Learn about vintage racing--info, pics, videos

Forza Motorsport Legacy Motorsport FM6 Discussion
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Hi everyone,

My name’s Mike, I’m 26, and I’ve always been a car person. I was thrilled to discover the Forza series because it’s allowed me to imagine what driving various cars and tracks would be like while scratching my competitive itch. It also has a huge community of fellow car people to talk to and race with, which I’ve enjoyed. Maybe I’ve seen some of you online; I have a preference for older/non-aero cars, usually painted in a dark blue/yellow livery. You’ll see why in a second.

I’ve started this thread to hopefully get some help from fellow car people about my real-life job. My father and I run a vintage race shop, working on a variety of formula cars, sports cars, sports racers, and sedans from the 1950s and '60s. Vintage racing is an unusual but I believe an equally fun and important hobby for those who partake in it. It allows enthusiasts to drive cool, visceral cars like they were raced in period, and spectators are given the opportunity to see automotive history up close and in action. It’s obviously close to my heart, but I’m nervous about its future.

Many vintage racers are older folks, retirement age and up. That’s all well and good, but if we want to keep the sport alive we have to spread awareness and interest in vintage racing and get some new racers involved. I know it’s a generalization, but I imagine many Forza players are younger car people, so this is the perfect place to ask for help. I’m not here to look for customers; rather, I’d love input on ways to let younger car people know about vintage racing and hopefully encourage some to get to the track.

So far, I’ve made a website for our shop (michaelsvintageracing.com), started up a Facebook page, and I try to share information and car experiences with people as much as I can. Does anyone have any other ideas about spreading the word? As incentive, here are some of the cars I take care of:

This is a 1965 Ginetta G4, weighing 1,100lbs and with 190bhp. It’s enough to take down Boss Mustangs, 911RSRs, and mid-engined sports racers even though it has a live rear axle and drum rear brakes. My Dad and I built it together, and it’s painted in our shop livery.

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This is a 1960 Lola-OSCA Mk1, a former SCCA National Champion and the fastest front-engined sports racer of the time. This car was so good, Colin Chapman built a car specifically to beat it and still couldn’t.

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This is a 1960 Elva 200 Formula Junior. One of four in the U.S. (all at our shop, built by us), this car was very competitive in period and today is one of the best drum-brake formula junior chassis available. It used the same engine as a Mini Cooper, and an upside-down WV bus transaxle!

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This is a 1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 (like in Forza!). I’ve driven this car a few times when I’m lucky enough, and it’s a ridiculous amount of fun. I’ve actually uploaded a Forza livery exactly like the real car and it’s so cool being able to use it.

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You can see more on the website and Facebook page. I hope this doesn’t come across as an advertisement; I just love these cars and their history, and I want to share it with car people like you.

-Mike

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You’re very lucky to be involved in this, and thanks for some really cool pics!! Sounds like you’re doing all that you can top keep the sport alive. Sadly, as time marches on, new replaces the old and “vintage” fades from memory, be it racing, music, film or art. Just keep doing what you’re doing for those who still love it. :slight_smile:

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Hi Mike…

Unfortunately, you’re in a mid-cycle with the game - Forza Horizon 3 was just released, and that’s got most everybody’s attention.

However… if you haven’t heard from him yet, make sure you send a message to Turn 10’s John Schommer - aka “johniwanna” ( http://forums.forza.net/turn10_profile191427.aspx ). He writes the Heavy Metal Affliction / HMA articles in the News section. I have no doubt he’d love to feature you / your dad / your shop / your cars / your racing / etc in an upcoming article.

  • Don
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Cool cars! I love vintage cars and their racing heritage as well. I’ve always been fascinated by the intestinal fortitude the drivers of that era had to have to race with drum brakes! Plus I like to see how crazy some of the vars were before the BOP era.
I will have to keep an eye out next year to see if COTA has any vintage racing scheduled.

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Thank you, I think I am too. While generally that’s the case, the point of this thread (and my efforts) is to keep that from happening with vintage cars and vintage racing. It’ll obviously be “swimming upstream” a little, but it’s worth it to me!

Yeah, I suppose it is a little late. Maybe that just means the most dedicated people are still here! :slight_smile:
Thanks for that contact info, I’ll be sure to get in touch with John!

I forgot to mention this in my OP: We’re heading to COTA November 2-5! You should stop by! We’re bringing all four of those Elva 200s and a different Ginetta G4. It should be a lot of fun!

