ITCS Virtual Library

[Knestis]

About once a month, I kick myself for not hanging on to my copy of the first ITCS, published when the category was new. I think it would be fun to build an index of who has what years of the rules, so if we need to do any delving into history, we can.

Chime in with what you've got. And if you have old copies that you don't care about, I'd be interested in buying them.

K

[JimLill]

I'd even be interested in being pointed to and seeing a "History of IT" if such existed. I think at this point it may even predate some of the compeitors!

[JimLill]

Here's an oldie:

http://www.sovren.org/competition/rules/gc...L%20gcr_62.html (http://www.sovren.org/competition/rules/gcr/HTML%20gcr_62.html)

and a few more here:

http://www.sovren.org/competition/competition.htm

[Knestis]

IT was brand new in 1984, I think?

There was a SportsCar that featured the category - "This is IT" - that would also be great reading for people who don't appreciate the history of these classes.

K

[JimLill]

That 1962 GCR mentions the name "Improved Touring" but obviously a different thing altogether.

[BMW RACER]

If I remember correctly IT started in CalClub as a Solo 1 or Solo 2 class back in 1980. I rembember that because I ran a V6 Capri in ITA (Damm I'm old!)

[Z3_GoCar]

While Flagging with Bill Haneline, he mentioned he still has one of the original IT cars. It's an Rx-3 that ran in the San Diego region. Some things never change, he was telling me about the suspension bushing travails he had with that car :dead_horse: Seems the drag link is mounted in a big rubber dounut, given time and abuse it just pulls out. The original rules seemed to make the repair illegal. Sound familiar?

James

[lateapex911]

While Flagging with Bill Haneline, he mentioned he still has one of the original IT cars. It's an Rx-3 that ran in the San Diego region. Some things never change, he was telling me about the suspension bushing travails he had with that car :dead_horse: Seems the drag link is mounted in a big rubber dounut, given time and abuse it just pulls out. The original rules seemed to make the repair illegal. Sound familiar?

James [/b]

Yup, that drag link can be fixed very nicely and will be well within the purest meaning of the first "open material" rule for susp bushings. As a matter of fact, that solution is still the best.

[Z3_GoCar]

The reason for the dead horse is because the fix proceeded the rule allowing the fix, at least that's what Bill was saying.

James

[tom_sprecher]

If I remember correctly IT started in CalClub as a Solo 1 or Solo 2 class back in 1980. I rembember that because I ran a V6 Capri in ITA (Damm I'm old!)
[/b]

My first car was a '72 Capri I bought in '79 before I went to college. It was a 2 liter just like what they run in FC these days.

The first time I joined the SCCA I wanted to race an RX-7. I bought a '93 GCR when they came punched for IBM PC software documentation binders. Anybody remember when software came with documentation?

Fourteen years later I could finally afford to go racing and guess what I chose to drive?

[CaptainWho]

I bought a '93 GCR when they came punched for IBM PC software documentation binders. Anybody remember when software came with documentation?
[/b]

Somewhere around here, I've got a number of actual original IBM manuals from back then. An IBM PCjr Technical Reference Manual, user manuals for DOS 1.x and 3.x, and I think an old Advanced BASIC manual.

Edit: I learned 8086 assembly language from reading the BIOS source code in the original IBM PC Technical Reference manual and typing code in by hand in DEBUG. :D

[Bill Miller]

My first car was a '72 Capri I bought in '79 before I went to college. It was a 2 liter just like what they run in FC these days.

The first time I joined the SCCA I wanted to race an RX-7. I bought a '93 GCR when they came punched for IBM PC software documentation binders. Anybody remember when software came with documentation?

Fourteen years later I could finally afford to go racing and guess what I chose to drive?
[/b]


Damn Tom, I pretty much did the same thing, except I bought mine after I was in college. One of my fraternity brothers bought a '74 2.8 V6, and I thought it was the coolest (his older brother had one of the original 1.6 cars). I had a '69 bug that finally rusted away, and I needed something new. I found a guy selling a '72 Capri 2.0 that needed a drive shaft, and I bought it for $250. Found a j/y drive shaft for $50, and slapped it in and away I went. I had some really fun times in that car!!! It really was a POS, but it was MY POS and it was a fun POS!!! The car was 7 years old when I got it, and the rear fender arches were totally rotted away. The transmissions sucked, and the 3rd gear synchro was toast. And don't even think about opening the rear pop-out windows, as they would just fall out. But a damn fun car, none the less. Last one I saw as a street car was about 4 years ago at the Longest Night at Moroso. They were neat, that's for sure.

