3 replies to this topic

[David Beard]

The February issue of Motor Sport carried an article about UK stock car racing in the early fifties. Not something that normally interests me a great deal , but it did set me wondering about the development of the sport. In the period described (a chap called Pete Tucker being a leading light), it seems that UK stock cars and their US counterparts were something similar...cut down "stock" saloons/sedans. Am I right in understanding that from this common root we ended up with NASCAR in the States and a different sort of agricultural contraption in the UK (the ones which for no obvious reason these days always have a garage door mounted on top)?

Anyway, I did find the article interesting, and more so when I found this newspaper cutting on the back of some wedding/christening/funeral relic in an old suitcase. Tony Brise's father gets a mention or two...

[Geoff E]

I think by the 1960s there was not too much left that was "stock". Many of them had still-recognisable body shells mounted on a sturdy chassis. Once or twice a year they would race at Cadwell (which was where I saw them) on one of the circuit's loops. Going up and down a hill would have been a novelty for them. In between the stock car races go-karts (which I think were fairly new then) performed, running the track in the opposite direction.

Some 1960s pics here: http://www.classicst...ebruary2003.htm

[ensign14]

There's a bit about the British scene in the 50s in Curtis Crider's book "The Road To Daytona" - the Crawfish was one of the drivers that came over. Mainly impressions rather than facts. Amusing bit where he had to get on the ship to return to evade questioning over the sale of his race car to a promoter (the little matter that engine was bust was not apparently evident), but there was a dockers' strike so Crider and Bobby Myers sat on the ship for 5 days worried about being arrested...

[Phillip]

+New Zealand went down a similar route to the UK with Stockcars and there is some historic information to be found at this Site
New Zealand Historic Stockcar site



These days of course the Contact Rules are much different from the UK, Hits are very much full Contact. The Following link is to a site that has a few very short 10 second or so clips in windows media player format of the type of Big hits that happen. The cars run about 2 - 3 seconds a lap slower than the Sprintcars which is still pretty fast and weigh a maximum of 1500kgsShort Video Clips of NZ Stockcars