How did you buy your car?

[Dano]

OK, here’s the question, racecars cost money some cost LOTS of money so how did you pay for your car?

Did you skimp and save till the number in the bank matched the number in the ad?
Did you take out some kind of personal loan and then tell the wife “well I don’t play golf so it’s ok”?
Did you borrow money from a friend/relative/spouse to purchase the machine of your dreams?
Did you go in halfsies with a friend (and are fully prepared to be his bitch if you wad it up into a ball) to share the seat time?
Did you buy a basket case and fix it yourself knowing that it will end up costing you almost double but it happens over time so it will not hurt so badly?
Did you snipe it on eBay?
Did you start with a “cheap” car and then buy progressively more expensive cars?
Did you point to a glossy picture in a brochure and say “Dad, I want this one”?


Thanks for your input

PS. The last one is not an option for me

[carnut169]

Save your $$, then buy a car.

Unfortunate fact is that buying a car puts you in a position to really start spending $$! I would not want to go into debt buying something like a race car. Tires, fuel, fees, upgrades, broken bits/ crash damage... I've spent 20x the purchase price of the car since buying it.

I would stay away from the basket-case cars. You will spend more than its worth getting it race-ready, and will probably have a less than competitive car even when its done.

I would also try to avoid 'sharing' a car... you will risk losing a friendship (never mix friends & money).

Ebay is fine as long as the car is inspected prior to purchase, but if/ when I buy a new car it will be from someone that I know/ or know of, that has a recent history. Plently of good cars posted right here!

Good luck.

[oh2winindy]

We had a $10,000 CD in the bank and took a loan off of that. Then when the loan was repaid (or is repaid) we will still have the CD.

My advice on buying the car is to try to find someone that knows alot about them and take them with you. I did not, and did not catch some stuff when I bought it that I should have known about. It ended up costing me a little more than what I paid to just get it track ready when it was supposed to be track ready when I bought it.

Not to be discouraging, but when someone tells you to multiply your budget by 3, they are correct. There are some ways to lessen the costs though. Lynne and I bought a conversion van instead of a truck to tow our car, and we sleep in it at the track. Saves $100-$200 a weekend just in motel costs. Bring your own food instead of eating out. Saves money and 90% of the time someone is grilling out and partying after the races. Look for take offs!!! We save a ton of money buying used good condition tires over new ones. Prepair the car before you go to the track. Make sure everything is right, and then make sure again. If something breaks at the track that could have been prevented with proper maintanence, that is just money out of your pocket.

Most people will disagree, but I wanted to race so bad, I would have beg borrowed but not stole to go racing. It takes diciplin. Lynne and I eat mac and cheese at home instead of steak. We drink water instead of wine, but it is worth it.

One more thing. Older cars are great!!! We did drivers school in February, and I found my 89 Reynard really easy to drive, and VERY forgiving (and fast ). They are a little more hardy when it comes to things like suspension bits and things like that.

Goodluck!!!!!

[Keith Carter]

Did you go in halfsies with a friend (and are fully prepared to be his bitch if you wad it up into a ball) to share the seat time?

Did you start a “cheap” car and then buy progressively more expensive cars?

This is what we did... Once I graduated college, my Dad, brother and I decided to split the car 3 ways. We started out with a 90 Reynard (in 2000) that needed some TLC and had a tired motor. We weren't the fastest of the group, but at least we were racing. It would be a shame to burn through a hot motor while going through the learning curve and putting endless miles on it just trying to get seat time. We've since had a '94 VanDiemen and now our '99 VanDiemen. We've upgraded over time to get newer cars when money could be built up between cars. Don't blow all your dough on a car unless you plan on just looking at it in your garage (which I think sometimes my dad would be happy with). Once the car is done, it adds up fast with all the little 'extras' that are needed to get it on the track.

[Bill Hetzel]

I didn't have a CD in the bank so, I walked into a Reno casino, won $9,000 on a slot machine, walked out of the casino and drove immeadiately to the Featherlite dealer and paid cash for a new enclosed trailer. Then, I started looking for my Crossle.
Wish I could do that again.

