Of course, there are many others as well, all riding on the coattails of the extraordinary thirst for nostalgia. But, despite the crowds that gather to bask in yesteryear, watching old racing cars isn’t for every fan of the sport. Take my mate Terry. He knows his motor sport intimately and savours a car being expertly balanced on the absolute limit. For Terry, historic motor racing doesn’t cut the mustard, and, while he loves old racing cars, he refers to the exercise as “high-speed demonstrations” – that’s when he is not calling those of us who partake “rest home racing drivers”.
Most ‘old fart’ racers know that the chance of a professional career has gone if it was ever there – I say ‘most’ because, once the lights go out, I have seen exuberance that make you wonder if some drivers think a scout is actually lurking on a grassy knoll looking for a future champion in a race for old saloons, sports cars, or open-wheelers. But they don’t impress Terry, because he knows – as deep down we all know – that a proper driver would extract more from a car than we could have ever managed at our best. And for many of us old-time racers, that was
