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to Lord March for the Goodwood Festival of Speed and its Revival meeting, he has more than three decades of experience in the business, having dealt in classic cars, raced them, restored them and having run for 10 years a company called Top Hat Racing, which organised races around the UK. “I sold Top Hat Racing six years ago and since that time motor racing has hit something of a minor recession,” says Thurgood. “There has been a downturn in
HRDC mailing list has 3,500 names on it. “We do have a gaggle of people who follow us,” admits Thurgood. For the non-driving enthusiast, the HRDC series is a marvellous shop window of all manner of historic vehicles. At the Castle Combe circuit, near Chippenham in Wiltshire, for example, there will be five races with as many as 42 cars on the grid, so there might be anything from 150 to 200 cars to be admired. Every meeting attracts dozens of cherished examples from a wide range of marques and models.
HRDC members race hard but with great respect for everyone’s beloved cars
racing as entry fees had dramatically increased. Corporate hospitality and corporate presence had become very prominent and, for many people, it was not enjoyable as it used to be. This was having an impact on various racing
Those vehicles range from the exotic to the surprising. “Our members range from the man who has had the same car for many years and works within a relatively tight budget to the several members who each own and run several historic cars,” says Julius Thurgood, who himself runs a diverse range of cars from a rare Lenham GT to a brutal Ford Mustang. “In a replica built to historic specification, it could be possible to get on the grid for about £15,000 to £20,000. At the other extreme, the HRDC has members who own several period racing cars with a fabulous history that could be worth up to £250,000, such as a Le Mans Austin Healey prototype from the mid-1960s.” The “historic racing” umbrella embraces a surprisingly wide number of what were in their day often quite everyday cars such as the Austin A35 and A40, the Riley 1.5, the Hillman Minx, and the Ford Anglia, plus rarer vehicles like the Austin Metropolitan, Borgward Isabella and the Volvo PV544. It also brings together some of the most celebrated names of British racing such as WSM (Wilson Spratt Motors), which flourished from about 1948 to 1957, and GSM (Glassport Motor Company), a South African motor
“OUR MEMBERS RANGE FROM THE MAN WHO HAS HAD THE SAME CAR FOR MANY YEARS AND WORKS WITHIN A REL ATIVELY TIGHT BUDGET TO THE COMPETITITORS WHO EACH OWN SEVERAL HISTORIC CARS”
series as competitors dropped out and so those who prepared the cars were losing business too.” His formula was to go back to basics with the Historic Racing Drivers Club, which is an invitation-only organisation for which new members have to be vetted and approved. It’s not just about what car or cars you have, but also what your attitude is to the sport. “The social aspect of the HRDC is just as important as the cars and the racing,” says Thurgood. “At our meetings you can get near to the cars to talk about them to the owners and drivers.” Given his 35 years in the sector, Thurgood was able to spread the word quickly and the number of hard-core members who own competition cars is hovering around 650, but the
Orderline 0844 875 1515
manufacturer that pioneered the use of fibreglass bodies on its Dart and Flamingo sports cars between 1958 and 1964. A British fibreglass adherent much admired in HRDC circles was Ashley Laminates, which was founded in 1955. When GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) was introduced, the firm made body shells to fit any chassis, but it is especially remembered for the bodies it made for the Ford Popular and Austin Seven chassis. Industrial designer Douglas Wilson-Spratt, who worked at the Bristol Aircraft company and its car division, is revered for his WSM lightweight, aerodynamic sports cars, while the Sebring Sprite Coupé is a fine example of a specialist British race car from the HRDC era.
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