by Audi1 » Wed May 02, 2018 5:17 am
Here's some information taken from the "just noodling" thread that will help you to decide what class you car will fall into.
I looked back at the SCCA history, their first post-war event was the National Sports Car Championship; which started up in 1951 and ran through the 1953 season. it was open, with no class distinctions; fastest car won; there was simply one winner at each of the races. But because of the disparity of the displacement and performance of the cars that raced in those events, 1954 saw the establishment of the system that many of us were used to seeing; the Production and Modified classes, each based on motor displacement. Here are the motor displacement categories:
Class / Displacement
A / over 5000cc
B / 4000–5000cc
C / 3000–4000cc
D / 2000–3000cc
E / 1500–2000cc
F / 1100–1500cc
G / 750–1100cc
H / under 750cc
So, for each Displacement category, you had both a Production and a Modified class. E & F Production were usually the big categories with all of the weekend racers hitting the track with their "slightly modified" 2000cc and under cars. Remember all the "EP" and "FP" designations that you used to see in masking tape on the weekends..........
Here were your series winners in 1954:
Class / Country / Driver / Car
B Modified / United States / Jack Ensley / Kurtis Kraft 500S
C Modified / United States / Jim Kimberly / Ferrari 375 MM
C Production / United States / Charles Wallace / Jaguar XK120
D Modified / United States / Bill Lloyd / Ferrari 225 S, Ferrari 2.7
D Production / United States / William Kinchloe / Austin-Healey 100
E Modified / United States / Fred Wacker & Ted Boynton / Arnolt-Bristol, Frazer Nash Le Mans
E Production / United States / Bob Salzgaber / Triumph TR2
F Modified / United States / Briggs Cunningham / O.S.C.A. MT4
F Production / United States / Dick Thompson & Art Bunker / Porsche 356, MG TD, Porsche 356 Super Coupe, Roadster
G Modified / United States / Rees Makins / O.S.C.A. MT4
H Modified / United States / Candy Poole / PBX Special
And it stayed that way through the '56 season.
In 1957, they changed the Displacement rules for the Modified and Production classes and they did away with the A class completely (because no one was running motors larger than 5000cc); instead combining the old B and C class displacements:
Class / Modified Displacement / Production Displacement
B / over 5000cc / 3500-5000cc
C / 3000-5000cc / 2700-3500cc
D / 2000-3000cc / 2000-2700cc
E / 1500-2000cc / 1600-2000cc
F / 1100-1500cc / 1300-1600cc
G / 750-1100cc / 750-1300cc
H / 500-750cc / under 750cc
And, the number or races shot up top 15!
In 1958, they reclassified the Displacement categories again; apparently they had some unhappy campers............and they added the I and J classes
Class / Modified / Production
B / 5000-8000cc / 3500-5000cc
C / 3000-5000cc / 2700-3500cc
D / 2000-3000cc / 2000-2700cc
E / 1500-2000cc / 1600-2000cc
F / 1100-1500cc / 1300-1600cc
G / 750-1100cc / 1000-1300cc
H / 500-750cc / 750-1000cc
I / 350-500cc / 500-750cc
J / under 350cc / 350-500cc
K / - / under 350cc
And they added another race; making it 16 in total; double where it started in 1951.
And in 1961, they changed the Displacement classes again, this time increasing the displacement limit of the B class and eliminating the J and K classes;
Class / Modified / Production
B / 5000-8000cc / 3500-5000cc
C / 3000-5000cc / 2700-3500cc
D / 2000-3000cc / 2000-2700cc
E / 1500-2000cc / 1600-2000cc
F / 1100-1500cc / 1300-1600cc
G / 750-1100cc / 1000-1300cc
H / 500-750cc / 750-1000cc
I / under 500cc / under 750cc
And the series dropped to 13 races; clearly they were struggling with a classification that only took displacement into account and not overall performance potential.
If you want more detail on this racing, then use the Wikipedia and put in: "19XX SCCA National Sports Car Championship" or 19XX United States Road Racing Championship. You'll get a lot of information on the tracks, the cars and the drivers. You can also do the same search using RacingSportsCars instead of the Wikipedia and you'll get the actual grid for each race in the series for every year that it was run. Here are two links to a Wiki pages that will get you started; the first one has a lot of good info on the cars and the drivers in both the Modified and Production classes:
So, pick the year of your car, look at the classes that existed at that time and you have the class for you racer! Easy!! ;) :lol:
Allan