I think that you bring up a very good point, Cary, and,while I do agree, to an
extent, I simply do not have $18,000 to spend on an existing race car. As for
myself, I have been building and rebuilding TR3's, TR4's, MGB's, etc for much
of the last 30 years and I do have confidence in my own abilities. Others
almost certainly do not have that experience (as I admit that I do not have
the actual automobile racing experience, myself). But, regardless of the
level of preparation of the car, it will need pretty much constant attention
to details. I raced motorcycles for many years and I know that even a pure
racing machine that is set up and is competitive must be constantly rebuilt
and checked.
I have looked at a few existing race cars and many of them would have needed a
lot of updating (especially in the areas of rollbars, suspension and brakes).
Look at what Tim Suddard has been doing with his TR3. A car that was legal
and competitive 10 or 15 or 25 years ago might not meet either personal or
sanctioning body standards for safety now.
I looked very seriously at a current SCCA legal MGB (with 14.5:1 compression -
imagine that!) and, even though that car was being raced even last year, it
did need a lot of work to make into a vintage race car.
I really want to race but I want to be as safe as possible while doing it. I
must also admit that my personal situation also includes a friend who will be
obtaining most of the pure racing parts that I need (seat, fuel cell, brake
parts, fire suppression, driving suit, helmet, etc.) at wholesale cost and
that certainly is not the case for most others.
So, I freely admit that I very well might be taking the wrong approach, but
this is the path I have chosen for myself and I will be the first to admit it
publicly if I believe that I have made a mistake. Building their own race car
would probably be a serious mistake for most of the people out there, but we
all have to make decisions about our sport based on our own experience,
knowledge and financial situation. I wish that I could spend the money for a
well-sorted car and for a mechanic to maintain it, but that will never happen.
I know that most of you on the FOT list have been racing for many years and
that you have knowledge and experience that I will probably never have. I am
in awe of that knowledge and experience and I am, to be honest, a bit jealous
that I have never been able to do this until so late in my life, but I will
try my best to do a good job and I hope that I never am the cause of a problem
for anyone else. I might ask dumb questions from time to time, and I ask the
indulgence of everyone while I am in the process of building the car.
One of the reasons that I decided to build my own car is the help that I have
already gotten from many of the members on the FOT list. You guys have been
really great and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help and advice.
That willingness to help others, like Jack Drews at IRP last weekend, is just
one of the intangible things that make vintage racing such a wonderful
experience. You guys seem more than willing to help someone who will be
competing against you and that sort of selflessness is very rare. I only hope
that I can live up to your standards and that I can help others in the
future.
Mike Rose
----- Original Message -----
From: EISANDIEGO@aol.com
To: lytspeed@wcnet.org ; fot@autox.team.net
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 10:50 AM
Subject: Build New Costs vs. Purchasing Existing New Car
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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