1960 SCCA Nationals

[Mike M.]

my wife, lea, recently purchased the 1960 B modified trophy that Dr Dick Thompson won 1st in class in the Corvette sting ray SS , may of 1960. mike

[Stuart F.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Wow Mike! That is a treasure to say the least. I saw Doctor Thompson and the Stingray race during that season up at Elkhart Lake. If that car only had brakes it would have been even more outstanding. It was the inspiration for to me to order my 63, which I still have.

Stu Fox

[Tom P.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

my wife, lea, recently purchased the 1960 B modified trophy that Dr Dick Thompson won 1st in class in the Corvette sting ray SS , may of 1960. mike

Why the suspense???
There HAS to be a story line to go with that!!!

[Mike M.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

the scca nationals were run in cumberland from the early 50's thru the early 70's.as a teenager, i , along with 50K other car nuts, watched them run. about 10 years ago, a group of us here in cumberland got permission to run autocrosses 6 times a year at the very same airport where the scca boys ran years ago. anyway, one of our regular autocross guys came across the trophy in an antique shop in northern virginia last year, bought it, and donated to our autox group to be auctioned at our annual charity auction.my wife's hand was the winning bid. its got a small dent in it and the patina is 1960 vintage. think i'll donate it to the NCM when i'm teats up. about 15 years ago, the MAC chapter of NCRS had a chapter meet at Summit Point W.VA. we invited a then elderly dick thompson to be the guest speaker and to run one of our vettes around the course where he was a frequent winner in the 60's and 70's. i had the pleasure of letting dick drive my 57 FI(the one that dipstick and i run drags with in the 90's). it had the 364 ci cheater engine in it at the time t-10 and 4.56 posi. he was impressed with its acceleration but noted the brakes on my 57 weren't any better than the c-1's he campaigned. it should be noted that dr thompson was a humble gracious gentleman, unlike some of the smart asses driving NASCA and SCCA today. regards,mike

[Bill M.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

it should be noted that dr thompson was a humble gracious gentleman, unlike some of the smart asses driving NASCA and SCCA today. regards,mike

In the early days of SCCA, you were invited to join; you needed a sponsor. Kept the riff-raff out.

[Dick W.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

my wife, lea, recently purchased the 1960 B modified trophy that Dr Dick Thompson won 1st in class in the Corvette sting ray SS , may of 1960. mike

Musta had a chicken on it fer Lea to buy it

[Loren L.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Whew, close call......I read the MM announcement and said, Oh, oh because I knew that the Sting Ray raced in CM (Scarabs were BM), so I went to check.
At both VIR (5-1-60) and Cumberland (5-15-60), there were not enough CM entries, so the Sting Ray got "moved" to BM; at both races Dr Dick finished 1st in BM but the "points" were given in the "CM" class
and counted towards his National Championship in CM in 1960. (Augie Pabst won BM that year in a Scarab.)

[George J.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Whew, close call......I read the MM announcement and said, Oh, oh because I knew that the Sting Ray raced in CM (Scarabs were BM), so I went to check.
At both VIR (5-1-60) and Cumberland (5-15-60), there were not enough CM entries, so the Sting Ray got "moved" to BM; at both races Dr Dick finished 1st in BM but the "points" were given in the "CM" class
and counted towards his National Championship in CM in 1960. (Augie Pabst won BM that year in a Scarab.)

Loren,
What was the difference between CM and BM? And no wisecracks fro the audience.
Also, Mike, how about a picture?

George

[Loren L.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

George, the difference is cubic inches displacement and during this 1960-4 period, the rules got moved and shuffled quite a lot. Some dreary alley in my memory bank says that the cutoff in 1960 was like 305 - 306 raced in B, 283s in C...anyone out there with a better memory?

[Steven B.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

George, the difference is cubic inches displacement and during this 1960-4 period, the rules got moved and shuffled quite a lot. Some dreary alley in my memory bank says that the cutoff in 1960 was like 305 - 306 raced in B, 283s in C...anyone out there with a better memory?

Loren, I don't have a better memory, but I do have an early 60's SCCA rule book stored away somewhere here. If I can remember where it is and I can find it I will post the rules.

Steve

[George J.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Loren, I don't have a better memory, but I do have an early 60's SCCA rule book stored away somewhere here. If I can remember where it is and I can find it I will post the rules.

Steve

Steve,
that would be great. I am continually amazed at how compicated all of this seems to someone who was not there at the time.

George
31887

[Patrick T.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Mike, how about a picture?

George

Here is a picture of Dr. Dick Thompson. What race track is VIR?

[Steven B.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Here is a picture of Dr. Dick Thompson. What race track is VIR?

Virginia International Raceway

[George J.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

Patrick,
thank you. What a nice man. I was hoping for a picture of the trophy, though. Mike?

George
31887

[Bill M.]

Re: 1960 SCCA Nationals

George, the difference is cubic inches displacement and during this 1960-4 period, the rules got moved and shuffled quite a lot. Some dreary alley in my memory bank says that the cutoff in 1960 was like 305 - 306 raced in B, 283s in C...anyone out there with a better memory?

Your memory is better than mine! (googled it.)

AM: over 8 liters
BM: 5L to 8L
CM: 3L to 5L