The 1962 sports racing car season in North America was one of those seasons on the cusp, a season where the sport and how it was to be conducted was in the midst of a change. The world of sports racing cars in 1962 was undergoing change not merely in North America, but internationally as well. The Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) of the Federation Internationale Automobile (FIA) decided to focus attention not on the "sports prototypes" - two-seater racing car for all intents and purposes - but rather on the "grand touring" category, high performance production cars. Although the "sports prototypes" would be allowed in the races, the points for the manufacturers' championship would only go to the cars in the GT classes.

Needless to say, this did not please everyone, but where there is a CSI regulation there is a loophole was a saying at the time. Although this tale is not the place for that story, this was to create a set of unintended consequences which would have this category lurch off into new directions. One consequence was that opportunities began to blossom for the use of cars which were finding it increasingly difficult to find that many events to compete in on the Continent and even in Britain to an extent.

As usual, our story starts months before the first dawn shines upon the year in question, 1962. In 1958, the United States Auto Club (USAC) ran the inaugural season for its Road Racing Championship, the champion that season being Dan Gurney. For his troubles, young Gurney and others from the ranks of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) who joined him, were banished from the SCCA. And exactly why were they tossed on their collective rears into the street? Because they - gasp! - openly accepted money for their labors on the race track. The shade of Joe Hill was not exactly aroused by this event, but the consequences were to have an impact on what was to follow later on.

When the SCCA was formed in February 1944, it was established to be exactly what it said: a club for those with an interest in sporting - or sporty - automobiles. In the beginning, to be a full member you had to own an automobile which was worthy enough for you to be accepted into the club. Racing or competition driving was not given much consideration by the founders. One reason was that the pre-war Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) would re-form after the war and take over that aspect of the sports car world. As it turned out, the ARCA did not revive in the wake of the war.

When the anticipated revival of the ARCA failed to materialize, the SCCA found itself becoming more and more a factor in the automobile racing scene, one long dominated by the American Automobile Association (AAA) and its Contest Board. By the early 1950s, sports car racing was becoming a very popular sport, especially as the number of foreign cars began to slowly increase in the United States. However, the way the SCCA went about its racing program was greatly at odds with the way the AAA and other sanctioning bodies did business and there were some points upon which there was fundamental disagreement.

The big sticking point, as you have already deduced from one of the above paragraphs was the very nature of the SCCA - its very nature as reflected in its stated intent and purpose. As the post-1958 feud played itself out, the SCCA made it perfectly clear to its membership and others what its policy was when it came to racing:

"Every member of the SCCA, to be eligible for competition in its events, shall at all times strictly maintain his amateur status. This shall include all car owners, entrants, drivers…. However, this shall not preclude a driver from accepting reasonable expense money from the car owner or entrant, but from no one else. The entrant of a car driven by a member in an SCCA event must be an SCCA member. Such expense money is to cover… only the actual amount spent on food, lodging and necessary travel while en route to and from the event…"

Naturally, this was merely policy and subject to certain realities such as the events run under the sanction of the FIA at places such as Sebring, Florida.

After a truce of sorts was put in place after the 1958 season, the SCCA and the USAC established a polite, if distant, relationship. That the USAC shifted its focus to a disagreement with the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) over a similar issue allowed the SCCA to mull things over.

What the SCCA eventually became aware of was that many of its better drivers were openly preaching revolt and spreading sedition in the ranks. At the annual convention of the SCCA in February 1961, a group of drivers finally spoke about the subject on the floor during the business meeting. What had finally pushed the grumbling and complaining to an open forum was the hemming and hawing of the SCCA over the topic of what were called "open events," those events in which were FIA-approved and therefore open to SCCA members holding international licenses.

After airing their concerns, the SCCA directors told the drivers that they would give this matter serious thought and consideration, and form a "study group" to look into this matter. The implication on the part of the drivers was that perhaps 10 or so events would be declared "open events" and therefore allow the drivers, entrants, and car owners to participate in them. Mollified for the moment, the drivers went home and started making plans to enter those events sure to be on the approved list.

With this latter thought in mind, a number of SCCA drivers requested entry forms for FIA-approved events at Mosport Park and the Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in Clermont, Indiana in June - the two events being literally a day apart. In addition, there was an FIA-approved event at the Continental Divide Raceway near Castle Rock, Colorado.

