We closed last season with all our charges in need of a thorough post-season inspection and preparation for the rigors of racing in 2004. Additionally a few of the more indulgent VRS racers had enhanced the stable with some newfound mechanical finery. Winter 03-04 was indeed a busy one. A major mechanical rebuild of Jim Freeman’s Aston Martin AMR-1 Group C car, restoration and preparation of the Team Shanahan BMW 1800 historic rally car and a complete rebuild on a 66 Corvette LaCarrera entry occupied our time.

Brian Redman’s very gracious Targa 66 event in late February kicks off our ’04 racing season. Three days to tune, test and get race juices flowing again. Gracious is the word; as Brian, Marion and James Redman take great personal interest in making all feel welcome while supplying lunches, parties and other social enticements, along with bags of track time. Jim Freeman worked out the bugs in his very quick AMR1 Aston Martin while Archie Urciuoli tested his GT-40 in preparation for its trip to LeMans. Bill Shanahan and co-piloto Murray Smith debugged the new BMW 1800 rally car and Sunday saw both our rigs loaded with well tested machinery.

Spring ‘04’s racing delights were sadly dampened by the death of long time friend and vintage racing stalwart Charlie Gibson. Charlie was a great guy who has done a great deal for us all and we at VRS will miss him sorely. Charlie’s memory and passion for this sport lives on in all of us.

Savannah faded into memory as the VRS crew busily prepared Bill Shanahan’s Volvo P-1800 for a new and very demanding event.

35 Miles East of Matamoras Mexico, “On the Border”

The Border Challenge rally is run by the same sorts as La Carrera Panamericana. Team Shanahan (Bill Shanahan and navigator extraordinaire Murray Smith) are fast, experienced and always up front in these speed/endurance contests. Man and equipment have to be the best and at their best. Gerie Bledsoe and company put on a challenging event to make use of the incredible roads and scenery along the 2500 mile border route. Seven days twisting along the border through a variety of demanding stages can take its toll … Not This Time!

May in the eastern U.S. proved a wet one in general and the Summit Point Jefferson 500 followed suit. Showers came and went, but between the spells some good racing and good fun was to be had. Larry Neviaser had a great race in his Ginetta/BMW G-16 finishing 3rd overall in the 2-hour Cunningham cup enduro. Larry Kessler opted to leave early Sunday amid midday drizzle and uncertain skies but ran in the first hour of his enduro Saturday finishing well up in the pack Other highlights included 3rd in class for Bob in his Datsun and a 1st OA and the Lola Cup for the VRS Spitfire. A Triumph of spirits ensued for John Ralsten & Spitfire with lots of learning laps for ‘the Neviaser boys’ despite weather woes and mechanical gremlins

A Break in The Weather Late May 2004

A sunny, warm Lime Rock VSCCA event in conjunction with the NE Jaguar Club finds Charlie England, Jon Goodman and Kathy Bain all on track having a good day of it.

June, Wine Country “Upstate” New York

HSR’s early June Watkins Glen event proved a high point on the VRS calendar. Jim Freeman and Walt Boren drove the very quick Aston Martin AMR1 group C car to a 3rd overall, 1st in class. Richard Kresch had a good practice day with our rental Lotus 7 followed by a successful weekend and enduro in his newly engined Porsche 914/6. Joe Tierno was fast and consistent in his perfectly pedigreed MGA. Bob Mirabile enjoyed the HSR experience in his beautiful little Austin Healy 100/4 while Larry Kessler in his Elva MK8/BMW blistered his home track to the delight of all. Archie Urciuoli’s final pre-LeMans test of his GT-40 proved it perfectly fit to board the boat for its French debut. We packed up a truckload of beautiful machinery, all unscathed, and headed for home.

I enjoyed one of the best races (the Saturday qualifier) I can remember in my Spitfire battling none other than the exceptionally capable Krause in his Alfa, Bill Bartlett in his well driven (and polite) Lotus 7, and a very quick BMW 2002 Bob Machinist and DB-4 have an equally satisfying event finishing his qualifier up front, after which we are off into the friendly, or is it “Machinely”, skies for the trip home.

It’s One Week Later and We’re in the Middle of Ohio!

You guessed it! None other than the beautifully manicured Mid-Ohio Sports Car course. This challenging and satisfying track hosts SVRA’s Sprint Vintage Grand Prix. John Ralsten’s Spitfire and Joe Tierno’s MGA are aboard one of the smaller VRS trailers. John’s run of lousy luck continues in the form of an over-rev with subsequent cam failure early in the weekend but Joe has a blast taking the MGA to a 5th Overall in Sunday’s sprint race.

As June ends we load the beautiful Urciuoli GT-40 into an ocean going box for the trip to LeMans then enjoy a bit of rest as we have a couple of weeks before our next event.

