Wow.......... simply put , really cool stuff. Thanks Shadow !

I don't know what the crowd (count's) where like at Delaware in the early 80's but the cars shown look fast, clean and competitive. And the variety of paint jobs - cool beans indeed!

Maybe it's just me... but I keep harping back to the days of variety and I think that's what we're missing today. Next Generation variety... LM is all cookie cutter cars with either a white or black body (seems to me the many are not painted due to cost) and they're all one of three basic shapes of noses and tails... I've had a few discussions with guys that deal with water based paints, and they've all said it is manageable and possible to do by an amateur, the key is air movement to ensure it dries properly and temperature. The downside is cost. Water based paints are not cheap. 🙁

thanks for sharing !! good stuff!!

I don't know what the crowd (count's) where like at Delaware in the early 80's but the cars shown look fast, clean and competitive. And the variety of paint jobs - cool beans indeed!
Maybe it's just me... but I keep harping back to the days of variety and I think that's what we're missing today. Next Generation variety... LM is all cookie cutter cars with either a white or black body (seems to me the many are not painted due to cost) and they're all one of three basic shapes of noses and tails... I've had a few discussions with guys that deal with water based paints, and they've all said it is manageable and possible to do by an amateur, the key is air movement to ensure it dries properly and temperature. The downside is cost. Water based paints are not cheap.

I agree we need colour. I don't know why more racers don't use AR Bodies - they come in 5 different colours besides black & white.

I don't know what the crowd (count's) where like at Delaware in the early 80's but the cars shown look fast, clean and competitive. And the variety of paint jobs - cool beans indeed!

Yeah I was ruminating on this myself. The cars in these pics, especially the SS, look a lot cleaner than I actually remembered. Things were looking good. As far as car counts go, the SLMs were in the ballpark with the numbers we get currently. Maybe a few more, and a lot more on special nights. The SS numbers were thru the roof. Remember there was no Endurance racing or micro sprints or any of that stuff, so if you wanted to go roundy-round racing, this was your option. The SS program back then looked a lot like when we do the Enduro all star Friday nights now, although I think the action was closer. And there were none of this off-week stuff. Every Fri nite was SLM and SS A and B.

Maybe it's just me... but I keep harping back to the days of variety and I think that's what we're missing today. Next Generation variety... LM is all cookie cutter cars with either a white or black body (seems to me the many are not painted due to cost) and they're all one of three basic shapes of noses and tails... I've had a few discussions with guys that deal with water based paints, and they've all said it is manageable and possible to do by an amateur, the key is air movement to ensure it dries properly and temperature. The downside is cost. Water based paints are not cheap. 🙁

Yeah thats one of those things I don't think we'll ever get back. Kinda like the no-muffler racing. Just a bygone thing. But remember that even back then, most of the SLM cars looked pretty much the same to one another too. Squashed out Camaros with the roof angled down and a cow-catcher spoiler. Sure they were awesome, but when you parked them all side by side, there weren't many differences. Thats what made Merrifield's and Mallat's so distinctive.

I love the new SS bodies and I think they look great, but one of the things it'll mark the end of is some of the groovier color schemes in the SS ranks. Even if you go with the ones that come in colors, they're still stock colors. Slap a number decal and you're good. In the age of fiberglass, you're not likely to see another gold and British Green paint scheme again like the 68 SLM sported for all those years.

Its a little sad, but as long as the racing is good, then its alright.

It will go full circle again. The lm's cost so much you will see the ss class grow and be a greater class than it already is. The lm's I bet will die off then just run specials and the ss may grow to be the big show. remember just my opinion dont read into it.........

It will go full circle again. The lm's cost so much you will see the ss class grow and be a greater class than it already is. The lm's I bet will die off then just run specials and the ss may grow to be the big show. remember just my opinion dont read into it.........

Heh....kind of like the late 80s all over again. The good news is that when it happened then, it revitalized everything.

But, still too bad. The crate was supposed to be the answer for a healthy LM division....but it looks like that got buggered up by allowing them to be opened. (this is the way I understand it anyway) One driver quoted to me something along the lines of "my $5,500 crate motor just became a $10,000 dollar crate motor...if I want to be able to compete at Delaware."

Or something like that.