RE: Steal a race car

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- Brian Shorey <bshorey@domain.elided> wrote:
> > >For Sale:  '78 Alfa Spider- Class EP [...](Easily
> > >convertered to vintage with
> > >cosmetic and tire changes.)  
> 
> How do you 'easily convert' a '78 Spider to vintage
> race - don't most groups impose age limits much 
> older than that?

Vintage regulations offer an even more dizzying range
of selection than SCCA and AROC.

Case in point: here in Portland, there are two primary
groups that sanction vintage events, the SCCA and
SOVREN.  The Oregon Region SCCA's Web site (for
vintage) is:

http://www.oregonscca.com/vintage

Down a few clicks on that page is the following (and I
guess I'm going to have to go work on Dave Franks'
Sprite later this week so he won't mind me
copy-and-pasting from his page):

"CAR ELIGIBILITY: Generally, cars at built in 1982* or
older which have been restored to or preserved in
original racing condition as far as possible. Safety
improvements are encouraged."  The footnote explains
at the end of the paragraph, "Note that this date will
remain constant through 2007 at which time a
twenty-five year old date will be implemented to be
consistant [sic] with other SCCA Vintage standards."

One big concern in vintage organizations is the advent
of fuel-injected and turbocharged cars as the 20-year
mark rolls into the 1980s.  Even though the emphasis
in vintage isn't officially on winning, the safety
problems presented by speed differentials are
potentially enormous in a class where the track is
shared by, say, a 1958 Bugeye Sprite with a 948cc
engine, twin 1" SU carbs and a single roll hoop, and a
1978 Porsche 930 in full FIA trim and then some.  I
know that the powers-that-be in SCCA (at least here in
Portland) are definitely concerned about this,
especially as concerns safety equipment.

SOVREN, however, is much more stringent in its
interpretation of vintage -- first by excluding nearly
any car built after 1969 (some 1970 cars which were
visually and mechanically identical to 1969 models
would be accepted).  The philosophy at SOVREN is to
pick a year and prepare to the rules for that year,
using either the contemporary GCR or the FIA regs,
your choice (but you can't pick individual rules from
one or the other to get the best of both).  So to take
a practical example, my 1961 356B with its 1750cc
pistons, 912 industrial case engine, Maestro cam and
twin Webers would be illegal in SOVREN, while it would
just be slow in SCCA.  

From the driving candidate's viewpoint, then, there
are also two starting points to the discussion of
classification, modification, and even car selection
-- do I want to find a class where I can race the car
I have, or do I want to find a class where I want to
race and then buy/build a car to the specs of that
class?  This in turn introduces my observation about
the difference between a novice and a veteran racer:
the novice complains that his car isn't classed with
enough other fast cars, and the veteran complains that
his car is classed with too many faster cars.

The issues are complex, and this is a typically
long-winded Fisher answer to a simple question, but
the short version is yes, there are vintage groups in
which that 1978 Spider could legally compete, as well
as groups in which it could not.  The buyer of this
car would be advised to consider its intended
application as well as the usual concerns about buying
any race car.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
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