THE SVRA AT SONOMA
A Vintage Racing View

Yeah, we know this is LA CAR (dot) COM ... but we just could not resist these notes and great shots from our tall, well-traveled contributor from the Yosemite foothills. Here are Dave Wolin’s cool photos and brief tale of the SVRA vintage sports car races at whatever they’re calling Sears Point these days. –Ed. SVRA at Sonoma ... Vintage Racing View The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association brought their show to Sonoma over the recent June 2-5 weekend ... as always it was an often breathtaking show of exotic and rarely seen vintage race cars, driven (and in a couple of cases over-driven) by their enthusiastic owners. More than 200 of these rolling treasures, ranging in value from a $30 million+ Ferrari GTO to a $20,000 Bugeye Sprite (!), filled the paddock, each and every one of them making those old fashion joyful noises that were a truly a pleasure to hear. SVRA is the largest and one of the oldest vintage racing organizations in the United States. Founded in 1981 and now under the ownership of Tony Parella, himself a vintage racer, SVRA has absorbed a few other vintage organizations, bringing some much-needed standardization to the rules and regulations. From my viewpoint, the most important accomplishment has been the establishment of their Gold Medallion Program, certifying the history, provenance and legitimacy of vintage racecars. Not only helping to certify the authenticity of a machine, this program (like ones in service in European vintage racing) also helps greatly to assure all involved of “clean histories” on these surviving relics of motorsport times past. -DW ED’s (second) note: Even more important than the cars themselves is the effect the fans have on the owners and operators of these vehicles at these events. There’s a sense of reverence that makes it all worthwhile. These treasures are not locked up in someone’s private garage gathering dust and quietly climbing in value, they’re out there working out the kinks (maybe leaking a little oil or complaining a bit about going into gear) but nevertheless showing their stuff and doing what they do best. (And, dammit, loudly climbing in value!) – Ed.