Rick Carlile's Vixen S2 - LVX1439/4
Last updated - 27.04.2012
1969 TVR VIXEN S2
By Rick Carlile Hi Honey! Are you having fun at the conference in D.C.? Say, youfll never guess what I bought todayc.another racecar!! No, Ifm not kidding. I really did. What kind of racecar? Well, itfs a TVR. A TVR. Tee-Vee-Are. Oh, never mind, Iwill just have to show it to you when you get back from your trip. And so this story began in the summer of 2005, when I made the decision that it was time for me to advance into vintage road racing. For thirteen years I had been intensely involved in open track racing events with various car clubs in Northern California, driving my 1965 Mercury Cyclone and my 1971 De Tomaso Pantera on the road race courses of Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Thunderhill Raceway Park, and California Speedway. Now I was ready to take on a new challenge. I talked to several friends about the various vintage racing organizations that sponsor events at the tracks in my region of Northern California, the number of events, and the rules applied with respect to car preparation. The vintage racing organization that appealed to me the most was Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) which was originally formed in 1968 as a Northern California vintage racing club and is currently the nationfs second oldest vintage race organization. I liked that CSRG aspired to the gtrue spirit of vintage racingh by requiring all production cars to conform to the 1967 or older Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) preparation specifications. For the most part, this meant that the cars would retain the appearance and performance of the cars as they were raced in period. Now that I had determined the vintage racing group I would join, I began my search for a car that would meet their eligibility requirements. For the next several months I began to surf the Internet in search of a "For Sale" racecar that would be reasonably priced, somewhat unique, and perhaps even one that had been previously campaigned with CSRG. This set of criteria would fit my budget, satisfy my affinity for the obscure, and possibly lead to a car not located halfway around the world. Finally, after investing huge chunks of time visiting uncountable numbers of websites I came upon a listing on www.racecars.com for a g1967 TVR Vixen with CSRG Acceptance.h Now, unlike most TVR owners, I will admit that owning a TVR was not originally on my fantasy list.in fact I barely knew what A TVR was.but I had heard that the TVR Griffith was an absolute brute of a car, so I thought at the very least the Vixen was worth investigating. After some hasty research into the TVR marque and the success of the racing Granturas, I was convinced that this car definitely deserved some serious consideration. I sent an e]mail to the seller requesting some further information, and asked if it would be possible to take a look at the car. As it turned out, he and the car were located only about 1]1/2 hours drive from me, so we scheduled a time to meet the next day. He was admittedly a bit surprised when I pulled up in front of his house at the appointed time with my truck, car hauler, and cash. Wisely so, as it turned out, since there were two other potential buyers scheduled to view the car later that afternoon. I spent the next two hours inspecting the car, examining the race log book dating back to 1984, and having the seller recount all of the details of his ownership. The Vixen apparently was originally purchased and shipped to the U.S. by a couple living in Southern California. In the early 1970fs the second owner purchased it, prepared it for road racing, and campaigned it until it was acquired in 1995 by the current seller. Satisfied with everything I had seen and having concluded our negotiations, I winched the Vixen onto the hauler, loaded all the spares into the truck, and headed home. Somewhere along the way I placed a cell call and had the aforementioned conversation with my loving wife of 26 years. After spending nearly a year attempting to achieve some assurance that the Vixen would be allowed to race with CSRG, the fun actually began. I completely disassembled the car, carefully bagging and tagging all the bits and pieces. The roll hoop and rear braces had been welded to the tube frame chassis which prevented the body removal. These tubes were cut, new steel plates welded on, and aligned with new mounting plates welded to the chassis to allow for bolt]in installation and removal. If the need ever arises the body can now be removed from the chassis by simply removing the roll hoop and chassis bolts. The stock tube chassis was completely cleaned and repainted. The rolling chassis and body was delivered to the paint shop for a full block sanding, minor fiberglass repair, primer, and the application of a single]stage polyurethane "Arrest-Me-Red" finish coat. After a year of vigorous assembly, fabrication, preparation, and testing, I was finally able to enter the Vixen for its return debut in the 2009 CSRG racing season. For the last three seasons, I have also been fortunate enough to campaign the Vixen with the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) and General Racing Limited (GRL) in vintage road racing events at the Portland Historics, the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, the Coronado Festival of Speed, and the granddaddy of them all, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The little red Vixen always attracts lots of attention from people, ranging from "What-is-it?" to "I used to have a TVR!" And best of all, itfs an absolute blast to race!!!Current Owner:
Rick Carlile
To contact the owner, please route inquiries through the registar.
Registar: Registry-Admin