Mike Zolnick
This Thursday, legendary car racer Sir Stirling Moss made his first ever trip to Santa Fe to serve as a judge for the first annual Santa Fe Concorsco classic car show. On Thursday, a group of car buffs and Concorso participants gathered at Santa Fe Municipal Airport to greet him, Lady Susie and Alma Hill with signs, pictures and boas.---
Nearly two dozen people gathered outside the doors of the Santa Fe Airport, anxiously awaiting the arriving flight from LAX. Many arriving that day from Dallas and Los Angeles were met with banners and signs as they stepped foot into Santa Fe.
"Who would've guessed we'd have congestion at Santa Fe Airport?" remarked one flyer.
As the 12:50 arrival time for the flight came and went, the greeting party began to get restless. Discussions of classic cars began to fill the parking lot. "It's a racecar. You just don't disappoint an 8C Alpha [Romeo]," Denise McCluugage remarked as she recalled her days as an international racer.
Local car enthusiast John Bungay pulled his classic 1959 Jaguar XK150 around the block to show it off and pass the time.
"It's not often that Britian's best racecar driver shows up in our backyard," Bungay said between photo-ops of him and the beautiful red convertible.
Sir Stirling Moss was a legend on the international racing circuit. From 1948-1962, he won 212 accredited races, earning him knighthood from Prince Charles. To this day, Brits still refer to their fast-driving friends as "Stirlng Moss."
McCluggage, who helped to organize the greeting event as well as the Concorso event this weekend, recalls racing against Moss: "I loved racing with him in the '50s. Well, not with him; against him, really. He was pretty fast!"
The meet-and-greet was just a warm-up for the Santa Fe Concorso this weekend, for which Moss, Lady Susia and Alma Hill will be serving as judges. Classic car collectors from across the state will unearth their racing relics and converge on La Mesita for the largest show of its kind in Northern New Mexico.
"There have never been cars like this in New Mexico," Jennifer Marshall, spokeswoman for Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, says.
"I love the classic cars. They're just so good looking," Moss said in a brief interview with SFR. "New cars just don't have the same appeal. Yes, they have the performance and excellence, but old cars are simply more fun to drive."
So head to La Mesita this weekend to see some fabulous shining cars from days past and talk with the owners about the glory days.
Santa Fe Concorso5-8 pm Friday, Sept. 249 am-2 pm Saturday, Sept. 2510 am-4 pm Sunday, Sept. 26La MesitaUS 84/285 and NM Highway 503Shuttles depart from Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino every 10 minutes
