David's "Spirit of Spridget" story inspired me to share this story.
A former SCCA MG Midget (last raced in the '80s, we believe) recently
passed through the hands of a good friend of mine. In was a 1964 with a
1098 motor in decent, but not excellent shape, considering that it had
been raced extensively. My friend refurbished it and raced it a few
times in the local vintage racing group.
He had another race car in process, though, and couldn't afford to keep
both, so he sold it to another racer who wanted a starter car for a
companion of hers. The companion went away and the race car became
surplus once again.
It was sold to a fellow that had never raced and wanted a beginner car.
He did some more work and had a high performance motor being built up for
it.
In the meantime, he went for the VMC required physical. Now, once you
get past the age of 40, the physical requires an EKG. Since this
gentleman was of an age that was beyond that, he had one. Came to find
out that he had an immediate need for quadruple bypass surgery. He says
that his decision to go vintage racing saved his life!
Now, people, the next time you think about getting into vintage racing
and your significant other complains how dangerous and expensive it is,
just tell them this story and ask them "is it worth my life for me NOT to
race?"
The other moral to this story is, guys, you are not immortal. Get a
regular physical. VMC requires one every two years when you are over 40
and (I think) every year over 50. That's a good rule of thumb for you,
too, whether you race or not. I know myself that if I hadn't started
racing I wouldn't have seen a doctor unless I was near death. I've
learned my lesson.
David Littlefield
1962 MGA MkII
1974 MG Midget vintage racecar
1951 MGTD
1961 Jaguar E-Type OTS
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