The Ring Free Car

Car constructed

Built as a Healey factory prototype for the 1968 Le Mans 24 Hours and designated chassis #238, the car was not completed in time for the race. The factory team instead modified and re-entered the prior 1967 chassis. Shortly after Le Mans, BMC withdrew all racing funding and chassis #238 — fully finished — was sold to Jim Baker Racing in the USA. Baker Racing had a longstanding relationship with Donald and Geoff Healey and Clive Baker, the Healey Factory driver, having acquired several of their earlier prototypes over the preceding years.

Chassis #238 being built in the Healey Factory, Warwick, 1968.

Healey/Baker letter for sale of both #238 and #250 (TFR7)

Shipping tags for #238.

Competition debut — Sebring & Watkins Glen

Chassis #238 made its competition debut at the 1969 Sebring 12 Hours on March 22, entered by Jim Baker Racing as car No. 71. Drivers Jim Baker, Paul Richards, and Clive Baker — the Healey factory driver — started 48th and finished 20th overall, 5th in the P2.0 class, under Ring Free Motor Oil sponsorship. Later that year, on July 12, the car ran as No. 73 at the Watkins Glen 6 Hours with Paul Richards and Jim Baker sharing duties, starting 26th before a disqualification after 5 laps ended the day early.

Sebring 12 Hours — March 22, 1969

Watkins Glen 6 Hours — July 12, 1969

Daytona 24 Hours

Six weeks before Sebring, chassis #238 ran the Daytona 24 Hours on February 1 as No. 73, entered by Ring Free Racing Team with Bobby Rinzler and Charles Reynolds sharing duties. Starting 47th, the car ran strongly before a head gasket failure ended the race at lap 178 of 724.

Sebring 12 Hours — Class Victory

The car's defining moment came at the 1970 Sebring 12 Hours on March 21, entered as the Ring Free Racing Team. Running as No. 73, the all-women driver lineup of Janet Guthrie, Rosemary Smith, and Judy Kondratiff started 50th and drove a measured, consistent race to finish 19th overall and take 1st in the P2.0 class — one of the most celebrated results in the history of women's motorsport. The win drew national attention and cemented Janet Guthrie's reputation as one of the most capable racing drivers of her generation.

SCCA Club Racing

Following its international campaign, chassis #238 passed into active SCCA club racing.

1971 — Dale Kreider, No. 78 (Ring Free blue & orange)

• —Aug 1, 1971 — Daytona SCCA: 1st in CSR. Also ran the Whiteman Trophy race, finishing 3rd in CSR.
• —1971 Road Race of Champions, Daytona: competed twice.
• —1971 ARRC National Runoffs, Road Atlanta: 9th in CSR.

1972–1974 — Mandy Alvarez, SCCA Florida Region (log book 11-185, CSR)

Three successive liveries: No. 27 in white with blue and red stripes; No. 22 in blue with a gold stripe; No. 22 in red with a yellow stripe.

• —Nov 11, 1972 — Palm Beach, SCCA Drivers School.
• —Dec 2, 1972 — Lakeland Frostbite.
• —Apr 14, 1973 — Palm Beach Regional.
• —c.1973 — Sebring National. Tech flagged the front fenders.
• —Mar 17, 1974 — Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR).

January 1975 — Juan Montalvo

• —Jan 11, 1975 — PBIR. Log book entry unsigned.

March 1975–1976 — Phil Francis, No. 22 in red. All at PBIR.

• —Apr 5–6, May 18, Jun 28–29, Jul 26–27, Aug 23–24, 1975.
• —Feb 21, 1976 — National, signed by Tom Nowling.
• —Apr 3–4, 1976 — final entry in the original log book.

Later private ownership — Dan Miller & C. Hensel

After 1976 the car passed through two private owners — Dan Miller, who did not race it, and C. Hensel — before being acquired by its current custodian. The log book records the transfer from Hensel.

April 27, 2006 – Present — Steve Coleman, No. 73 (SVRA log book 3174)

Returned to competition fully restored in the correct Ring Free blue and orange livery and original race number. Campaigned under SVRA and CVAR sanction.

• —Mar 2010 — SVRA Sebring 12 Hour: 1st in class in the endurance race, forty years after the 1970 class victory on the same circuit.
• —Nov 5–6, 2010 — CVAR at Texas World Speedway.
• —May 20–22, 2011 — CVAR Marvelous May British Feature, Eagles Canyon Raceway. Clive Baker drove the car in practice. On Sunday, Group 4 Race 4: David Healey finished 5th overall and 1st in CSR — 0.02 seconds ahead of Sam Healey in TFR7.

Notable connections

• —The car returned to Sebring in March 2010 under SVRA sanction — forty years after the 1970 class victory — and won its class again, competing during the Sebring 12 Hour pro race weekend in front of several hundred thousand spectators.
• —Clive Baker — Healey factory driver and co-driver at the 1969 Sebring 12 Hours — returned to drive chassis #238 in competition, including practice at Eagles Canyon in May 2011.
• —David Healey and Sam Healey, descendants of Donald Healey, both competed in the same event at Eagles Canyon in May 2011 — David finishing 1st in CSR, 0.02 seconds ahead of Sam.
• —CVAR (Central Vintage Auto Racing) has been the primary sanctioning body for recent competition history, with events at Texas World Speedway and Eagles Canyon Raceway.