Race Car of the Day 1/30/2008

Here it is... some real, American steel.  I'm serious this time.  It is lovely.

 

1963 Corvette Race car.   I'd classify it as a fixer-upper. ;)

 

Later!

 

Pete

More than just the car of the day... this may be the car of the week... or month.

If you've read 2 car posts by me on this blog, you know I like tiny cars. This may be my all time fave. The work done on this Lotus Europa is absolutely amazing.

1972 Lotus Europa S2

Normally I'd say that the pop-up sun roof would be a bummer for this car... except that this thing is so small that I'd need to pop that sunroof out so that my head could stick out the top. Not the safest vehicle to drive for me, but WTF. You only live once. :D

Later!

Pete

Playing catch-up with the cars of the day.

Oy oy.  Testing has been rather taxing for a few days.  I haven't had time to blog at all.  I thought I'd take a few moments and catch up on The Street/Race Car of the day posts.  There are some good ones. 

 

Street Cars of the day....

 

Sweet mother of god save me from this 1958 Austin Bug-eye sprite!  That thing is awesome and insanely cute. 

 

What the heck is an M2????  Basically it is a BMW 2002 that someone stuffs an E30 M3 motor into.  Imagine a 1500 pound, 200+hp car that handles like a dream and you get the picture.  Not an easy swap, but well worth the time and energy.

 

1958 Lotus 7 Series 1.  OH MY FREAKING GOD.  I'm such a geek. I wonder if this comes with tweed jacket, dorky hat and a pipe to smoke. 

 

Race Cars of the day....

 

Don't miss this one!!!!   It is a practical one... It'll make a great grocery getter.... as long as you don't have to turn between home and the market.  JUST KIDDING!!!  This is very indicative of the kinds of stuff that come up on the Race Car search.  Tons of people are selling their drag cars. 

 

Hahahahaha.  Chevy powered AMC Spirit!!! hahahahahah.  AWESOME!!!  I want one.

 

Sorry.  I didn't see any race cars that tempted me.  Just a few that were interesting to look at. 

 

Maybe tomorrow!

 

Later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trail Reviews for St. George

Oy oy. I thought I'd do a little research for on trails on the St. George, Utah area.

Barrel Ride sounds pretty good. It is part of another trail... the Race Course. I'll try and get info on that too.

Broken Mesa Trail

Church Rocks Trail. Is kinda short, but really fun. Has some nice slickrock.

JEM, Gould Rim and Hurricane Rim. I loved that ride 3 years ago.


Little Creek Mesa -- Definitely don't miss this trail.

Little Creek Mountain Trail Network -- Also sounds pretty amazing. This is a dang long trail.

Owens Loop Trail -- In St. George. Short and sweet, but not exactly epic.

Three Peaks Loop -- Cedar City.

Thunder Mountain -- I hope this isn't burried in snow this year.

Green Valley Loop -- St. George

Okay. That should get a little discussion going.

Some more resources.

Utah Mountain Biking web site



Later!

Pete

Race Car of the Day 1/26/2008

Mario Andretti's Morris Mini Cooper????

To be honest, today's "Race Car of the Day" and "Street Car of the DAy" could easily be interchanged. I want to race both of them. I also want to street both of them.

Tough choice.

Pete

Street Car of the Day: 1/26/2008

This one is back up on ebay again. I guess it didn't get sold the first time around. Dang am I tempted by this car. It is gorgious and a great project. The best thing about it is the level of detail the guy put in his post. I'm going to just quote it here because it is a great story.

You can see the Auction at the link below:

