Aside from the 75th anniversary of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament taking place in a few weeks, there are also a number of other notable anniversaries also taking place very soon. Moving on the automotive world, you might remember celebrating Chevrolet's 100 anniversary in 2011. However, there is another noteworthy car celebrating an anniversary, and that is the Volkswagen Formula Vee, whose motorsport series took over the racing world in 1963. Yes, 50 years ago the VW Formula Vee made racing both accessible for the masses as well as affordable. VW did this by using chassis from other VW models like the Beetle, then putting them together to make racecars that strangely enough could not even get up to 40 hp.
After its debut in 1963 at the Daytona International Speedway, its success soon went worldwide. In 1965 the Formula Vee found its way to Europe where 50,000 fans stopped in N uremberg to visit. As with all things, the Formula Vee evolved into the Super Vee, which evolved into the Vee 130, and the rest is as they say, history. A few of the most notable drivers who drove the Formula Vee as their first racecar include Marco Andretti, Markku Alen and Hurley Haywood. In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Formula Vee in style, the celebration earlier this year was held where it got its start - Daytona International Speedway.
The celebrations included features of Formula Vee's finest years, a parade and some of the series veterans as well as some of today's racers that give credit to Vee for being their inspiration. Earlier it was mentioned that the goal of Vee was to make racing more affordable and accessible for the masses. One of the most important parts of this goal being met was in the race cars used in the making of Vee. The Vee series was created by using borrowed bodies and parts from VW Beetles. It is important to note this because if a car was damaged or crashed, it was easier and more attainable to get replacement parts because of the availability and affordability of Beetles. Considering the plethora of technology that is now available, it is easy to argue that racing is more about the sponsor, the automaker and the pit crew rather than the driver's skills.
Unfortunately the golden days of the Formula Vee, when races were won and lost based on the skills of the driver in a regulated car are behind us. Today it is dominated by money, sponsorships and egos. Even so, it is a fact that racing is much more popular today than it ever has been, and is possibly the most popular sport in the world. Sadly, Formula Vee's days are over, but there are other series like the Chumpcar and LeMons that are trying to launch a series that makes an attempt to expand on the Vee days, however those days are over. So, happy 50th anniversary to the Vee with the hopes that one day in the future, someone will ma ke car racing inexpensive and accessible for the masses once again.
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→50 Years of the Formula Vee
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→http://running4daisy.blogspot.com/2013/04/50-years-of-formula-vee.html
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