Ice Racing Recollections
by Harvey West
Looking at the calendar, it’s hard to believe that my racing career started thirty years ago, in January of 1971. I don’t feel that old. At the time, I didn’t think I could afford SCCA road racing, but I wanted to get a taste of wheel-to-wheel competition, after competing in autocrosses (then called gymkhanas) for 10 years. I heard about the ice racing series, which was then called the Winter CanAm, and it seemed to offer a relatively affordable option. A friend and co-worker of mine who had the mechanical skills I lacked decided to partner with me and give ice racing a try.
A Renault Caravelle was located in a barnyard, behind a chicken coop at a farm near Owatonna. The farmer sold it to us for $35. It lacked a few things, like a steering wheel, but we closed the deal. We towed it to the garage with my AMC Hornet, with my friend riding in the Renault, steering it with a Vise-Grip wrench clamped to the steering column.
The Caravelle was a relatively rare car in these parts. Mechanically, it was based on the Renault Dauphine, an early competitor of the VW bug, which had an evil reputation from the standpoint of durability. The Caravelle version was a two-seat roadster, and not bad looking, but hardly a sports car. Surprisingly, it did have disc brakes, which were uncommon in economy cars at the time.Our Caravelle sagged in the middle, thanks to several winters of Minnesota road salt, but my partner’s welding skills solved that; he constructed a sort of subframe to bridge the front and back halves of the vehicle. Unfortunately, this added to the weight
of the already underpowered car. My friend rebuilt the tired engine, and discovered it was sleeved, a fact which was to have later repercussions.
After many nights in the garage prior to Christmas, and many six packs, the car was ready for action, and after some bodywork and a paint job, actually looked halfway presentable. To obtain ice racing licenses, we had to run a couple of icekhanas prior to the season, which opened at Gull Lake, north of Brainerd. The car was desperately slow, but it got through the two icekhanas with no reliability problems. Totally, we had maybe $350 in the car, including ice racing tires. Today, that doesn’t even buy me a set of tires for my A-Sedan SCCA race car.
This was during the heyday of ice racing in this area, and the series included a large number of drivers and a wide diversity of vehicles, ranging from Corvettes to VW bugs. There were a number of strong Mini Coopers, and 3-cylinder Saabs were also popular. No one else was running a Renault Caravelle, although Ted Archer from Duluth, a Renault dealer, had a late model example of the marque. He was the father of Tommy and Bobby, who were to make their marks in ice racing and later, in pro road racing. Our Renault was in Class D, competing against Simcas, VWs and other low-powered, rear engine-over-drive-wheels vehicles. The faster classes were contested by the likes of Jerry Hansen, Tom Jones of Thunder Bay and other hot dogs. Most ice racers had low-budget programs, however. Ours was rock bottom.
I was slated to drive the opener at Gull Lake, with my partner scheduled to run in St. Paul at the Winter Carnival race. Of course, we qualified way in back, but attrition put us
on the podium, third in class at the end of the 100-mile event, and we got a big, gaudy trophy. We were ecstatic! A trophy in our first race; never mind the fact that we were many, many laps behind the overall winner. And, the Caravelle had been as reliable as a tombstone and about as fast. More power was a must. Prior to the Winter Carnival, my partner borrowed a larger carburetor from a local Alfa owner, and fabricated trick intake and exhaust manifolds. They worked well, and we showed up at St. Paul with higher horsepower and high hopes. The field was huge; over 60 cars, if memory serves. Our enthusiasm lasted through only a few laps of practice. The engine cooked. The sleeves had developed a leak, and a blown gasket did us in.
After an engine rebuild, we finished at Duluth, even though I rolled the car in a snowbank, but with almost no damage; the windshield didn’t even break! At Thunder Bay, the engine cooked again, but my partner did get a finish. Prior to the series finale at Winnipeg, another engine rebuild was in order. Winnipeg turned out the be the season’s high point, as attrition got us a class win with my partner at the wheel, despite yet another overheating engine.
Having had a bellyfull of Renault engine reliability, we planned a change of direction for the following season. We intended to install a modified Pinto engine in the Caravelle, and run in the open class. However, my partner became involved in a business venture which consumed all of his spare time, and he had to retire from ice racing. A couple of seasons later, I made an ill-fated purchase of a 3-cylinder Saab ice racer and returned to the sport, but that’s another story.
Tonneau On-Line February 2001
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Copyright 2001, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
