Road America - Ariens Art on Wheels Vintage Racing 2021, Part 2 - More paddock shots, including pre-war class.

A 1927 Bugatti, worth about 2.6 million. It was there to race.

A 1927 Bugatti, with many innovations that were years or even decades ahead of their time. While back then, they were still using drum brakes, the brakes are huge - like about 14" in diameter huge. Notice the cooling fins on the outside of the drums. These are bolted directly to the aluminum wheels. At the time, everyone else was still using steel spoked wheels. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat, and by bolting the brakes to the wheels, this makes the wheel a huge heat sink, effectively cooling the brakes. All of this was in 1927, which, at that time, was like having a hovercar when the rest of the racing field are driving lawn tractors.

A Honda Trail doing service as a pit bike. One just like this one just sold on Bring A Trailer last week for about four thousand dollars!

We couldn't stop looking at this amazing vintage motor home. Metal flake green paint and lots of corrugated stainless steel.

Road America - Ariens Art on Wheels Vintage Racing 2021, Part 1 - Paddock shots

 Last weekend was Road America's annual Ariens Art on Wheels vintage event, and of course we sent the Phil Are Go! Ogling And Photography Brigade to document the juicy badassery. Here's what they photographically documented!

Technical note: There's a lot of pictures. They will be broken up over several days, so don't expect everything in one post. Come back tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow for a bunch more.

Other technical note: These photos were taken with a Fujifilm X-T4 using a Kodacolor film simulation and a vintage Russian Mir 24-H f/2 35mm lens.

There were a lot of Datsun 240s there this year, and this one was no exception... it being a Datsun 240 and, you know, being there and all.

Any VSCDA event will likely have a lot of Formula V competitors. A Formula V is a purpose-built monoposto chassis (usually something simple like steel tubing) using all Volkswagen Beetle running gear. I've been told it's one of the cheapest ways to get into vintage racing. The cars  should be easy to source parts for, and also to work on. They look like a ton of fun to drive. Riding in a metal sausage with your butt four inches off the ground, even forty horsepower will be plenty.

The Caterham 7 (or Caterham Seven) is a super-lightweight sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom. It is based on the Lotus Seven, a lightweight sports car sold in kit and factory-built form by Lotus Cars, from 1957 to 1972.
Thanks, Wikipedia! -Mgmt.

A Volvo P1800. It's hard to believe this car was made by Volvo BEFORE they decided to build the bricklike 240 series. Fun fact: The world record for highest mileage lifespan of any production car ever is held by a Volvo P1800, at over 3,000,000 miles and going strong.

These skeletons were seen on the hood of a golf cart paddock vehicle.

A beautiful Datsun 1600 with cool black-on-black stripes.

Vintage race cars sometimes stall and need a push. Nobody judges and everyone is willing to help out with a push start.

An AMC Pacer X and a Rover, which you almost never see in the U.S.

A relatively rare Morgan with four wheels (Morgan is more famous for their three-wheeled cars. Yes, really.)