The OLDER I get ...
the BETTER I was!
HERITAGE
I first saw Stock Car Racing on TV back in the
60s. It was on ‘Sportsveiw’ on a Wednesday
night, introduced by Peter Dimock - I think it
was from West Ham. I say ‘think’ because my
‘hard drive’ has been corrupted and my fuzzy
old brain isn’t what it was!
As a postscript to all of this, I think a word is
due on the Racing V Demonstration
controversy that’s rearing its ugly head. Some
of the F2 Heritage cars owe more to modern
technology than nostalgia. My car is firmly in
the nostalgia/demonstration camp. I don’t sit
on the fence on this one, but I do accept that a
few of the old gits want to race.
>>
I was dead keen but had no thoughts of
competing, I just wanted to see this
‘mechanised anarchy’ live. There were a
couple of Lincoln Zephyrs on a local garage
forecourt, well ironed up and reeking of evil. I
learned that these paragons of automotive
beauty raced at a magical place called Aycliffe
and to visit this Nirvana became my goal. One
cold Saturday night I got there and my dream
was complete.
A couple of blokes with ‘Junior’ cars had an
allotment within cycling distance to my home. I
used to go down there and ‘gawp’ at the work
going on on the three cars, taking note of what
was being done to prepare one to race. A
friend and I got hold of a 10-bob rusty Ford
Prefect and made a start with more
enthusiasm than skill. I was 14 and beavered
away for 18 months until the ‘Board Of Control’
called an end to Junior cars at Aycliffe. This
‘forward-thinking’ move saw more than 90 cars
go to scrap along with my lovely rusty Prefect!
After a fulfilling F2 career, ending with the
closure of Aycliffe, I became interested in the
Veterans association and had started to collect
some bits with a view to completing the
unfinished business of my Ford Prefect back in
1965. I managed to twist Graham Bunter’s arm
to part with his second car, a Prefect, at a
more the reasonable price. I was back in
business again!
I think that Graham let me have the car partly
because we both have a love of the Heritage
Movement, and also to spread the Heritage
Movement’s ‘footprint’ up to the North East.
Thanks Graham, you’re a star. Collecting the
car was an adventure in itself and worth a
standalone story. The car itself was probably
one of the most original 60’s Heritage Junior
on the scene, right down to the wooden floor.
www.insidestockcarworld.co.uk
So - what did I have to do?
First, get the seat in a comfortable and safe
position - I put a steel plate underneath the
seat, even though this isn’t mentioned in the
rules. Being an ex BRISCA F2 bod, I have
seen the benefit of certain safety precautions
and intend not to fall into the ‘I’ll do it later’
syndrome. The car was built when Heritage
was a bit more of a demonstration formula.
However, this has changed over the few short
years of its life with the influx of some
competitors that wanted to win!
Next job was an aluminium floor and seat belt
mountings through the seat plate. Then, he
roll-cage cross brace and roof plate, with some
side-bar modifications. All the door inner
panels came off, along with the window
winders - Yes, they were still in residence!
The driver’s door-top and rusty door bottoms
were copped off and neatened with one inch
angle iron.
I wanted it to be as near-a-replica of what the
original car would have been and I’d already
bought the Primrose yellow and Peacock blue
paint for the original Prefect in 1967 from
Woollies.
In1968, just as they did back in the day - I got
my paint brush and using photo’s of the
original car, painted my Mighty Midget, with a
little help from my friends - the local decorators
shop.
I don’t think any Junior cars that raced at
Aycliffe were sprayed and I don’t like the
modern Heritage trend of sprayed paint,
stickers for name and numbers and the fancy
airbrushing techniques that hadn’t even been
thought of in 1964!
I had a red roof with the Midget in 1968 and
would have been racing the Junior then if the
‘good old’ Board Of Control hadn’t had them
all thrown in a skip for the greater good of the
sport. So the one on the Heritage car is as
accurate as can be and in any case, primrose
yellow and white looks crap! All done and
ready for my début at the Veterans gettogether at Buxton.
How did it go? That’s another story!
F2 Stock Cars
They race hard and race to win and make a
great spectacle. Good on ‘em!. I go as quickly
as I can in order to show the car off to the best
of my ability. To win for me is not always to be
first across the line. If people come up to me in
the pits after a race and say they enjoyed my ill
handling three wheel cornering and it brought
back memories of packed fields of full height
cars wobbling about, then that’s it. I’ve Won.
One of the most enjoyable races I have ever
had was at Skegness on a Tuesday night. I
had the lead for a couple of laps, I’d room to
get the thing on three wheels and had the best
seat in the house to watch three Y-type Fords
side-by-side, drifting through a corner. I came
last. I don’t care. I had a blast!
The men that wanted to win, won. They had a
blast! The crowd loved it. Even the promoter
said she liked it. I don’t want us to go down the
road that the F1 80s cars have, with modern
tyres and technology and be an out and out
racing formula.
Photo by: Alan Panther
My car is 64 years old. It would last half a
season at that sort of rate. I take my car to
shows and nostalgia weekends that have
nothing to do with Stock Cars but It’s never
failed to jog someone’s memory.
I’ve had some great conversations and made a
lot of new friends as well as meeting people
from the past. So there you have it.
Come and have a chat at a meeting and I’ll
remind you how good I used to be!
John Rigg
7