[mmmoose1]

Hello Gents

Us folks in the colonies have a proxy race every year called the Vintage Race Across America, it is for 1.5 liter GP cars from 1961 to 1965. Our car counts have been steadily growing over the last three years and we a close to having a full field of 24 cars with registration only being open for 40 hours so far. This race has brought cars in from the UK, Austraila, New Zealand, Malaysia, Canada and the US to compete. It is the only proxy race I know for scratchbuilt cars and the quality of the cars has been getting better from year to year.

If you are interested go to Slot Car Illustrated and look up the VRAA thread.

Ken

 

[ferrari1950]

This is a great proxy and great fun. By way of promotion.....

http://www.slotforum.com/forums/blog/ferra...?showentry=2128

and here,,,,

http://www.slotforum.com/forums/blog/ferra...?showentry=2138

....in my blog.....four spots left..hurry!

Good day, eh!

 

[Russell Sheldon]

Hi Ken,

The VRAA is a great series but I was just wondering why 'stock' motors are mandated? Surely the size of the bodies limit chassis design sufficiently and the width of the tyres limit traction enough to not warrant motor restrictions as well?

During the 1961 to 1965 1.5l era, ATS, BRM, Ferrari, Honda and Porsche all built their own engines, while Coventry Climax engines were available to others.
Sure the engines were tiny and not very powerful, but the limited displacement, high revving V6, V8, V12 and flat 12 engines were absolute works of art and eventually produced over 150 bhp.

With kind regards,

Russell

 

[f143]

I think it's because,

we like to race slowly.
Nigel

 

[vfr750]

Good luck with your series but it's certainly not the only scratchbuilt proxy. In the world of Thingies there was the recent Sunchaser proxy where cars raced in Europe, America and the Antipodes and The Dynamic challenge is just about to start.

Cheers

John

 

[mmmoose1]

VR750 I stand corrected.

 

[mmmoose1]

Hello Russel

I have been a fan and admirer of your work for years and it is nice to finaly meet you so to speak.

In answer to your question of why stock motors are prescribed let me try to explain.

Part of the answer is in your post "Sure the engines were tiny and not very powerful" the stock motors supplied by our vendors fit that requirement.

The development of the GP cars of that time was a question of how to make a car be competitive with the power on hand, our cars follow the same design imperatives. To make one of our cars competitive you need to go against the trend and build a car with a very low overall weight, then remove all drag whether it be in gearing, axle bushings, tire rolling resistance, tire scrub in corners, guide flag, braid drag, ect.ect.

Our races are contested on home tracks throught North America with local racers who may have never competed at a level beyond the local guys they race with. Our cars need to be comfortable enough for a novice to be able to race. Most of the drivers have never even seen a car built like these on their first stint as a proxy driver. With the races being held on home tracks the straitaways longer than 12 feet become a premium, a car built for top speed may not find too many tracks that can accomodate it.

I have studied proxy races that have taken place and tried to learn from them. The last David Jones Invitational race was one of them that I gleened the most from. The overall winner of that event did not have a huge amount of power and his car was drivable by all the competitors. The Marconi Proxy races
had one of your famous cars in it that was more of a surgical instrument than a slot car. The Lancia/Ferrari D50 sidewinder with the tiny little motor that looked like it was made by a current F1 designer was a little over the top. I wanted this proxy race to be competitive enough that a guy in his shed with a soldering iron, a Dremel tool and some skill could compete in and have a reasonable chance of scoring a podium in a race.

Regards

Ken

 

[mmmoose1]

All twenty four spots have been filled but there is a reserve list if you still want to try to get in.

Ken