In 1974 a group of amateur racing drivers got together to form a club which would promote affordable racing for the popular saloon cars of the fifties and early sixties.

MG, Triumph, Jaguar and other sportscars had always been well catered for but the Austin A35, Morris Minor etc, had been left in the cold for some time. Racing in those more relaxed times allowed owners to "arrive and drive" (only needing a crash helmet and licence to compete).

Times have changed somewhat since those days and so has the Club but the watchword in all the regulations is stability which ensures the return of competitors year upon year.

During the past thirty-four years the Club has evolved and expanded. It now includes four championships and our traditional series for Pre66 Classic & Historic Saloons. New for 2008 is the introduction of a class within Classic Group 1 for competitors running to Production BMW specifications. This year our Pre93 Series has gained Championship status.

Our races are divided by year of manufacture and therefore reflect the relevant period of British Saloon/Touring Car racing applicable to each era. Furthermore, each Championship or Series is sub-divided into classes depending on engine size.

Classic & Historic Saloon Cars (pre 1966)
Based on the regulations applied to the original British Saloon Car Championship, this caters for cars such as the Austin A35, Morris Minor, MG , Mk1 Jaguar, Mk2 Jaguar, Ford Falcon and Mustang, Lotus and GT Cortina, Hillman Imp, Mini Cooper and many other marques.

Since its inception, regulations have changed very little. The major revisions revolve around safety equipment although cars can now run with alloy wheels and there is a class for cars with more modified engines.

Post Historic Touring Cars (Pre 1974)
As with the national RACMSA Championships the cars and regulations changed throughout the years. Cars which had raced for some time within club saloon championships suddenly found themselves uncompetitive due to the advances made in the early eighties by the manufacturers.

The Post Historic Touring Cars Championship was introduced to cater for cars such as the Triumph Dolomite, Ford Capri and MkI Escort, Jaguar XJ6 and XJ12, Mazda RX3, Mini 1275GT and many others.

Eligibility requires an annual production for more than 5000 units in a year, the same as the British Saloon Car Championship in the early '70s.

Classic Group 1 Touring Cars (Pre 1983)
By the end of 1973, the FIA concluded that its rules for Saloon Car racing were not in keeping with the developments in car manufacture and that a change to Group 1 regulations would encourage more manufacturers into motorsport.

These FIA regulations form the basis of the Club's pre 1983 Group 1 Touring Cars Championship and spectators are once again able to witness battles between Alfa Romeo GTV, Rover SD1, Capri 3.0S and 2.8i, Triumph Dolomite, RS2000, Jaguar XJS, Ford Escort XR3i and Mazda RX7 etc.

A description of the action typical in this Championship came from Marcus Pye in an Autosport report from Thruxton. "The Capris of Best, West and Drew achieved hitherto unseen angles of dangle in their battle for third place".

Classic Modified Saloons
The period from the mid-sixties to 1982 was the era of modified touring cars. Major manufacturers and independent preparation companies like Broadspeed, produced specially designed body panels with extended wheel arches which allowed the cars to be fitted with wide wheels and non-standard racing engines.

The earlier cars, up to 1970, ran to Group 5 regulations and it was common to see Porsche 911s running as touring cars. Over the next twelve years to 1982 BMW, Ford, Jaguar and later, Rover dominated this class of racing in the European Touring Car Championship.

The Club encourages owners of these fantastic cars to use them in competition in the Classic Thunder series. This series is also open to cars that were prepared for the Classic Touring Car Championship, which ran within the TOCA BTCC package. This championship now also incorporates the former ModProds Championship.

Pre 93 Touring Cars
This Championship is evidence of the club looking to the future to sustain the popularity and health for future seasons.

It is based around the Group One regulations and therefore provides a competitive second race for Classic Group One competitors.

This championship also allows car from the popular one make series of the early nineties to take part.

Look out for Rover Tomcats and VW Ventos taking on the established Group One Touring cars for what promises to be a fantastic opening year.