Racing Old Cars at Laguna Seca

Racing Old Cars at Laguna Seca

The 2 historic Mini Cooper S

The main reason we went to Monterey this summer was to see our son Trevor race at Laguna Seca, the lovely racetrack set in the hilly country close to Monterey. Trevor had once owned a racing Mini Cooper S car , which he had sold to another enthusiast Robert. The car was part of a pair of historic Mini Coopers that had raced together in the early 60s and obviously had done well. Robert the owner now of both cars , which he had restored and prepared for racing, invited Trevor to race one and Robert would race the other. It would be like the old days.

As it was Trevor's birthday as well we decided to make a vacation around seeing the race and visiting the area. I'm so glad we did.It was most interesting.

Although my whole family is very much interested in cars of all kinds and have all dabbled in racing, I am not an enthusiast. This was very different though. The cars that would be racing were all historic cars and it would be a very selective group of cars that you see at these races. There is great competition to get a chance to be selected to race here.

Watching the races I was surprised at how fast these earlier race cars can go and even though all the race drivers are still very much into winning, they are all taking more care not to have any accidents or scrapes with another car because without doubt these cars are all worth a great deal of money. The fun part for the racers was to again race these historic older cars and they certainly did just that. The races were not long just about 10 minutes for each group of races and the track is so designed that you can see really well for a great part of the action. We sat in the stands and enjoyed the atmosphere .( but not the noise,- you really needed ear plugs!!)

It was also very interesting to walk around the paddock as well and see all the other beautiful old cars. I was very interested in the really old ones and especially the pride of the owners and racers in these magnificent beauties.