I certainly did not want to start the discussion about replicas but it
does make me think that what I have learned in my 3 years of doing this
and the previous many years researching this it was interesting that 6-7
years ago looking for old racecars there were not that many(at least
what I wanted) and I think it was because most were still deemed
competitive in SCCA so the talk was to build a PURPOSE built vintage car
and as I checked with the different groups it was interesting to see who
allowed what. Now with a few exceptions most groups let almost any safe
car older than 1972 run as they need warm bodies with fat wallets to
fill the grid. It seems that alot more vintage projects started to show
up when the SCCA classes change or manufacturers ask them to make
changes so their new models aren't getting beat by the 30 year old model
they do not sell anymore. Anyway unless I am completely mistaken it
seems like a lot more vintage cars with some history have become
availible in the last few years.
As for the replica versus real I know that some cars are so very
valuable that maybe they should not race which would be a shame to see
them become a complete loss but like Myles said some of these guys can
fix anything. How much were the 3 cars Sterling Moss took out 3-4 years
back 5 million in cars and I am sure all were repaired because those
guys have deep pockets and they want to see them out there racing but
those cars do the 5 really big vintage events a year and not the local
vintage stuff most of us probably do.
Does the same rule apply to vintage cars as vintage airplanes where if
you have something like 1/3 of a real plane and can finish it its
considered the real deal. I know a guy who built 3 Grumman Bi-planes
that did not exist out of parts of 3 wrecks and they are considered real
vintage planes. Mike McCluskey builds some incredible Cobra Coupes and s
ome may say they are replicas but Carrol Shelby was allowed to enter one
of these when he lost the real one and John Morton drove it in the race
and won. It may be the first time that Steve Earle let a replica in the
race? Maybe becuse of the cars signifcance or maybe Shelby himself had
some influence.
I am still a little ambivelant about replcas at this time since It seems
that if it is not an effort to decieve but to re-capture some part of
history and if it is known that someone tried hard to replicate a
historical vehicle then No harm, No Foul But to pass off an extremely
valuable car or significant car for the wrong reasons then No way but I
think most guys know the real thing when they see it. But it is getting
harder. I don't think most people would mind if I made a replica of the
3rd team car for BRE The Guest car if you will that was lost in South
America many years ago It would be a great memorial piece to some of its
famous drivers like Peter Gregg and Jim Fitzgerald and Bobby Allison,
and Sam Posey who all took their turns behind the wheel and it was the
best looking of the BRE cars some say. But I would never want to pass it
off as real and most might respect the goal was to honor the drivers.
Just my thoughts.
--
Les Cannaday
Classic Datsun Motorsports
345 Olive Ave
Vista, CA 92083
(760) 940-6365
(208) 988-5507(fax)
http://www.classicdatsun.com
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