Exotic Oldies Revving Up For Race

They are pieces of machinery pampered like Thoroughbreds. For most of the year, the classic Ferraris, MGs, Lotuses, Cobras and Corvettes are housed in garages so clean they could double as operating theaters, and so private even the neighbors don't know they exist.

Once in a while, you can spot these rare and exotic cars in their natural habitat: the racetrack.

On Saturday and Sunday, Seattle International Raceway in Kent hosts the 10th Annual Pacific Northwest Historics Vintage Car Race, a benefit for Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center.

With more than 250 competitors from the West Coast and Canada - and from as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand - the event is a rare opportunity to watch pre-1970 cars race wheel-to-wheel.

Business luminaries such as cellular-phone magnate Bruce McCaw, former Microsoft President Jon Shirley, and Frank Pritt, Attachmate chief executive, plan to drive their own race cars. Another big-time car collector, Patrick Hart of Hart Properties in Redmond, will watch others drive his cars.

The unique marriage of charity and vintage-car racing is the brainchild of husband-and-wife racing team Tom and Susan Armstrong. He is the retired owner and president of Ridgeway Packaging.

As a member of the Children's Hospital Foundation board, Susan Armstrong wanted to tap into the resources of car enthusiasts. In 1990, she helped establish the Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts Guild of Children's Hospital to turn the annual race into a charity event.

To raise even more money for the hospital, the Armstrongs, along with car dealer Phil Smart Jr., began the International Race of Executives. For a donation of $10,000 or more, executives receive a day of driving lessons and careen around the raceway. The fourth-annual executive race, which is not open to the public, takes place tomorrow.

Last year's races raised $275,000 for a Children's Hospital program that helps youngsters who cannot afford treatment. This year's goal is $300,000. Tickets, sponsorships and souvenir sales make the races one of the hospital's biggest fund-raisers.

Both Armstrongs plan to participate in the vintage-car races this weekend. The couple is hooked on the adrenaline rush, the thunder of raw horsepower.

"I'm always shocked at how thrilled I am driving," Susan Armstrong said. "It's a sort of high that is unbelievable."

This is her sixth season behind the wheel of her 1963 Corvette, although she's been accompanying her husband to vintage races for years. He drives several sports cars, including a Corvette, an Indy race car and a 1969 Lola Can-Am.

"When Susan started driving, I was so used to her being my crew chief that the first race I was in afterward, I ran out of fuel," he recalled.

For several years the Armstrongs raced cars with McCaw, who is the undisputed dean of the Northwest car clique.

McCaw began racing at Seattle International Raceway more than 30 years ago, still owns his first true race car, a 1963 Elva Mk.7, and plans to drive it Saturday.

It's not the danger that attracts McCaw. In more than three decades, he has never been in a serious wreck. Rather, it's the split-second decisions a driver must make to keep from smashing into the wall or coming in last.

"At a young age, I read a lot on the theory of driving - the art of driving a car quickly and well. I always thought it was a great discipline," he said.

When McCaw takes the steering wheel, it's just for fun. When he's in the pits, it's all business. McCaw owns the PacWest Racing Group, which races cars at the Indianapolis 500 and other tracks around the country.

Hart's interest in cars began with drag-racing in high school. Then came amateur stock-car racing. Hart later became a semi-pro driver before turning to real-estate. But his affection for fast cars grew deeper.

Today, his Redmond office looks like a showroom, with rare BMWs rubbing fenders with MGs, Jaguars and Ferraris. The collection numbers about 30 cars, depending on what's in the shop. Hart has never bothered to count the hundreds of toy cars that have taken over his desk and shelves.

What's it all worth? Hart only shrugs. Forget about the money. We're talking love.

Pritt is a relative newcomer to the gang. He got the racing bug about three years ago after buying a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300. Today, he participates in road rallies around the globe.

"Before I started, I thought that any daredevil could do it, but that is not the case - there are more skills than guts involved," said Pritt, who also races a 1956 Jaguar D Type.

"It's my escape from the business world. As soon as you're out there and rev your engine, you can feel the excitement."

For former Microsoft president and board member Shirley, collecting rare cars is a lot like his other hobby, fine art.

There is the hunt for that coveted piece, the dream of finding a seller who doesn't realize the worth of his possession. There are careful negotiations and schmoozing.

And there are the envious looks of competitors as Shirley takes home another first-place ribbon from a car show.

Shirley's nine Ferraris have a special place in his collection. There are several rarities, including a 1960 Ferrari California Spyder, one of only seven built. He also owns a couple of Mercedes Benz 300 SCs, a 1965 Shelby Cobra and a 1960 Lotus 18.

There is only one sport-utility vehicle in the immaculate Bellevue garage that houses most of Shirley's collection, a boxy behemoth that resembles a Hummer.

"Oh, that's not a Hummer. That's a Lamborghini," Shirley pointed out. ------------------------------- Vintage Car Race

The 10th Annual Pacific Northwest Historics Vintage Car Race at Seattle International Raceway in Kent begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. Racing continues until 5 p.m. both days. Adult tickets are $15 a day, $20 for both days; tickets for children ages 7 to 16 are $5 a day, $8 for both days; children 6 and under get in free. All proceeds benefit Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center.