Throughout the history of the Great Race, it has been a priority to encourage youth to participate, be it as a participant or part of the staff. Eventually, a special class was created for young automotive enthusiasts who wanted to pilot a vintage car in the Great Race. This class would be known as the X-Cup class, and it’s making a big comeback in the 2012 Hemmings Motor News Great Race, presented by Hagerty.

After being stored for more than 40 years, this Austin Healey will be prepped to compete in the 2012 Great Race!

One particular X-Cup team hails from Galax, Virginia, a town that hosted one of the stops during last year’s Great Race event. This small town in Southwest Virginia is home to Great Race veteran Tom Littrell, who is leading this X-Cup team. With Lane Museum as a sponsor, the Galax X-Cup team is prepping a very cool 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite racecar, which is a real world barn find, and hasn’t seen any attention since 1969. Littrell says, “I still have lots of work as the car has been dormant since 1969. Right now I believe I will not restore the body and leave as it appears.”

Here's a very cool shot of the Austin Healey during the late '60s...this car has great history!

With a car that hasn’t been raced in more than 40 years, the team has a big challenge to get it ready for the race, which is only a few months away. In Littrell’s correspondence with Great Race Director, Jeff Stumb, he passed along a photo of the car, racing in 1969, as well as a photo of the car in its current condition. Despite the tremendous amount of work to prepare the Austin Healey racer, the Galax X-Cup team plans to meet up with all of the other racers in Traverse City, Michigan for the start of the 2012 Great Race…we look forward to seeing it!