I think we have been down this track before, particularly with commission members! The $240 cost is the new rate for a CoD.

Don't get me wrong, we don't need another form as such, but the point is that the CoD has been increasingly worthless for us, increasingly valuable for HMC and historic single seaters and cars that conform to Schedule K.

The 14 page COD system is fine when the clutch diameter is important, but not for the majority of road cars.

Getting original bits for many 40+ year old cars is getting increasingly difficult, or even 25+, especially exterior and interior trim. Although the H & Commission have slackened off in many respects, there are still a few too many issues in a series such as ours, to make conformity mandatory, so we tend to invoke the "Spirit of the Series" clause and it works well. The fact that 95% of our cars may well conform doesn't really explain why only 15% have bothered to get a COD.

Put quite simply, if you could wander down to your local scrapyard and get a decent front bumper, wing or radiator grille or the chrome trim, for reasonable money, you would. But you can't. So if you decide to hide your increasingly expensive bits under the bench and fit either fibreglass replacements or even nothing at all, why wouldn't you? Better to have cars out on the track racing than hidden in garages as they are now deemed too expensive to risk.

Who is going to pay the $600 a side for your scarce chrome trims, easily damaged on the track? The guy who leans on you who or who has a bit of brake or brain fade? I don't think so.

Why is original window winding mechanism so important? What is a thoroughbred car? (T & C implies "Thoroughbred & Classic", but no one has yet decided what constitutes a thoroughbred - and I am not going to try either.)

All these issues including performance modifications are dealt with. It is called handicap racing, as we accept there is no such thing as a level playing field. Others use that tired old cliche when they really need to stand back and smell the roses and accept that a 1500cc Alfa Sud fitted with an engine from an Alfa 33 still isn't going to beat Racing Ray Williams, Tony Roberts, Derek Atkinson, Neil Tolich, Mike Sexton or Bruce Manon, no matter how hard they try.

Sensible racers know that sooner or later you are going to get panel damage, whether you drive sensibly or not. Rubbing door handles and ripping off mirrors may be OK for big budget Aussie V8s, but is not OK if you are running a TVR, Renault Gordini, Fiat 128, Mk 7 Jaguar, '65 Zephyr or these days, even an Alfa Sud.

For T & C to be valid, it has to differentiate sufficiently between Schedule K and what the drivers actually want - not that that is an easy task either.

Our rules work for us and I presume that our drivers are happy enough as I don't get them pestering me to change the rules, even though ocasionally, some have grizzled when we had to move forwards and accept that pre 1977 and run ons is no longer viable for us. We have had to allow in later cars - or fade away - and we still don't have over full grids.