Vintage Vehicles Event Returning to Wildwood After a 3-year Hiatus
WILDWOOD – Blink and you’ll miss it, but for three days this fall, century-old beasts will hiss and whine over the sands at The Race of Gentlemen. Roaring old Fords, whose shapes resemble carriages more than they do anything on the road today, come to life as thousands of men and women, in lovingly handmade 1930s attire, clap and cheer at engine notes that only come from years of grease and hard work.
Meldon Van Riper Stultz III, founder of The Race of Gentlemen drag race and festival in Wildwood, says that vintage cars aren’t meant to sit around. This is the animating principle behind the event, which began in Asbury Park before moving to Wildwood and becoming one of the most celebrated motor events in the world.
The race stands out in a crowd of static car shows that dot the Cape in late summer and early fall. Folks who come to these automotive events spend years working on their vehicles. Best to race them, then.
Girard Fox, a lifelong motorcyclist who found a love of racing through The Race of Gentlemen, said that automotive hobbyists, especially those who have put in a lot of time whittling vintage project cars, have had pent-up energy for an event like The Race of Gentlemen.
“Old-vehicle enthusiasts really needed something new to liven up their excitement,” Fox said. “People have so badly wanted an event where people can actually use their vehicles. It certainly gave me a new lease on motorcycle life. It keeps me, if not young, then immature.”
Fox had never raced a motorcycle before hitting the sandy racetrack in 2015. He said the soft sand beneath him gave him peace of mind. At least a crash would be soft.
The entry requirements for The Race of Gentlemen are strict. Every car here is American, manufactured before 1934. These are hot rods, vintage cars modified for speed and style, but every part must be period-accurate. That means no modern transmissions, disc brakes, alternators; the list goes on, and Stultz is strict about the rules. Every car is inspected and must be approved for entry before it can race.
Stultz doesn’t enforce these rules as a show of elitism — he wants folks to rise to the challenge. Re-creating the old days of American drag racing requires authenticity. He often helps racers who can’t qualify get over any setbacks that keep them from competing.
He’s also nice about it. Kindness is the second animating principle behind the event, he said. The folks here may be tatted up beside loud V8s, but the show is for everybody, of every skill and knowledge level, to enjoy.
“All my life I’ve struggled with people not being kind and not doing right by each other. I wanted people to be fair to each other whether they win or they lose. That’s where the name came from,” Stultz said.
The event is a coming-together of vintage motorists from around the globe. Live music, a bonfire and story-swapping preface the culminating races. And before the cars and motorcycles hit the beach, they parade around Wildwood, whose vintage architecture is a proper backdrop for the period-accurate cars.
Rob Ida, owner of a famous custom vehicle garage in Marlboro, said, “Wildwood is the perfect setting for this because the buildings, the signs, the whole atmosphere feels like a place these hot rods should be seen.”
Wildwood, despite a new Starbucks and a prominent McDonald’s just over the main bridge, has largely maintained its Doo-Wop identity. Stultz, who has lived in New Jersey nearly his entire life, said that many Jersey Shore towns have faced an identity crisis that obscures the rich history — and architecture — that shaped them.
“Slowly all the vintage beauty gets watered down for big business,” he said. “Wildwood is truly one of the last mid-century modern gems.”
This year’s event, Oct. 4 to 6, is the first since 2021. The Race of Gentlemen was fully set up — handmade vintage props on the skyline, cars in place, racers at the ready — in 2022 before Hurricane Ian shut it down. The festival is still recovering from that financial blow.
“It’s ridiculously expensive to host,” Stultz said. “Something becomes popular and you just get clobbered with cost. It’s up to us to fund this ourselves. We didn’t have weather insurance that year. It’s really hard to do what we are doing — it’s also hard when people assume we’re one of the most successful auto events in the world when we have three sweaters on in the winter, heat off, to save money.”
But 2024 holds a lot of promise for big crowds, Stultz said. He hopes for 20,000 visitors, many of whom will fly from places like Japan and countries across Europe.
The festival grounds during race days are full of young families with children. Ida said that the excitement of children is a joy to him; it means that there’s a future for the hobby.
“We look at it like this: This is an old guy’s thing! I’m 52, and in the world of vintage automotives I’m a young guy!” he said.
Ida has been featured in nationally circulated car magazines for his custom builds, like an XK120 Jaguar he will show off at this year’s event.
Michelle Wire, general manager of the event, first got involved when she brought her 16-year-old son to one of the first races.
“He at 16 was having a hard time finding kids who wanted to do anything outside, not on a screen, a phone, a video game. I brought him to this, and he saw people with their friends who flew from all over the world for this race,” she said.
The event ignited a new passion in her son’s heart, and in her own, she said. She now helps organize the event, working behind the scenes year-round on promotion, booking, marketing and other logistics that take a lot of time to hammer out.
Stutz said: “This was the first thing of its kind. Since this started, events like it have popped up all over the world, in Belgium, Japan, France, California.
“But right here in Jersey, that’s where it’s going down.”
Contact the author, Collin Hall, at chall@cmchearld.com, or give them a call at 609-886-8600 ext. 156
