The three “Baby Austin” brothers gathered at Sodegaura Forest Raceway
The Festival of Sideways Trophy is a celebration of historic motorcycles & four-wheelers. In the spring edition held on May 26, 2024, at Sodegaura Forest Raceway, 22 postwar “Baby Austin” 3 brothers, Austin “A30”, “A35”, and “A40”, gathered for the “Flying A Trophy”. In this issue, we introduce Mr. Takehiko Ito, who participated with his wife in their A30. We asked him how he got hooked on British historic cars.
A classic mini opened his eyes to racing old cars
The paddock at Sodegaura Forest Raceway in Chiba Prefecture, where the “Festival of Sideways Trophy,” an event recreating the golden age of motor racing, was held, was filled with a slightly different atmosphere than usual.
The “Flying A Trophy” was made possible by an enthusiast’s call to gather the three postwar “Baby Austin” brothers in Japan, the A30, A35, and A40, and 22 Austin cars from all over Japan lined up in the display area. All of them have their unique expressions and are fun to look at and compare.
Takehiko Ito, who lives in Tokyo, was there in his A30 that day. After obtaining his driver’s license, he had driven an old Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle), but he had never had much interest in historic cars.
“My senior gave me his Mini, and when I started participating in events such as historic car races and frame diagram rallies, I made more friends and got even more hooked,”
he said.
His senior colleague, Hisashi Suzuki, has been a participant in the Sideway Trophy since its early days, and has the policy that “a clubman racer drives himself to the circuit, enjoys racing, and then drives himself back home again. He has a policy of “driving to the track, enjoying the race, and returning home on his own.”
Similar to Mr. Ito, he began to enjoy historic car racing in a Mini he inherited.
He enjoys the differences between longitudinal/transverse mount and FF/FR with the same A-type engine
While enjoying historic car races such as the Sideway Trophy and the Tokyo Bayside Cup with a team called “Times Racing” that he formed with friends he met and got along well with, an accident during a race forced the Mini to undergo long-term repairs. The car was repaired for an extended period.
“We were rear-ended during the race and it caught fire. Fortunately, I was not injured, but the Mini was quite badly hurt, and repairs would take years, so we had to think about another car.”
At that time, Yuji Sengoku, a member of Times Racing and the founder of the Flying A Trophy, found this A30 at an Internet auction and recommended it to me.
The A30 that he went to pick up together was a little damaged, but he said he was lucky because it had a roll cage and a slit in the hood, making it a racing spec car.
Mr. Sengoku, who introduced me to the company, had raced with an A35, and with some sound advice based on his experience, Mr. Ito’s A30 was completed two years ago. The Mini also took several years, but the repairs were completed without incident.
“Although they have the same A-type engine, they have longitudinal and transverse mounts, and FF and FR drive systems, and the different handling characteristics are fun,”
he said.
Mr. Ito is currently enjoying the two-car setup. The A30, which also serves as the mascot car of Times Racing, as well as participating in endurance races with Mr. Sengoku, will continue to be seen in various scenes as proof of their friendship.
translated by DeepL
