For all the talk today of “level playing fields” and equal opportunities for all, it has to be understood that motor sport has never really been egalitarian. Contrary to popular belief, racing runs not on gasoline, but on money. From its humble beginnings at the turn of the 20th century, the combined forces of competition and advancing technology have always driven the costs of motor racing ever higher.

Yet, as early as the 1930s, racers and race organizers began to develop ways of fueling competition without fueling costs. Just before WWII, several groups of British enthusiasts began organizing competitions for inexpensive specials built around the relatively affordable Austin Seven passenger car. After hostilities ended, these Austin Seven enthusiasts returned to a Britain ravaged—both industrially and financially—by war. Looking again for an affordable way to compete, in 1946, one faction known as CAPA was reformed as the 500 Club, which became devoted to the construction and competition of small, single-seater racecars powered by 500-cc motorcycle engines, which were more affordable and readily available in postwar Britain. Those enthusiasts more interested in two-seater specials built around the 750-cc Austin Seven engine and chassis were known as the 750 Club and, in 1949, they began organizing races for these almost exclusively home-built specials. In fact, some of motor racing’s most legendary constructors, men with names like Colin Chapman and Eric Broadley, cut their car-building-teeth in the 750 Club.

Oh, Canada

Britain was not unique in having an abundance of racing enthusiasts with a dearth of funds. From Australia to Europe to North America, men returned from the war eager to get back to their beloved pastime, but without many viable options. If one were lucky, and had means, you could buy one of the prewar racecars carefully hidden away during the war, but even a ten-year-old Maserati or ERA was way out of the reach of the Average Joe. As the postwar ’40s became the cold war ’50s, little changed. If you wanted to race a production car, you could buy an MG or maybe a more expensive Porsche, but if you wanted to race a purpose-built racecar, you were out of luck—unless of course you were independently wealthy. Where was the racing for the tinkerer, the “shade tree mechanic”? Now, if you’re like me, it is easy to make the historical mistake of assuming that it was Count Johnny Lurani, who came to the rescue. Most readers of this magazine will be well familiar with the fact that in the late ’50s, Lurani hatched a plan to create a racing class for purpose-built single-seaters that could only be built from humble, affordable road-car components. So, would it surprise you to learn that not only did he not originate the concept, but that it came from two guys in Canada, three years prior? Yeah, me too!

In the summer of 1955, a pair of Canadian racers by the names of Ian Sword and Peter Dillnutt got together for an evening of beer and bench racing near Toronto. Over the course of the evening the two CASC (Canadian Auto Sport Clubs) members mutually lamented the lack of racing options in Canada for the hobbyist who wanted to compete affordably with a purpose-built car of his own construction. Over the course of that evening, and more to follow, the duo laid down the groundwork for a new category that they would eventually call “Canada Class.” The initial rules, codified on August 20, 1955, were for a single-seater racing car of which the motor and major components were to be sourced from either domestic or imported cars or trucks that retailed for no more than CDN$2,000. Essentially, the list of possible donor cars at the time included the Morris Minor, Ford Anglia and Prefect, VW, Austin A30 and A40, Renault and Standard 8. Engines could be up to 750-cc in overhead cam configuration, up to 850-cc in overhead valve configuration, or up to 1200-cc in side-valve or flathead configuration. Interestingly, fuel choice was left open, including alcohol mixtures, with the exclusion of nitromethane additives. Gearboxes, suspension, brakes, rear axles, and wheels were also open provided that they were sourced from one of the qualifying donor car models, though they need not be from the same brand or model as the other components.

For the whole story, see the February issue of Vintage Racecar.