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Attack of the Clones
BY CASEY ANNIS, EDITOR ON NOVEMBER 1, 2005 2005, ASIA/AFRICA, AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND, FIRST TURN, NORTH AMERICA, NOVEMBER '05, REGION, UK/EUROPE, VINTAGE RACECAR ARCHIVES, VINTAGE RACECAR ARTICLES, VINTAGE
RACECAR COLUMNS
As I sit down to write this month’s column, Halloween quickly
approaches. The stores are jammed to the gunnels with such traditional Halloween fare as inflatable, motorized lawn ghouls, 300 metric tons of extra-hyperactivity-inducing candy, and of course costumes. Yes, the
streets are starting to look a bit scary with all manner of demons and
ghosts roaming about. All this scary fare has got me to thinking about
some of the ghosts and demons that frighten us in the vintage racing
community.
Of all the historic bogeymen, that we as historic racers have
collectively buried our heads under the covers and refused to
acknowledge, perhaps none is more intimidating as the dreaded
Doppelganger. For those less familiar with the supernatural lexicon, Webster’s dictionary defines the Doppelganger as “the ghostly double or wraith of a living person”—in essence, an entity that looks exactly like someone, but isn’t.
Historic racing has struggled with its own “Doppelgangers” for decades, though our lingo tends to refer to them by such names as “reproduction,” “recreation” or, less affectionately, “air car.” While the names seem less intimidating, their presence still seems to strike blood-curdling
fear into the hearts of many of our brethren. However, like other fears
of the unknown, could familiarity be breeding acceptance?
In the ’80s and ’90s, having a recreation or “air car”—a racecar which
never existed in period—literally made one a racing pariah. I can recall
many a trackside meeting when a Cobra, Kurtis or a Can-Am car was
revealed to be a “fake.”
Oftentimes, the villagers would gather around the Chief Steward,
pitchforks in hand, “What should we do with them, throw them out of the race?” “Naw, burn them at the stake!!”
In fact, the problem with recreation McLaren Can-Am cars got so bad at
one point that it spawned the now-famous line that a race was so good it
had “12 of the original 8 McLaren M8Fs competing.”
Eventually, by the turn of the century, the furor and the witch-hunt
over these air cars seemed to die down some. Did the cars in question go
away or did people just get tired of being upset? Perhaps not
coincidentally, it was about this same period in time that some very
important cars started to surface that blurred the lines between what is considered original and what is a recreation.
Audi, seeking to better capitalize on its racing heritage, commissioned
noted British restorers Crosthwaite and Gardiner to “recreate” six significant Auto Unions, essentially from scratch, but build them to
exact standards as laid down in the original drawings. When these cars surfaced, everyone wanted to see them run, so they were instantly
invited to such prestigious events as the Goodwood Festival and the
Monterey Historics.
Around the same time, some enterprising folk at Lancia discovered a
number of original engines and drive train components for the iconic
’50s Lancia D-50. Soon a plan was revealed to build six “new” Lancia D-50s around these components. The resulting cars are nothing short of
stunning and have featured prominently at events like the Goodwood
Revival and in magazine articles such as our own “Racecar Profile” in September of 2002. The design and construction of these cars was so
exacting, that even one prominent Formula One car collector named Bernie Ecclestone bought one.
So how does one resolve the dichotomy of certain recreated cars being
shunned, while others are whole heartedly embraced? Is there any
tangible difference between a 427 Cobra that is built to exact original specification and a Lancia D-50 recreation? Ironically, the answer at
some level is probably, yes. Since there are still quite a few original
427s that are around and active on the scene, people would obviously
rather see the originals run, rather than a recreation. However, in the
case of the Auto Unions and the Lancias (and several other recently
recreated rare cars) there may be no examples remaining or only one car
tucked away in a factory museum that will never see the light of day. In
these cases, if the choice is never getting to hear the scream of an
original factory D-50, or seeing a recreation run, I think most everyone
would agree that they’d welcome seeing it run.
Another interesting twist to this phenomenon can be found in this
month’s feature article, where our man in Australia, Patrick Quinn,
reveals the growing trend of scratch-built prewar racecars, assembled
from assorted period components. Could this new trend be coming to a
racetrack near you?
What I find intriguing about all of this renewed interest in recreations
is the fact that more manufacturers and constructors are also getting
into the act. Recently, Jim Hall revealed that he will build a very
limited production of Chaparral 2Es—exact recreations of the famed
Can-Am car—but cars that never existed in period. And while I can’t let
the cat out of the bag just yet, I can tell you that at least two other
very famous racecar constructors will soon be announcing recreations of
several of their most famous racecars. Will an influx of exotic
recreations breakdown our collective fears of automotive Doppelgangers?
Good, bad or indifferent I think that this is a trend that we will be
hearing a lot more about in the coming years. I’d love to hear your
thoughts.
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