1949 Watkins Glenn Grand Prix

[Joris]

Hi, I am new here. I run this website PreWarCar and have some questions now and then. Today I feature this 1934 Ford Special, with Legis Pfund at the wheel. He ended 23. Whoi can tell me some more about the man, the maxchine and the Maserati to the left.

thanks Joris

[TimD]

Hi Joris, and welcome to the forum.

Can't tell you much about the cars in your picture. But I can tell you that the driver is Ledyard H. Pfund, and it is indeed the 1949 Watkins Glen races.

Pfund also entered the supporting Seneca Cup that weekend, and finished 22nd in the race.

Talk about consistent!

In his later years, Ledyard Pfund founded the Scripps-Booth Register (the Scripps-Booth is a nearly forgotten early American car, aimed at the same market as - say - a Packard).

Sadly, I don't think he's with us any longer, but I do know that his scrapbooks and archives wound up with the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen, NY, USA.

Best of luck with your search.

[Joris]

Dear TimD,

Just received additional info from Kit Foster:

Ledyard Hale Pfund (1917- Feb.
4, 1991), lived in Alpine, New Jersey. Alpine is in Bergen County; "R"
was a Bergen County registration code from 1939-59.

"Ledge," as his friends called him, was a long-time member of the
Society of Automotive Historians. I did not know him, but many of my
friends did. Beverly Rae Kimes eulogized him thus in the newsletter
SAH Journal:

"His venerable vintage meant that he could be a member of the
Automobile Racing Club of America and a spectator at the ARCA's
famed Round the Houses race at Alexandria Bay. Ledge had his own
Ford Special ready to race "round the houses" in '41, but Pearl harbor
intervened.
"Following the war, he joined the Sports Car Club of America, serving
as a race official, vice president and editor. A mechanical engineering
graduate, Ledge joined the national automotive department of United
Parcel Service in 1956 and rose to become UPS chief automotive
engineer, a position he held for twelve years. Historic cars consumed
him avocationally, and his interest was eclectic. His collection ranged
from a Scripps-booth and a PB Plymouth to a Lotus Elan and four
turbocharged Corvairs."