...
> Can't convince me on that one! There are more transporters in the paddock
> with pro crews at vintage races (witness the LRP Fall Festival where there's
> practically no parking space in the main paddock for the "little guy") than
> many pro races, and too many owners who can afford to write off expensive
> cars.
Really! You're telling me? I pull up with a pickup truck and an open
trailer trying to find a smidgen of space with diesels and 50 foot
trailers dicing and slicing up the paddock. Then the paddock marshalls
usually tell me to dump the trailer somewhere else. ;=(
> Cheap racing is an oxymoron, but vintage is more expensive than SCCA
> amateur racing and even some pro events.
Depending on the car, this is certainly true. You can get into a
vintage FVee for well under $10K, or a Triumph/MGA/Alfa for $10-15K, but
the 250 Testa Rossa for sale in Southern Cal will set you back $3.5 Mil.
=:0
> ...Most of us are a bit old for
> that kind of racing or have other obligations that prevent us from
> dedicating ourselves to be pro.
Yeah, like staying alive long enough to raise our kids. At 43, I am one
of the "young punks" on the Vintage circuit. ;=)
> Reminds me of the conversation in the pits at NHIS last year where we
> were wondering if AARP would sponsor a racing team....or if not, then
> Geritol...
There is the Old PHArmacists Racing Team (Old Phart)...
> Ah, which brings up another dilemma, my 17 year old son who wants to try
> racing. Do we let him drive one of my cars, or buy a SS car and let him
> duke it out with the SCCA crazies. Does a youngster have any business
> in vintage racing? He certainly doesn't have any sense of the history -
> and it may be difficult to get across the idea that one does not try to
> win at all costs.
Several of the guys I know with this dillema have gone the Go-kart
route. It is a LOT cheaper to support than any car, and generally
safer. If the kid really likes old cars, he can graduate to one later,
like maybe when he can afford to pay for it himself. The IT classes in
SCCA can be pretty cheap, as are the current FVees and F440's. An IT
Spider or Alfetta would "keep it in the family" but could cost a lot
more. The "Sports Car Politics Club of America" as I call it can also
get tiresome...
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