[Bob Coury]

Back in the 70's I owned an Opel GT. I got run off the road by an uncoming driver ithat crept into my lane, and rolled the car over in a ditch. It was declared a total loss, and just needed a lot of bondo. Being young and stupid, and having access to body shop equipment, I took the insurance money, purchased the car back for a few hundred dollars and fixed it up. But before it was repaired, $1800 or $2200 of the insurance $ (Can't remeber the total) was used to purchase a Hawke DL-2A FF.

[onlyincanada]

I started out in a car with fenders. Spent a few years learning the "race craft" in a SPEC RX7 where the cars are all the same, have cheap replaceable fenders and bumpers, learned to control the "red mist" of competition.
In some of these spec classes you are racing competitvly with a $5000.00 investment, dont have to worry about trailers, drive it to the track or even just a car dolly. It teaches you about conservation of momentum and the racecraft and "rules" of competition.
Once I felt comfortable with that side, sold the car, for what I bought it for, and went looking for a proper race car.
Asked a lot of questions about best classes, costs etc ,connected up with guys localy who specialize in the chosen class. They were a great influence based on their years of experience and they started pointing me in directions.
Bought an older well prepared car from someone who is here on the board often ( thanks Brian Graham) and have been smiling since.

[TimW]

I had a Miata that I only drove for fun (the Chicago 'el is my primary car) which I flipped, took the proceeds which paid for the roller DB6. Then rebuilt it & bought the parts at a pace that I could afford to pay for them without dipping into (nor increasing either) savings.

Good thing is the Miata was sold to a friend, not his daily driver and will sell it back once I have this racing nonsense out of my system (again).

Tim

[Purple Frog]

During the "restart" of my lame career, in 1998 I borrowed from family at 6%, 1/2 of what was needed to buy the first car . Paid it back in 15 months.

Those of you that have followed this site the last 5 years know I keep a running total of all costs. So... for those keeping score... since 1998 I'm averaging $11,257 per year, or better stated; $1,459.26 per race. Averaging about 7 races per year.

I doubt there are many that are actively campaigning that are doing it for less. To keep costs that low requires cost cutting measures such as a lot of nights sleeping in the trailer, many extra cycles on tires, and doing my own engine refreshes.

I could not have done so much without the volunteer help of the world's greatest crew, free advice from some of the greatest racers, and this fantastic resource of a website.

Of the $78,800 I've spent so far, only about $19,000 has been used to actually purchase race cars (3). It becomes pretty obvious that buying the racecar is only about 25% of the cost of racing.

My advice to all newbies is always to prepare a realistic budget (then probably at least double it ) before you step off into the deep end.

Do not fool yourself into thinking a race car is an investment, or that you will get some decent return if you decide to sell. It's better to accept the fact that in a blink of the eye it may be a total writeoff. If you are comfortable with that reality, proceed, if not...OSB.

OBTW, I have yet to think of anything else I could have done with that amount of money that would have been as rewarding.

Your mileage may vary.

[oh2winindy]

I did forget to mention that the $10,000 cd was all the retirement money I had... so I will be digging ditches when I am 70, but racing at 30 somthing (unless Chip or Roger are looking then I am only 17 )

[Steve Demeter]

Emptied my bank account and borrowed on the paid up life insurance policy that I had.
That was the first car.

For the second car, emptied bank account again and then got an advance on my salary from a very understanding employer.

Point is that if you wanna do this racing thing, you gotta make some sacrafices.

But it's wrth every penny of it

[Marshall Mauney]

Emptied my bank account and borrowed on the paid up life insurance policy that I had.
That was the first car.

First car - I took out a loan from my 401-K. [Thankfully, the market crashed shortly thereafter, so I actually ended up better off than if I'd left the money in the market. Luck is far more reliable than skill....]

