Flounder..... Your note struck a nerve with me.... I ran into the same thing.
I race with VARA, which is mostly the friendly and nicest folks you could ask
for. At every tech inspection, I would run into someone with a pet peeve. One
guy wanted me to build a steel cage around my fuel cell, which sits in an
aluminum pod. My car is already 400 pounds overweight. I found another
inspector who could think and we agreed to put another layer of aluminum
around it. The final straw came when a tech inspector told me that I will
always get hassled until I "conform" and spend a ton of money to "cherry it
out" like everybody else. Silly me, I thought I was at a race instead of a
car show/ego bragging contest.
The DSR has now sat in the garage for two years while I have been winning in
my SCCA ITA car. I really liked the vintage racing cause it took me back to
the 60s when I was pit crew on some nice cars but couldn't afford anything
but a $150 bugeye to race. And then only through drivers schools and a couple
of regionals before family and kids became a higher priority.
I now have a 69 Europa that will become a fun car and autocrosser . I'd
consider vintage but the roll cage in a fiberglass car is more then I want to
spend right now. The DSR is reluctantly for sale. If I ever get to your area
of the country, I'll be sure and stop in to see the Red Rat... Gene
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