WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Dec. 18, 2014) – Nancy Loughlin of Montour Falls, N.Y., was the winner of the Fiat 500 Abarth and trip to Italy offered by the International Motor Racing Research Center.
“This is the Center’s 15th year of raising much-needed financial support with a significant raffle. We’ve had winners from all over the United States, but Nancy is our first winner from our own Schuyler County. We’re thrilled,” Center President J.C. Argetsinger said. “We sincerely thank everyone who purchased tickets and made this year’s raffle of the Fiat and the trip a successful fundraiser,” Argetsinger said.
The winning ticket was drawn at the Center on Dec. 13 by Anthony J. Specchio Sr., grand marshal of the 2014 Italian American Festival in Watkins Glen.
WINNER OF THE FIAT and TRIP TO ITALY: NANCY LOUGHLIN of WATKINS GLEN
Loughlin, who lives just a few miles south of the Center, is a retired Watkins Glen High School guidance counselor. She has purchased tickets in previous Center car raffles.
“Paired with the opportunity to travel to Italy, this one was very attractive,” Loughlin said.
“I remember when Fiats were in the States before, and I’ve grown to admire them. They’re cute little bugs,” she said. “And this is a turbo! It purrs loudly.”
Loughlin bought her ticket in September at the downtown Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival. Three months later she learned about her new car and trip when she listened to a voice mail message from Argetsinger. She was getting ready to go to her part-time job as hostess at the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel Blue Pointe Grille and could not immediately get to her
phone. Moments later she listened to the message and soon was at the Center.
She was two hours late for work.
“I could not believe it,” Loughlin said days later. “I’m kind of still in shock.” Loughlin visited Venice, Italy, in 1999 and said she’s looking forward to returning.
The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (October 20, 2014) – Tickets are still available to win a Fiat 500 Abarth Turbo Hatchback and a trip to Italy.
The International Motor Racing Research Center is raffling the car and trip to help support its mission to preserve and share the history of motorsports. The drawing for the winning ticket will take place on Dec. 13, at 1 p.m. at the Center located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen, N.Y. The winner does not need to be present.
Only 3,500 tickets will be sold for the annual car raffle, the biggest fundraiser for the Racing Research Center, which is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. As an archival and research library focused on the history of motorsports, the Center welcomes everyone, from the casual race fan to the serious researcher.
A significant and desirable car is selected each year for the annual fundraiser.
“The Fiat is the car you can use for grocery shopping during the week and take to the track on the weekends. There’s a reason reviewers dubbed it ‘small but wicked’,” Racing Research Center President J.C. Argetsinger said. “And the trip to Italy is real enticing. Back to where the Fiat was born!” Tickets are $40 for one or $100 for three. Tickets may be purchased by mailing in a form available at the website www.racingarchives.org; by calling the Center at (607) 535-9044; or by sending the necessary information to research@racingarchives.org. Online orders are not an option.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 22, 2014) – The International Motor Racing Research Center’s 2014 raffle is all Italian.
A Fiat 500 Abarth Hatchback Turbo and a trip to Italy combine to make a “primo” prize for the Center’s annual fundraising project. The 2013 model is a sporty bright red with black interior and trim.
The drawing of the winning ticket will be on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Center, located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. The winner does not need to be present. Tickets are $40 for one or $100 for three. Only 3,500 tickets will be sold.
The Racing Research Center is an archival and research library dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of motorsports, of all racing series and all tracks worldwide. The annual car raffle is the Racing Research Center’s major fundraiser. Support through the Center’s Sponsorship Team campaign is the other key source of funding. The Center is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.
Tickets may be purchased by mailing in a form available at the website www.racingarchives.org; by calling the Center at (607) 535-9044; or by sending the necessary information to research@racingarchives.org. Online orders are not an option.
Reviewers of the Fiat 500 Abarth are quick to revive the “small but wicked” description coined in the 1960s for Karl “Carlo” Abarth’s cars. These cars are fun, too. “The Fiat 500 Abarth is a blast. Fun to drive, fun to listen to, fun to look at, and fun to experience,” wrote Jamie Doyle for Sports Car Digest. Says the company: “The Fiat 500 Abarth brings to life the legendary racing heritage of the brand and becomes the Italian high-performance car for everyday driving.”
“With its origins part of automotive and motorsports history, the Fiat 500 Abarth is an especially appropriate choice as a Racing Research Center raffle car,” Center President J.C. Argetsinger said.
The collaboration between Abarth and Fiat started in the early 1950s. The driving public loved the Fiat 500, first released in 1958. Abarth’s tuning and exhaust system redesigns would take the 500 to many class and outright race victories.
The Fiat 500 was “the car that would cement Abarth and Fiat’s name into automobile history,” Doyle wrote. The Abarth brand was re-launched in 2007, and the Fiat 500 Abarth arrived in the U.S. in 2012.
Fiats are once again earning checkered flags on tracks around the world, and perhaps the raffle winner will see some of those racing Abarths on his or her tour of Italy – the other half of this year’s prize package.
BTI The Travel Consultants, a first-class travel agency in Syracuse, N.Y., will custom-design a $5,000 trip to Italy for the winner. BTI will create “the Italian vacation of your dreams” for the lucky winner. Said Argetsinger: “As we’re saying at the Center these days: ‘Tutte le strade conducono a Roma … in un Fiat!’ That means ‘All roads lead to Rome … in a Fiat!’ We know someone is going to be very happy with this ‘small but wicked’ car.”