Second car - paid cash from a bonus check, as I will for any and all future track cars.

[JHaydon]

A combination of all of the above...

Skimping and saving has been the primary method for me -- it's amazing what I can do without in order to go racing! (Confession time... when I was building my first race car, I was literally living on bread that the local soup kitchen had thrown out.)

I also "worked my way up" from a junkyard ITB car to an FV to a CFF. The FV was actually sold for money; the ITB car was returned to the junkyard, so that really doesn't count financially. It did teach me a lot about racecars and racing.

I did borrow some money for the CFF, but managed to get it paid off (through the sale of the FV) before the car ever hit the track. I was prepared to postpone my season till the loan was paid, but I got lucky that the FV sold when it did. I hate debt, and the thought of wrecking something and still having to pay for it really frightens me. (Also the reason why I drive an old truck on the street.)

I sort of went in with a friend on this car -- I sold off a LOT of the spares (amounting to almost an entire car) to reduce my actual cost.

I built the ITB car into something resembling a race car. It was running when I got it... and it was a learning experience... that's about all I can say for it. The CFF was in the middle of being restored, but the seller wanted to sell it as a running car. He generously assembled it with a little "sweat equity" from me. The financial cost can be much bigger than the cost of a running car, but I still think that what you learn about your car can be invaluable.

A generous birthday gift was the "seed money" for the FV. I'm not so good at putting money away, but having a bit in the bank is a big inspiration for me.

Regarding Ebay, BE CAREFUL to know exactly what you are looking for, what you are looking at, and what you should get with the car. If you have any doubts, ask someone who has owned several race cars and is familiar with paperwork requirements, rules of various classes, etc.

[rickjohnson356]

I disagree about buying a basket case--my prefered way to do things---more later in this post.

Started with a $1500 Beach FV (1969)- paid cash. did autocross for 2 yrs, did very well (1970 atl region champ). Went 'big time' real racing--- was at the back of the pack a lot of times!! did my own motors etc. Sold the fv and a street car (1964 356SC) to buy a FSV (type 3 motor)--big mistake, not a wise move. FSV rolled into a ball at rd atl, turn 12. Porsche would be worth $25,000 today!

Bought Elden FF for $2600, raced it 1 time, rented it one time for $800, sold it for $3900.

Bought Zink FV,raced upper middle-of-the-pack (6th out of 20). had kids, sold car.
many years later, bought Crossle 45 for $9500 cash. raced several times, rented once for $1250, sold as roller for $7000. kept motor with broken cam & oil pump.

Most recent acquisition: Crossle 35 roller basket case for $3500 (used my bonus pay): came with plated suspension in great shape, new fuel cell, extra noses, mark 9 trans with extra gears (look like autox stump pullers), all major pieces for rebuild, 7 revolution wheels. Need to buy: new master cyls, narrow nose radiator (on the way), new style under-cowl exhaust. Extras came for 'free': block, head, new cam, oil pump, misc other. I will keep a log of $ and time spent to see what the total is just for grins.

I am a tinkerer. By building the car from scratch I know that the parts are good because I refuse to put junk on the car with my life at stake. I know that the brake calipers have been rebuilt and won't fail. I know that the master cyl are new etc etc.
When (not if) something is not working properly I should be able to diagnose it more quickly and fix it more quickly than if I just got in someone else's prepped car and drove.

Have had pickup trucks for towing. Purchased f350 3 yrs ago it is approaching being paid off. Have been using a friends open trailer for towing. Am selling a street car to buy enclosed trailer (used). when the car is together, I should have the truck & trailer paid for as well as the car. So only expense will be for maintenance & entry fees. It has taken many years to of biting my tongue & being cheap (no fancy vacations, no big screen tv...) to get here but it will be worth it, even if i am in the middle of the pack. At least i will be on the right side of the fence again for a change!

