Northern Pacific Division SCCA Formula B 1966

The only Formula A car to appear in this new division was Bub Ehrlich's Grizzly Torque Special. According to research by Vernon Williamson and Dick Willis, this car began life as a Formula Junior Ausper Type 3 raced in the UK in 1962 by American Roy Pike before he sold it to William Webb in Arizona in 1963. The car was crashed at some point and was rebuilt by Irv Dixon at his Grizzly Engineering in Folsom, CA. Dixon fitted a 3-litre Ford V8 engine of some description for the SCCA's new Formula A and the car, dubbed the 'Grizzly Torque Special', was raced in 1966 and 1967 by Harold 'Bub' Ehrlich.

One Divisional race - or at least one finish - was sufficient to secure an invitation to the Runoffs. The car is also said to have won the Pacific Coast title in 1966 which may have been a inter-regional one-off race in 1966, as it had been in 1965.

Final standings

1966 Schedule

Northern Pacific Division sources

Most of our knowledge of NorPac racing comes from the SCCA's Sports Car magazine, from Competition Press & Autoweek and from an extensive collection of San Francisco Region's The Wheel newsletter from 1971 onwards. We are very keen to acquire or borrow 1960s, 1970s and 1980s copies of all three of the main SCCA regional publications in this division:

• The Wheel (San Francisco Region)
• Northwest Sports Car News (Northwest Region)
• Loud Pedal (Oregon Region)

We are also keen to get scans of entry lists from SCCA Nationals, notably the Laguna Seca Sprints and the Rose Cup Races.