Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

May 24, 2012

Mark Brown and his Lotus Seven - Paul Bonner photo

Have you ever wanted to be a an old-time riding mechanic, looking both forwards and backwards while your driver threw the racing car around the bends and pounded down the straights? Well, here is your chance to see what it would be like. Check out Mark Brown’s onboard video combo from one of the Vintage races during the SCCBC Mother’s Day Weekend at Mission Raceway Park Road Course. Just look at the top of the videos in the right hand column or click here and then hang on!

May 23, 2012

Bruce Jamieson takes Turn 7 in Bernie Hamm's Fiat X1/9 - Jim Moody photo

By Jim Moody with files from Geoff Tupholme

The Victoria Day long weekend was a busy one for VRCBC members. While some were ‘working’ at the All British Field Meet in Vancouver, others were having a great time climbing Knox Mountain in Kelowna. The Knox Mountain Hillclimb is the longest annually running (This year was the 55th!) paved hillclimb in North America, and VRCBC members have been participating for many years. This year, it was Frank Winterlik, Geoff Tupholme, Keith Robinson, Evan Williams, Bernie Hamm and Bruce Jamieson carrying the Club’s banner up the challenging 2.2 mile course.

Frank had his 1973 Porsche 911 RSR both looking and running great during the two day event, posting a best time of 2:08.349. Right behind Frank was Geoff and his quick little 1973 Austin Mini (fighting a plug-fouling mystery) turning a best time of 2:08.416. Bernie Hamm with his 1974 Fiat X-1/9 enjoyed his weekend of competition and came through with a best time of 2:27.906. Evan Williams, no stranger to Knox Mountain, brought his 1963 Jaguar XKE to the hill this year. Evan’s best time of the weekend was 2:30.268. Bruce Jamieson was just getting familiar with Bernie’s Fiat and turned a 2:35.034.  Keith Robinson was our only single seater representative this year, driving his 1980 Van Diemen RF 80 Formula Ford to a best time was 2:10.073.

The final results are available here. Check below for more photos.

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May 20, 2012

Getting ready: the VRCBC Booth before the gates open - VRCBC photo

Updated: May 23, 2012

The 27th edition of the All British Field Meet (ABFM) – ‘The Greatest Show on British Wheels’ – was held on Saturday, May 19th at Vancouver’s Van Dusen Gardens. The weather was perfect and all of the cars looked great. The VRCBC display was in its traditional location, right inside the main entrance, greeting the very large crowd of visitors as they entered Memory Lane.

The VRCBC was very well represented by Mark Brown’s two time REVS Champion Lotus Seven, Al Harvey’s MGB, Al Reid’s MGB, Ralph Zbarsky’s MGB GT, Nick Woodhouse’s Austin Healey, Ivan Lessner’s multiple REVS Champion Austin Healey, and John McCoy’s Lotus Cortina. There was a great deal of interest in the cars and in Vintage racing at Mission Raceway Park Road Course.

Update: The winners of the many awards and prizes are now posted on the Western Driver / ABFM website (here) soon. Our congratulations to VRCBC racers, John McCoy and Nick Woodhouse who took first and third places respectively in the Race Cars category.

The following few photos give you some idea of what was a very enjoyable day.

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May 17, 2012

Auburn Speedster Boattail - VRCBC photo

The VRCBC held its May meeting at the fabulous Johnson Collection in Aldergrove. The eclectic variety of vehicles on display is obvious from the following photographs.  Many thanks to our host, Terry Johnson.

In March, Alyn Edwards wrote a very informative column about the Collection in the Vancouver Sun. You can read it here.

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April 21, 2012

Editor in Chief Tom Johnston has just published the Spring 2012 edition of Vantage – the VRCBC Newsletter. This time, Robin Fairservice tells the story of the post war 500cc motorcycle-engined, Formula 3 which started the careers of so many subsequently famous drivers and constructors. Mike Tate has some more personal reflections on last year’s Goodwood Revival, and Tom Johnston tells the story of the circa mid-50’s Jones Lake Hill Climb. Check out the very ‘attractive’ spectator and entrant fees in the SCCBC Event Notice re-printed on page 15. Those were the good old days!  Tom also explains some of the background to the Snell and SPI certification bodies.

You can find this and all of the previous Vantages under the About VRCBC menu, or download it directly by clicking here.