SVRA at 40: Reflecting back and racing forward

Tuesday, 27 February 2018


Images by Mark Dill


Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) marks its 40th anniversary in 2018. In that time SVRA and all American vintage racing has come a long way with high-profile events attracting legendary drivers, including the entire Unser family of Indianapolis 500 veterans. Just since 2012 SVRA has evolved from club racing largely confined to the Eastern United States into a national platform that spans America with race weekends at storied venues such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Road America, COTA and its original home, Sebring, where it returns this week for the Sebring Vintage Racing Classic.

Leading into the Sebring weekend RACER caught up with SVRA's founder, Ford Heacock III, and Tony Parella, who serves as the current president and CEO. The two men offered their thoughts on the evolution of SVRA and the state of vintage racing in general.
Q: Ford, 40 years is a long time. What was vintage racing like back in 1978?
Ford Heacock III: SVRA traces its roots back to what was then called the Kendall Vintage Grand Prix, supported by Kendall Oil. The logical interest was triggered by the established 12 Hours of Sebring. It was only natural that there was a fascination with vintage race cars by that time as people reflected on how American sports car racing was started and how it progressed. Charlie Mendez and David Cowart had just taken responsibility for promoting the 12-hour race. They approached me about organizing a class of historic race cars of 1960 to 1972 vintage for a support exhibition race.
The most prominent vintage racing organization at the time was the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA), but they did not run cars newer than 1959. That created a demand for the newer vintage cars and that opening became the basis for SVRA, originally know as the Southeastern Vintage Racing Association. We ended up with two classes, Classic and Historic. VSCCA produced the Classic group and I organized what we called Historic.
Q: There's been an awakening for vintage racing in the last few years, not just among car owners and drivers but also unprecedented levels of spectator attendance. Did you ever think in 1978 that you would see the day when as many as 25,000 spectators would be attracted to a vintage racing weekend?
Heacock: I was fairly young at the time we first organized the vintage races at Sebring. I was 29 years old. Everything was new to me as I did not have experience as a race promoter, but my grandfather and father had been in leadership roles establishing the 24 Hours of Sebring. Also, I grew up there, so all of that gave me a deep appreciation for the sport. The endurance race transformed the town. Suddenly, international flags appeared everywhere, foreign languages were spoken, and famous drivers like Stirling Moss and Pedro Rodriguez stayed in local homes. I had a lot of enthusiasm but honestly, I did not have a specific vision of where we would take vintage racing other than to provide a friendly club environment and include the later model vintage cars.
We gained momentum after we organized a support race at Road Atlanta in 1979. As we progressed into the 1980's, we started running at Watkins Glen, Moroso Motorsports Park near Palm Beach, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, and, of course, Sebring. Even as time went on, we did not promote our events to the public. We let the tracks do that, and while we did have spectators, it was not at all like what you see today.
Q: In your time leading SVRA is there a particular event that stands out in your mind?
Heacock: Certainly among the most challenging and interesting events were the Grand Bahama Vintage Grand Prix races of 1987 and 1988. The Bahamas have a great history of auto racing, dating back to top professional racing in the 1950's. They had done a vintage race in 1984, but had not repeated it. The Grand Bahamas Ministry of Tourism approached us about taking on the effort.
I hired Susan Wright, an expert in organized travel, who deserves a ton of credit for managing logistics. Our team was responsible for shipping over 100 race cars as well as all safety equipment including fire and tow trucks. It was a very ambitious project, as we also had to design and create a street course. We worked closely with the Ministry, and while there was lots of racing, there were also elaborate parties every night during the week. It was an amazing experience.
Q: I understand you sold SVRA in 1989 over concerns about the direction the sport; can you elaborate?
Heacock: During the 1980s the car collection hobby exploded and values skyrocketed. By 1988 and especially after the death of Enzo Ferrari in August, high-end cars were selling in the range of one to two million dollars. This was unprecedented and the market spike made many owners decide to leave their best machines in their garage and not take them onto the track. This wasn't limited to Ferraris, but other coveted cars like Ford GT, Cobra, and Porsche 917.
I thought the character of the sport had been altered, as what we saw at the track were clearly cars of less importance. Also, we had a couple of accidents as people started pushing the rules for modifications for things like carburetors, transmissions and especially modern tires. Some competitive people were too focused on awards like point championships and trophies. These things weighed on my mind and by then I had a family and the demands of running my business, Heacock Classic Car Insurance, were significant. Something had to give.
Q: Skipping ahead to today, what do you think of how SVRA has evolved with a national schedule of events at major tracks plus sponsorship investment with such global brands as Jaguar, Merrill Lynch, and Capital One?
Heacock: I am in awe with how Tony Parella has taken SVRA from a club to a genuine business. He has attracted top brand sponsors, and built a schedule at most of the important tracks across America. With his leadership, SVRA has also faced the challenge of delivering more detailed rules, enforcing safety standards, and policing drivers who get too aggressive. The Gold Medallion program to recognize authentic, historic cars is important too, in bringing back the most valuable examples. He's put it all on a big stage. I never thought I would have the opportunity to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for example, but I did. It's fun to come back now and simply be a participant driving my Porsche 356B.