Vintage Racing British Cars

[hotrats]

Very Nice! And great work!! I had a '70 GT6 years ago, loved that car, was a blast to drive. Now, I'm (slowly) transplanting a Ford Zetec & newer NG3 transaxle into my '74 Lotus Europa, along with VW axles, stub axles, & CVJ's. I had wondered about the suitability of GT6 rear uprights for the Europa, as it will be modded into a 4 link suspension. Being aluminum, the Lotus uprights wear fast. How much does a pair sell for these days? Might be fun to see if they would be adaptable.

 

[Mini Cooper S]

Very Nice! And great work!! I had a '70 GT6 years ago, loved that car, was a blast to drive. Now, I'm (slowly) transplanting a Ford Zetec & newer NG3 transaxle into my '74 Lotus Europa, along with VW axles, stub axles, & CVJ's. I had wondered about the suitability of GT6 rear uprights for the Europa, as it will be modded into a 4 link suspension. Being aluminum, the Lotus uprights wear fast. How much does a pair sell for these days? Might be fun to see if they would be adaptable.

Thanks. Your lotus sounds like a fun project. As for the GT6 upright, We modified our to take Datsun 240Z spindles as the stock Triumph parts are not up to the job. If you decide to go that route, I can let you know how we did the modification.
Richard

 

[hotrats]

Thanks for the reply. We've been up to your area a couple of times for the Buell homecomings. Was a great ride from NC. Went to Road America, and Blackhawk. Stayed at Alpine Valley the "very" last Buell homecoming. Shame HD closed Buell down, great bikes.

There is a write up for converting to Datsun stub axles and hubs - somewhere on the Europa forum. I guess with the speed that I get things done, I'll prolly just go with the stock Europa uprights and VW bits. Hopefully I'll get to drive the Europa again, lol.
Great stuff you've done!

 

[Mini Cooper S]

In my two vintage British cars I never raced them around tracks but had a ball sliding them around the mountain curvy switchbacks west of Loveland in the big Thompson canyon---I swear that the 1960 MGA couldn't tip over but could slide and make all the tires squeal--what fun but dangerous on the highway. my other British car was a 1962 Jaguar XKE coupe--(my dream car)--I didn't dare floor it in the Narrows canyon--just too much speed---I still can smell the nice leather interiors.--I also had an 850 Fiat Sport Spider and an Opel GT 1970. Dave

Can you imagine what that E-Type would be worth today? I too, at times, drove like an idiot in my youth. I used to 4 wheel drift my Fiat 124 Sport Coupe (my first new car) on the ramp getting on the freeway to go to my girlfriends house. Boy if I would have slid isto the curb, I would have died in a twisted ball of cheap Italian steel!

 

[savarin]

Excellent projects, love them.
Vintage is a strange word that has different connotations for different people.
For me vintage is pre 1940 and veteran is pre 1st world war.
I'm sure when I was a kid the dates were pretty well fixed but today they seem very flexible.
My mate had a TR6 with twin boat horns under the bonnet.
He called them phasers, they were so loud to be a health hazard but other road users sure did get out the way.

 

[middle.road]

Excellent projects, love them.
Vintage is a strange word that has different connotations for different people.
For me vintage is pre 1940 and veteran is pre 1st world war.
I'm sure when I was a kid the dates were pretty well fixed but today they seem very flexible.
My mate had a TR6 with twin boat horns under the bonnet.
He called them phasers, they were so loud to be a health hazard but other road users sure did get out the way.

Ah, cool - good - I'm not 'vintage', yet.

I put a large electric bugle shape under under the hood of my Jeep back in high school. Got it from a friend of my Dad's.
Got pulled over and told not to use it... Now (40+) years on I wonder if it was an old boat horn...

 

[matthewsx]

So, my vintage story....

When I was going through SCCA drivers school I was already an HDPE instructor that worked under the lead instructor the legendary Marcy Clark. This was at Thunderhill in Willows, CA. I was driving my '78 Honda Civic that kinda looked like he**, and it was raining, and I was pushing hard and passing lots of powerful rear-wheel-drive cars because I could.

At one debrief session there was a guy who had a '67 Dodge Charger who needed to pass SCCA school so he could race vintage. He looked over at me and raised his hand and asked "could you go over the rules about body contact, some of us vintage guys are a little worried about our cars?"

Well, Marcy looked him straight in the eyes and said "If you can't afford to leave here with your car rolled up in a little ball that's worth nothing, you can go over to registration and they'll give you your money back".

I think we all got a good laugh out of that. Nobody left and nobody wrecked their car, although I did get stuck so far into the mud that one of the tow operators lost her boot getting me out.

Ah memories....

John

 

[CPO Ted]

I've had an addiction to MGB's since 1976. I've owned over 60 of them through the years, some got bought and sold, some got bought, fixed and sold, some got cut up for parts and sold. I have one left a 1970 GT.

Starting in the late 1970's and through the 80's I raced them in the north east.



Not much to look at, but it did OK. I didn't own a trailer, so I would drive it to the tracks, put on the slicks, take off the glass and go racin'. The photo above is from Bridgehampton.

 

[tjb]

I've had an addiction to MGB's since 1976. I've owned over 60 of them through the years, some got bought and sold, some got bought, fixed and sold, some got cut up for parts and sold. I have one left a 1970 GT.

Starting in the late 1970's and through the 80's I raced them in the north east.

View attachment 409044

Not much to look at, but it did OK. I didn't own a trailer, so I would drive it to the tracks, put on the slicks, take off the glass and go racin'. The photo above is from Bridgehampton.

Beautiful country up your way.

 

[CPO Ted]

Beautiful country up your way.

Yes it is. And the hills and such keep it fairly cool, always seems to be a bit of a breeze. Lots of new construction, I'm afraid one day it will all look like something down by Atlanta.