With the knowledge that the SCCA "study group" indicated that it would approve the events as being "open events" and therefore allowing the drivers to compete, it was not a pleasant surprise for many to receive notification of these events being "disapproved" and thereby closed to those with SCCA licenses. Although the "study group" had recommended approval of the events, the SCCA Executive Committee was unanimous in opposing approval and a clear majority of the Board of Governors supported the decision. Indeed, the Governors made it clear that, "All outside events were to be considered banned to SCCA drivers unless specifically approved by the Board."

The timing of the message was poor, to say the least, being sent out less than two weeks prior to the Mosport and IRP events. The USAC Board of Directors naturally took offense at the SCCA action and fired a message to the promoters of the events requesting them to stand firm. In addition, at the June Sprints event at Road America, there was a meeting of many of the SCCA drivers affected by the decision. That there were many mixed feelings among the group would be an understatement.

Meanwhile, there waded into the fray the unlikely of players - the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS). The ACCUS was an organization born of the need to have American representation on the CSI after the AAA withdrew from its role as the American representative to the CSI as the Autorité Sportive Nationale (ASN) - National Sporting Authority - of the United States after the 1955 season. Initially composed of the SCCA, the USAC, and NASCAR, the ACCUS was established in the Summer of 1957. Since that time it had been for all intents and purposes the lap dog of these organizations, usually staying out of the feuds and squabbles of the members or taking turns in providing the swing vote when an issue did come before the committee.

So when Charles Moran, the Chairman of the ACCUS, stepped into the fray that Summer, it took the SCCA by surprise, especially since he used to be one of them! In short, the ACCUS threatened the SCCA with excommunication. The ACCUS pointed out to the SCCA that the events at IRP and Continental Divide as well as Mosport were all events on the FIA calendar and open to all drivers holding an international competition license.

When the SCCA said that it clearly never intended to approve all international events, the ACCUS promptly informed the SCCA that as of 5 July 1961, "all amateur automobile racing drivers licenses issued by the [SCCA] have been suspended indefinitely…." Needless to say, this remarkable show of force on the part of the ACCUS surprised the folks at the SCCA and resulted in much back-tracking and not a little back-biting.

After some hurried conference calls and pleas to the ACCUS not to follow through, offering excuses that it needed time to call the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee together to discuss the action, the ACCUS did not blink. In early August, the SCCA bowed to the pressure the ACCUS had put on them and declared that SCCA drivers holding a National license would be free to participate in any event listed on the FIA calendar. It also stated that it would place "no restrictions upon financial arrangements which may be made by any of its members…"

Thus was much unpleasantness avoided. At least for the time being.

Before we get much further, let us lay out the shape of American sports car racing at this time. The SCCA divided its racing into two broad categories, one for production "sports" cars and one for "modified" cars. The SCCA divided the production category into classes, from A to H, based on relative performance rather than displacement, price or what have you. For 1962, for instance, Class A contained the Jaguar XKE, the Chevrolet Corvette with the 327-cubic inch engine, the Aston Martin DB4 GT, and the Ferrari 250 GT (2400mm wheelbase). For the classes, here are a few examples:

Class B - Chevrolet Corvette (283-cubic inch engine) and the Porsche Carrera;
Class C - Daimler 250P, Porsche Speedster 90, and the TVR Climax;
Class D - Austin Healey 3000, Porsche 1500 & 1600 Super, and Lotus Seven Classic (Ford 109E engine).
Class E - Austin Healey 100-6 (2.6-litre engine), Morgan Plus 4, and Elva Courier;
Class F - Porsche 1600 & 1600 Normal, Sunbeam Alpine, Mercedes-Benz 190SL;
Class G - Porsche 1300 & 1300S, Austin-Healey Sprite Mark II & MG Midget, and Alfa Romeo Giulietta;
Class H - Austin-Healey Sprite, MG TC & TD & TF, and Fiat-Abarth 750 GT.

The modified classes were much more straight forward and divided solely on displacement:

Class C - over 3,000cc;
Class D - 2,000cc to 3,000cc;
Class E - 1,600cc to 2,000cc;
Class F - 1,100cc to 1,600cc;
Class G - 750cc to 1,100cc;
Class H - under 750cc.

And, yes, there they did not have Class A or B in 1962, basically lumping all the larger displacement cars into "C Modified" or "C/M" as it was referred to in the SCCA world.