SCCA at its inception.

The rally brings together a diverse mix of hybrid and alternate fueled vehicles, AFVs, and their owners, businesses promoting renewable energy and related products, environmental groups, students and faculty members from elementary to university level and the general public.

“This fun and exciting educational event emphasizes energy independence and a cleaner environment,” said Green Grand Prix founder Robert Gillespie, an area artist and hybrid owner who is passionate about increasing awareness of the vehicles.

“The Green Grand Prix gives people an opportunity to learn first-hand about alternative personal transportation and renewable energy initiatives. It’s quite fulfilling to see how it grows in scope and size each year,” Gillespie said.

Corporate entries in the 2007 road rally included Toyota, Lexus, Honda, General Motors, Ford, the Indy Racing League, the Windshield Installation Network, Autoglass Insurance Co., Magi LLC and the Ethanol Promotion Information Council, EPIC. 

In addition to hybrid and flexible fuel vehicles, organizers expect many other interesting AFVs, including a hydrogen-powered car, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car, as well cars fueled by bio-diesel, electricity, LP and compressed natural gas.

Cars begin the rally at the historic Glen Motor Inn on Route 14 north of Watkins Glen. The rally is conducted at legal highway speeds.

All afternoon activities are centered at the Racing Research Center on South Decatur Street, including at adjacent facilities of the Watkins Glen Central School District.

The Wayne Technical and Career Center in Williamson, N.Y., will be bringing its student-made portable energy lab, which includes solar panels and a wind generator. Also featured will be an Electrathon electric race car from Baker High School in Baldwinsville, N.Y. 

Organizers are expecting exhibited cars to include an electric vehicle built in 1914.

A panel discussion will address a host of sustainability issues, and Cornell University’s X-Prize Team, which has been working on a 100 mpg mass-producible car, is expected to do a presentation on its project.

Winners of the AFV design contest for young students, now in its third year, will receive their awards, as will participants in the morning road rally.

The Racing Research Center staff will be giving tours of the Center and discussing their work preserving the history of motorsports. The Center collects all types of materials on all series of racing and at all tracks, worldwide.

“Our partnership with the Green Grand Prix this year is a natural,” Center Director of Archives & Administration Mark Steigerwald said. “Our archives clearly show how racing – and therefore transportation – has evolved over the decades. The innovative people who took the risks 100 years ago are the forerunners of the people we see participating in the Green Grand Prix each year.”

For complete details about the Green Grand Prix, visit its Web site at www.greengrandprix.com. Registration information for the Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rally is available there.

Learn more about the International Motor Racing Research Center at its Web site, www.racingarchives.org. The Glen Region of the SCCA has its Web site at www.glen-scca.org.

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