When did track days start?

[Voldemort]

I presume that most of the old b&w photos of men with magnificent moustaches and open wheel sports cars are taken at some form of organised motor sport event.

When did like minded heads start to hire whole circuits and airfields for fun only? When did track days start?

I went to my first in or around 2000, having picked up my Elise at the end of 99. Obviously track days were an established thing then, but were they around in the 80's, the 70's?

[GAjon]

I imagine it was the other way around. Groups of people tooling around on makeshift tracks then deciding, "let's have a race" maybe?

[sticks090460]

I did my first one with Lloyd's Motor Club at Goodwood in 1986. They had clearly been running them for many years prior to that. Used my company R5GT Turbo, which happily emerged unscathed.

[coppice]

Trackdays only took off in the 90s - before that they were very much the preserve of the few. Prior to then far more people did hillclimbs and sprints in their road cars and many of them moved on to racing .It was far easier then to stick some tape over the headlights , borrow a helmet and have a go in the A35 or Dad's Jag. No ARDS or HANS stuff back then .

Drag racing started on the street and turned into competition but racing came first - and didn't so much grow out of (rich) blokes messing around with cars and thinking 'let's race' as evolve with the car in the early part of last century . It used horse racing as its model- which is why we still have 'paddocks' of course

[anonymous-user]

I'd go with the 90's as take off, when I was younger, road rallying/navigation was a big thing did a few in My Mg in the 70's

[Voldemort]

Best claim so far - 1986. Surely...

[williamp]

I think it was the 96 club in the mid 70s

http://www.96club.co.uk/index.php/about

Prior to that, you brought a helmet,went to a track and raced!

[LotusOmega375D]

This was me mid 1990s and it wasn't a particularly new phenomenon back then.

[anonymous-user]

about 0830 or 0900 usually...

I can remember the chequered flag "96 Club" logo on litter bins around Castle Combe in the mid to late 80s so thats a good shout. Combe has also been popular with Owners Club days from that period too, I can remember bunking off school to go to the Ferrari Owners Club annual track day and make up some story about needing zip ties from Merlin so they had to let us in!

[LotusOmega375D]

Just remembered gate-crashing a Lamborghini Owners Club "Test Day" at Mallory Park on a weekday in about 1986/7. There was a brand new pearlescent white Countach QV there.

[Hol]

Mid to Late 90's for me.

Certainly before Elises, Scoobies and Evos became popular/affordable.

Lots of Fords, Peugeots and classics on track at that time.

[GC8]

Before the became popular you either had to join a 'top speed' type club, or blag your way into test days, which I did.

The problem with mixed days was the variety of cars on the track at once. Tin tops, formula cars up to and including F3, thunder saloons, various GT racers and me, in a 'Slick 50'...