1966 Lotus Cortina

Vehicle Description
I have decided to relist this car/s after it didn't make the reserve. I have lowered the reserve and the BUY IT NOW to make it sell. I tried to accurately depict what know about this car, and what obsessive steps I have taken in its resurrection.
There are some new facts included below in italics.
I hate to see it chopped up, so I hope this prce reduction send it/them to a good home.
Please read the revised narrative (with new info from former drivers, etc.), and then you can make an informed evaluation and choice about the car.
Remember, we are talking about 2.5 cars here, so keep that in mind as you read.
BOTH CARS ARE LISTED AS "ROLERS" meaning, no engines, but both have gearboxes.
Twelve years ago I bought what was believed by many to be a Lotus Cortina SCCA GT4 roller .To be absolutely clear, I was well aware that it wasn't a real Lotus, having raced them back in the early seventies. I also owned a real Lotus Cortina (BA74EK59742). I had bought it, sight unseen years before.
It was a "swiss cheese" of rust and a victim of scavenging.. little more than the important LoCort parts and the paperwork.
It had been stripped almost to the firewall, but it was real (rusty, rusty, rusty), and figured on using the GT4 car for its parts.
The GT4 car was a really great car at one time, but had suffered from racing, storage and parts picking. It had been built in the eighties by Clay Vyzralek who cleverly assumed the AVO trademark when Ford didn't re-register it (that's what I was told). He is now, I believe in Colorado, still under the AVO banner. I emailed him, but no answer. The roll cage, advanced suspension, fiberglass doors, hood, trunk and front fenders and flares were expertly done, artwork on wheels. And the mechanicals were all first rate.
So I bought it with the idea of resurrecting my Lotus Cortina with the majority of the parts from the AVO car and go Vintage racing. After all, the AVO car had VARA and VR history and a 1991 SCCA runoffs appearance. But even though the car was "essentially complete" less engine, it was really more of a shell with boxes of parts.
I began to restore the Lotus Cortina using the AVO GT4 trick racing parts.
To make certain that the LoCort was indeed what it was supposed to be, I matched up the VIN number on the Cortina homepage:
http://freespace.virgin.net/tommy.sandham/chassis2.htm
I also thought I registered the car with the Lotus Cortina Register via mail, but it was 14 years ago, and I now can't be certain. I heard from them that they didn't have any record of the car. I have had six Lotus cars in that period, and may have confused one with the other, or it may be a registration error (I never became a member or sent in any membership fees). No matter, it really doesn't mean much in the end. Here's the car, here's the paperwork.
I was careful to preserve as much of the LoCort as possible (even salvaging the "hump") and including the front strut tower with VIN (now heavily reinforced by the AVO car's cage).
In splicing the strut tower onto the GT4 frame to preserve the VIN stamp, I ran into very thin rusty metal, and screwed up the weld/fill in the area around VIN stamp, losing one letter stamp in the process. I making all this absolutely clear, so anyone bidding will know all of the circumstances (see photo) I wasn't aware of it until a sharp ebayer pointed it out because I never had the chasis plate and the car in the same place to compare.
Almost eveything else are replacement/used parts (GT rear fenders) or the AVO parts lightweight bodywork. There wasn't much to work with at the rear of the LoCort as it was rusted away. So I grafted the back bodywork of the AVO car onto the LoCort and began to build up the LoCort as a Vintage racer.
Again, I want to be perfectly clear. This is a real LoCort, or at least a resurrected LoCort with a mostly new tub, now setup for the GT4 AVO fiberglass bodywork.
I probably should have just changed the VIN plate, it would have been a lot easier (and illegal), but I always thought that I could save the LoCort, and I did. I guess I thought it would be a quick turnaound and I would have it up an racing in a year or so.
Then, as the rotisserie turns, I mentioned to a friend with our local Vintage racing group that I was prepping this car, using the fiberglass bodywork and with the cage and race parts from the AVO car for Vintage racing. It was then that I realized that I had been away from Vintage racing too long and a flared, fiberglass car was not a viable entry.
I take full responsibility for not contacting them in advance, and understand the concept of "period correct cars" at vintage meets (within reason). I thought of 1991 Runoffs and earlier race history of the GT4 car; thinking of converting it BACK to a standard Cortina GT4 with documented race history. But decided that I had gone to all of the trouble to save the Lotus Cortina....