Sorry, forgot the topic of the thread. I'd LOVE to see all the ITCS's from the beginning. I think I've got them from 2000 on.

And let's not get into the old software thing. Yeah, I had IBM and MS docs that came in 3-ring binders. The first computer I ever worked on was an old IBM 1130 where we wrote Fortran programs on punch cards!!!! Ok, that was in HS! I took a BASIC course on an old HP 2000F that still had physical core memory!

[JimLill]

This, from the good people at CalClub


Here's the definitive answer on the "Who Invented Improved Touring?" question, compliments of a coupla the fossils in our midst...

More info: The name & concept of Improved Touring itself, however, actually was formulated in the Solo 1 ranks with a group called SCC SCC (Southern California Council of Sports Car Clubs), which ran the Solo 1 and Solo 2 stuff out here way back in the late 70's when I started flogging around my first BMW. The group also had another sub-group, for the cars with sidedraft 40 DCOE's and stuff, Called Super Improved Touring. Some wag decided it should be called Super-Hot Improved Touring (do the anagram yourself :^))...).[/b]


>
> San Diego region and Cal Club jointly started I.T. When Danny McKeever was R.E. for Cal Club, he was instrumental along with the R.E. of San Diego in formulating the rules.
>
> I spoke with Portercat and he thinks we invented IT but is not certain and does not remember the year. Thinks maybe early 80's..[/b]

[RacerBill]

[quote]
Anybody remember when software came with documentation?

I think I have an unopened copy of IBM PC DOS 1.0 or 1.1 around. I know I have a shrink wrapped box of 5 1/4" floppies! and a couple of key punch cards, and my System 360 Reference Guide!, and a couple of old plug board connectors (used them for aux wiring on my first car). Oh, yeah, and indicator lights were the bulbs and sockets from a System 360 operator console.

[JimLill]

Here goes from memory of a long time ago:

Back in 1969, a couple of friends of mine, Pat Flynn and Paul Vollmer,
helped start the first SCCA Solo 1 school at Riverside Raceway. We convinced SCCA
to change the Solo 1 rules and allow more than 1 car at a time on the track
- they are now the basic time trial rules that are still used tday. Improved
Touring was, I believe, actually started as a Solo 1 class in the San Diego
region, then as a class in Cal Club in Solo 1.

When I was RE of Cal Club in the early 80's it took me a year or so to
convince the board of directors to make it a regional class. They just said
'throw them in with the GT classes' and I said there was too much speed
differential. At the time I honestly thought IT could become the biggest class in SCCA.
It was easy to figure out as a lot of the 'production' cars were evolving
into tube frame GT racers, and there was nowhere for the Showroom Stock classes
to go. So the obvious evolution was to turn them into IT cars with minimal
modifications - stuff you would do to a street car. 'Sports cars' as we knew
them, were going away and there were a lot of small sporty sedans, so it was a
good class for the 'new sports car'. I was also adamant that it should only
be a regional class and not a national class.

At the SCCA National Convention in, I believe, Minneapolis/St Paul, in the
early 80's, I suggested to Clint Dewitt, who was RE of San Francisco, that we
schedule a meeting for anyone at the convention who was interested in finding
out about Improved Touring.

It pretty much took off from there - it was just an obvious thing that would
have happened eventually, whether we were involved or not. I am copying Pat
Flynn and Paul Vollmer on this and maybe they can give you more info - or
make any corrections from what I remember. You could also get ahold of Marge
and/ or Phil Binks in the San Diego region for further info. I think Pat and
Paul would agree that we are very proud of what we helped get started a long
time ago and there are a lot of people who put a lot of effort into IT since our
time. But it all started way down in San Diego. And Improve Touring really
does make sence as a regional class, and I would suspect it is one of the
biggest classes in SCCA. Don't hesitate to contact me at any time- it's fun
remembering the 'good old days'.

Danny McKeever
Fast Lane Racing School
[/b]

[JimLill]

what was the first year that the GCR was available as a soft copy? 2005 was the 1st year for online. Previous to that the soft copy was on CD, when did that start?

[Bill Miller]

Jim,

I think it was '01 when they started sending out CDs w/ the GCR.

[AntonioGG]

I have a 1979 GCR with something called "SCCA Sedans". Sedans A sees like AS of today with displacements above 2500cc. B is for 1300-2500cc, C for 1300 and under. Prep rules for B seem like a weird amalgamation of Production, GT, and SS rules. For example, you can change crankshaft, camshaft, pistons ("any piston is allowed"). You can remove the bumpers. Here's the funny one...the windshield wiper mechanism must remain intact and operational, but the wiper arms can be removed. :-)

I don't see this category in the 1981 book though.