by Bill Groshen, President VSCR
Vintage, like in wine? Like in Old? Like in the past? Well, yes, all of that stuff and much more. In fact many of us call it, "old farts in old cars", pretending they are Juan Fangio or Sterling Moss at the Spa or Watkins Glen. And brother can we do some wine? Yaaa-ha! Er, I mean, "We have been known to imbibe some". Of course our LOL compatriots wouldn’t know anything about that.
Actually, it’s been said that vintage racing is about as much fun as you are allowed to have with your clothes on, and many times the endorphin high can’t be compared to anything less than a near-death experience. You don’t have to be first across the finish line to be a winner. All you have to do is get into a good dice with someone of near-equal ability with a like performing vehicle, and you have it as good as it gets. For Vintage Racing, I am a proponent of having all races be timed events. The race is started, a timer is set, and the first car coming across the finish line when the timer expires is the "winner". That also guarantees that there are no losers, because even the two slowest cars have something to race for. Of course at my age, every experience is a gift and I really don’t feel I have to "WIN", just let me play.
There are plenty of "Vintage" cars around for you to get in the game. Vintage racing is really a hoot, and can be very expensive if you have really deep pockets and feel the need to be fastest or just want to burn $$$$, but it needn’t be a break-the- bank experience. While our VSCR regulations manual gets very specific on car types and their eligibility in most classes, we do have a (VSS) category which stands for Vintage Street Sports, for stock, unmodified, except for mandated safety items like those things necessary to keep you alive. (Roll bar, fuel cell, drivers harness etc.) So an old Triumph TR-6 or Austin Healy Sprite can be made vintage race ready for pocket change.We have all heard the saying,"Yister’dy I cun’t say engeneer, but t’day I are one". Well, in Vintage Racing we have another like saying. "Just because you have a sports / race car doesn’t mean you are a race driver". The first $1000 or $1500 you spend on vintage racing should be for your head. No, not a helmet, though that is required and extremely necessary; what you need to do is get to a racing school, like Russell, Bondurant, Panoz, or any of the drivers schools listed in the back of Auto Week, or Sports Car Magazine. After attending one of these schools you will also find out whether you really like driving on the edge, rather than finding that out after you have a bunch of bucks tied up in a car and peripherals.
If you would like a copy of our Regulations (forget rules for now) let me know, as I have several copies jamming up a folder in my desk as we speak. We also have many VSCR members that have more than one car and would be happy to help drag you kicking and screaming into the fantastic, adrenalinized world of VINTAGE RACING!!!!! Reach me at 612-331-1235 day time.
And remember, "Clothes make the Man! Naked people have little or no influence on society!"
Billy G
Copyright 1999, Land O'Lakes Region.
Last revised: March 5, 1999