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Spring 2016 16
The SHELBY AMERICAN
To head off declining entries and,
hence, watch their profits shrink as
spectators were not attracted by
smaller grids, the sanctioning bodies
began relaxing their stringent require-
ments. No longer did cars have to have
actual race history. It was merely
enough if they looked “period correct.”
The unintended consequence was that
even fewer valuable, historical race
cars were brought out and raced.
Today you can see Shelbys, Corvettes,
Mustang notchbacks, Camaros and a
wide variety of other cars that never
turned a wheel on a race track, pre-
sented as 1960s racers. In fact, re-
quirements have been loosened to the
point where you can see an early Mus-
tang fastback outfitted with all (or
most of) the pieces used on GT350 R-
Models. Actual replicas – Cobras,
Grand Sport Corvettes, Daytona
Coupes – are beginning to be seen in
vintage racing grids.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the major
sanctioning body, the FIA, has stead-
fastly refused to lower its standards.
Cars like Cobras and GT40s must
have correct mechanical components.
Blocks and heads must have exact
part numbers and other pieces must
be time period correct. Specifications
must be the same as the cars were
raced in 1965. Finding something like
an original 1965 block greatly in-
creases the cost of preparing a car.
However, it means that all of the cars
are prepared to similar standards, and
the result is that there are no runaway
winners. It also means that the cars
tend to be driven more carefully on the
track due to their value. The result is
that more of them are brought out to
race, and that they are accurately pre-
sented. All good for spectators.
The recent Goodwood Members
Meeting, held on the weekend of
March 19-20, is an excellent case in
point. The Alan Mann Trophy, named
in honor of the late British GT40 Ford
factory team owner Alan Mann, at-
tracted thirty GT40 Mk Is that raced
prior to 1966 for the single marque
event. It was a sixty-minute race re-
quiring two drivers per car.
Photographic coverage was car-
ried on the Sports Car Digest website
<www.sportscardigest.com>
The vivid photos seen here were taken
by Tim Scott and examples of his ex-
pertise can be seen on his website
<fluidimages.co.uk>