An intrepid band of adventurers from the Porsche Club of America’s Shenandoah Region visited Palmyra, Columbia, the Alamo and Le Mans on a recent Saturday morning in spring.
No, it wasn’t the Ancient City of Palmyra on the Silk Road trade route in what is now Syria, the Republic of Columbia, the Alamo in Texas or Le Mans in France.
Their trek took them over twisting country roads from the Historic Fluvanna County Courthouse in Palmyra, Virginia, to Columbia Virginia, and finally to the Alamo Drafthouse and Cinema in Charlottesville for a special early matinee showing of Steve McQueen’s epic racing movie, “Le Mans.”
The route was organized Gary Hunter. Gary Hunter led the drive in his Porsche 996 C4S. Dan asked yours truly to drive the sweep vehicle and the main group was already headed out as I pulled up, unfashionably tardy, to the stately brick courthouse, which was built in 1831.
After I signed the waiver, Dan hopped in and we headed off in pursuit over Stage Junction Road, passed the entrance to Schloss Graff and headed into the historic village of Columbia, which, until it was officially dissolved in 2016, had the distinction of being the smallest incorporated town in Virginia.
Although short of residents, Columbia is long on history. It began as a Monacan Indian settlement and was known during Colonial times as “Point of Fork,” as it sat at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers.
During the Revolutionary War a detachment of the Queen’s Rangers commanded by Col. John G. Simcoe were sent by British General Cornwallis to capture and confiscate the arsenal at Point of Fork commanded by Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The crafty Prussian ordered his troops to transport the arsenal’s stores across the James and sink its heavy artillery in the river to be recovered later. Simcoe captured the arsenal but found it nearly empty.
After the war, the community changed its name to “Columbia” and, as a major shipping point on the James River was narrowly edged out in voting to make it Virginia’s Capital.
From there, the Porsche convoy motored on toward Scottsville, another historic tobacco port on the James River. Scottsville was the largest port town along what was planned as the James River and Kanawha Canal, which would have linked the Atlantic with the Ohio River, had it been completed. Unfortunately, the Civil War and the rapid growth of railroads intervened.
From there, the Porsche caravan motored into Charlottesville and was met at the Alamo Drafthouse and Cinema by other PCA members for lunch, beer and wine, and a special private viewing of “Le Mans” on the big screen. Many enthusiasts maintain this is the best movie ever made about auto racing, one that stars actor/racer McQueen and an assortment of Porsche 917s, and 908s, Ferrari 512s, and Lola T-70s. To attain authenticity, McQueen’s own Porsche 908 was equipped with the large movie cameras of the day and entered, unofficially, in the 1970 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As soon as the race ended, filming began at the track and for a scheduled six-week shoot that stretched into five months.
Legendary sports car and F-1 drivers Derek Bell, Jo Siffert, Masten Gregory, Mike Parks, David Piper, Jonathan Williams, Herbert Linge, Gerard Larrousse, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and others finished the 24 Hours and stayed around the track to drive in the film’s racing scenes. Way over budget and with a variety of delays, “Le Mans was a failure at the box office and was panned by film critics as being too full of racing scenes and too short on plot and dialogue. For these reasons, however, the film achieved a cult status that remains almost 50 years after it was released.
The PCA members and guests who watched it again on the big screen would probably agree with McQueen, who said, “Le Mans was the toughest picture I ever made, but it was worth it.”