Pitch Black, But Not Raining! - Lemans, France

It is late night Saturday July 24th when Archie Urcuioli takes to the track in his GT-40 for the first segment of the Lemans classic. Headlights hardly cover the terrain as speeds approach the vehicle’s limits. Archie is delighted to put co-driver Dale Lang into the cockpit for the 2nd stint. Thankfully, the next two stints feature the sparkling illumination only daylight can bring and the Urcuioli/Lang GT-40 finishes the race a very credible 19th overall. Cars and drivers performed perfectly and most critically, Archie and Dale are euphoric. “Great event, great experience, an exceptional weekend” were Archie’s praises on his return.

Testing Tuning and Tweaking

All take place in the shop and at various test days throughout the summer, then.

The Annual Pilgrimage to Mid-Summer Mecca

After the “bum’s rush” to unload LR cars, check the “double-headers” and get all up to the Glen a day later it’s RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, but promises of a brighter future prevail.

Friday, 9/10 – the future is here, bright and sunny with a record breaking 500 car+ event entry. The SVRA staff has their hands full but do a superb job throughout the weekend to keep all ‘up to speed’ and cordial. The Neviaser Ginetta G16 with both Larry and son Mike driving, Bob Machinist in Chevrons (B-21 and his B-39 Atlantic car), Mark Ward in our VRS rental Spitfire 1300, Richard Kresch in his 914/6 and his pretty new Beach/Lotus sports racer acquired from ‘west coaster’ Mark Brannon, Joe Tierno in his rapid MGA and yours truly in the VRS Porsche 914/6 almost complete the team. Almost ?!?! The “almost” in this case takes the form of Larry Neviaser’s Lola T-332 Formula 5000. Larry has had more than his share of engine maladies with this car and this is its first event following a major engine rebuild and oil system re-think by Indianapolis based Chuck Corneilison. We are all relieved to see this car complete the weekend running beautifully without any problems. Larry, of course, being a bit more relieved and excited than the others, and Chuck beaming with the accomplishment of a job well done. Come Sunday evening we find a group of happy racers with no less than 3 podiums, three 1st in class finishes and one 1st O.A. Another Great Glen. Thanks!

N.H.I.S. Thursday September 30th

In about two weeks, two smaller, maneuverable VRS 5th wheel rigs will leave the shop loaded with spares, water, granola bars, tools, three race cars and more bottled water for one of the most demanding and entertaining of vintage events. La Carrera Panamericana is slated to commence October 22nd in Tuxtla Guttierez, Chiappas also known as “Way Southern Mexico”! We are at New Hampshire International Speedway for the final test of the Shanahan/Smith 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe. Lime Rock Fall Festival testing revealed power steering system and other minor glitches. We are here to insure they are fixed and the car is ready. Success!!! 30+ laps, no problems and Bill pronounces the car fit to go! Logistics planning is a big part of a successful Carrera. This is our 14th consecutive event. With several class wins and top O.A. finishes to Bill’s credit we want to be sure we are perfectly prepared and not the proverbial “fly in the ointment”. It still takes a big effort to get organized and all accomplished even after all these years.

Waiting and wondering: Shopside

Will anyone of our lot go to The SVRA Virginia International Season finale? How will La Carrera play out this year? Not only are we supporting the Shanahan/Smith Corvette, but we have Si and Vicki Ford in their super stealth 1964 Mercury Comet and Mats Linden with us from Sweden driving his historically significant Ford Falcon Sprint. This car is an historic ex-factory Monte Carlo rally car and Mats has a number of championships to his driving credit so we are very anxious to see how the pair and navigator Ralf Christenson do.

It’s almost more than we can comprehend… but time marches on and so do we. Sadly, VIR has but one taker, Larry Neviaser who is more than capable at caring for his Ginetta G-16 on his own. Yep, you guessed it, Larry says “no worries” so we abandon poor Larry and skip the always entertaining SVRA season finale to focus all efforts on La Carrera.

Shopside, Friday, October 8th 11:00 PM

The driver has called twice and the outcome is far from certain. Port Elizabeth, NJ, U.S. Customs has yet to inspect and release the Linden Ford Falcon from their grasp. The reality leaves little room for “fudge”! We have the Shanahan/Smith Corvette and Si Ford’s Mercury Comet loaded in the trailers with spares, tools and all else we need to run 3 cars for 7 days. Truck drivers Ken Olausson & daughter Rebecca, Tommy Erickson and multi year Carrera veteran Sven Eric are on board. Departure Sunday is critical if we are to have adequate time to get all this equipment very far south to Tuttle Gutierrez in time. The last car has simply got to make it. What was once plenty of time is now down to the wire…just a trick bureaucracies always seem to play on events of this type. We wait and wait and wait and worry…THEN, at 11:30 just before they shutdown for the weekend…we get our bird out of bondage…The Falcon is Free!

Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, Tuesday October 19th

All goes well on day one with everyone in on time and Bill and Murray 1st in class and well up in overall standings for the day. Day two is much the same but day 3 sees a mishap in the very demanding Mil Cumbres Mountains that puts a damper on the Shanahan-Smith Pepsi Corvette’s standing.