Hi Colin, I was pitted next to you at the Hawk in the garages a couple times, I race the blue and white Datsun 1200. From my experience at Blackhawk they measure the sound of each car at the turn with the silo (I believe turn 6?) which is on the left hand side of the car. I got yelled at because mine was over the limit, so we relocated the exhaust to come out on the right hand side. Never got yelled at again! That little Sprite screams!
As the original builder of that Sprite (among many) yes, I had custom molded ear plugs made for when I was racing Sprites on a continual basis. Unfortunately, I wised up a bit late in doing such and I do have tinnitus (hearing loss resulting in constant ringing in one's ears) but I wouldn't trade that for the incredible life I've had building, restoring and racing Austin Healey's for my entire life and it is so great to see Colin kicking ass & taking names to this day! - I generally answer questions: "I'm sorry, I could not hear you - once more please?"
I was thinking the same thing. The 'too loud' was just their way of saying 'you cheated'. Its so painfully obvious that this Sprite outclassed the other cars it wasn't even funny. You were black flagged because they felt you duped them or at the very least were in a car that wasn't in the spirit of the other cars.
Amazing driving and car control, and great respect from your fellow competitive drivers. Surely noise is what makes racing such as this exciting for the spectator. An awesome performance. Hope to see you on the European Healey Tour in the Black Forest in June.
An absolute joy to watch - terrific driving, beautiful gearchanges and a great car. Here in the UK I was able to watch these cars back in the 60s and 70s being driven with similar style at club events at Brands Hatch and elsewhere. There were, and still are, many similar car and driver combinations in historic racing and speed events but not all seem to be driven with such commitment as you have displayed here. Loud? possibly - but did they have a noise meter?
Very nice! Great video. If they complained about the noise that only tells me the judge thought you were fooling around with his wife. Anyway, I have a '58 Bugeye and was wondering if you would share the specs on that screamer. Engine, Gearbox, Rear end.
You nailed it. Car is dead nuts legal per 2M1 rules (that's a Bugeye with a 1275 in it) which isn't the case with a lot of the Bugeyes I beat with it. In other groups I race in guys think HP and cheating makes them faster. It does but only marginally. You still have to DRIVE to win...I'm an old FF racer and understand momentum plus we know how to set up and maintain cars so they work. Its the old Penske ideology. As they say to finish first one must first finish ;)
@cobracolin do you drive the sprite on the street or is it strictly a race car? what tires do you run? and just throwing it out there i have a 1098 and mine screams as loud as yours and cops dont bug me on the street. my car is a 66 spridget with a sprite rear end. and race built motor so i would have to say you getting trown out is questionable.
I gotta know more about this little thing.. How is it so much faster than the rest? What kind of power are you pulling and how much do you weigh.. That thing is gettin it! We just picked up a TR4 and am looking to run it..
Hi Colin. What kind of set-up you run of that 1275 BMC A engine? How many HP you have? What kind of Compression, carbs, cam....gearbox, Diff... Looking forward to hear from you. Kind regards - Tom
Ran a 948 Bugeye on both those tracks 3 decades+ ago, when laps at Blackhawk under 1:30 and at Road America under 3:45 were respectable in HP. At RA, I could enter Turn1 without lifting and survive. 7000rpm redline, and I don't remember it ever got that high on the pit straight; only out back. NOISE? You're kidding, right? I watched vid first, noted that you accelerated a HELL of a lot harder than I ever could! I doubt those were stock brakes, though -- Bugeyes came with drums on the front.
I swear my street 1380 Bugeye is just as loud. Add in the eternal whine of a sc/cr box and it's audio nirvana. You were ROBBED. It was amazing how much more speed you carried into/out of the corners compared to the others. That Sprite owned the field. Lovely sound. Sore losers if ya ask me. Kudos. Cool turtle.
@destro513 - nothing special, just an FP Bugeye, 1275cc, 1400lb car. Main difference may be what is behind the wheel! TR4's make fine vintage cars if prepped right and driven well. Takes a lot of development to make any vintage car reliable. To finish first one must first finish ;)
Well, when I listened I thought you might be a little louder in the last race. Then I put my sound meter on the clip and you were actually slightly quieter in the last race! I cant give you dB(A) because it would be meaningless from a youtube clip but I can confirm that in the last race you were slightly quieter relative to the previous races. Interesting that my perception was that you were louder but my meter should say otherwise.
They black flagged him for obviously having way too much fun! They don't have a rule against that, so they had to fudge something. I think it sounds great.
Don't know if it is the loudest but it was certainly the fastest! As others have noted, impossible to tell from the video how loud you were and I suspect if you were not lapping and leading they would have just warned you but we all know how these 'rules' can be (mis)applied.
@TurboSpriteMk1 -it is a vintage legal 1275cc A-series engine. Single Weber carb. Approx 125 HP. Stock 4 speed modified by Taylor Engineering. Stock 4.22 diff (welded). Stock prop shaft. Stock brakes with good pads and shoes. Stock suspension with tube shocks and stiffer springs. Bottom line is careful prep and driving it as best as I know how. I don't usually race Sprites, check out the other vids for the "big" cars I race.
made me remember the old day man those little suckers were fun to drive.No my question is if this was indeed a race ,some one's in the wrong class. No way every one else on the track is that much slower or afraid to drive but you .You blew by 'em like they were on a Sunday drive.,What's the rest of the story like Paul Harvey used to say
Only 2 years late to the party but my $.02. I shared cheif of sound duties for the Milw. region in the late 90's. In-car sound clips will not be very definitive. The meter is pretty fool proof, provided they can "catch" you with a good gap between other cars, judging by your vid there was. Their readings were probably legit.
Actually the regular sound guy for MC called in sick on Sunday. And the temp they found to man the meter for the race admitted later that he placed it in the wrong place- directly trackside right next to the silo that also kicks up readings via reverb. In other words it was operator error.
