Sorry for copying all of Team.Net, but since Jeff did, so will I. I still
welcome private responses, and have enjoyed the various dialogue I've had
privately the last few days.
Hey Jeff:
I guess that you didn't see my posting (10/5/99-8:44 AM) reply to Josh Hadler.
I agreed with him, and will agree with you that selling price doesn't
accurately reflect the total investment that Schotz, Strano, etc. have in
their car. I will also still disagree with you on your blanket comment that
"ESP is a $50k class".
My posting did have the comment that our total investment in an ESP Firebird -
everything except for gas - yes that includes title, insurance payments, as
well as parts/maintenance/tires - is less than $20k. I commented that my
assessment was that a reasonable investment and logical development should
yield a trophy winning car. This $20k car was fourth at Topeka in the hands of
my co-driver/co-developer and I managed to get a trophy. I also contended in
my posting that, when we decided to go ESP two years ago, there were only two
successful "high buck" cars (Ames and Maltby). I'll add onto that comment that
I would consider labor (which we all know is significant for the
do-it-yourself folks) to be a "freebie" (labor of love and enjoyment).
Knowing what I know now, our car could be duplicated for $12k, if someone was
willing to search for used parts and enjoys doing the work themselves.
Al Chan
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Winchell [mailto:Jeff@Winchell.Com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 7:25 PM
To: autox@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Building A Nationals Winning Car (ESP)
> Peace! I agree with your observations. Please remember that my additions to
> the thread was based on Jeff Winchell's comment that "ESP is a $50k class if
> you ask me".
Dave Shotz spent a whole lot more than the 26.5 he's selling it for. I
imagine the same is true for Sam Stano's car. Assuming you are lucky
enough to find a very good already built car, AND you want to drive that
particular car, then yes, you can spend far less than 50K in ESP for a
nationally competitive car,
OTOH, if you develop it yourself, it costs a lot, even more if you are
starting out with a car you bought new and then modified it (add more if
you don't have the skills to do the mechanical work).
Ask what Dave Shotz has paid in total for his car, or Marcus Meredith, or
John Ames' Camaro SS or the Mustang Cobra where he did an entire
engine swap (perhaps he knew how to save money on the latter since he
works for Ford).
Jeff Winchell
http://PonyCar.Net
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