guy@anasazi.UUCP (Guy Finney) (08/08/85)
Some time ago I put out a request on the net for information about
how to get started in racing without having to apply for foreign
aid to get the megabucks. Here's what finally happened. A couple
of people suggested something called "pro karts", a kind of adult
go-kart racing with ~100mph speeds. Interesting, and within my limits,
but it just didn't quite appeal to me.
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine saw an old Formula Ford for
sale here in town, and we went to check it out. Turned out the guy
who owned it had no mechanical ability or interests, and had the
money to pay a shop to prep it for each race. It was very well
maintained. He was only asking $2500. for it, so after a few laps
around the parking lot in back of the shop, I snapped at it.
FF cars I've seen before were running $4000-5000, so this was a
real steal, especially considering how well it's been looked after,
and the spare parts I got with it. It actually runs in a class called
"Club Ford", which is for older Formula Ford cars. The newer ones
have a different chassis & engine, and are so much faster than the
old ones (and cost ~$20,000) a new class was created in many SCCA
regions for the older cars. You can't race for a national title,
but, hey, it's just for fun. The rules of the class are very
restrictive: no engine mods allowed so the guys with big bucks don't
have a big advantage. The little 1600cc Cortina engines are pretty
solid, too, so they don't need to be torn down and looked at more
than about every 6 races or so.
So, the moral of the story is that there are deals to be found,
and ways of getting into it without sacrificing all your income.
--
Guy Finney
{decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!guy