Monday, October 15, 2007

CSRG: Bluebird Wipes Floor with Shelby, NASCAR Spins


THE 4th Annual CSRG Charity Challenge Vintage Races are in the books, and it was an epic vintage race weekend by all accounts. The field was eclectic as ever, including such rarities as a Maserati 250F Grand Prix Car, a Bugatti Type 59, and an 8C Alfa Romeo. Plenty of others filled out the eight classes, from the most famous and valuable Ferraris to super obscure cars like the French Rene Bonnet D'Jet.



There aren't too many car dealers out there who are also "car guys", but one serious exception to the rule is Gordon Walton of Walnut Creek Honda. That's him above in his gorgeous '67 Honda S800 in Turn 2. Check out his car below:










For once, we didn't have any of our own cars entered, so we got to relax and enjoy all the races from the stands... It was great not having to wake up at 6:30am!

We got to see the Historic NASCAR guys do their impression of a road course:







And there were a few things that made us look twice, like this Audi S5 parked in a fleet of RS4s out near Turn 5:



And a cool early 70s Alfa Romeo Berlina that was parked near all the Audis...




We love Alfas and if you don't, you need some knowledge. The Berlina is a sweet car, kind of like Italy's Datsun 510, with cooler instruments and a twincam motor. I want one.

But, wait, what's that over there?! We spotted this hakosuka Skyline in the Sears Point paddock:



In fact, this was the Skyline GT-X that appeared on the Bay Area craigslist site a month or two ago. Its new proud owner was none other than Jim Froula, who is well-known in vintage racing circles with his 1967 Datsun Bluebird, which he just happened to be racing this weekend:



This thing is immaculate...check it out:









That's one pretty sweet ride!



Don't be fooled: there's no Motoring J Style in the above photo. But the driver of the 912 is my friend Anne. Anne is cool because she actually races her daily-driven, black-plate Porsche 912. And here she's mixing it up hardcore with Alfas and Porsche 356s...you gotta respect that!

Well, that's it for now. Next weekend, look for an update on a rather more degenerate form of racing, the 4th running of the now-infamous 24 Hours of LeMons. Cheers!

1 comment:

Randy N. of www.bringatrailer.com said...

Great write-up, David! We just posted an interesting Honda S800 vintage racer.

Check it out .


Love that Bluebird, too!