All I needed some metal bodywork and doors to make it vintage legal.
So I did what any reasonable person would, and bought yet another Cortina; a 1966 Cortina GT (donor) from San Antonio.
It too was (is) a roller that had somehow sat in a field in South Texas without rusting,. It has good doors, windows, hood, glass and the majority of a LoCort interior was shared with the GT. The front fenders are all there, they need some bodywork, but beside that, it's the perfect donor... it even has a gearbox, five steel wheels and a radio! It's a filthy beast, but a really "tub solid" donor car.
So, following are photos of most of what I have for sale.
The sandblasted and primed, LoCort unibody with VIN and plate, most of the AVO roll cage (some had to be cutout for access and fitment, but I have those tubes) and race stuff attached, replaced rear fenders, all of the really trick stuff that AVO built, a close ratio Leason straight cut 4 speed (price one of those for chuckles), engineered front and multi-link rear suspensions, race seat, fuel cell tank for a FuelSafe bladder (bladder expired and scrapped as this has taken so long) and all of the other stuff to make a racecar or really trick street Lotus Cortina.
I also have the mostly complete GT donor car with doors, hood fenders etc. and the full set of the GT4 fiberglass panels... not to mention all of the small parts, gauges, Aeroquipt lines, radiator, two windshields, six 13 x 7 VIA mags, 4 pot front brakes, vented rotors, headers and exhaust system, Supertrap, finned rear drums, locker rear, two articulated driveshaft sets, spare axles, 3.771:1 locker rear, spare std. Cortina rear, even fabricated aluminum overflow catch cans, firewalls, and window stays. I tossed the twenty year old harness but kept the window net.
Oddly, I never got a steering wheel with any of the three cars.
So just as I am finally get everything assembled to finally hang the rest of the donor body parts on the LoCort and get it ready for paint... I come to the realization that at this time of my life, the project is just beyond my grasp.
I also acquired an Elan last year that is a running, complete car that I can easily restore.
So I have decided to sell the Cortina/Lotus Cortina car(s)... with all of the really hard stuff done...
Think of it as the car you always wanted, and a donor car for the driveway to p*** off the neighbors.
Build it up as a Lotus Cortina, a GT4 Cortina, a Cortina GT... it's all just parts bins.
I have Texas title paperwork for the GT donor and logbook and title for the AVO GT4, I have not applied for a title on the Lotus Cortina but I have all of the paperwork for it should you want to (see images). You will recieve a Bill of Sale and all of the paperwork.
I have added more photos at
http://www.webpages.charter.net/andy2236/index.htm
I live in Fort Worth, Texas and have a very flexible schedule if you want to come look at the car (which I urge) it's 20 minutes over from DFW.
If you buy it, I will need an immediate $500 deposit via PayPal and the remaining balance in cash or Cashier's Check (verifiable by calling the bank) within 72 hours of the transaction, not later, not when you pick it up. I can store it for 30 days, but will not accept any responsibility for it while it is stored in my facility (my garage, but facility sounds more lawyerish). If you want it shipped, you arrange it, you pay for it, I'll help out as much as I can.
I might take an interesting vintage race trade, plus cash.
Please, don't forget that this is a number of body parts, boxes of parts and cumbersome, heavy metal parts including two cars. If you want to strip the Cortina GT and just take the parts you want, I can dispose of the remains for you. That way it could all fit on a one car trailer. I also have a trailer and could arrange delivery within 500 miles for an additional fee to be negotiated up front.
AS IS WHERE IS No warranty expressed or implied. This is a 42 year old disassembled vintage race car and a donor street car that hasn't been on the street in 30 years. As such may be missing any number of small parts or hardware. It is YOUR responsibility to inspect the car before sale, not after. Also understand that Vintage race cars are dangerous, sometimes more that most because of the age of the component parts. You should magnaflux any critical part before using it on any racing car.
If it doesn't sell this time, at this price, then I will consider parting it out. BUT NOT UNTIL THE AUCTION IS OVER. I can certainly make more money that way, but I had hoped for it to be restored.
If you have any questions, please email me. I'll answer them as quickly and honestly as I can. And thanks again for all of the helpful emails the last time around. I had no idea that there were that many people who knew of the LoCort, or even actually raced the GT4 car.
This ia a five day auction, so act early if you want the car.

