==>Someone recently brought up the question of vintage racing an MGA with a MGB
==>motor & this got me started on wondering what Vintage racing is all about.
==>There seems to be several takes on Vintage racing, depending upon what kind
==>of car you have/can afford and how badly you want to cross the line first
==>{notice that I did not say win}.
==>I have seen a lot of modifications done to cars to make them go faster or
==>handle better than they ever did in the past. I can not help but wonder, why
==>these people are not racing their cars in SCCA races. I thought vintage
==>races were a chance to see old cars running around a course with their
==>fellow agemates. I thought the object was to have fun.
I too have wondered about this for quite sometime now and it seems
that the rules in the US are very different to those in the UK. I have
been following the Classic rallying scene in Europe now for about 2 years
(through Calssic Cars) and I seem to get the inpression that cars may not
enter rallies if they have non-period modifications. The only exception
to this rule is concerning safety equipement and driver "comfort", ie
high back Recaro seats are allowed.
(Of cource different rallies organizers allow different mods.)
Some example come to mind:
- MG Midget which have the tube shock conversions are not allowed.
- No computerised rally equipement can be used. The only rally equipement
allowed is what was available at the time. Which basically means a
Halda Tripmaster (which I believe are being remanufacturerd specifically
to meet the increased demand).
- Engine tuning may not include any technology after the the date set by the
rally organizers, For the Pirelli Classic Marathon the year is 1965, for
others it may be 1970, or pre-1960. This basically means no cam profiles
are allowed which did not exist for that particular year., and other types
of tuning.
Looking at some of the rally photos of the mid-sixties I am always amazed
to see Bugeye Sprites with an extra lamp or two, with no roll bar or no
seat belts being hurled around mountain passes by a tie and sport-jacket
clad driver wearing a cloth cap !!! - now that's bravery.
That is the atmosphere that a lot of the modern classic rallies of today
are trying to recreate
Other organizations set a dollar amnount on the modifications that are
allowed. If you have say $1000 to spend, you can modify the engine, or
the suspension or the brakes or whatever, but you have a financial limit
of which ones you allowed to do, so the choice is left to the driver.
Better engine or better suspension ????
With the exception of a couple on entrants I would say that most vintage
racers want to enter events to enjoy themselves with their cars, and
wining is maybe a 3rd or 4th priority.
Gerry
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