In a message dated 8/7/00 4:54:30 PM, simon@mondes.com writes:
<<Is this distinction because former SCCA Production cars are considered evil
in some circles?>>
It's not that certain cars are "evil", it's really a matter of recreating
certain periods in time. Much of vintage racing is aimed at recreating
sports car racing during the 1950's and 1960's. A period considered by most
to be a "golden age" of sports car racing. In the 1970's and 1980's
tube-framed and plastic bodied racers began to fill out the "production" car
fields. These cars were not made by sports car manufacturers but rather by
race shops and home builders. The '70's and '80's also brought slick tires,
proliferation of sponsorship and other changes. The cars from this latter
period are not "evil" or any less a race car than the cars of the former
period. They are different. They are generally faster. They are in some
ways more replaceable in that a tube framed car can always be repaired with
new tubes and some welding.
Vintage racing was in it's infancy when the cars of the 1970's and 1980's
were being raced competitively and at the time no one worried about whether
or how they would fit into vintage racing in 20 or 30 years. In 1980 there
were few if any places to run a 1975 SCCA production racer as a vintage car.
Now that such a car is 25 years old, it seems like there should be a place
for it. The prejudice that you sense comes from those who do not want such a
car mixed in with cars representing a different age of sports car racing.
Doug Meis
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