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Triumph Spitfire - Huge Favor: 1500 race prep question

Folks:

I have about $4000 to spend on race prepping a stock '75 1500 for F production racing SCCA (just for fun). The motor has 40K miles and runs very well. Entire car very sound.

If it were your $4000 where would you put it (bang for the buck) and what would you do? Assume you have another $1000 if not enough.

Any ideas would be great as I have always loved these cars but never raced them. Thanks!

Steven

steve

I would buy a copy of "A guide to Racing your Triumph Spitfire", by Jon Wolfe (past UK TSSC Champion)
From the TSSC Bookshop, www.tssc.uk.com, this will cost the most valuable £7.50 of your $5000!

I would also get a copy of the TriumphTune 'Performance Manual' from Moss (don't know current price) It is a catalogue of Moss/TT products, but a lot more than that as well.

John Davies

Steve:
The first thing you should do is get a copy of the SCCA Rules book. It will tell you all of the modifications that you are required to make to you car to race in SCCA sanctioned events (such as installing a rollbar,external kill switch,fuel cell.etc). If you don't meet all of their rules and specifications you won't even be allowed to race in SCCA races. Also, you will have to buy other things that will add to your expenses like an approved helmet, driving suit & boots & gloves & other things. You will also have to attend (and pass) a SCCA approved driving school, which you will have to pay for. I haven't raced in SCCA recently, so I can't give you a very accutate estimate of what it would cost to set up a competitive Spitfire these days;but, being realistic, I don't think that you can do it for anything close to $4,000-$5,000. I would think that about $15,000 might be a more realistic figure, and a few thousand a year for maintenance and race entry fees.
You might want to consider SCCA Solo racing ("gymkanas"), or some kind of club racing, or vintage & historic sports car racing. I don't want to discourage from racing your Spitfire,but I'm sure that you can something much less expensive than SCCA F Production that will still be a lot of fun. In fact, you might find that something like vintage sports car racing or club racing is even more fun because its a more relaxed atmosphere and not such a financial drain.
Good luck in your endeavors racing your Spitfire.
Yours truly, Randy
Randall Howard

Gosh, Randall, does it really cost that much to go Spitfire racing in the USA?
Steve, if it does - emigrate! You can go Spitfire racing in the UK for a LOT less. Perhaps our brand of racing is equivalent to the non-SCCA type to which Randall refers, though we have to incude all the safety items that he mentions, under RAC MSA rules.
Anyway, here in the UK with the TSSC/TRR Championship, your $5000 would ensure a very good first season, including all the items that Randall, quite rightly, recommends. Maybe not a guaranteed win, but certainly a season that you will enjoy!

Happy Christmas, and a racing New Year!
John
John R Davies

As a current SCCA spitfire racer, I would recomend that you buy one of the Spits that are for sale right now. All of the expensive things have already been done. Cage built, wheels bought etc. I saw two in Grassroots Motorsports today. A MK IV for $5950 and a 1500 for $4500.
Feel free to e-mail me or call at 252-456-4618 and I can give you more details of the requirements of the SCCA.

Rick
Rick Edwards

Mr. Davies,
My $15,000 estimate was just a rough estimate, depending on how competitive a car you want to build, but I do feel that it is a reasonably accurate "ball park" figure. Yes, it is quite expensive to race a Spitfire, or most other cars, in SCCA Production class (racing an American car such as a Camaro or a Mustang would probably be somewhat less expensive than racing most foreign cars).

Steve,
I think Rick Edwards' suggestion of buying a used race car is a good idea. However, I would inspect a used race car very thoroughly. If you get one that has had a lot use, or wasn't built or maintained well, you could spend a lot of money getting it back into decent shape.

Randy
Randall Howard

This thread was discussed between 20/12/2000 and 09/01/2001

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