[JHaydon]

I am a tinkerer. By building the car from scratch I know that the parts are good because I refuse to put junk on the car with my life at stake. I know that the brake calipers have been rebuilt and won't fail. I know that the master cyl are new etc etc.
When (not if) something is not working properly I should be able to diagnose it more quickly and fix it more quickly than if I just got in someone else's prepped car and drove.

Amen brother!!

It's kind of discouraging to see people at the track who have no idea how to fix the car they just bought, putting it on the trailer because of something that may have been fixable. (Not saying I'm a great mechanic -- I'm not! )

Familiarity with your race car is very very valuable, and priceless if you don't have a crew there to diagnose / fix it for you.

[Thomas Copeland]

I managed to obtain the funds in one fiendish blast of overtime that lasted a little more than 2 months. Since I work contract I get the OT. I was working 80-90 hours or more a week until I nearly became dizzy from it. All with one goal...to buy the car. Glad I did it then because now I doubt I could.

Start small. In April 2000 paid $17,500 for a 94/95 VD with an open trailer. Had to stretch to get that. Use to rent a Uhaul truck so I could it tow to the races. All my support stuff was piled in the back. Slowly started acquiring the remaining bits of the operation through other even more fiendish blasts of OT. The enclosed trailer was next because I was sick of having to park the open trailer up on "trailer hill" while all my stuff was scattered loosely around the paddock.(They let you keep an enclosed trailer in the paddock out here but not an open one). The RV was next, then the new 00/01 VD car (after selling the old 94). Year after year just accumulating more and more stuff. The stuff I get is almost always used to save cost. It's going to get beat up anyway. The 20' TPD was $6500. bought that in 2001. The 1989 Winnie I bought in 2001 was $11,000. Luxury it ain't. Practial it is.

Either way good lucksaving those pennies. I use to throw mine out. Not anymore.

[Bob Wright]

Dano-

There's a pattern and a passion that shows up loud and clear from reading the above posts...I've always said its not a sport, its an addiction that causes us to do things we wouldn't otherwise even dream of.

You are asking all the right questions and there is more than one right answer. If the passion truely burns, you'll do whichever gets you the car faster.

I, too, started in fendered cars and changed to formula ford immediately (bought a Crossle 32 sight unseen the next day...) after I took a Skippy School in a FF. My experience says the small formula cars are cheaper to race, easier to fix and way more fun (but I'm biased).

Once you identify the car you want and can afford, if it is a FC or a FF, it is most likely somebody on this site knows it and can tell you it's history. That, and taking someone with you when you buy it should make the experience reasonably painless.

[formulasuper]

I sold my 1978 Cessna 172 that I had scraped & saved for all my life to buy my first F440, trailer & tow vehicle, couldn't afford to fly & race both! Turns out racing is much more fun for the money.

[Jeff Owens]

Great stories. Here we go.

Found a car (RF-91 FC) through word of mouth. Apart, but rebuild started. Freshly powder coated frame, Fresh Penskes and one fresh engine from Butler. Body work in good shape, but sanded down and not finished.

Just in time Tax money came in, Thank you Mary Kay. Took out a small loan. Loan paid off, thank you to the crazy realestate market here in Northern VA and central MD. I could not buy my own house now. There is that luck mentioned before.

I traded my '73 MGB (overdrive) that needed to be restored for a 20 ft. pace from the owner of the car. He had a MGA and wanted the B to fix for his son (Glad it started) The trailer needed Paint as did the car. Thanks to a correctional facility, one very talented inmate, and $2000 dollars the car and trailer look great!!!!!

All purchases to complete the car have been with Bonus Checks and pinching pennies. It has been almost a year and by the end of May I should be finshed. The car will be right as it has new hardware, rodends, R&P, etc.

Most have all, you need patience. This has been a long year and I am itching, but the finsh line is in site. I also have avery understanding wife who wants me to live my dream!!! Oh yeah, this site has been of great help as have many of others!!!!!!!

Good Luck!!!!

[Keith Carter]

Great stories. Here we go.

Thanks to a correctional facility, one very talented inmate, and $2000 dollars the car and trailer look great!!!!!

