Well, I've been following this thread and sorting thru my feelings on this
issue so here goes......I ran an A/P and B/P Vette in the late 60's with SCC=
A.
The car is no longer with us as I ran out of brakes and tires at the end of=
the long straight at Thompson and the car was beyond fixing. Thompson Racew=
ay
is no longer with us either. Yes, we drove the car to the track and drove i=
t
home most of the time. I guess those were the good ol'days, although, I see=
m
to remember gluing and taping and glassing on many spare body parts on a
regular basis since we were rather competitive and contact was part of the
experience. Those of us wrapped in fiberglass were a bit more reluctant to
mix it up as it was more work to put the pieces in order.
I'd wanted to get back into the sport for a long time so several years ago I=
picked up 66 912 that was set up for vintage and PCA Club Racing. I ran a
couple of open track events to get the feel of the car and some PCA Time
Trials. I then went to a CSRG event at Thunderhill and had a great time but=
envied the guys with 'period' cars and 'period' history. "Vintage" to me,
meant running car that was a "real" car, had history, and was pretty much
prepped to period spec. Yes, this was a fairly exclusive club and these cars=
were relatively rare but that's the arena I was interested in playing in.
The other piece of the equation that I found attractive was the 'gentlemanly=
'
aspect of the sport, sort of like racing under Geneva convention rules, no
contact, no "win at any cost attitude" that would unnecessarily jepardize th=
e
hardware (and software-me). My general thinking was that the rarity and val=
ue
of the cars would produce a safer event and hopefully, drivers with stronger=
skills. The Thunderhill event had a large number of SOVREN folks down from
the N'west so there were lots of drivers who weren't familiar to each other
but everyone was competitive and polite and the event was a great success an=
d
there were no "incidents" that I recall.
I started looking for a car that had period history and was prepped to perio=
d
spec. My roots are in production cars and the Vettes and Shelbys were my
targets. I recently bought a period restored 64 Vette roadster with a stron=
g
verified history and am presently sorting the car (another story there....).=
Now it's time to run the car and I'd like to share some issues with you that=
are particularly relevant to this thread. First, who to run with. Well, an=
y
race car on a track is inherently at risk...part of the package. But, I don=
't
want to run with drivers who will increase that risk. I presume those would=
be drivers with lesser skills and/or with less invested emotionally or
financially in their cars. So, I look at licensing requirements and what do=
these clubs consider to be vintage cars. I want to run with cars that have
the same real and intrinsic value as mine, no junkers. I want to compete an=
d
socialize with drivers who are skilled, and have bought into the vintage
philosophy...if you HAVE to win, go to SCCA, NASA or somewhere else where
you're at least racing against others who are on the same page. Don't
overbuild(i.e. a cheater) an inexpensive old production street car so you ca=
n
beat some vintage guys with it who could care less about winning. You're on=
ly
fooling yourself about winning-go test yourself somewhere where the playing
field is level.
Now, from what I've seen for license requirements it's easier to get on a ra=
ce
track with some groups than to get a state drivers license. I don't wanna ru=
n
with this group as I suspect that this is where some previously maligned
driver suspects ended up. I suspect there's a cycle to all this......if it'=
s
easy to get a license, there will be more incidents.....more incidents lead =
to
more stringent licensing requirements....that's good....I just don't wanna b=
e
part of the statistics during the learning curve......
Now, as far as 'real' vintage cars go......I don't think I'll ever consider =
my
912 to be a 'real' vintage car. No matter how many times I run it and what
kind of 'history' I develop with it, it's still not a Duck. ("If it looks li=
ke
a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.") There are many Duck
wannabees out there running vintage, especially in the production classes.
The Vette, however is the real article. Quack, Quack....and always will be a=
true vintage race car. Are these wannabe cars good or bad for vintage racin=
g?
I'm not sure on this one. I'd hate to see 'new' old cars showing up every
year with new drivers here to learn how to race 'em and not subscribing to t=
he
vintage philosophy. I wonder how many of you have dropped out of some vinta=
ge
groups because you didn't want to run you're old car with 'new' old cars tha=
t
you could compete evenly with.
So, I'll be a bit picky about where I'll run this car. CSRG gets my vote as=
does HMSA. CSRG may be less car critical but I have a sense that bonehead
drivers don't survive there. VARA just rejected my application for Tustin
because I didn't have a 'vintage' license. Good for them. They're trying t=
o
tighten up their driver requirement because of too many incidents at Palm
Springs last year. I'll do what's necessary to satisfy their requirements a=
nd
run with 'em later. SCCA Vintage.....I'll probably try them on this
October.....car eligibility rules are pretty lax but I think licensing is
strict enough.
Since I'm on a roll......a couple of other comments. The car I drove to the=
track in 1969 would not be streetable today. A four inch high windscreen an=
d
no mufflers, bumpers, wipers wouldn't cut it with the CHP. So for a lot of y=
ou
who romanticize about that aspect of the good ol' days-get real. We didn't
have a trailer or tow car and if we did we wouldn't be burnin' up race gas t=
o
get there.
I never thought of Vintage racing as a place to start racing. That was SCCA=
or now a Bondurant/Barber school. Vintage racing was where old racers, cars=
and drivers went to relax and have fun. When did vintage become a schooling=
experience? I don't know that it's a reasonable place to start racing, hell=
,
I can't get too excited about being door to door with someone who's real
green......
I'll shut up now....and put the nomex on......I'm sure I've pissed somebody
off...............
Ted
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