What Should A Historic Racing Car Be?

There are many ways to run a historic racing series, but the FIA has its own framework that can be useful for organisers.

- Kevin Turner

One prominent historic racer recently said: “If you ask 200 people in the paddock what historic racing should be, you’ll get 200 answers.”

The question of how original a historic car should be is a controversial one. Cars used regularly have to be maintained, and crashed cars need to be rebuilt. Which parts and materials should be used can be a complex debate.

Too puritanical about it and some cars will never run reliably, while others will be left in the garage due to a scarcity of parts. Too liberal and it can turn into an arms race that results in cars that look like historic cars but are essentially modern machines. As Historic Sports Car Club CEO Grahame White says: “There are people with vast amounts of money who are desperate to win and explore every avenue.”

Most would agree that the latter isn’t what historic racing should be about – if you want to push the technological boundaries, you should probably be in contemporary motorsport.