Zandvoort--and the Historics

Mention Zandvoort to someone and they have no idea what you are talking about.  Zandvoort is a town on the coast of Netherlands known as a beach vacation spot.

More importantly to me, a famous race track.  Zandvoort has hosted sports car racing since the '50s, and is now the host of the Dutch F1 Grand Pris.  But I was there for the historic sports cars...  three days of racing cars pre-2000.

I'm not sure how to start this blog entry.  There were so many historic cars.  I finally gave up taking pictures, I was overwhelmed.  This yearly Zandvoort event is the absolute granddaddy of historic racing.  Cars from all over Europe, particularly the Brits.  Let's just start with some vintage BMWs and a row of MGs...

Some of the oldest cars, an alfa and some I couldn't identify...

A rare Maserati racer and a newer McClaren...

There were a couple Shelby Daytona coupes that wiped out the competition in their class.  Here's one of them, and also, in a different class, a Lotus Elan, one of my favorite cars.

Posche, BMW and Mini had big tents setup, with swag available.  At the Porsche tent, I was invited to have my photo taken.   How could I refuse!

And if you needed more proof I was there...

There was a race for enduro cars, prototypes.  Here's one...

The most popular races were the F1 and F2 cars of a more recent vintage, late 70's to 2000.  Here are some examples (by the way, they were LOUD!)...

This formula car used the famous (and in my mind the greatest engine of all time) Coventry-Climax four cylinder DOHC with dual Weber carburetors.

James Hunt's Hesketh was also on display, and ran in one of the races...

Before the next race was snack time!

My favorite cars, and I just couldn't believe the site of all the entries, so many, so many, were the 60's and older F1 cars.

Amazing to find a classic Maserati F1 car... look at that engine!

Built by the Maserati brothers, the OSCA was pure bread racing machines.  If you never heard of OSCA, find out more here.

And then to find shark nosed Ferraris!!!  

Well, that's just a sample of the cars I saw.  Three days of vintage wonder and exciting racing.  But Zandvoort had other charms.  Like dinner with Dutch friends...

The town itself had a few quirks.  I avoided the casino, I wonder why...

And name another town where you can find one of these shops!

As a beach town, the views over the North Sea are wonderful.  And the beach is lined with restaurants.  And the sunsets are beautiful.

One bucket list item off the list.  But the event was so great, I want to go back again.