A gearhead's proudest moment...

Today my wife had an all-day meeting for the Social Studies honors program that she's teaching this year. It was a teacher inservice. They were working on developing curriculum for a part of the class where they teach kids about how different systems. The idea is to teach kids about how different inputs are combined, acted upon by a system and result in a desired effect and additional outputs.

The person giving the inservice had this group of 25 Social Studies teachers the example of an automibile engine. She asked about inputs, processes and outputs.

My amazing wife raised her hand and when called upon, described the entire function of a 4 cycle, internal combustion engine. The person giving the inservice was skeptical and asked her specific questions, thinking that she didn't know her stuff. Laura answered all of the questions in detail.

At first many people asked her how she knew that. She said her husband was a car freak and that it just rubbed off on her. The whole group then got a good laugh out of that.

I'm so proud. My wife is a freak. ;)

Pete

Race Car of the Day 1/25/2008

Happy Friday!!!

 

American Muscle wins the Race Car of the Day today. It was a tough choice.  There was a Viper RT10 that had been used as an agricultural modifcation tool that was pretty tempting.  The price was right for sure.  There was an Ex Michael Andretti Indy Car that was definitely in the mix too...  It would be cool to show up at SCCA Solo Nats in one of those things...   But the winner for sure is the 1994 Z06 Vette.

 

Enjoy and I'll come up with some more tomorrow.

 

Pete

Street Car of the Day: 1/25/2008

Only 11 more months of Christmas Shopping left!  You can use my "Street Car of the Day" or even the "Race Car of the Day" blog entries as a shopping guide for the ones you love.  Hopefully I'll make SOMEONE's list this year. :D

 

The Race Car of the Day blog idea was such a HUGE success yesterday (9 people read it.  No-one commented) that I thought I'd add in a street car of the day blog entry too.  We'll see how this goes.

 

The choice for today is a BMW 1600 from the late 60s.  Most of the time I realy don't like old cars that are updated with some modern stuff in them, but this thing could be my ideal daily driver.  Obviously this owner has put in a ton of work on this car.  It is pretty dang cool. 

 

This Austin Mini Cooper may be one of the best that I've seen in a long time.  It freaking rocks!!!  Some might be tempted to put this under "Race car of the day" but not me.  That thing has daily driver written all over it!!!!

 

If you're looking at this blog entry and the links no longer work, that is because they're links to e-bay auctions.  These entries are definitely "You snooze and you lose" in nature. 

 

See you later.

 

Pete

 

 

Race car of the day. 1/24/2008

Welcome to a new feature at AUSOE.Blogspot.com.  It is called Race Car of the Day.  I love Ebay and thought I'd post some of my favorites as I look at different race cars that people are selling. At times I might venture out of the "race" area of interest, but I think most anything posted here will be at least a good candidate for a race car.

 

Today was a tough choice for me.

 

There's a Spec E30 car or a 57 Bel Air Pro street car. 

 

I'm leaning towards the Spec E30.

 

Very Interesting. :D

 

Pete

Smithereens at the State Theatre

Every year the band The Smithereens play the State Theatre in Falls Church, VA... about 10 minutes from our house. I've been saying that we should go see them for the last 5 years. Tonight we did. OH MY GOD were they great.

We prepared for the show pretty well. We listened to their first three CDs as well as their Beatles tribute CD all afternoon. Last night we watched "A Hard Day's Night" on DVD, which got us in a musical mood.

All the old songs that we love were performed perfectly. They did 4 songs from their Beatles tribute CD. They played "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who and even gave "Sweet Home Alabama" a try.

After 28 years together, they still obviously enjoy performing. They were having as much fun as we were.

The State Theatre is an awesome music venue. The 1940s movie theater was converted to a music hall in the late 90s. The accoustics are great. You can reserve a table and have dinner and drinks before the show if you like.

By far the best place to be is the floor right in front of the stage. We arrived at 8:30 for a 9pm show, walked down and were 10 feet from the front of the stage. They started a little late, but played for 2 hours straight.

After the show we stood around out front for about 10 minutes. The band walked out and we got to shake hands with them and talk for a few minutes before they headed off to sign autographs.

What an amazing night.

I can't wait till the come back next year.

Pete

National Trolley Museum

Oy folks.

We did a little touristing this winter and one of the places we found was the National Trolley Museum. It is pretty dang cool! I was a little confused by touring the museum at night, but once we got there, it all made sense. Those crazy Christians and their train obsessions.

Anywho.. You can read about it HERE.

Later! Pete