The high-tech lessons you can learn from historic race cars

Fans of sports car racing generally have better access to behind-the-scenes action in the paddock than in other racing series. Just try getting a peek at what’s going on in an F1 garage–or even in NASCAR outside of the carefully curated viewing areas–and you’ll understand. B…

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Historic racing has changed–less ’50s British sports cars, more “retired” GT3 cars.

A friend of ours drove one of the Audi LMP cars at historic events. Between sessions, the car was parked for all to see. Back during the car’s profession career, he noted, the car would be hidden from the public. 

I really enjoy going to the HSR events at Daytona, tons of cool cars that the owners and drivers are more than happy to talk with you about. Also, the suspension on that R32 Nissan GT-R is wild. 

I like that we've shifted from "Wow this car was driven by Stirling Moss" to "Wow this car was driven by Terry Earwood." I'm here for it.

We still need a Firehawk car. World Challenge would do, too. 

Side note: My daughter sat in that GT-R. Later, she even got to sit in a Morgan.

I had to explain to her that she couldn't just sit in any of the cars she wanted to, the owner had to allow her sit in it, first. 

David S. Wallens said:

We still need a Firehawk car. World Challenge would do, too. 

I feel like if someone offered me a ride at the Historic 24 the first thing I'd ask would be "Is it in the Prelude?" and they'd say "No it's in a Can-Am car" and I'd actually be slightly disappointed.

Historic cars sure have gotten a lot newer. I still think of historic as LBCs like Spitfires or open-wheel lawn darts on skinny tires. 

Some of the welding on the Castrol car makes me feel better about some of the welds I've done over the years. 

The Skyline looks like an R34, and from the JGTC/Super GT GT500 class. that suspension is quite something.

I do wonder how modern hybrid prototypes could be maintained in historic racing. Almost all mechanical bits can be recreated with specialist machinists, but battery replacements can be tricky. 

David S. Wallens said:

Historic racing has changed–less ’50s British sports cars, more “retired” GT3 cars.

A friend of ours drove one of the Audi LMP cars at historic events. Between sessions, the car was parked for all to see. Back during the car’s profession career, he noted, the car would be hidden from the public. 

I spent a lot of time looking at that LMP at the Mitty. It was an R8, right? Not the street car, the revolutionary racer.

Took this pic of it 10 years ago.

j_tso said:

 

I do wonder how modern hybrid prototypes could be maintained in historic racing. Almost all mechanical bits can be recreated with specialist machinists, but battery replacements can be tricky. 

Interesting question, and while I don;t have a direct answer, maybe a chat I had with some friends at Honda who were there supporting the ARX-05 can shed some light.

So, basically, many of these more modern prototypes contain a LOT of protected IP, so actually releasing them onto the secondary market in their as-raced condition is increasingly rare. In the case of the ARX-05, it's an Oreca 07 tub, but  alot of the drivetrain tech, some of the suspension design and pretty much all of the bodywork is Honda property. The team that now owns the car lobbied Honda for a couple years to sell them the car, and basically the final arrangement was "Okay we'l do it, but our guys still need to support the car." 

So at the HSR event there were several Honda engineers supporting the effort who were back in Daytona two weeks later to support the latest ARX at the IMSA preseason test. 

Apparently lots of the computing power running the ARX runs on proprietary firmware. And, yes, as this is basically an "off the shelf" chassis, it could be powered by almost anything and skinned with whatever bodywork would fit. So if you want to race an Oreca 07 chassiis with a Megasquirted LS made up to look like the Batmobile, that's entirely doable, but then it wouldn't be an Acura ARX-05. If you want to race an ARX-05, Acura/Honda still controls the intellectual and hardware rights to that car, and likely will for a long time, and they want some say in how it's presented.

What if I told you that I have the owner of the shop maintaining some of those early Acura prototypes on the other line? 

Toyman! said:

Historic cars sure have gotten a lot newer. I still think of historic as LBCs like Spitfires or open-wheel lawn darts on skinny tires. 

 

I think partly because everything else has gotten newer. When I started covering vintage racing in the late ’80s, a 30-year-old car was from 1958 or so–so Sprites, Speedsters, Triumphs. 

Today, a 30-year-old car a 1.8L Miata. (I know, right?)

Somewhere there’s an article in this, but a friend who pro raced back in the day and drives vintage cars today summed it up nicely: newer race cars are simply safer and easier to drive.

A GTP car, he said, was an uncomfortable hot box–but that’s the way it was. The hot air from the radiator was fed right into the cockpit. A modern/recent LMP car, by comparison, has a/c. Then factor in the age of the typical historic driver.

Something we did for Classic Motorsports: an interview with the president of HSR on the future of historic racing. (Also discussed: What makes a race car “historic.”)