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Speedwell Sprite

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aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
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I spent last weekend at a Vintage Racer Group (VRG) event at the Shenandoah circuit of Summit Point (WV).
For a good part of the day, I was dicing with this lovely Speedwell Sprite. It's a *real* one (and not a replica) and was once owned by Graham Hill. It's presently running a 1275, but otherwise, it's all original. Great fun!

Here's a video from my car following the Sprite coupe during practice (including the "Karousel" at this track).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5xjOTvRh5w

A still picture of my car at this event can be seen ~HERE~

Speedwell Sprite (with FIAT 850 Spider in tow)
IMG_1026.intermediate.jpg

IMG_1007.intermediate.jpg

IMG_0979.intermediate.jpg


More of these images can be found on this excellent website:
https://www.at-speed.com/galleries/vintage/2006/09-30-06/index.html
 
Thanks for sharing, and no offense but... that Sprite looks a little better than your Midget. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Thanks:

You drove a nice line; please share more, love it.

Patrick
 
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Thanks for sharing, and no offense but... that Sprite looks a little better than your Midget. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh Brother! Ain't *that* the truth! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Nial, The spinning #68 BE is a friend. Thanks for not "meeting" him.

Peter C. supporting Team Thicko member
 
Nial,
i do not race and i am simply restoring my sprite. Help me understand what type of racing you do. From the film it looks like a fairly civilized race (i know it was a practice run). What rules, speeds, conditions do you race under. I am curious not knowing anything about this.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've always liked the looks of the Speedwell bonnet.


[/ QUOTE ]

I've been trying to find a Lenham front end myself. Looks great on a spridget.
 
If some of you guys are interested in "special-looking" Spridgets (like the Lenham), there is 7 pages of posting about them at BCF ~HERE~.

PeterC -I noticed the "Team Thicko" sticker on that car...I've had fun reading the Thicko website over the years.


Fred -I do two types of racing with my Spridget: "club racing" and "vintage racing".

All of the club racing I do is with a regional racing association in the eastern US called EMRA.. EMRA club racing is very grassroots with many people racing cars that are worth less than $2000 (including mine). It's similar to SCCA racing but with less money involved. I'm still running stock steel wheels, stock brakes, stock transmission and so forth.
We use the same safety inspection checklists as the SCCA so our cars may not be as "trick" or up-to-date, but they are just as safe. We also have the same number of flaggers, EMTs, ambulances and so forth, so we don't skimp on safety.
We run many eastern tracks such as Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, Summit Point, BeaveRun, the Pocono road-race courses, Shannonvile (Ont) and others.
Although the racing is quite amateur, it can also get pretty fierce. On occasion, we suspend drivers for being too aggressive (mostly, this is with the Miata class).

EMRA runs Time Trials (for stock street cars....many guys show up for a TT with the wife's Camry if their race car is on the fritz). Time Trials is not wheel-to-wheel racing, but you practice in groups, so it feels sort of like racing. We also run Sprint races (for dedicated race cars...this is wheel-to-wheel racing) and is usually about 15 laps. And we run Enduros (again, wheel-to-wheel) that range from 1 to 4 hours and are "mixed class" (big bore and small bore). I'll be running in our twightlight 4-hour Enduro at Summit Point on November 18 (we race until 8 PM). I''ll also run a 1 hour at Lime Rock on Oct 28.

Since I mostly run in EMRA's small bore class, I have a friendly groups of "rivals" that I know quite well (and trust). These small-bore cars include several Honda Civics (1500 cc, 8-valve), a 1275 Mini, two other Sprites, a Ford Aspire and other "tiddlers". Often, we will run within inches of each other while late-braking into a high speed turn. Our small bore class is fun because it rewards smoothness and conservation of momentum (I teach Physics once in a while....I like this concept). And since we are in the small bore class, "high speed" may only mean 80 or 90 mph. Some of our big bore cars can push over 160 mph.

I also run in Vintage Racer Group (VRG) vintage events. The video was made at the most recent VRG event. Vintage racing can be very exciting, but the emphasis is a bit more on having some "sporting fun" and is less about all-out winning. In fact, VRG (and many other vintage race clubs) do not even time their events or award trophies...it's all just for fun. Vintage clubs mostly use a 13/13 rule to keep racers from getting too aggressive (First infraction is 13 months on probation....Second infraction is 13 months suspension).
Since many of the vintage cars are more valuable, the drivers tend to give each other more room. I gave the Speedwell Sprite lots of room in that video....I would never leave that much space when racing my regular club racing buddies.

Technically, my car is a '78 chassis and is too new for some vintage clubs, but VRG is pretty laid back. And since my car tends to run mid-pack at VRG events, the other drivers don't mind either.

Rules for EMRA club racing can be found here:
https://www.emraracing.org/EMRARULE.HTM

Rules for VRG vintage racing can be found here:
https://www.vrgonline.org/rules&regs.htm
 
That was an extremely informative thread, over three years old! Thanks for digging that out, and taking the time to explain more, fun indeed....
My Lenham quest continued, and came across this beauty. .
 
nial,
thanks for taking the time to explain all that. this may be something i look into so it's nice to be able to have a starting point. thanks again!
 
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