Have a Vintage or Classic Car? Now Go Race It!

You can find a “Greatest Hits” collection of this author’s best works, available in Kindle and printed book format, on Amazon at - http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Car-Stories-Innovative-Meetings/dp/1530003954

GO RACING!!

Browsing through this month's Classic Motorsports magazine I read through Pete Brock's article, which essentially said, go racing.  But Pete Brock is an engineer, and the article read a little like an engineers blog; technical.  I thought I'd try my hand at the same article, but in layman's terms for us simpler folks.  What I'm really hoping to do is show you it doesn't matter what kind of hoopty car you have, you can get involved with competition and have a blast.

This is a Pete Brock design - author's photo

First the personal testimony; for the last four years or so I've been trying all sorts of new motor sports.  They are a complete kick in the pants.  Some of them give you adrenalin rushes.  Some of them make your technical skills better.  Some of them give you great camaraderie with friends and other participants.  I cannot recall once leaving an event and wishing I hadn't went, even when the rallycross filled my car with an inch of dirt.

What type of racing?  Here are some suggestions and encouragement to just do it.

Got an old American car? Finally bought that Chevelle but couldn't afford the SS?  Or maybe you're driving the slant six Dodge Swinger.  It doesn't matter!! Go drag racing!  There are fast and slow cars at drag races, and you're going to have fun.  Some of the amateur classes are run so that you get different release times, for different cars.  In other words, it tests your reaction time (green light, go) rather than your car; in these races you might beat a high performance SS 396 Camaro with your stock Vega!  And you'll have fun!

Is your car a little more sporty?  In your free time do you enjoy carving corners?  Take the car to an autocross.  Yes, it seems silly driving around cones in a parking lot, but it actually is a complete rush.  You're on a very tight track forcing you to have quick reactions and fine tire placement.  It's quite a challenge, and I've left more than one autocross sprint with a slight adrenaline shake.  And your car doesn't need to be amazing.  I did it in a lethargic 79 MGB.  I've seen crossovers do it.  You won't be the most ridiculous car there, and even if you are no one would care.

Have you never been much for speed?  Do you enjoy your car but would prefer a more "respectable" pace?  Join a Time-Speed-Distance rally.  Find a friend that's an engineer to do the math.  In these "races" you're pushed to complete "sections" in exact times, rather than race through them.  I've heard rumors of "open" sections, where it's as fast as you can go, but in my experience it's always under the speed limit.  The challenges are not getting lost, following directions, and getting your math right.  As you do this, you get a whole lot of car time to BS with your buddy and have fun.  It's a great laid back atmosphere.  Here in Portland these are on the first Friday night of every month and run around the country back roads for a couple hours; a great start to the weekend!

Are you a little more gritty?  Does your car have All-Wheel-Drive and you're not afraid to use it?  Do you like to be sideways on a mountain road with a ribbon of dust following you?  Try a rallycross.  These are short courses, much like autocross except off road.  In my experience, the courses are a little longer than autocross but it's very similar skills, except now you have dirt rather than asphalt for grip.  If you don't think throwing your car sideways through a dust filled corner is fun, you might not be breathing.  These are a complete blast.  Just be aware, you may need your spare tire and if you see oil pressure drop shut-er-down. It is possible to bust an oil pan on these outings. But who cares?  You're having fun!  You can fix oil pans and tire holes!  Live a little!

 Loving the pavement but autocross getting a little boring?  Well, head for the track day!  They let my hoopty MGA out on a track day, I'm sure they'll let your car out (as long as it's mechanically sound, and if it's a convertible it must have a roll bar).  This allows you to experience corners as fast as you care to take them without worrying about Johnny Law!

Everyone is going the same direction too.  No drunken F250 drivers heading down your side of the highway on a public mountain road!  Mostly, the only person that can mess  you up is yourself!  You'll have a great time, and you'll get to know other guys with a similar passion as you.  Give it a try!  I'll bet money you enjoy it.  And it doesn't matter much what you drive.

Photo Courtesy of Sublight Photography

Photo Courtesy of Sublight Photography

You might even drive off the track.  A lot of tracks have runoffs. They're designed to let you go sliding.  Take for example this off track excursion by my buddy.  No big deal. Some dirt in the tire beads were the only issue after it was done.

Photo Courtesy of Sublight Photography

Did you build a car with a lot of torque and great suspension? Give hillclimbs a try!  I'm sorry to say I haven't done this yet, but I have every intention of trying this year.  We have several here locally and I'd bet you do too.  I've been watching videos of them on youtube and they look like a blast.  Probably the closest things you could get to a closed road race in this modern US of bubble babies, warning signs, and security blankets.  Have fun!  Point the nose to the sky and see how much guts you have going around those corners with steep drop offs!  And if you go slow, who knows or cares?  You don't even have to tell your buddies you went, and even if you do they probably have no context and won't know or care if you drive like your grandmothers poodle.

