Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

February 24, 2011

1938 BMW 327/328 Unveiled at Jellybean Autocrafters

VRCBC Members were among those invited to attend the unveiling of a beautifully restored 1938 BMW 327/328 at Jellybean Autocrafters in Surrey, on February 23rd. This BMW model is generally acknowledged as one of the most significant automobiles in history.  It had leading-edge performance and handling for its time, with its tubular frame and 2 litre, inline six cylinder engine, featuring triple carburetors and hemispherical combustion chambers.

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February 21, 2011

Intermeccanica's main shop with current work in progress

The Club held its February General Membership Meeting at Intermeccanica Custom Coach Builders in Vancouver ( www.intermeccanica.com ). Paula Reisner gave a fascinating presentation on the history of the company that she built with her husband, Frank, who passed away in 2001. Intermeccanica was founded in Turin in 1959 and eventually moved to Vancouver in 1981. The company’s first projects included speed equipment and one of the first rear-engined Formula Juniors. Over the years, they have produced a wide variety of specialty vehicles;  many of which, such as the Apollo and the Indra were immediately recognized by Club members. In recent years, production has been focussed on their Speedster replica, in its many forms. The entire company story is well told on the company website.

Henry Reisner, the president of Intermeccanica,  then walked us through the entire process of building their very impressive, high performance cars. A big thank you to Intermeccanica from the VRCBC!

And if you want to see another story of the tour with some really excellent photos, check out our friend Carl Jarrett’s blog on the SpeedHunter site here.

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January 14, 2011

Ben Manning Sr. passed away on December 3rd. Ben was a past president of the Sports Car Club of British Columbia and was very instrumental in the building of the Westwood track in 1959. All those who attended the Westwood 50 Reunion Banquet in 2009 will remember his very entertaining reminiscences of those early days. Ben was inducted into the Greater Vancouver Motorsports Pioneers Society in October of last year.  You can read his GVMPS biography here.

December 6, 2010

The River’s Edge Vintage Series (REVS) is the VRCBC’s awards system based on the racing events sponsored by the Club and held each year at the Mission Raceway Park road racing course. Points are awarded for participation, rather than finishing position.  The Club has presented their awards to the top three finishers in each of the REVS Race Groups for the 2010 season.  

Mark Brown is the Overall REVS Champion for 2010. Congratulations to Mark and all of this year’s participants. And thanks to Paul Bonner for the excellent photos. 

Overall Champion: Mark Brown

Group 1: Vintage (1950 – 1963)

1st Place: Peter Valkenburg

2nd Place: Ivan Lessner

3rd Place: Tim Pickstone

Group 2: Historic (1964 – 1969)

 

1st Place: Mark Brown

2nd Place: Jim Latham

3rd Place: Glen Gibbons

Group 3: Classic (1970 – 1974)

 

1st Place: Al Harvey

2nd Place: Dennis Repel

3rd Place: Geoff Tupholme

 

 

 

 

 

Group 4: Open Wheel

1st Place: Tedd McHenry

2nd Place: Lawrence Green

3rd Place: Ken Butler

 

 

 

 

 

October 20, 2010

VRCBC members and guests gathered at TBC Indoor Kart Racing in Richmond on Tuesday, October 19th for the First Annual VRCBC One Hour Enduro. There was some great racing throughout, with just enough “bump drafting” to entertain the fans. After a full hour of racing, the team of Dale Warren, Dave Warren and Alan McColl had completed 109 laps, taking first place by only 30 seconds from the team of Dennis Repel, Malcolm Curtis and Evan Fraser. In third, only one lap further back was the team of Noah Krulitsky, Vittorio Pranovi and Hugh Archer. An excellent time!

Check the complete Final Results here.