A day at the races

Submitted by Evelyn C. McDonald

Arts & Culture Reporter

March 24, 2016 7:48 a.m.

I love sports cars; not a love I was born with but when it hit, it stuck. So you can imagine my delight at the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s Grand Prix at the Fernandina Beach airport last Saturday. Though it pains me to think that “vintage” is a term applied to a car I could have driven new in 1960, it was great fun to see them.

SVRA is one of the oldest organizations in vintage racing. As I strolled the paddock area, there were Porsches, Cobras, Corvettes, Mustangs and a lot of MGs. The Formula 1 cars are harder for me to identify by body style so I don’t know if there were any exotics. Same goes for the older cars whose shapes I can’t identify at all.

One surprise was a Ford Cortina, boxy but evidently fast enough. Some of the cars had been national champions in years past and had their titles stenciled on the sides. One car had a sign on the back saying, “Farm Use.” I’ll bet the driver could chase a lot of cows with that one.

The races grouped cars by comparable performance characteristics. From the paddock area, you could watch the cars line up for a race and see them roar out onto the track behind the pace car. The track layout was close enough to the paddock that you could see one leg of the race, including a hairpin turn that had everyone slowing down. I stared at one car for a long time trying to figure out what was different about it. Then I realized that it was a right hand drive. It was the only one I noticed.

Watching the Formula 1 cars return after their race, I was surprised to see the drivers get out and their support crew walk beside the cars pushing them. Formula 1s look to have the height profile of a go-cart and about 2 inches of road clearance.

Ever do something that just makes you feel alive and competent? That was my experience Saturday. The only downer is that now I’d love to have a sports car again. My first sports car was an Austin-Healey 3000, a beauty; black, low slung with a muffler sound unlike any car I’ve ever heard. But not without its quirks but what a dream to drive. It was followed by a Datsun 280Z and a Nissan 300ZX. Children and grandchildren changed my vehicle requirements.

I’d never been to a road race before so this was a great way to start. If we get the Grand Prix back next year, it’s an event that I recommend.

Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ's Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.