Thanks Mike, always fun. In my case I DID my homework and actually have original FIA Homolgation papers showing fender flares, front & rear spoilers, larger brakes and 5 speed trans listed as option 1 & option2 parts from Nissan. When I showed these to Jim Latham a couple of years back he said, "Wow, 'guess you're legal".

Several others took this to mean that all cars can run these same type of parts. Not so,according to Jim, only if the original FIA paperwork for each individual car includes the specific parts listed above. Which mine does.

The point I was hoping to make was the growing number of obsolete GT and Production race cars that have no home. If we don't begin to address and encourage these they will get crushed or thrown away, just like my Northwest Racing tube frame Datsun 1200 did.

Anyway, happy Friday and don't get sunburnt....

Well I guess I will take that CRX shell off your hands Paul and build a faster  GTL car 

In actual fact there is a lot of controversy on this subject within the VRC, and the rules will start to loosen up as a growing number of us 'younger guys' push to get the cars that were significant to us in our youth to be included. Already there is a rolling rule in the works. My issue, and I think this speaks to a few of the members around my age, is that even a BRE Datsun 510 would not be legal under the rules as they currently stand (correct me if I am wrong on this).

I do understand what Alan is getting at, but not all of us are outsiders to the problem, and I do understand (and agree) that these cars should be brought back to their original condition - however most real race cars were never garage queens, and among some VRC members there does appear to be this arrogance that comes across that to be eligible they must be garage queens - this turns a lot of potential cars away. All that said, the attitudes are changing as I see many of my old Westwood friends starting to join the Vintage Racing Club and push to bring out the cars they raced 30 years ago. So do expect to see flares allowed in the future for cars that had flares back in their day. IMHO Honda Challenge and DRC 510's should be out there as they represent some of the history of this region.

Mike B.
META President
VRCBC member
Track-Ops member.
Owner of an historic race car.

Alan,

I actually did start to get something set-up a few years ago, track time and the logistics of writing rules was where I had to drop it due to time commitments. I had 10 guys with cars sitting around that were interested (this is without doing any advertising) - we were tossing around the term 'Classic Class' along with a few others. This possibly will be picked up by someone else, as I've continued to hear rumblings about it (mostly trying to con me into working on the rules).  However in all cases - and I would expect this would apply to Paul Bunbury - they will not put time and money into prepping/fixing up/updating the car until something is definitely going to happen.  The Stecs have a 510 with flares, again they will not put time and money into the car unless there is a chance it will run regularly. A once a year event like the BCHMR will not draw these cars out. 

I'm not talking about a fresh coat of paint (which my Camaro will eventually get), I'm talking about changing the character of how some of these cars were put together in the first place. For example my Camaro is rough around the edges because it was put together in a hurry for the 1985 Trans Am season in a short period of time - little details, like how the firewall was beaten on with a hammer to gain clearance for headers, and crude sloppy welds to attach various components and mount body panels. IMHO changing the appearance of these things would destroy the character of the car as this was how it was run back in the day. The routing of some of the hoses is also less than desirable and not aesthetically pleasing however I intend to leave that as it is (unless there is a safety reason to change it), because that would be period correct for that car (I have been in contact with one of the drivers that ran the car in most the Trans Am races it ran in). Bottom line is that a fresh coat of paint on everything is not going to hide those things. All that said I will continue to work on cleaning the car up (it looked a lot worse when I got it than it did for the CCGP).

What I was getting at with the Garage Queen comment was that I see far too many vintage race cars that look better than they would ever have when they were new - to me this is not period correct, it is over restored.

Indecently, I did not intend to imply that some of our members are arrogant, however that is how they are sometimes perceived by others - the perception is something we in the VRC must work on. I think it would be a huge shame if Bunbury and others were to scrap cars that actually raced back when they were new, to me these are potentially real vintage race cars (and trust me even cleaned up they will have flaws).

Alan,

I do appreciate all your points. And I am not waiting for someone else to do anything, I know someone is. However the process will be slow because those working on it are already involved in making sure too many other things happen for our sport. For my part, as you well know, I already devote a fair amount of time helping with current motorsport activities, which is why I had to drop the idea I got rolling in the first place. I feel my time at present is far better spent supporting what we have, and working within the system.

I am well aware that I am not likely to be able to run my car locally in a vintage event, I'm prepping it for the Historic Trans Am series where it will fit in and is welcome.

Now for some reality about our region, Mission is not Westwood and never will be, and it is certainly not Monterey (that is not to say that I don't like Mission, it is my home track and is very dear to me). We are not likely to draw cars from down south in the near future for economic reasons, and the added hassles of crossing the boarder (this has also affected turn out at Conference races). So if the VRC is to survive it has to look at what it can do to grow within our own region. I don't expect to drag the club down to low standards (and if my car never becomes acceptable so be it - it is a bit of an odd ball anyway), however we do need to make some shifts that will attract people like Paul Bunbury who have a car (or in some cases several) sitting around. The rolling rule is a start, if they know their car will be eligible in X number of years they will know the time frame they have to prepare it so it is ready to go when eligible. In our region it would also go a long way if we accept cars that were prepped to Conference rules for the year that car was made (this would allow cars the are currently ineligible). In the early 70's cars were running slicks, flares, and spoilers and as we start to accept cars from that era we also need to recognize that fact. Currently I see us chasing the same market as SOVREN has and we are loosing. The VRC needs to look at ways to keep the club coffers healthy, and the last few years they have been bleeding badly.

Mike

Kieth,

I'm not talking rusty 510's, but I am talking about cars with either flared fenders and/or spoilers. All will be much better prepared than a certain Anglia. All the cars I'm talking about would be acceptable for the BCHMR. They either do or could with a bit of work meet the appearance standards - that is not the issue. And yes they could be run in any current class... as back markers. The difference is that in vintage they would have someone to 'play with' and not have to worry about body contact.  In the case of Marks's old DRC car the dash board is long gone, something done to may DRC 510's. Of course Mark's 510 isn't exactly a DRC car anymore because he has started to butcher it to make it fast enough so he could play with someone. Indecently as far as fans go, every time Mark's 510 has showed up at a BCHMR event he has had followers drop by excited to see one of the old DRC cars that they used to watch at Westwood.

Oh, the most horsepower one can expect to get out of an old L series Datsun motor is still less than a 20 year old bone stock fuel injected Honda motor produces straight from the factory - kind of kills these old cars with carburetors from running competitively anywhere in a production class. This is why they are sitting.

REVS is at every CACC weekend. Those are the rules we need to start moving into the groups that ran in the early to mid '70s at Westwood, accepting the ICSCC rules of the day.