On a Sunny Saturday in August, we got up early in the morning to see the
Vintage Auto Sprints at the Christie Conservation Area near Hamilton.
The even was poorly publicised (the Toronto Triumph Club didn't know
about it, or at least, they didn't mention it at the meeting and I
didn't recognize anybody there) and it took no less than five phone
calls to the park to find out details about what was going on when, etc.
But it was a beautiful day, the TR7 was actually running, and we met up
with some friends in an Alfa to go see the races.
When we got to the park there were no free programs of any kind, and the
only ones they were selling were at the gate, a long hike from where you
were when you decided that you needed one. They had tons of parking marked
out on every available lawn, and lots of park personnel to direct traffic
and point to washrooms. They had no idea how many people to expect. If
everybody had to call five times to get information, they probably thought
that the whole city was coming! In fact the turnout was rather slim, but
it was a two-day even with a vintage airshow on the Sunday, so maybe they
had a better crowd on day two.
The track was the road that went through the park, which was not a loop so
the sprinters went in groups and then returned. The pace car always went
first, then the old cars did timed runs one at a time, and waited in the
parking lot at the end. After about a dozen cars went, the pace car brought
everybody back in a little parade along the track. Neat!
The sprints were supposed to start at 9:00. The schedule that we managed to
get indicated that the vintage motorcycle sprints would be first, so we
were there. Well, we had a lot of time to walk around and watch everybody
get their cars going. The best show was put on by a guy who showed up driving
a 50s Jag and towing a 20 Ford Model T speedster. The Ford refused to start
with the hand crank, so he got his friend to tow-start the Ford with the
Jag! They drove around the parking lot and after a string of chugs and
backfires the Model T came to life and the crowd (such as it was) applauded.
Other cars included an Auburn, (driven by a woman in ther thrities with a
long dress and big summer hat, perfect), a Cord, a Bugatti, 2 3-wheeled
Morgans (one of which, from New Jersey, was probably at the meet in Stowe)
a few 4-wheeled Morgans (all had the top up !?!) a 50s Alfa fixedhead of
some sort, a couple of Model Ts, several MG Ts, a couple of old Lotuses,
a Frazer Nash, a Page, and others. The bikes included a Scott Flying
Squirrel, a Ducati, a Norton, a Triumph and A Bridgestone 90 that I thought
was a moded at first.
Around 10:00 Jaguar Canada's brand new XJS-C started things off, followed
by the three wheeled morgans and a few others. They were not split into
categories as I had thought, but whoever was ready to go just lined up
at the start and waited his turn. I've seen lots of cars like this in
museums, but it was really great to see them running, rolling and racing!
These people were not racers, though some of them were at one time
and some of the cars were dedicated race cars, and everybody was out for
a nice day instead of a stiff competition.
A dark cloud came over when the Bridgestone 90 crashed in the last turn.
When we walked the track, we found out why. While the first half
of the track was almost ordinary asphalt, it got progressively
worse until it was just loose gravel over tar! It still *looked* ok,
but it was even slippery underfoot! I'm surprised that they picked a
road like that, and that more people didn't refuse to run as the stones
were kicking up and nicking everyone's paint. What surprised me even more
was that though all of the bikers wore riding suits, the Scott rider
didn't wear gloves! Just looking at him made my stomach turn in thought
of what would happen to his hands if he took a spill on that crap.
The sprints went on all day. Jaguar had a tea tent set up with a view on
the track, and for $5 you got a bottomless cup of tea, a big scone, some
butter, jam, whipping cream and assorted cookies. Yum! What a great way
to spend an afternoon, sipping tea, eating cookies and watching vintage
cars slide around the tightest turn on the track. Bliss!
This was the first event of the kind in the area, and despite the
organisational troubles, I hope that it happens again. I'll try
to let you know if it goes on next year.
Jody jlevine@rd.hydro.on.ca - Toronto
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