That line somehow amused me. How do we find out about these types of programs?

[MarkM]

I have been blessed with a good career, so I was able to buy my car without doing anything crazy. This has been a lifelong dream for me, starting with a 3 day Skippy school 22 years ago. I proceeded to do nothing with racing for 20 years. Then, I went back to Skippy, did the school and several race weekends. Then I put y money down and waited patiently for 16 months for my F/SCCA to be shipped. I have done 3 race weekends so far and (hopefully this doesn't sound too shallow) those have been the best weekends of my life. I use an open trailer (enclosed is on "The List""), and I try to watch my pennies.

Yes, it is expensive... and a drug. But at least once or twice on a race weekend I look around and think "Wow, I finally got here.". I try to savor the experience, whether it is sweat pouring down my face sitting on the grid, trying to be flat in spots where "The Others" are..and my testicles say NO, or doing a good job of getting one of those rocketship Atlantics around me without slowing him down. I love the whole thing.

[Dano]

Guys,

This is fantastic! Thank you so much for the time you have taken to bestow your advice, stories and well wishes. I have enjoyed reading every one, as I hope others have also. It has been quite inspirational to read some of the sacrifices that have been made to satisfy this addiction.

Well I’m off to pinch some pennies and score me some Mac&Cheese

[racer27]

Always been an open wheel fan. Then one day at work, Nortel was sponsering contest to give away a BMW Z3. I futfulled the requirements, won the car, but being management could not keep it. I convinced Nortel to give me a 3 day Skippy Cetificate instead. I did my 3 day class & Sebring FLA. A couple years later I was given by one of our vendors a Certificate for a 1 day Skippy Course. Took that one at LRP. Fire was re-lit.

That year, I aquired a 1980, Fiat Spider Turbo Convertable from a tenent who did not pay thier rent. Car had a bush growing in the trunk. Car only had 27K mikes on it, I restored it, it really cleaned up great (I Miss that car). I autocrossed that car successufuly with Westchester Sports Car Club. I also joined my local FIAT Lancia Club (FLU). With FLU we had an Italian Concourse at LRP, where at lunch time were were allowed to drive the car on the Track. Driving was very spirtied. Then and there I decided that I was going to give up AutoX & go road racing. The FIAT would of cost too much money to make trackable and it was too pretty to put a roll bar on.

Research showed that Formula cars were safer, easier to maintain and suprisily inexpensive to purchase. Once I determined bulk of racing would be with RCCA & FPR, I settled on FF, as I really did not want to deal with Wings & Diffusurs.

Fiat got sold, for $6000. Sharted shopping for cars. Sat in about 5, when I settled on a VD RF-85. With a very nice open trailer, it cost me $7250. Car was already legal for RCCA. Other then changing seat, doing an alignment and changing out some hardware, we went racing as is. The"Mistress" has never let us down, reliability-wise. We spend alot of time doing the prep ourselves, keeping cost low and helping me learn what is required as well as allowing me to build confidiance.

As we got faster, in subsequent years we did motor, lighter wheels, body work, etc. Probably very easily spent 1.5 times the purchase price over the next 4 years.

For tow vech, we got lucky, picked up a 2 year old Conversion can, w/75K miles for $9,000 cash. Next year, I'll do the same as they get turned in by the executives where I work, who use these things as chufour driven rolling offices.

FF's have been selling between 5K-8K, expect to spend at least $1500 on gear 1st year Get an Head & Neck restraint, day one, if you can afford it.

Looks like you are in CT... I have access to a list Former RCCA cars in NY, NJ, CT, PA area that are for sale. Send me an Email and I'll pass that info on.

I pesonally don't reccommend buying a basket case. A runner is alwasy best. I also don't recommend taking out a loan, as you have to assume anytime you take the car out on track, you expect to write it off. Nothing worse then having to make payments on someting you don't have any more. My crew chief always says, if you can't afford to push it off a cliff, you should not be racing it".

