In a message dated 2/1/2008 12:08:23 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
milano164@comcast.net writes:
Mathew,
I agree whole heartedly with your statement, "so apparently the information
that I have uncovered is not known by the majority of the people in the Tiger
community."
Unfortunately, details and documentation regarding most Sunbeam racers in
the US has been simply forgotten or lost over the years. There are
exceptions, Jim Adams, Don Sesslar, Dan Carmichael, etc, but the real details
have
simply been lost. Hopefully, this information will be re-discovered and made
public at some point. Either in a book or website.
I have really enjoyed chasing down the average "joe (sunbeam) club racer"
just to hear what they had to say about racing during the period. I'll never
forget one racer I talked with in the Mid-west. He went to the 67' ARRC and
as he explained that year Datsun had their drivers send their cars to Daytona
be tuned and dyno'd by Datsun factory support teams before the event. You
could tell he was still pissed off about that level of support extended by
competition!
Is it likely the significance attached to this information has grown with
the increased interest in collecting and racing vintage cars? I would suggest
that the reason the "information...uncovered" is not widely known is because,
up to this point, it was never seen as significant.
The AHRA records from the '60s have always been available, as have SCCA
results...the only thing that has changed is people's level of interest in
them,
primarily as a means to make that special car even more "special" ;-)
I hope this doesn't sound cynical, it is not meant in that way. I have gone
through the process of restoring and racing a couple of vintage formula cars
and agree that the research and stories that result add immeasurably to the
whole experience. These cars were definitely campaigned in a "golden era" of
automobile racing!
**************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025
48)
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