Submitted by Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
March 24, 2016 7:48 a.m.
I love sports cars; not a love I was born with but when it hit, it stuck. So you can imagine my delight at the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s Grand Prix at the Fernandina Beach airport last Saturday. Though it pains me to think that “vintage” is a term applied to a car I could have driven new in 1960, it was great fun to see them.
SVRA is one of the oldest organizations in vintage racing. As I strolled the paddock area, there were Porsches, Cobras, Corvettes, Mustangs and a lot of MGs. The Formula 1 cars are harder for me to identify by body style so I don’t know if there were any exotics. Same goes for the older cars whose shapes I can’t identify at all.
One surprise was a Ford Cortina, boxy but evidently fast enough. Some of the cars had been national champions in years past and had their titles stenciled on the sides. One car had a sign on the back saying, “Farm Use.” I’ll bet the driver could chase a lot of cows with that one.
The races grouped cars by comparable performance characteristics. From the paddock area, you could watch the cars line up for a race and see them roar out onto the track behind the pace car. The track layout was close enough to the paddock that you could see one leg of the race, including a hairpin turn that had everyone slowing down. I stared at one car for a long time trying to figure out what was different about it. Then I realized that it was a right hand drive. It was the only one I noticed.
Watching the Formula 1 cars return after their race, I was surprised to see the drivers get out and their support crew walk beside the cars pushing them. Formula 1s look to have the height profile of a go-cart and about 2 inches of road clearance.
Ever do something that just makes you feel alive and competent? That was my experience Saturday. The only downer is that now I’d love to have a sports car again. My first sports car was an Austin-Healey 3000, a beauty; black, low slung with a muffler sound unlike any car I’ve ever heard. But not without its quirks but what a dream to drive. It was followed by a Datsun 280Z and a Nissan 300ZX. Children and grandchildren changed my vehicle requirements.
I’d never been to a road race before so this was a great way to start. If we get the Grand Prix back next year, it’s an event that I recommend.
Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.
Evelyn, thanks for your on-the-scene report of the first Amelia Island Vintage Grand Prix. This was an outstanding event and the community should be really proud of how well it was conducted. I spent all day Sunday there and enjoyed some tremendous racing, from the pre-WWII category all the way up to the Group 10/IGT class with that wicked fast Corvette. And the motorcycle racing was a nice change-up as well. It took a lot of local volunteers and community coordination to pull this off and it was very well done. Congratulations to Amelia Island, the City, and SVRA. I’m looking forward to next year’s race.
Evelyn,
The Formula 1 cars that you saw were, in fact, Formula Fords and Formula V’s (for Volkswagen.) Back in the day there were hoards of these tiny cars buzzing around race tracks in large groups. They were inexpensive and great car control learning experiences.
I was a volunteer at the Amelia Island Vintage Gran Prix and enjoyed the whole experience thoroughly. Next year we plan on a bigger and better show. More cars, more “Warbirds” (WW2 aircraft) – with an airshow during lunch break, maybe even a vintage boat display at the town marina. We are going to tie in with Bill Warner and the Concours D’Elegance much more closely. The hope is to extend the excitement of Concours Week to two weeks. Most of Fernandina’s stores, restaurants, and hotels seem to support this plan. We are hoping for more community involvement and feedback as time goes on. On Thursday & Friday when things are quieter the racers were delighted to talk to youngsters about the cars and loved letting kids sit in the race car for pictures. Maybe a “Family Day” is in the future.
Yes, it was a lot of fun. There are plans in place for four more ears. Hopefully we will be back. Saturday AM was ‘Show and Shine” and display of wonderful vintage cars; I really enjoyed it.