Brian Blain, the founder of the Blain Motorsports Foundation, is pretty much obsessed with pre-World War I race cars, those spindly machines with giant engines that would dangerously compete for prizes, glory and, in many cases, to establish a fledgling auto manufacturer.
Blain tells us in this gorgeously filmed video, part of Hagerty’s “Why I Drive” series, that his fascination with archaic machinery was opened up decades ago when a family friend bequeathed to him an old trunk packed with early racing memorabilia.
From there, he became convinced that parking these performance relics in museums was a total waste, that they belong running and driving out in the real world for all to see.
“A race car that sits in a museum is a travesty,” Blain says.
Here, he and a group of friends take three restored antique racers out for a jaunt in the open countryside, along with his fascinating commentary about what it’s like to drive them.
