Attending VARAC races is always interesting. Every one of the race cars are pre-1999 to be classified as ‘vintage’ and in many cases both the drivers and the cars they arrived in are also vintage.
All joking aside, many of the spectators arrive at these races in their own special cars. Last weekend at the Shannonville race, we found a 1960’s era Volvo PV544 parked right next to a late model Volvo V60. Like a modern interpretation of the same Swedish four-door hatchback family car.
There was even a sporty looking two-door Volvo 240 from 1980s plus the No. 135 Volvo P1800 race car from the 1960s setting fast laps.
There was a pair of Porsche 356 Speedsters parked next to each other. Yes, for those of you of a certain generation, this is exactly the type of car Dylan McKay drove on ‘Beverly Hills 90210‘. No idea if either of these two machines was authentic, or a re-creation, but they looked like a million bucks regardless.
There were plenty of retro Porsches in the parking lot, keeping company with a pale yellow Mustang convertible from the late 1960s and a Jaguar XK120 from the 1950s. That is one elegant looking convertible!
Some vehicles like this 1980s Porsche 944 seem destined to become race cars. Quick, but never very valuable or collectible, these cars were supposed to be sold as a Volkswagen, before being hastily rebranded as one of Stuttgart’s ‘ultimate driving machines’. But for those of a certain generation, a red Porsche 944 will always be the car from the 1984 John Hughes film ‘Sixteen Candles‘ so there’s always that positive.
No matter how cool the cars in the parking lo are, there’s nothing quite as special as a vintage race car. It’s amazing to think that a vehicle like this NASCAR from the 1990s is still running, considering how tough their lives have been.
And as far as vintage race cars go, that No. 12 BRD Formula 1200 that Daniel drives? Let’s just say it’s had a hard life too… especially at Shannonville!
~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~