I believe he has the 68. He is building an Indy style 27 roadster. I saw progress pics this weekend, not a traditional car, it has IFS but is is all handbuilt, something any throttle jocky would love.
Scotch -- check out www.mnautox.com for local autocross stuff, and www.aarrf.com for some road racing stuff. They hold track days, and a lot of their cars are retired and converted IMCA oval track cars. Cheap, durable, and fun! Steve- Thanks for the links..! I will definitely get involved with these folks and get some track time in. One of the posts I saw said "You must bring your own vehicle with at least two seats"...LOL! They're gonna love the station wagon that'll seat 6... With the 6-speed in there now, I bet it'll be a wild ride. I might be upgrading to stickier tires this year too (Yokohama A032R or similar). Old cars that can really corner kick major ass. Time for someone to build a Track T...for the TRACK! I've got my own ideas for a road racy hot rod...but it's currently out of my price range. It would be killer tho... One of these days maybe... Until then, I'll keep hammering on my musclehead rides. They work well and are paid for. Besides...when was the last time you saw a '67 Malibu 4-door wagon that could really handle? It's oddball enough to keep me happy for now. Scotch~!
Will he let people see them? I'd love to crawl all over that car. Now the big thing is he drove a few cars in '68... I didn't post the Camaro because it is the least intersting to me.. But Mmmmm... Lola...
There were plenty of US built Road Racers in the 50s usually called "Specials". Home built frames and hand hammered bodies were regularly beating factory European teams. The cars Max Balchowsky built were some of the most well known. He called them "Old Yeller" and numbered each as they were replaced. He ran whitewall junk yard tires and Buick and Chevy motors. Ak Miller ran the 53 Carrera Panamericana in a Hot Rod Special called "Iron Horse". Miles Collier ran Cadillacs at LeMans and had one rebodied in a aero look that the french name "The Monster". Kurtis was a very popular US road race car using all sorts of different motors. The one version Kurtis later became the Muntz Jet street car. There were many 1950s companies like Devon that built race car frame and body kits so that you could add your own mechanicals and go race. Then there was Jim Hall and his Chapparalls in the 60s. Take your car to a local SCCA autocross and have a few runs for $20. As long as the car is safe and you have a helmet they will find a class for you. Then move up to vintage road racing. Your Impalla will be a blast in a tight autocross course. Ryan; check out the new issue of "Kit Car Builder" They run a whole feature on Spyders this month. The main feature is on a high end 550 copy that a Porsche restorer friend is selling now. I built the car a few years ago and sold it to him. Now he is building and selling cars built from the same patterns and jigs. It is about as close to the real 550 as you can get without spending $500,000.
If anybody wants to learn more about these Cars, take a look at Tams Old Racecar site. Great Info and Pics. There is a link to that on the Thead I started a while ago called "Old Racecar found... Updates."
This is the car I ran in SCCA Pro back in the late 90's. I was scoffed at once on here before for posting a late model Corvette but since we're on the topic. My Dad used crew chief for the can-am cars back in the day. Would like to also try pan-americana some day but it looks like a lot of prep.
That sounds like a badass story. Did you know that Pink Floyd did the La Carrera Panamericana? they made a movie about it... which I've never seen.
The early Corvair's are cool .... There is a feature in about every early 60's hot rod mags ... Shame they were @##$$ by Nader. This is 1960 built by Bill Thomas / Doug Row in it's late configuration.
Wow we think alike. I'm currently in the process of purchasing a home, but after I'm settled, I was looking at getting a Beck Spyder for track days and various other events. I haven't quite decided if I want to go with a more traditional 2 litre Aircooled or do a Subaru STi Conversion. The thing may be a tupperwear copy, but I can't fit my 6'4" body into a genuine one, nor come up with the cash. Ryan did you happen to see this replica on ebay a couple months back? It was bitchin. I've got the racing bug BAD. A friend took my out to Andretti Racing school for the day, and a few laps at Cal Speedway at 156mph was all it took to get me completely hooked. The cars were supposed to be rev limited and governed at 145mph. The instructor ahead of me wasn't too keen on having me ride his ass, and they yellow flagged me. I've done a few track days out at Streets of Willow Springs and also had a blast. There were a few Vintage Racing equipped 60's Fastback Mustangs doing laps against a few 60s Camaros on the main track. Those cars give me a major boner. I'm going to race them one day.... My 300c passed tech inspection that day and they let me rip around the track in it. It was a blast, but I had no interest in ripping up my tires and brakes on my daily driver.
