Over the past years, there have been a number of people who have come
onboard to FOT who were planning on building racecars. I wonder how much
progress they have actually made on constructing the racecars and whether the
perception that they are saving money by building a racecar from ground-up is
really true. We welcome these new enthusiasts, but I wonder how many of us
are thinking in the back of our minds that the new enthusiasts would be
better off purchasing a current racecar.
My first observation is that good used vintage racecars sell for about
50 to 75% of what it costs to build an entirely new competitive, reliable,
and safe (emphasize competitive, reliable, and safe) racecar. I am not sure
that you could purchase the parts of some of these cars for the price at
which they are being offered for sale.
My second observation is the purchasing a well sorted out used racecar
can be a much more positive introduction to racing than sorting out a newly
built car (which depending on the expertise of the builder, may be in the
paddock more than the track). The fun for some of us is driving.
Cary
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