Here's a copy of something I just sent to the SEB. It's a proposal for a
regional-optional vintage autocross class.
Dear SEB,
Grassroots Motorsports has long been a supporter of the national Solo II
program, with pages of editorial promotion for all of SCCA's efforts in each
issue. As you might be aware, our latest venture is the launching of a new
magazine for the U.S. market, Classic Autosport. The new magazine will be
using British Car magazine as a basis and expanding to include marques from
countries other than Britain. Classic Autosport's goal is to become the
nexus for all classic sports car activities in the United States.
We'd like to suggest that there is a large market of sports car enthusiasts
that are interested in autocross and road-rally type activities, as evidenced
by the numerous classic marque clubs that hold autocrosses, yet aren't really
ever seen at local SCCA events. A few classes for vintage cars at local
autocrosses (pre 1973) could do for this crowd what Street Touring has been
working at with the younger crowd. Of course, promotion and support from
Classic Autosport would be on hand to help this fledgling class, as we helped
get Street Touring off the ground in 1998.
Our proposal is to create a class structure that can be included at a
region's discretion at a local level. The Vintage classes could be based up
on the current Street Prepared rules, with several important distinctions.
Here's an example of what the classes could look like:
General: Cars would be model year 1973 or prior, unless years are
specifically listed next to the car's entry in Appendix A (example: MGB up to
1978). Updating and backdating would be allowed from cars on the same line
in the appendix, up to 1973.
Engine: Preparation would reference SP rules, with the exception of
intakes. In this case, only carburetion would be allowed. Cars that are
fitted with factory fuel injection would be allowed, but with no changes
except for factory ranges of adjustment. Alternate camshafts would be
allowed.
Suspension: Referencing street prepared, with the exception of only allowing
single adjustable shock absorbers without external reservoirs.
Wheels: Wheel width limits of up to 7" wide or 1.5" wider than stock,
whichever is smaller. Wheel diameters to remain stock.
Tires: This could be handled two ways, one is allowing DOT-approved tires
that fit under the wheelwells. The second option is to allow only street
oriented tires (treadwear >140) with an aspect ratio greater than 60%. The
second option would allow casual marque club enthusiasts to have a better
chance of success.
Proposed Vintage classes and some sample cars:
V1: Lotus Elan, Porsche 911, TVR
V2: Chevrolet Corvette, Chevrolet Camaro, Jaguar XKE.
V3: Alfa Romeo Spider, Porsche 914.
V4: MGB, Volvo 122, Datsun 510
As a five year volunteer on the SCCA's Stock Advisory Committee, I understand
that the last thing the national Solo program needs is a new class at
Topeka. However, giving a local region the option of including a group of
people who historically have been shown to be club joiners and club
volunteers would make many regional SCCA Solo programs even more successful.
Sincerely,
Per Schroeder
Technical Editor/Technical Director
Grassroots Motorsports/Classic Autosport
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Partial archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|