Hi guys,
Yesterday I had to pull my broken engine out of my Pantera, and was helped by two guys, one I'd never met before. Named Ron Southern, he's owned his Pantera since '77 and was a Bondurant Racing School instructor at Sears Point for ten years. Prior to that, he worked in a race shop in San Jose, CA, and owned and raced a variety of cars while working behind the counter of a BAP/Geon auto parts store.
Among the cars he owned was a Lola T70 Mk III Coupe, SL/111. It had come over to the USA among a batch of cars that the owner of the race shop had purchased in England (another in that batch was GT40 GT/105). I think he said that Paul Hawkins had owned it? (I know Hawkings had SL/112). While we pulled my engine, he regaled us with stories of SCCA racing Back In The Day. He'd trot his T70 around behind a Ford van, and would enter it in various Can Am and SCCA races here and there, up and down the west coast.
He had modified the car by enlarging the rear bodywork, Hawkins GT40-style, and fitting wider Halibrand wheels. He said the aero left a lot to be desired, and that the front end would get alarmingly light at very high speeds.
He sold it around 1972 to fund the purchase of a Brabham BT-40. (After winning a race in that car at Laguna Seca, he was approached by Bob Bondurant who hired him to serve as an instructor at his new school at Sears Point, a position he retained for the next 10 years). The T70 has since been rebodied as a Mk IIIB, and is now owned by a well-known collector in Oakland. I don't think it's being driven actively, which is a shame.
I asked if he had ever driven at the Vaca Valley Raceway, the remnants of which are only about two miles from my house:
Vaca Valley Raceway Today
He said that not only had he done so, but he had a pile of photos taken during a practice day there. When he got home he scanned them and e-mailed them to me.
Enjoy this look at what race tracks looked like back in the day--nary a wall or a barrier or fence to be found anywhere! The spectators would just park their cars alongside the pavement and watch. Amazing....
Yesterday I had to pull my broken engine out of my Pantera, and was helped by two guys, one I'd never met before. Named Ron Southern, he's owned his Pantera since '77 and was a Bondurant Racing School instructor at Sears Point for ten years. Prior to that, he worked in a race shop in San Jose, CA, and owned and raced a variety of cars while working behind the counter of a BAP/Geon auto parts store.
Among the cars he owned was a Lola T70 Mk III Coupe, SL/111. It had come over to the USA among a batch of cars that the owner of the race shop had purchased in England (another in that batch was GT40 GT/105). I think he said that Paul Hawkins had owned it? (I know Hawkings had SL/112). While we pulled my engine, he regaled us with stories of SCCA racing Back In The Day. He'd trot his T70 around behind a Ford van, and would enter it in various Can Am and SCCA races here and there, up and down the west coast.
He had modified the car by enlarging the rear bodywork, Hawkins GT40-style, and fitting wider Halibrand wheels. He said the aero left a lot to be desired, and that the front end would get alarmingly light at very high speeds.
He sold it around 1972 to fund the purchase of a Brabham BT-40. (After winning a race in that car at Laguna Seca, he was approached by Bob Bondurant who hired him to serve as an instructor at his new school at Sears Point, a position he retained for the next 10 years). The T70 has since been rebodied as a Mk IIIB, and is now owned by a well-known collector in Oakland. I don't think it's being driven actively, which is a shame.
I asked if he had ever driven at the Vaca Valley Raceway, the remnants of which are only about two miles from my house:
Vaca Valley Raceway Today
He said that not only had he done so, but he had a pile of photos taken during a practice day there. When he got home he scanned them and e-mailed them to me.
Enjoy this look at what race tracks looked like back in the day--nary a wall or a barrier or fence to be found anywhere! The spectators would just park their cars alongside the pavement and watch. Amazing....
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