SCCA 356 race event History

[Jack Staggs]

Well, that GMC truck cant be any older than 1962 year model, IIRC.

[Miracle Man]

I would bet it is Don Wester. He had a yellow Carrera in 1962 and always raced with #60 and with the black flares off the headlights.
http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/photo/Don-Wester-USA.html

[bbspdstr]

OK, west coast Wester but where was that picture taken? All those servicemen must be "local." Was it Stockton?

Same number, same bubble visor, the black and white version of yellow, I don't know old 'Merican pick-'em-ups.....but what year is the Carrera Speedster?

Ol' Don sure moved up in Porsche models...must have done well in the car biz.

Thanks for the better intel.

[Miracle Man]

I would guess 1961 or 1962. Note it is BP and racing against a BP Corvette. Carrera's kept moving up from FP to DP to CP and finally BP where they humbled many of the GM plastic pigs.

[bbspdstr]

Dave, you told that Don had the Carrera in '62 and and Jack Staggs posted "Well, that GMC truck cant be any older than 1962 year model, IIRC." I guess that's the end of the dating.

So back to the west coasters.....any idea of which course at which that foto was taken? I doubt it was at the only CA track I've been on...Laguna Seca, in '82, and that was just a ride in the (Carrera GT) Speedster of Dam Foster, not to race.

In conversation last Friday over dinner in Hershey with some well-known "Porsche historians"....when Heinz Bade and Bruce Jennings came up, the classification changes for the 4-cams were discussed. I was unaware the 1600 Carreras were in FP first. It's good to learn something new every day!

Thanks,
Bruce

[Miracle Man]

SCCA classified cars by displacement, like the Euros. So a 1500cc MGA raced against a 1500cc 4 cam Carrera. By 1959 we poor Brits had the twincam and Sherm Decker could actually beat some Carrera's at Lime Rock and Marlboro. MGA's were, and still are, especially fast at Lime Rock as we never have to slow down or accelerate and the cars handle well. At the Lime Rock Historics over Labor Day I won all 4 races in 2015 for our class.. needless to say the organizer was not happy and put some ringers in for last year but I still managed a couple 4ths. It will be fun to see how they classify us for this year.

[Jack Staggs]

The photo was taken at Laguna Seca turn 9 (now turn 11 due to track changes), near Fort Ord, hence the servicemen. You can see the corner on the lower left in this early picture

Here's another shot that shows the corner just visible in the extreme upper right.

I first thought it was turn 7 at Riverside, but not enough elevation behind the fence. Here's a shot of Dick Barbour at 7.

[alan hall]

Spring 1962 Laguna Seca Class B Production. car 6 is Paul Reinhart, purple Corvette and car 60 is Don Wester, yellow Porsche.

[bbspdstr]

Thanks guys! So it was Laguna after all. Changed a lot from '62 to '82.

Only been there twice, only been on the track once. My second visit was another Porsche special event....'98? I got a bum's rush out of the grid during that event because I was so used to mingling .... with an SCCA national race control license .... I just entered..... but I wasn't wearing my whites and those who were took exception.

I did meet Dick Barbour in '69 or '70 when I did a trip from Texas to San Diego up to San Francisco to see my uncle. That was a lucky "see a Porsche race car, stop to look ..... and meet the owner"

That was the same trip as when I did a drive on a Malibu beach road and saw, outside in driveways next to houses, 9 Speedsters in the space of about a mile.

California wasn't and isn't at all like Pennsylvania. We used to say on the east coast that half of the Porsche production came to the US and half of that wound up in California. My trips there reinforced that theory.

Bruce

[356]

[356]

[Phil Planck]

Waterford Hills starting grid circa 1965




Watkins Glen letting some Model A's tour the track circa 1970

[Bill Brown]

I recently picked up this cool old poster from 1954, I`d never seen it before. Curtis LeMay opened up the SAC bases to sportscar racing in the early 50s. Two were held at Offutt, this poster from the 54 event drew 40,000 people!

[356]

[Jack Staggs]

Watkins Glen letting some Model A's tour the track circa 1970

Great shot. Those ancient relics, unable to keep up with modern cars of that day, were 40 years old. Our 60 + or - year old cars are doing just fine against their current contemporaries.