[LolaT440]

Buy the best you can. Expect something to be wrong. I spent 7.5 and am into the car over 10K and still not done. I think I would have been better buying a 15K car. But I was scared to spent 15K and find I needed to put 3K into it or something. They always need something.

I would buy with someone along who is knowledgable about the cars, RULES and models.

I would want to know information on:
Who buillt the motor and when.
What was replaced. How old are the current valvetrain parts etc...

When were the hydraulics last rebuilt? check the fluids.
Good tires?
How much Bondo in the body work?
What quality Bolts and rod ends
What quality shocks?
How much frame repair has been done?
What gears are in the car?
Spares.
I personally would not borrow anything to go racing. Save it. I would hate to borrow money and then total the thing, still owing the money on a pile of scrap metal.

[FC63F]

Lots of good advice here on buying - assume even if you buy a real peach of a car that you will have to put another 20% in the car. Why - to the extent possible the entire car should be dissasembled (i.e. engine, trans, suspension brakes etc) so that every fastener and rod end can be inspected and every part can be carefully inspected for cracks, repairs etc. There will be for sure some surprises that neither you or the previous owner expected. Most owners who sell a car know it in advance and may unconsciously begin to short some maintence and inspections which may hide some issues. You will also find some cars that look OK will have assembly problems where things were not done right and need to be resolved.Things like wrong fasteners, or missing pins, etc

Another issue to consider is weather the parts are readily available - Cars that are current production like VD's the parts are very available (and expensive) but you can also do well with older cars like Crossle which is still in business and have the parts on the shelf. Other car brands are long out of business and you will have to rely on finding guys like Prince Engineering to find or fabricate the parts.

Another thing to consider is who is going to prep and maintain the car. You can be like Purple Frog who appears to do everything himself or you can send the car out to a prep shop that does everything for big $$ but the car should be right every time you want to race. Or you can decide to do some things and farm out others. In my case, I farm out the engine to Jay Ivy and the transaxle and alignment and special fabrication to Averill. I do the rest more or less. Net, my cost structure is probably more than Purple Frog (but I have never actually totaled it up and don't want to) but far less than sending the car to a St Clair Motorsports. It all depends upon what you are good at - I don't want to know much about the engine and Jay builds an engine that i don't have to know much more than it goes like stink and I don't have the tools or expertise for trans and suspension alignment and Averill knows what he is doing - I would be just guessing.

Have alot of fun

[racerxlilbro]

...this goes all the way back to 1987, for me. I'd done a kart racing school, and was hooked. Way back when I was fourteen, I'd raced a couple kart races (Hartman chassis, with a square shaft Yamaha, and blimp pipe - for all you old timers). But, my Dad quickly tired of the expenses. So, years later, I'm hooked all over again. Only thing I had of value was a custom built set of drums. It was worth exactly what I needed to buy a fairly new Emmick and a supposedly blueprinted Yamaha. See, the trend started way back then. Turned out, the engine was nearly bone stock, and needed to be redone. So, the purchase was manageable, the maintenance was a killer.

I'd been out of it altogether, for the last several years, and decided I was in a financial position to get back into it. I started shopping around, and decided I wanted a Crossle. I bought the first car I looked at - a HUGE mistake. So, what started as a pretty good deal, turned into a major restoration project. I was anxious to get a car, and the seller was interested in a motorcycle I'd been trying to sell. In retrospect, I'd have been much better off to have been patient, and found a better car. But, it all worked out great, because now I know the car really well, and also know it's all fresh and new.

[JakeL]

I'll add my "how did I get a car" thread, even if it's not quite as interesting as eating throwaway bread (!!).

I got introduced to racing in the form of autocross about 5 years ago by a friend, and was immediately hooked on racing. Bought a 1990 Eclipse turbo for $2,000 to race, spent two years building it up. Bought other damaged Diamond Stars and parted them out from my garage to make money for upgrades, tires, and racing money.

