Friday, January 11, 2008

Autox on the Cheap

Since moving to my new job, my truck has been hit twice in the parking lot. On my first day, when I was out on travel visiting the crankshaft supplier, someone scraped their vehicle down the side of mine, just above the rear passenger side wheel well. No note was left. The other day, someone backed into my truck, and apparently had a trailer hitch, and left a sizable dent in my front bumper. Again, no note was left. This is a 6,700 lb, all steel truck. If I were in a BMW M3, or something else along those lines, this would've resulted in several thousand dollars worth of damage.
This, along with the fact that i am focusing all of my funds on making my Mustang the car I always wanted it to be (update: heads are being ported, going from a 2.02" to a 2.05" intake valve, car is stripped down and ready to be media blasted) , I am deciding to look into a CHEAP autox vehicle. I am talking less than $3k for something i can beat the crap out of, thrash through the corners, and really not care about. I am thinking Merkur XR4Ti, Pontiac Fiero GT, MR2, etc etc. There is a XR4Ti for sale just up the road, listed on ebay. If you can think of something that would be fun and CHEAP to autox, let me know.

7 Comments:

Blogger milkman said...

You could always Le Autocross in a fabulous 1978 Le Car.

1/11/2008 08:28:00 PM

 
Blogger Justin Short said...

I dont think a Le Car would be quite as exciting as one might hope. Think I can find a mid 80s, high milage 325i with a manual?

1/12/2008 10:02:00 AM

 
Blogger milkman said...

Ideally you'd want something ending in s.

The 325es is actually about as ideal as you can get for autocross: the Eta engine has gobs of torque, and it's a super-drivable little runabout. Alas, they're really rare. And definitely worth driving to ensure you don't miss the lack of power at the top end. The last time I drove one was nearly ten years ago, but it seemed fun at the time.

The 325is makes more power--but you have to rap it harder to make it go.

Either way, you'll be able to find a "flawed" example for well under $3k. Minor body damage, sortof crappy interior, etc.

1/12/2008 03:51:00 PM

 
Blogger Phil said...

1983 Volkswagen Scirocco with a skull shifter?

Beats the Mustangs off the line in heavy rain.

1/13/2008 10:44:00 AM

 
Blogger Shane said...

CRX whoooo

1/17/2008 06:31:00 PM

 
Blogger Raven said...

BMW 2002?

1/29/2008 09:31:00 AM

 
Blogger milkman said...

How about a 1995 YouShouldPost SomeMore GT.

2/02/2008 01:58:00 AM

 

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