Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

April 28, 2017

The VRCBC display at the 2017 BC Classic & Custom Car Show – Brent Martin photo

Posted: April 28, 2017

The VRCBC returned to the BC Classic & Custom Car Show at the Tradex in Abbotsford over the April 21-23 weekend. We had two racing cars on display; Paul Haym’s 1969 Datsun 510 and Phil Roney’s 1987 Swift DB2. Both cars attracted a lot of attention and many show attendees were very interested to learn more about road racing at Mission Raceway in general and our own Vintage racing activities in particular.

The finishing touch for us was Paul’s well-known 510 winning the award for best ‘full-bodied race car’! Congratulations Paul!

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April 4, 2017

This doesn’t happen very often! VRCBC VP Paul Haym leading the pack in his indomitable ’69 Datsun 510. – Brent Martin photo

Posted: April 5, 2017

The 2017 race season at Mission Raceway Park Road Course has begun! The first Sports Car Club of BC (SCCBC) event, sanctioned by the CACC, was held over the April 1-2 weekend. As usual, our Vintage REVS series races were on the Sunday, when the weather covered the full spectrum from hail, through heavy rain to sunshine! Welcome to BC in the springtime.

The complete results for all of the weekend’s racing are available on the SCCBC website (here). The Vintage Closed Wheel and the Open Wheel / Sports Racer (which includes our VRCBC racers) results are available in PDF under the 2017 Season menu on this web site (here).

Check out some of Brent Martin’s photos of the Vintage action below. Brent has many more motorsport photos on his web site (here).

The next race event is coming up quickly on the April 29-30 weekend, with Vintage races on the Sunday as usual. See you at the track!

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March 10, 2017

Not something you see on the track very often, this 1955 Mercedes Benz 190SL is being raced by Doug Radix. – Gunter Pichler photo

Posted: March 10, 2017

Another of the VRCBC’s many intrepid, jet-setting reporters has just submitted his latest race report. Gunter Pichler attended the SVRA (Sportscar Vintage Racing Association) Sebring Vintage Classic at historic Sebring International Raceway over the March 2-5 weekend, and sent us some of his photographs of the great cars that were in action.

Thanks Gunter!

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January 5, 2017

Karlo Flores' 1960 Porsche 356-B is proudly carrying our VRCBC decals in this year's La Carrera Panamericana. - K. Flores photo

Karlo Flores’ 1960 Porsche 356-B is proudly carrying our VRCBC decals in this year’s La Carrera Panamericana. – K. Flores photo

Updated (again): March 9, 2017

VRCBC member and Vintage racer, Karlo Flores blasted his 1960 Porsche 356-B (‘Nina’) through the winding roads of central Mexico in this year’s La Carrera Panamericana.

karlo-flores-porsche-356-la-carrera-2016-1

The event began on Friday, October 14th and finished on Thursday, the 20th.

Karlo and his co-driver Juan Carlos Salgado did a great job; finishing second in class (by only four minutes after seven days!) and 15th overall. Well done guys! The event web site has many photos (here) of the action.

And although a two ton, 180 mph 1950 Oldsmobile with a modern tube chassis isn’t exactly VRCBC Vintage eligible(!), this in-car video provides an excellent idea of what it’s like to drive a typical Carrera stage in a powerful car.

Update: Karlo and his team have created a short (seven minute) video (here) of the highlights of their event. It looks like it was a real blast!

Update some more: Valkyrie Racing has posted this short video on You Tube focusing on the Porsche 356’s in the event. Look for Karlo; the VRCBC’s own hero!

Update some more, some more: Nina was just featured in the first 2017 edition of the Porsche 356 Registry magazine. You can read the story here.

La Carrera Panamericana – one more thing to add to your Vintage racing bucket list!

December 6, 2016

Ivan Lessner first raced his 1958 Austin Healey 100-6 BNG at Westwood in 1987 and has raced it with the VRCBC every year since. – Brent Martin photo

Posted: November 28, 2016

We have just been reminded that the VRCBC was ‘born’ on November 28, 1976. In the words of David Birchall, one of the founders and now one of our BCHMR race commentators:

‘The call went out to all the one make car clubs and Colin Fitzgerald hosted the initial meeting at his house. Subsequent meetings were at Peter Price’s palatial premises, Sports and Vintage Cars at 393 Powell Street in the downtown east side.’

That means that the VRCBC is now 40 years old, which by some definitions is the beginning of middle age. That will be a comforting thought to many of our current members!

Happy Anniversary to us! Here’s to another 40 years!