| South American Race |
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Ross Longfield, former CEO of Beneficial National Bank, grew the company from a startup into a multibillion-dollar business. Now retired, he fills his time with investing, serving on boards, and—at the moment—trying to keep the windshield of his Jaguar from falling off.On this first morning of the race, Ross has discovered, as the car streaks past Villa La Angostura, that the windshield molding starts to peel back at speeds over 175 kilometers per hour (approximately 110 miles per hour). Of course, that’s only a guess, because the Jag’s speedometer cable just ruptured. The mechanical failure doesn’t faze Ross’s son Mark, an attorney living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, who’s now barreling the Jag across the Argentinian altiplano. “With the speedometer exploded,” he says with a certain gratification, “he can’t complain about my speed anymore.” To paraphrase the late Argentinian actor Fernando Lamas, all of the cars at this year’s edition of the 1000 Millas Sport look mahhhvelous, with the possible exception of a defiantly homely 1962 Volvo. And the drivers are nearly as exotic as their cars. “It’s like walking into an issue of the Argentinian version of People,” one society matron explained to me earlier in the day as the cars passed, one by one, through the starting gate at Llao Llao. The sleek 1954 Jaguar XK120 was piloted by a man she called “the Argentinian Ralph Lauren.” The driver of the 1955 Jaguar XK140 was an “oil baron.” And the gorgeous gull-wing Mercedes? “Pharmaceuticals.” Then the Rowans pulled up in their Bentley. “No idea,” she said. “Plastics,” I responded, “from New Jersey.” She looked blank. “You know, plastics. Did you ever see the movie The Graduate?” Ed Rowan is chairman of Parkway Plastics, the company that invented the plastic jar. The Bentley is one of more than 20 classic cars he owns. Half of them are kept in a two-story, carpeted garage next to his office in Piscataway, New Jersey. He garages the other half at home, in nearby Far Hills. Ned Rowan, also known as Edward W. Rowan III, is taking a break from his MBA studies at Columbia to join his father in Argentina. The procession continued. “That’s David Nalbandian, of course,” said the woman, pointing to the driver of the black 1953 Jaguar. “He’s the number one tennis player in the world.” Well, not quite, although he arrived in Bariloche fresh off beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and winning the Madrid and Paris Masters tournaments back to back. |
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