These are all cheap, fun ways for the average guy to get out competing! Give them a try!  You might find you enjoy them.  That's when the trouble starts if you ask me.  Now I'm researching what it would cost to make my car track racing legal.  Fuel cells, roll bars, harnesses, etc.  The prices start to add up.  But it'll be fun and worth it, and I learned that from doing the above.  Find out for yourself.  Wear that proud smile of "I did it!".  And I repeat, it doesn't matter what you drive.  I did it with a beat up old MGB and MGA.

What's Fun About Cars?!

#464498321 / gettyimages.com

You can find a “Greatest Hits” collection of this author’s best works, available in Kindle and printed book format, on Amazon at - http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Car-Stories-Innovative-Meetings/dp/1530003954

Fed up with high prices and miles of junk, my last blog was critical of swap meet car culture.  In truth, personally I'd started wondering if perhaps my hobby (vintage cars) was overrated as a whole. A recent church car show, where I volunteered to help guide cars in, further threw my spare time activities into doubt. Quite a few grumpy needy people going to car shows! "I need to be parked next to them", "I need a different angle than everyone else so the sun can hit my metal flake". "I need a spot by the door cause I ain't listening to the church's award ceremony". "I need room for a 15x15 awning behind my car" "You're parking me too close" etc. I needed to be reminded why I bought a project vintage sports car so I decided to write a blog about ways to have fun in cars.

So here are some stories that I believe epitomize what's fun about cars and what I aspire for in my hobby.  These are the stories that might encourage the younger generation to pursue cars as a hobby.  I don't think car shows will be enough.  They're nice, but most kids will get more adrenalin out of an hour on an x-box than in a whole day at a car show.  Kids need to know there's more to these cars than parking on lawns on nice summer days. The following are in no particular order, just how they popped into mind.

#3422088 / gettyimages.com

The above picture is Malcolm Campbell in a car called the Bluebird.  Malcolm wanted to make the fastest car (and boat) on earth and he did so over and over.  Someone would beat him and he'd go back to the drawing board and do it again. For three periods his Bluebird cars held the title, World's Fastest Car. That's gumption.  Someone beat you?  Head back to the drawing boards and do better!  Get support!  Make it happen! GO FASTER!

Can you imagine the adrenalin coursing through his veins when he got out of the car after his record runs?  I bet he was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

#88899122 / gettyimages.com

The above is a picture from the 1964 Le Mans.  It shows a Shelby Daytona.

In the late fifties, old man Ferrari snubbed Carol Shelby as a racing driver after acting interested in hiring him.  Carol Shelby took it personally and decided that Ferrari's domination of racing needed to end.  He went back to the states and began passionately building racing cars using American motors in an effort to challenge Ferrari.

At the 1964 Le Mans Carol's home-built cars defeated Ferrari and put an American  atop the pole. That's a fighting attitude!  Don't be defeated because someone insults you.  Prove that you're the best!

To put it in modern terms, it's as though a CEO at a large corporation personally tells you your not high enough quality to work at his company.  So you start a separate company, make a better product, and beat that guy at his own business.  It's an awesome story of revenge made even better by the stories of old man Ferrari's great pride.

#464497815 / gettyimages.com

I know very little about the man (Bierkin) in the above picture.  For me, the picture itself is the essence of what is fun about cars.

Picture it, a massive Bentley with little suspension. A bumpy track that was designed when cars were slow. You could take the low smooth line like the other guy; but that wouldn't be fun.  Let's take the high line wide open and go airborne!  That's adventure!  That's excitement!  That's pushing the limit of both you and your machine! I'd bet a lot of money it wasn't comfortable on that seat when he landed!  Who cares.  Your body can withstand a little discomfort.  You are a man, act like it.  Grin and bear it!  You may be a long way from a Spartan but don't regulate yourself to this modern world where it's preached that you are soft and that's what's best.  Don't be a bubble boy (wrapped in a protective coating to the world).

#3292617 / gettyimages.com

You're a small bore sports car manufacturer in Abingdon England but you know your cars are more special than being just a "little sports car".  You want to show the world their capability!  So what do you do?  How about building a streamlined body, hiring one of the fastest drivers in the world and sending them to Bonneville to compete for land speed records?!  That shows a confidence and spirit I wish modern car manufacturers would aspire to. We aren't small.  We're fun, fast, world class, and adventurous!

#72243071 / gettyimages.com

Or another great story. It's the 50s and your building hot rods in Southern California.  You keep hearing about a race across Mexico with professional teams from Italy (Ferrari) and Germany (Porsche).  You think you're getting pretty good at putting together a car so you hobble together a car made from parts from the last 20 years, go enter and then beat some of those factory teams in a brutal race across a country that barely has roads!  They didn't take first but the Caballo de Hiero car was a pretty darn impressive feat just the same. Built and campaigned by a bunch of amateur hot rodders from So Cal, they showed you didn't have to be backed by a corporate giant to compete.

