A classic road trip to the Spa Classic

Our British enthusiast takes a 53 year old Porsche 911 to Spa: Proper!

While I’ve attended many classic events here in the UK, I’ve only been to one in Europe, and a little-known one at that, in Valencia a couple of years ago. I’ve often thought it would be really cool to go to either the Le Mans or Spa Classic, and this year I finally made it to the Ardennes, driving over with a fellow enthusiast in my 1972 911T, which had come out of car hospital the previous week. While I was delighted to be reunited with it, I was less than delighted with the bill, and I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that the car will have to be sold later this summer.

Nevertheless, it was a thrill to make the 700 km journey to Spa in the old girl and some four hours after exiting the Eurotunnel we arrived at our hotel in Verviers late afternoon on the Friday, despite running into some heavy traffic jams caused by two separate multi-car accidents and rewarded ourselves with a couple of examples of the local beer. We had booked our trip through Fast Track Tours, taking a package that included weekend passes and evening meals at our hotel, as well as parking literally behind one of the pit-lanes – perfect!

Having enjoyed an excellent evening with other members of our group – several of whom had come along in interesting cars of their own, including a group of seven Opel Monza’s, the most I’ve ever seen together – Saturday morning saw us making the 20km drive to the circuit spoken of by many as the best in the world.

This was to be the only properly dry part of the weekend – we spent the rest of our time there dodging showers and some occasionally quite heavy rain, but this didn’t stop us enjoying the event greatly; after all, there was so much to see, and several excellent vantage points from which to view the action on the track, even though we limited ourselves to the main infield areas.

Our morning got off to a splendid start as our parking area was very close to one of the two circuit entry points, so we were able to get very close to the second Classic Endurance group including a whole gaggle of Porsche 935’s and a couple of BMW M1’s as they assembled before making their way onto the circuit – what a soundtrack they produced!

The Classic Endurance category included a 1970 Porsche 917K in Gulf livery – the greatest racing car ever in the greatest racing colours, which made my day and indeed weekend. It was competing against contemporaries such as the Ford GT40 and Lola T70, part of the golden age of sportscar racing.

The Gentleman’s Challenge race was filled with gorgeous 1950’s and ‘60s sports racers such as Ferrari 250GT SWB’s, Porsche 904’s and more, and a car I had not seen before, a 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ with “Coda Tronca” bodywork. Only 30 of the 200 SZ’s built wore this elongated, more aerodynamic body for better air penetration. Another favourite in this group was the 1965 Bizzarrini 5300GT in gold and white.

At one point we were able to sneak into one of the pit lanes and stand literally on the pit wall – another first for me – while some of the Classic Endurance racers went about their qualifying session. I’ve never been so close to cars travelling at such speed – awesome!

My favourite category was the Heritage Cup for touring cars of the ‘70s and ‘80s, re-creating the battles between BMW 3.0CSL’s and Ford Capri RS 3100’s that thrilled crowds back then. Like the cars in the Gentleman’s Challenge race, a large part of the appeal for me is the fact that beneath the spoilers and blistered wheel arches, these are recognisable road cars like many of us have driven and/or remember from our younger days. The pull of nostalgia is very strong in this regard.

The fastest cars of the weekend were – perhaps unsurprisingly – the most modern, the Group C machines  such as Porsche 962’s who took to the track on Sunday afternoon in probably the wettest conditions of the weekend. Despite the rain, the drivers of these amazing machines held very little back as they hammered down the hill from the La Source hairpin to Eau Rouge.

Away from the track, while not comparable to the Goodwood Revival Car Park, there was also a reasonable number of classic car club displays around the circuit. I really liked the colourful row of Citroën 2CV’s, and it’s impossible not to be impressed by a Lamborghini Miura, a Ferrari Daytona or a Lancia Stratos.

Another interesting car in the club areas was a very pretty little yellow 1966 ASA 1000GT; initially developed by Ferrari with the aim of building some 3-5,000 cars a year, reception was unfavourable and sales very low – it’s said no more than 100 were built, and possibly as few as 50, so this was a rare bird indeed.

The Monday for our return journey dawned brightly, which was a relief as we did not relish the idea of driving for a day in the rain, and after leaving the hotel just after 08.00, I reversed the 911 – which had performed admirably –  into my garage at 17.30. For the first time in several attempts, Le Shuttle left and arrived on schedule in both directions.

The one slightly sour note – weather aside, which at Spa is always unpredictable – was that some of the race teams kept their garages closed, meaning we couldn’t get to see quite a few cars close up, which was a shame, and seemed contrary to the spirit of the event. Still, there was plenty that we could get up close and personal with, either in the paddocks, garages or the pit lanes, as you will see from the photographs. Having ticked this box, I really have to try to get to the Le Mans Classic next…