Finally got tired of transmission breakage (too much boost, too much tire), parted out my car (and its upgrades), and bought a high-miles 1997 C5 Corvette. Played the same game with the 'vette, but it got too expensive to run, and too risky to go road racing with.

So, I sold that to buy a fire damaged Radical DSR with some nice upgraded parts on it. Spent this last winter winter rebuilding that, and here I am, slowly getting it debugged and faster (which for me is a lot of the fun)

Most folks think I've got about 4 times as much $ into the cars as I do - just did a lot of work on the side to make ends meet for racing money! My wife thinks I'm insane, but she's happy that at least there aren't any broken-down-busted-up DSM's in the garage (or worse, the driveway!) anymore.

-Jake

[FC63F]

I had road raced 20 years ago and stopped for a number of years, grad school, wife, kids, time etc. After a while, I started auto-Xing a c-3 vette and had a great time locally. Probably would have been ok with staying with that but I visited Waterford Hills and got the road racing bug again - Did the driver school bit, rented an IT-S Mazda RX-7 for the Waterford Hills Series and was really having a great time. Meanwhile, I got to know a guy from work who had also raced a bunch of years ago and also had stopped due to $$ and he helped out crewing the car. I started to think about buying a car and at the time was considering the RX-7 when the discussion took a turn with the thought that "real race cars don't have fenders". So off my friend and I went looking at ff cars which was his back ground and considering the options. We kind of landed on Crossle and started to look at various cars. The nice ones tended to be a bit beyond our budgtet but amazingly there were a number of reynards,, crossle and swift FC cars that were less $$ and the motors were supposed be more robust. Looked at a few cars carefully and considered the costs and then ran into the crossle 63F FC car sitting in Cincy which seemed to be languishing with the owner who owned a 71F and wanted to sell either one. The engine was alleged to be a Butler with limited time and the car seemed to be more or less ready to go. So for $9K we bought the car with no trailer and and some spares.

We then took that beast apart and replaced most if not all of the fasteners with G8 and AN fasteners as required, replaced most of the rod ends. We sent the car to Averill for an alignment and we were ready to race - kind of...for about $11K plus a $600 trailer. Between the two of us we had no car or truck that had the capacity to tow the thing anywhere so we rented pick ups at $50/day and off to school we went. Eventually we bought a used Ford Van. The car went through race school in the rain for my team partner without a hitch which was a miracle in retrospect. The car was fairly competitive with the local competitiion but as drivers we needed more work than the car. Initial bugs with the car was leaking seals in the trans because there was no drive shaft button in the engine...We also faced some really high temperatures from the engine and a rather tail happy set up.

After that we raced the car for five years together sharing the vehicle within each race week end at Waterford - we each got one qual and two races over the week end utilzing the co- driver option. We got pretty adept at changing out the seats and belts in under five minutes and doing very quick driver changes. Splitting the costs even - even crash damage ensured we could get off to a good start and not be overwhelmed by issues and there were a bunch. The partnership worked and we still share a garage, paddock together and hang out. In our sixth year, Steve bought a Reynard 88FS and I bought out his ownership in the Crossle. During that period we performed the following upgrades - new Averill Wings, droop limiter, diffuser, oil temp guage, new Koni gas over doubles, new undertray, added reinforcement to the rear suspension, upgraded the rear suspension to 68F standards, new wheels, move the ineffective oil cooler into the side pod, two rebuilds by Jay Ivy and one by Dixon (Ivy very strong) rebuilt body work, and uncounted tunes and tweaks - I counted the races to date - prior owners 32, current owners 84. Worth every minute and every penny.

David Keep
Crossle 63F-1

[Dano]

Well, first let me apologize for digging this thread up and blowing the dust off it but it has finally happened. Yes, you heard it her first…I finally have my first racecar with wings, they may be a little bent and in boxes but the price and location were right. It may be some time before it turns a wheel again but I’ll know every bolt and rivet in the thing intimately when it does. I’m looking forward to the build process almost as much as finally driving it.

