HERITAGE
Stock Cars
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When a certain Mr Plant of Macclesfield
decided to take his teenage lad for a day
out at the stock cars, he probably never
realised that his son Stephen would later
become a future stock car driver himself.
However, this was the case and today that
little lad is now a competitor in the BriSCA
Heritage F1 series.
Steve actually began his racing career in
the F2 class using an ex Andy Ford car. At
6ft 5" tall, Steve was able to fit comfortably
in the Ford built machine, although ''it was
a bit of a squeeze'' as he puts it!
After three years in the '2's' Steve
eventually sold his equipment to spend
more time with other hobbies, but on a visit
to his local track at High Edge he met old
friend and neighbour Mick Drabble who
had his stunningly restored Bert Finniken
#55 car to race in the Heritage F1s.
Steve knew nothing about the Heritage
scene which was still in its infancy at the
time, but within weeks he found himself the
proud owner of an ex 337 Steve Bates car.
It had been in the hands of the veteran
York's driver George 'Chopper' Rudd but
was a shadow of its former self. Steve did
his research and worked hard to restore
32
George Rimmer’s Heritage Journey Continues ...
the old car back to its original spec prior to
venturing on track with the 1970 & 80s F1s.
Steve is an ardent traditionalist and
heritage racing had suddenly become more
competitive as other drivers began to push
the boundaries with full on competition
equipment and racing tyres etc. He began
to become somewhat disillusioned with the
situation; as he puts it himself ''When I
came into Heritage, a lot of us thought it
was just exhibition racing where we could
relax and chat with the fans, then take the
cars out to demonstrate what they were like
years ago'' .
Steve then added ''I understand that the
fans don't want to see them stood still on
show for too long, but it seems pointless to
spend all that time & money restoring a
nice old car only to have it smashed up by
retro specials”. Despite his concerns, Steve
continued to persevere with the series, and
actually won a race at Birmingham Wheels
on a very chilly 2011 opening night. Not
only did he win comfortably, but he also did
it using a combination of forty year old
Dunlop RS5 and Avon Turbo-speed tyres!!
For 2012, haulage contractor Steve has
made limited appearances in the 1980s
division, and with the emergence of the
new and rapidly growing 'Early Years'
class, has recently started work on a 70s
replica build. This is of Macclesfield's Fred
Thompson (#195), who was a favourite of
Steve's back in those early days. The car
later went on to be raced by Fred's son
Kevin (#188), who was himself a regular
driver on the northern circuits throughout
the 70s and 80s.
Kevin is actually assisting with the build
which is already at approx 60% completion.
Featuring a Pontiac 389ci motor, FG
Gearbox, LD axles and a combined Mini /
Triumph Herald body, the car is a typical
1970's northern F1 car. Steve went on to
point out, ''everybody wants to build the
famous red top or iconic cars, but we
thought that it would be nice to recreate
one of the lesser known oldies as they are
also an important part of the sports history''
. Whatever he races, we can be sure that
Steve will doing what he does best ....
keeping it real, and entertaining the
crowds!
Regards as ever.
George Rimmer
www.briscaf1heritage.com
Tel: 0844 840 8104