Merely being obsolete does not make a vehicle a vintage race car.
As this is my first response to this newsgroup, I should give some
intro. As half of the two-car equipe' known as Team Escargot, I vintage race
a 1967 Honda S-800 coupe (850cc, twin-cam, roller-bearing crank, 10,000+
rpm). I've been vintage racing for 10 years along with my father, Paul Meis.
As the other half of Team Escargot, he races a 1969 NTM D-sports racer with
an S-800 engine. We race on the East coast with SVRA, HSR and VSCCA.
I beleive that we have to recognize that a 'golden era' in road racing
has come and gone. It is this 'golden era' that we strive to recreate and
enjoy when we go vintage racing. Of course it is far easier to recognize
that a golden era existed than it is to define the period and the cars that
belong in it. Generally, I am referring to the 50's, 60's and early 70's.
In the case of production cars, the advent of legal 'tube frame'
production race cars, the decline of the Trans-am, and the decline of
'classic' sports cars in general all came about by the early to mid 70's.
There will be very few 1980's production race cars that will ever be
considered classic, collectible or 'vintage'.
My point may be best illustrated by the lesser classes of SCCA
production racing in that most of the cars that competed as E,F,G & H
Production in the 60's can be considered classic and appropriate vintage
racers. Bugeyes, Spitfires, 356 porsches, TR3s, Alfa spiders, etc. I can
not picture a 1980's tube-frame Nissan small-bore racer ever being held in
the same regard. (I am not biased against Japanese cars as I vintage race a
1967 Honda)
In the case of sports racers and formula cars the period may be more
difficult to define. Big time road racing like the Can Am and F-5000 did not
last beyond the mid 70's making a cut-off for these finite groups easy. But
how to deal with FF, FA and other classes is another matter.
The final answer may be that while there is not room for every old race
car at any one event, you will be able to find a group and events to run
almost any old race car that you want to put on the track.
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