So, friend and I are actually looking at building a car. We'd be starting cheap...track day kinda things where you don't need all the roll cage stuff, etc.

We are trying to see what we can do with $3000....

What would you choose?

We want Rear Wheel Drive and MT.

 

NA series Miata. You will likely need a rollbar that meets the broomstick rule, but not expensive or crazy. Cheap to work on, light, fun to drive, etc...



There is a reason it's the most raced street car ever. It does well.


Edit, if you go for a salvage car, you can get a late 90s NA or early NB for under $3k. Non salvage $3k can easily get you an early 90s through mid 90s. I've been in a hunt for a good Miata for my wife + my weekend track/autocross fun, with a $6k budget, and I am hunting in the mid NB series range, but it would get me anything older at a snap.

 

e30?

 

we looked at Miatas but.... i don't know, we just didn't like the idea that there are SOOOO many of them. I know thats a stupid reason but... we are kinda being weird about this idea.

 

well, there being more miatas would probably help you in your racecar setup, as there would be more information and parts available

for a while i was also looking at porsche 944 as a potential track only car

 

I can understand that. One of the reasons I wanted my 8 after all.



Though for racing, in general, it seems most racers root out any car with potential, so it depends on how unique you want to be here, there will almost assuredly be someone else out there running it, probably alot of someones.

The only ways to be unique is through crazy stuff and money, like weird cars that need alot of money to get them racable, or engine swaps, etc... which is contrary to your original requirements.


Going with a car that has lots of history and a massive parts bin for on upgrades, it brings the cost down quite a bit, and shortens the learning curve.

Just some thoughts.

 

you might also want to think about potential spec racing the car will be involved in, since building a track day car and building a race car are very different. As most race series have pretty strict rules on what you can do.

 

Are you actually going to compete in races? As coldflame mentions, building a "track toy" is vastly different than a race spec car.

 

thats why I said our miata reason is totally retarted but.....

we would start as 100% track toy....point is to have fun learning to rip apart the car, maintain it, upgrade it etc over time while still have a single vehicle we can beat up that isn't a DD.

 

i'm not saying anything good about mustangs but 5.0's r cheap and decent 4 drag strip...but depends on what kind of racing you do

 

What about a decent FC Rx-7. That would be a great car to rip into. You could potentially learn ALOT about the rotary itself..and it would just be plain cool.


________
Vaporizer-info

 

bumping this.

Friend and I are looking at Toyota MR2s. Parts seem plentiful and cheap. We've seen a few now listed for about 800 to 1200 that were in perfect running shape but just needed a few things. Anyone have any experience with these? We are mainly looking at MK1/AW11s

Above: I would like an RX7 for various reasons but they can't really be found in the price range we are looking and my friend isn't too keen on the possible engine failures. Though if it comes down to me getting the money to buy a car outright myself (we plan to split) I will probably go with a FB as I really do like them. Something about the FC look I don't quite like. Though...If I could get a Turbo charged one for a good price I don't think I'd pass it up.

Again, our timeline is LONG. Looking to get something to share as pretty much an AutoX car and Track day car and then eventually move up to bigger and better things a few years from now. This way we can get experience not only becoming better drivers but better mechanics.

Price range may change in a month or so. Might....have a bunch of monies coming.

 

You should easily be able to get an FC Turbo II for under 3k in ok condition.

Also, engine failures? All *but one* of the 7's I had were well over the 100k mark with the original engine.

MR2's are pretty nifty too. Hope to see you get a car and get to race with her!! :D

 

If I end up with the money I should... I'll only have about 3k-4k which is why we were looking at cheaper options so that we had plenty left over for upgrades/repairs. My friend has some money to throw in as well but we don't want to blow it all on the car itself.

 

just wondering why an mk1 as opposed to an sw20? you can get an na one for cheap.

 

FC is the way to go...It really is.

 

find me one within like 100 miles of 22107 for like 1500 or less.....not gonna happen unless it is in REALLY rough shape other wise we would have looked already. Like I said, we've looked at two MK1s that were 1200 or less and they were both in good shape mechanically and cosmetically. One needed a new clutch which was included and the other needed an alternator. Both had very little to no rust as well. Sadly, both cars, when we went to look had other people that were looking and we didn't get either one.

 

my fb will be a dedicated track car eventually

 

alright, I'm looking at an 80 RX7 thats race ready. Going to see if I can get the money and hope the guy still has it today.....

Kinda torn though between getting something thats old and doing all the work ourselves or just skipping all that and seeing if we can get this...

Either that....Or I'm going to attempt to find a CJ-750 with a sidecar....even though I have absolutely NO idea where I would put it or no idea how you actually drive a motorcycle