Mark bradakis wrote and forwarded:
> Gee, I guess I missed the start of whatever discussion this was, but I thought
> some of you might find the comments of interest.
> mjb.
>
> ------- Start of forwarded message -------
> From: "Larry Dennis" <fp510@erols.com>
> To: "'Mark Coffin'" <coffinm@mail.ecu.edu>, <MTucker436@aol.com>
> Cc: <wheeltowheel@wheeltowheel.com>
> Subject: RE: Comp Board
> Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 22:43:33 -0500
>
> Mark,
> That would be a good idea but it makes to much sense for the Comp Board
>to
> something that intelligent. The idea behind the newer cars is to force the
> older cars out to vintage racing eventually. A friend of mine races a TR4 in
> EP. He is one of 2 or 3 in the country. An axle set lasts around a year or
> so of hard racing. You can no longer get axles from any source unless you
> have a custom run of 25 made just for you. He did that 4 years ago and sold
> the extras to the vintage people. He asked for a change in axles and was
> told he should have a custom batch made again. Unfortunately there is no
> market for the rest of the 25 sets he would have to commission. He already
> loaded up all the vintage drivers he knows. So after next year he will be
> forced to park his car because he cannot find parts.
> I guess if things continue that way eventually all the Triumphs, AH's and
> MG's will go away and then they can be happy knowing that they are killing
> off the members who have kept parts of the club alive over the years.
>
> Larry Dennis
> Team Wannago Racing
> G Prod #63 Datsun 510
> Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series
> DC Region SCCA
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
Larry pretty much has the right bent on the realities of
older cars competing in current SCCA classes. Back when
Mike Cook was still the Advertising Manager for Jaguar,
Rover, Triumph; I commented to him about how great it
was to see Hardy Prentise (TR-3) doing so well in SCCA
racing. His reply was that they (the factories) would
rather not see that since it provided less opportunity to
use racing wins as advertising for the current line
of cars. The factory PR folks would just as soon see
an age cut-off that would keep the current racing
limited to contemporary vehicles.
Remember the showroom stock class which had just
such a limitation. Given the sponsor money at stake
for both individual entries as well as event and race
support, you can see where the pressure comes from.
Cheers,
Bill Sohl
VTR magazine Co-Editor
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