Gentleman Racing into the New Car Hobby

WILDWOOD, NJ – It is one hundred degrees in the sun, as vintage hot rods pull up to the starting line for the 2017 Race of Gentlemen event on the beach, but the crowds stretch down the sand dunes and fill the libations tent undeterred by the weather. They shout as period appropriate hot rods and motorcycles speed–or putter–down the beach, kicking up sand and bringing to mind the Salt Flats in Bonnveille and the early days of hot rod racing, when the GIs returned home from the war.

That is exactly what The Race of Gentlemen, or TROG, proprietors are aiming for, a carnival like atmosphere with vintage canvas tents, attire suggestions and specific requirements for all cars and bikes racing out on the beach.

In a notable departure from the average automotive event, competition cars must have a body from 1934 or earlier, an American made engine up to 1948 and running gear no older than 1953. All race cars are required to go through a pre-approval process so the ‘track’ is limited to cars that look, feel and ultimately drive just as they did 50, 60 or 70 years ago.

And sometimes that authenticity comes at a price. Though there are several types of races, four competition classes, grudge matches and exhibition classes, it isn’t always easy to match these vintage racers exactly up to one another. There’s the added element of how old cars are, fundamentally, old, meaning that they very well might stall out on the beach or break an axel, requiring a push or tow back to the pits.

But we, as the audience, are more than happy to watch the elements of the event that don’t go as well. In fact, it adds to the authenticity and therefore the enjoyment of the day. In a classic car hobby saturated with 1950s nostalgia and 1960s muscle, getting back to the early roots of hot rod racing is a new adventure in automotive history for some and an enjoyable event for all.

And that’s an important reminder for all, that the classic car hobby goes well past the Chevrolets and Camaros so prevalent at events. There is a whole wide world of customs, racing, motorcycles and pre-WWII vehicles that we have yet to truly tap. Even the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and this year’s Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, the first in its 21 years of production, hosted hot rods, tipping their hats to the changing tide of the classic car world, giving validity and acclaim to cars with remarkable histories, drivers and provenances.

The Race of Gentlemen will be the harbinger of that tide. Rolling into the new age of the auto will likely continue as a slow evolution, a need to change the industry’s focus or risk losing it forever. But I don’t think that will happen. In fact, if The Race of Gentlemen continues to strive forward at the front of the parade, we will enter a new Renaissance of the hobby and not only survive, but thrive.

Images courtesy of Robbie J. White