I have done laps at Willow Springs, Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, Sears Point and Hallet (in Tulsa). I have spent most of my time at Thunderhill as it is closest to my home. But, I think Laguna is my favorite track. That Corvair is awesome! A Porcshe spider would be cool, but man they are so small and you would need a roll bar and preferably a cage. It would be fun though. Another one that would be cool would be a 1957 Thunderbird (battle bird?) although it might be a bit pricey to build. Mike
Dang, I had always known about the Panamericana but though it was just for rich tight asses driving mercedes' and stuff. I'm gonna paint up my T-bird with Jose Cuervo logos and start saving up for the entry fee!!
I've road raced since the late 60's Here's a photo of me at work. This car was lost for 30 years I spent seven years looking for it and another five fixing it. Ran the Mille Miglia with it four times with this This was my last drive with it Goodwood before selling it back to BMW If you look close you'll see it's all loaded and just begining to smoke the tires There are still cars out there in folks garages.....never give up the hunt There were a bunch of Hot Rod specials that did really well beating expensive Euro Crap
Scotch, awesome! I bet you get a lot of funny looks when you drive up in your wagon. I know I do in the Impala SS. That is until I overtake them on the course. Mike
Yeah, me too. I see coupes and Late Models like these in my dreams.. I'd like to try my '64 Galaxie Late Model on a road course once it's finished. Jan
Scotch -- That wagon is way to frickin' cool. I wanna see that thing punishing pylons this summer. We do have a couple of good big-course autocrosses coming up in April out at Valleyfair in Shakopee. BIG parking lot. Steve.
Been helping my co-worker out with his '72 Fiat Spyder, which he's turning into a street legal/track ready racer (just as soon as he gets the treaded tires back on... ). He's recently been overhauling his suspension, got a digi cam mounted in his rollbar to film runs. It's really tight in turns with minimal body roll. Local road racers have meets in the pits area behind the Samoa Drags tower, have the cone setup, and later in Summer have the 2-day "hill climb" races in the Hoopa/Willow Creek area. It's a new area of racing to me, but a LOT of fun to learn off of Dan's experiences!
For those interested in the Carrera Pan America rally there is a DVD called "Junkyard to Finish Line" about a guy who buys a 1954 Merc from the junk yard and builds it into a racer. The build part is kind of spotty but the race course footage is really good. Made me want to head out for Mexico. I got it from Classic Motorbooks last year. Rusty
I would like to start road racing.I have dreamed of racing Mexico.I have family from ares close to the race route.I would like to build a early 55 or so vette or maybe one of these.
I'm not a racer but a fan. I especially liked the homebrew racers that appeared pretty regularly in Hot Rod and other mags in the early days. Here is book on the home built racers. From Motorbooks International, Allan Girdler's "American Roadrace Specials 1930-70" (pub 1990) Dave
Bad Rod- "Funny looks" doesn't begin to describe it...and yes, it's great fun to haul ass around corners in such an atypical road racer. The car has recently undergone yet another round of mods, and will be more capable this year than ever before. It was pretty good before... Steve- We will punish some cones this summer. No doubt. I love driving the car hard and I've been rewarded with better-than-expected performance. I ran a 300-ft. slalom course and averaged 51 mph through the cones...Not bad for an old station wagon. This was before the latest upgrades, too. (FYI- In addition to the suspension upgrades, I've doubled the horsepower and tripled the transmission gear choices in the car since then. I'll also be stepping up to a better set of tires). It was a capable car before. Now I'm looking to really spank some ass. The beautiful part is that the wagon is the tow vehicle for my more-serious effort...which is still far from complete. But, it will be much more serious. Scotch~! Here I am slaying the slalom:
There is a guy here in Raleigh who is an autocross terror. A few years ago he built an '86 Buick Park Avenue with a warm 455 and a Richmond 6 speed, then had a friend of mine at Custom Frames and Components do the suspension. Needless to say he got some weird looks, then he spanked soem ass... ha ha it was priceless... now he's got a MGB GT with a turbocharged Toyota motor, 5 speed, narrowed 8" and all the suspension goodies... bunches of fun...
Dang man! For every six inches you are from a cone in a slalom it adds another tenth of a second PER CONE to you time!! Seriously.
Check out this picture. I am in the Impala SS. Guess the correct caption . 1) Just after getting around some lap traffic. 2) When doing open laps, I served as the pace car. Mike
He sold it , I had already gotten the car he built before it, a '65 Rambler Convertable with a pretty healthy SBC, so I couldn't pony up for it. I'm waiting to see what's next, we've talked of a newer Monte Carlo SS body on a custom frame, RWD, and 6 speed. Not very on topic, but cool none the less. It'll scare the rice kids to death...
The Jalopy Journal
