Reply to "SCCA"

SCCA racing is fantastic, racing a Pantera in SCCA, not a very good idea. SCCA is real racing with real crashes! Your Pantera would be reduced to scrap in no time. My first weekend in SCCA my car (not a Pantera) was dragging behind a tow truck before the first practice session. I didn't even survive the "test day" And which class could you run in? Showroom Stock (SSB & SSC), not likely, mostly late model 4 cylinder cars. Maybe Touring (T1 & T2), this is where you'll find mostly stock late model Corvettes and Vipers, but not a 35+ old Pantera. So that leaves the GT classes, these are full on race cars with tube frames. Typically the driver with the most money wins. Also typically if you are racing GT2 or lower you're the only car in your class so is that really racing? GT1 is lucky to even have 5 cars in a race.
I did a lot of on track performance driving in the Pantera with an outfit called Track Time. And the SCCA PDX school is a good way to get some triple digit laps too, but it's not racing.
When I decided to go racing, I knew it had to be in a "real" race car. Something cheap and easy to fix and maintain. It has it's own class in SCCA and it's called a Spec Racer Ford (SRF). It's a very competitive class, typically I'm racing against 20 to 40 identical cars. A major race could have even 80 SRFs racing at once. Closed wheel, open cockpit, tube frame, replaceable three part fiberglass body, sealed engine, and all spec parts. The best driver usually wins, not the person with the most money. If you like to race with a roof over your head, then I recommend the Spec Miata class in SCCA. For more info go to http://www.scca.org/home.aspx
For more about my exploits in an SRF, go to
http://www.racerdave.com/
As far as Vintage racing, it really depends on the local club. Some of the vintage guys have way more money than brains and smashing their car or your car is no big deal. I'll try to find the link to a Vintage Race at Road America a few years ago. They destroyed over a million dollars worth of cars before the green flag even waived. Cars were plied three high! Fortunately no one was killed. Which reminds me, nobody has ever suffered a serious injury in the 20+ year history of SRF. They are one of the safest race cars ever! And you can actually rent an SRF to go racing.
Save the Pantera for a "Track Day" and go "racing" in something else.