Author: Thor Thorson

Thor Thorson is president of Vintage Racing Motors, a Seattle-area collector-car dealer and vintage-racing support operation. He has been actively involved with racing for over 40 years, dealing with racers from Ferraris to Sprites, but is mostly seen driving Elva sports racers. He has been writing the race-car profiles for SCM since 2003.

1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 Rally Racer

The 911 rally car offered here is unique among historic Porsches insofar as it has covered more competitive kilometers — equivalent to circumnavigating the world three times — than any other product from the celebrated Stuttgart factory. It was built specifically for the 1977 London–Sydney Marathon and crewed in that […]

1968 Porsche 907

It was May 19, 1968, the date of the Nürburgring 1000 Km, the sixth round in the International Championship for Makes. The showdown between Ford and Porsche was at its height: Porsche’s 907s won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, ahead of the mighty GT40s, […]

1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR IROC

In 1973, Roger Penske created a racing series called the International Race of Champions, or IROC. Equally ambitious and unique in concept, the IROC series aimed to place the world’s best racing drivers in identical cars to compete against each other over several rounds at leading U.S. venues. To compete […]

1959 Austin-Healey “Bugeye” Sprite Mk I Racer

Having forged strong links with BMC in the process of developing the successful Austin-Healey 100, Donald Healey turned his attention to designing a smaller version intended to make sports-car motoring affordable to a wider sector of the market. Although its powertrain and running gear were entirely conventional and were thoroughly […]

1977 March 771 Formula One Racer

For the 1977 Formula One season, March developed the 771 that would proudly sport new Rothmans livery. The 771 had slight upgrades compared to the outgoing 761 with a front-mounted radiator, a wider tub, longer wheelbase, and lighter weight than previous models. It was powered by a 3-liter Cosworth DFV […]

1973 Alpine A110

This Group 4 berlinetta, series number 18372, body number 6387, is a type 1600VC. The A110 1800 was registered on April 3, 1973, with the number 3697 HK 76. It has a heavy Morocco-type body, of which eight examples were constructed in Dieppe and registered between March and April 1973. […]

2008 Oreca Dodge Viper GT3

Originally built in 2008, this Viper GT3 was initially raced in the British GT by Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins. It was subsequently repurposed for the 2011–14 Dutch Supercar series and appeared in the U.K. again in 2018 to contest the GT Cup in the hands of David Krayem and […]

1963 Ol’ Yaller Mark IX Sports Racer

Beginning in 1957, Max Balchowsky and his wife designed, built and raced a limited number of sports racing cars. His first two were named Old Yeller, after the dog in Disney’s 1957 film who was yellow, mangy and unwanted. Disney didn’t like that, so Balchowsky changed the spelling to “Ol’ […]

1967 Lotus 51A Formula Ford

The archetypal Formula Ford, the Lotus 51 is also one of the most aesthetically successful models. Listed in the Historic Lotus Register, chassis 51FF123 was delivered new in 1967 to the famous Jim Russell Racing Driver School in England that played a role in the development of drivers such as […]

1962 Ferrari 268 SP

In 1960, following the lead taken by Cooper and Lotus, Ferrari began to experiment with rear-engine placement in its Formula One and sports-racing cars. The dual overhead-cam V6 engine co-engineered by Vittorio Jano and credited to the late Dino Ferrari was the powerplant of choice, and potential applications ranged from […]