A SPIRIT Honda that was one of only four made in 1982 is among a fleet of historic cars racing at Morgan Park Raceway today.

Chris Farrell won his race in the rare model today, which was Honda's entry into Formula 1 racing in the 1980s.

Mr Farrell said the car had undergone a comprehensive rebuild but was still in authentic condition, including boasting ground effects that were banned from racing because they enabled the cars to drive too quickly.

"You have to be quick but careful, we like to drive as fast as we can so the spectators can see how they used to run," Mr Farrell said.

Reaching speeds of about 250km/hr, Mr Farrell said the car had great corner speed and a lot of down force, which allowed it to take the turns quickly.

Run by the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland, the Autumn Historic Warwick meeting has drawn 153 entries from owners of historic sports cars, sports sedans and touring cars.

Club vice-president Peter Walsh said the aim was to honour the history of racing cars.

"We try to retain the atmosphere of the time and there's no prize money," he said.

"It's all about fun and keeping the history of the car and using them the way they were meant to be used."

Mr Walsh said many competitors drove cars that were popular in their youth.

"Pretty much everyone has some nostalgia in them, a lot of us gravitate towards the cars from when we were getting our licences," he said.

Hailing from the Gold Coast, Mr Farrell has not missed a historic race meeting in about 20 years.

He said he enjoyed catching up with like-minded racing enthusiasts.

"Even though a lot of us are old, we still like to beat each other, the competitiveness is still there," he said.

This weekend's race meeting was a precursor to the July race meeting, held on 14-15.