The classic hotrods back in the seventies were the National
Hotrods , often appearing on Saturday Television show World
of Sport.
Drivers such as 351 Barry Lee , 306 George Polley and 356
Gordon Bland , all competed in the formula which was dominated
by Escorts and Anglia’s. They were later replaced
by Toyota starlets and peugeot bodied cars and now the space
framed chassis’s featuring tigra ,bmw and slk mercedes
styled bodies.
The passion to see these classic race cars back in action
around the circuits led Garry Whitcombe with the help of
Midlands based promoters Incarace to create the formula
we all love and appreciate today , known has the Classic
Hot Rods.
In 2005 when they first returned to the track there was
only 7 cars taking center stage and this has grown to approx
30 cars but an average of 10 to 20 cars turn up on any given
race day. We dont have a championship, but we do have a
points winner at the end of the season, and Dean Hunt in
his very fast ford anglia no 39 topped the table in 2010.
There are 2 main engines used, the 1700 crossflow and the
two litre overhead cam pinto. These engines are permitted
a fair amount of modification in order to give the power
output. Tyres are slick based race stock. The bodies are
not allowed any spaceframe sections and must remain as were
in the seventies , steel bodied fabrication.
Some of the cars that race today are not infact replicas
but rebuilds of cars raced in the seventies. The drivers
such as Dave Fry and Rick Fray are from the same era has
the cars and their constant passion oftenleads to them racking
up even more trophies for their cabinets.
we hope to attract more racers this season, and are all
looking forward to the coming calander. Debuting this year
will be Craig Walters , Dez Green And ex-stock rod Driver
Kevin Johnson.
The picture above of two mk.1 escorts in action at Northampton
International Raceway features Gary Whitcombe( the man responsible
for the rebirth of this formula) and Darren Owen. Darren
was the 2009 points Champion.