#464495881 / gettyimages.com

I haven't seen european style Rallycross in America yet, but in Europe they bomb cheap cars around dirt tracks on the weekends and call it rallycross. On British Topgear (Series 18, episode 7) they go rallycrossing to see if they can go racing for less than it costs to golf and they love it.  It looks like a complete blast and we need something like this in America.  I think dirt track stock car racing may count, but it's only round and round (circle track).  I like the idea of a circuit.

We do have a version of rallycross in America, but in our uber safety conscious way we've dumbed it down.  You race only against the clock. Here's a picture of me rallycrossing in a gravel pit in WA.  This is nice in that you don't have to worry about anyone else hitting you but it does lack that spirit of direct competition; there's nothing like banging fenders (or handlebars if you're into motorcycles) vying for the lead for excitement, passion, adrenalin and fun.  I still had a blast though!

#72292881 / gettyimages.com

Of course rally racing also looks like awesome and I hear it's not too expensive to setup an amateur bomber.  Have you ever slid down a dirt road going through the corners sideways steering by the throttle?  It's an experience you'll love! Even in a giant, poorly performing pickup truck it's awesome.  There's also a sense of pride when you can send a 2 ton Ford that's 15  feet long through a corner sideways.  Rallycar or bombing a truck through the woods, this is fun stuff!

#464484655 / gettyimages.com

The guys that do "trials" and rallys in vintage cars also look like they're always having a ball.  I'd love trying to climb a muddy hill in an ancient car with skinny tires!  One guy has to provide ballast over the tires while another steers.  Just awesome!  Not only are you keeping a vintage car running, but you're making it work for you.  That's what we should be doing! More trials!

#108071757 / gettyimages.com

Another version of fun I see more of in other countries is ice racing.  Every month my classic car magazine tempts me with a full page ad to go drive Porsche's for a week on frozen lake tracks in some Netherlandish country.  What a dream vacation!  What a complete blast sliding around a track!  It's high on my wish list. Unfortunately my wife has little desire to watch me from the side of a frozen lake for a week. Maybe she'd like to drive.  Not sure, we haven't tested her competitive driving desire yet.

To America's credit, I did see in Hot Rod that Alaskan's are ice racing.  Great to see guys!  Keep it up.  Our country needs that spirit.  We have enough video game players.

#79666871 / gettyimages.com

Or how about hill climbs?!  How much fun has that got to be?!  Not only are you conquering corners, but you're also conquering a hill!  And what if it's raining?  It has to be a total blast and I'm really looking forward to trying it.

I've had a great time autocrossing at local events.  The short courses allow even the smallest of cars to compete.  There is no long straight to reveal the complete lack of anything resembling speed (like with my MGB).  My complaint here is that prices keep creeping up.  I imagine that has to do with safety and insurance.  I wish we could break that chain.  Anyone know of an airport somewhere that's abandoned?  My friends and I have some cones that we'd like to come set up.

This chump car picture from Flickr and shown under Creative Commons license and is attributed to Johnnywoz

And a number of my friends have tried chump car racing.  The theory behind this is (was) that you bring a $500 dollar car out to the race track and give racing a go.  At some events, if you bring something too special, you have to be careful because the crowds are allowed to vote for one to be destroyed before the event starts and they're told to vote for the one that looks the most expensive.

This sounds like an excellent way to get some track time, have some fun, and compete.  I am really hoping I get to do this someday!

Sadly my friends that participate in this say that prices are creeping up and it's starting to lose it's roots.  The $500 theory is laughable and no cars are being destroyed.

#3423121 / gettyimages.com

And what about customs?  I'm not talking modifying the body to be more beautiful at a car show, that does little for me.  What I admire and aspire to is the ingenuity and fun loving spirit that would allow you to look at a war surplus airplane motor and think, "car?".  Again, it's about adventure, memories, friends helping and building something completely unique to your vision.

I'm sure I've missed many ways to have fun in a car.  I can immediately think of drag racing, dirt track stock car racing, and drifting.  But I've achieved my mission.  I've reminded myself, and hopefully you, that cars can be much more than a lump of iron sitting on a manicured lawn at your local car show.  Cars can be adventure, ingenuity, challenge, triumph, revenge, adrenalin and fun all rolled into one.  Don't be content with only working on your car, going to swap meets, and attending car shows.  You'll be boring and cars will lose their passion. Use your car, and use it hard, and be reminded of it's capabilities! And push yourself while you're at it.  In this modern world of comfort, it's good for us to be reminded what it's like to be uncomfortable.  Only then can we overcome.