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Very cool post! As far as sparking new interest… I believe you just did! I will check out your site too. Keep us up to date with the photos and info from COTA…

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Will do! Started up the red 200 today. Couldn’t get any video (I was alone), but I’ll be sure to post the photos from our Facebook updates here as well!

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Very simple, get the racers to chip in to build a car, get lawer to create waiver, advertise, charge very small fee to run a few laps, some will fall in love with it, new racers.

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Hey Mike, have you thought about building & campaigning a vintage racing spec 24 Hours of LeMons car? http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/ I think a lot of us younger folks (27 myself) think vintage racing = $$$$$. LeMons/Chump and various other “cheap” car series seem to attract plenty of younger racers. If you can disprove this to them by building/campaigning a car that is legal for use in both one of these series and the Vintage classes you run in you might get some cross over.

Some of the more vintage cars running LeMons just in the last few races.

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Granted none of these were ever original race cars from the period but you can see there are people out there wanting to race old things.

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Not sure if serious, but which racers are you talking about? The concept wouldn’t be bad, but you do have to be licensed before you can race. Track days would be an exception I think, although I’ve never looked into it.

That is an interesting idea. The concept of using an older car at a race like that makes sense. I’ve actually talked with a couple of our current customers about doing a LeMons or a ChumpCar race at some point. It sounds like a lot of fun! I also agree that cost probably does intimidate people, but I’ll admit vintage racing is not the cheapest hobby around. Costs can definitely be minimized by doing your own transport and work, however.

I’d have to look into potential candidates, as many vintage race cars will not make it through a race of that length, or would require significant attention afterwards. But obviously it works for some folks, so there are options out there! A Volvo would probably be a great choice… Thanks for the input. Sweet Avanti by the way!

As an aside, it’s not a requirement that a vintage race car was always a race car; it just has to be old enough to qualify. All of those cars would be eligible, actually!

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I didn’t know this, and i assume many don’t. Our LeMons team is always looking for other close race series that our car qualifies for to run in. Show up with an interesting car get the word out about your vintage racing and you might pick up some teams.

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It may be worth adding something about this to the “About Vintage Racing” page on my shop’s website!

As an additional clarification, the cars themselves are eligible but it’s not guaranteed that the level of prep would be the same. There are limitations on modifications to brakes/suspension, some elements of engine design (e.g. bore increases over .042", crank-fired ignition), and bodywork modifications, but those rules are in place to keep the cars performing much like they would have when they were new. I’d love to learn more about how you guys prep your cars; either feel free to email me via the website, PM, or post in here. It never hurts to learn!

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Turn 10’s John Schommer - aka “johniwanna” did a write up about our very first LeMons race on here a few years ago. News - Forza We have run and finished 6 races since then including a 24hr race at Joliet . We returned to Road America two weekends ago only to suffer engine issues again 3 hours into day two. I would be happy to talk more in depth with you about prepping the car.

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Very cool, thanks! Sorry to hear about the mechanical troubles.

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We arrived at COTA yesterday after 1,830 miles and 3 days of driving (and you think the load times are long!). The cars are looking great and the drivers of the black and red juniors (who are new to this track) are each 2 sessions into today’s practice time and loving it!

By the way, I’m using Forza 6 and a McLaren M2B painted like each customer’s car to help teach them the track!

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Unfortunately Photobucket is down right now, but today went great! The Ginetta finished first in its qualifying race and the driver had a best ever time, and two of the Elva 200s are having great battles each session and finished 1-2 in class this afternoon!

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Sorry for the lack of updates, but it was a very busy weekend! Things went great for the most part, with all three drivers having a great time! Two of our Elva 200 Formula Juniors worked flawlessly all weekend and had some tight battles! The third was a new build and had some teething issues, but still finished second in class!




The average horsepower in this group is around 110, but tell me this isn’t a great sound:

The Ginetta G4 was in a class of its own all weekend. The driver started with a best-ever 2:32.7 on Friday, then proceeded to win every session of the weekend and the National Championship!


It was a great weekend overall and we’re looking forward to the next one in either Sebring or Savannah!

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Hey everyone, I recently finished an onboard video from our race at COTA! It’s a great battle between two customers in their Elva 200 Formula Juniors; I thought you guys would appreciate it!

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Nice video

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Thanks! I think I mentioned it in the video, but try watching with headphones on. I split the audio so you can hear each car’s engine separately. I’ve heard good feedback about it!