Dan

[D.T. Benner]

Congrats and good luck!

[thunderracing91]

COOL! Do you have any pics as it sits right now?

Andrew

[Dano]

This one is just minutes old....please excuse the mess. I should have the rest of the panels off by the weekend. Then it's off to the media blaster then to the welder for some repairs and minor mods done.

Dan

[RobLav]

What a nice looking car. Where did you get that? You know I have my regrets...

[SSpiffytoo]

I crewed for a couple with two nearly identical cars for a couple of years. When they decided to sell one we talked and they allowed me to make payments after a reasonable cash down payment. It was paid off in a bit over a year and didn't put a large dent in my balance sheet.

[Dano]

What a nice looking car. Where did you get that? You know I have my regrets...

[Gary Jarlson]

No one seems to have gone down the road I took. I was young, single, virutally no expenses to speak of (2bd apartment three blocks from the beach for $165/mo.) and making very good money. Oh sure, I could have easily just saved up and then bought a car. But no. There was the car I had to have and the deal was to sweet to let go. So, I slide into my bank and say to the loan officer, " Hey, Ron, what say you help me get a new car?" His quick check showed I had outstanding credit and the deal was done in 30 minutes. Since I didn't have any paperwork for the new car, Ron asked me to bring it buy so he could get a look at it and I could give him the title. Two days later I take out to the bak parking lot and there it sits on the trailer, wing, slicks, the whole enchilada. To this day, I have to smile when I recall the look on his face. That, and the look of relief he'd have on Mondays, after a race weekend, when I'd walk into the bank withtout the aid of crutches or other signs that I'd come to great physical harm.

[a100]

Hi my buddy kept after me to buy a ff so I watched a car on e-bay , 42 seconds before it closed I bid what I could afford, I won sight on seen and 400 miles away. It's an older car and needed some serious tlc . my son and I drove there and back in one day , after some scrambling between banks the week prior, The car ran , I took it apart fabbed alot of sheetmetal parts ( good to be an aircraft mechanic) put it back together and I am having my boyhood dream come true! I owned the car for a yr this month , I am a NEWBIE!
I do this for fun . I think it is the best money I spent in years.
Don't part out the old cars find somebody that will breath new life in to them
84 SPARTON $6500 with the trailer and 3 sets of tires
my buddy rebuilt his engine to keep up with me!
Now I need to save some money to get into some club and have some real fun..............

[Don Denomme]

to the enjoyment of your racing. Regardless of your age remember one thing. You can get school loans, home loans, car loans, etc. But you can't get a retirement loan. I know that it may seem too grown-up to discuss finances and racing, but you have to consider it. I bought my first race car (CSR) with saved money more than 25 yrs ago. I kept working on the cars, keeping them looking good and increasing the value. Understand, you will never get back what you put into it. Though, if you run a car into the ground it will bring nothing when you try and sell it.

With each successive car I would use saved money, along with the sale price of the car, and trade up till I found a Ralt FA roller at a fire-sale price. While the car was cheap and in near perfect condition with plenty of spares, the ongoing "retail" costs (engine, tires, etc.) proved to be more than I wanted to spend. I returned to relative sanity and purchased a Van Diemen RF80 Club Ford about 12 years ago and have been happily racing ever since.

Having been in racing for some time I can tell you that there are many racers who fall under the "3-year-rule". Year 1 is the initial car purchase, school, tow vehicle, small trailer, etc. Year 2 they show up with a newer, larger tow vehicle, larger trailer, etc., etc. and try and run every race that they can find. Year 3 the debts are mounting. Shows up at a few races. Can't afford to fix the car over the winter. Sometimes puts it into a prep shop till they run out of many. Years later the car is still sitting against the back wall.

Bottom line is use saved money or work on a reasonable payment plan. Look for a car with the advice of another competitor who will know what to look for in a chassis. And never go into a new racing season with debts from the previous year. This is just asking for trouble.

I know, I know. WAY too much of a grown up.