Repowered Classics

[ERC]

Take this as a scenario - which just happens to be fairly near to the truth!

1) A standard 1970's Rover 3500S P6 has a CoD as it conforms in all respects.

2) A standard 1956 MG Magnette has a CoD as it conforms in all respects.

3) The engine in the Magnette fails and the body of the P6 is wrecked in an accident, but combining the two into one car doesn't qualify for CoD or acceptance as a Classic, regardless of the DNA.

However, combining a Mazda Rotary with an Austin Seven using the same analogy could also apply, but if no one would let it run, (or maybe someone would let it run!) then the driver/constructor is out in the cold.

Combining a Gyspy Moth aeroplane engine with a sports Riley however, excites us all and yet when you examine it, it is merely our own perception and philosophy and dare I say it, personal prejudice, that accepts one but not the other.

No one has yet given me a REASON for not accepting a period repowered car into the classic fold. The only statement that has been put up so far is that "it wasn't built in period". That is not, in my humble opinion, a valid reason. It is a personal opinion only. No one has yet come up with a genuine reason as to why it shouldn't run.

Even if the ERC Series and/or the MGCC Series were the only events that accepted the car, that would be my problem, no one elses. Certainly not the commission's problem as to where cars may run, as further down the line, rules are already in place to prevent a Rotary Austin 7 running with us. It is up to meeting organisers/promoters to choose to invite Series cars, or, they have an open grid where they decide who can and can't run. If organisers accepted the Rotary Austin, then they would have to accept any potential backlash from other competitors. Not the Commissions' problem.

I wouldn't expect a repower to be allowed into the current HD Festival meeting for example, as that meeting is currently aimed fairly and squarely at conforming cars, the closer to Schedule K the better. If however, the dollar counts, so instead of inviting the BMW E30s for example, who may not make up a full grid, that grid was offered to the ERC Series (which is highly unlikely!) who might fill the grid, then the organisers would have to accept the series eligibility rules, so it is all self policing at meeting level.

Having a car scrutineered to Schedule A rather than AA doesn't appear to be a major problem, given that scrutineers are there for safety reasons not eligibility reasons anyway. We won't broach the vexed problems of roll cages today though...