Fake Minis!!! Grrr!!

Fake Minis! They are racing *fake* Minis!

I was watching the SCCA Runoffs on Speed TV, Christmas Day. The GT-5 race was on, and the Huffaker Minis was leading until it developed a problem (Huffaker Engineering has been involved in road racing of BMC Spridgets and Minis for 40 years...they are part of Brit-car race history in the U.S. along with the Team Spreen, Fred Opert, John Sprintzel, Hank Thorpe and others).

Anyway, the Huffaker car came into the pits and they flipped open the nose....and I noticed that the little "A" engine was positioned "North-South" instead of tranverse! What the heck!?!?

Then I went to the Huffaker website.....their racing Mini is rear-wheel drive! Sacrilege! So is the other top Mini (the Fortech car).

https://www.huffakerengineering.com/html/1992-2003.html

So I guess now that all the top SCCA racing Minis are just Sprites with a roof. Just venting here, but I'm kind of disappointed...I guess it's like NASCAR, with all those RWD Tauruses.

Huffaker rear-drive Race Mini

Nial, a few years back, the SCCA allowed the GT classes to change a front driver to rear drive, and since it was perceived as an advantage, Joe built his car. I actually helped build it. But, Mike's Fortech car that Doug drove to the championship is still a front wheel drive car.
The GT classes are basically tube chassis silhouette cars anyway, but many of them are still set up in the original configuration. Ted Wollesen, who was interviewed prior to the race is still "east-west", as is his daughter Erin's car. Ted has 13 Minis, and they are all front wheel drive. I get to race with Erin here at Waterford.
Jeff

[ 12-26-2003: Message edited by: Bugeye58 ]</p>

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bugeye58:
I actually helped build it.
<hr></blockquote>

Heretic!

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bugeye58:
Mike's Fortech car that Doug drove to the championship is still a front wheel drive car. <hr></blockquote>

Oh.


<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bugeye58:
many of them are still set up in the original configuration. Ted Wollesen, who was interviewed prior to the race is still "east-west", as is his daughter Erin's car. Ted has 13 Minis, and they are all front wheel drive. I get to race with Erin here at Waterford.<hr></blockquote>


Good: glad to see there are some semi-purists out there!

By the way, I co-raced a GT-5 Fiesta around '95. It was poorly developed and dog-slow, partly due to the ballast required. My ITC Dodge Colt was faster!

To add to the Heracy, there's a rumor going around that Huffaker is going to the MINI silhouette next year.. Hopefully, this will reduce drag and keep those throttle cables from falling off during the race.

Any top racer in SCCA GT classes is a Silhouette racer. No heresy about it. There are other classes where you can't run a tube frame. You can avert your eyes when GT classes are running if you must. I personally prefer the production classes where the cars are not tube framed and bear much more resemblance to stock, and even IT where they are pretty close to stock.

There are plenty of cars with unibodies in GT classes still though.

Super 7, even though Nial has branded me a heretic for helping build Joe Huffakers' GT5 Mini, I race in either H or F Production, with either a '62 Sprite in H, or a 1500 Spitfire in F.
Hopefully this information will keep my head off the block!
Wait a minute. Racing in a production class, the head is quite often off the block, now that I think about it!
Jeff