mk1-forum.net

Want to find something for my son, Nick, as a first comp car to run at Blyton and on to Harewood etc, 4k to 5k budget

I've been looking for a good long time now, haven't got the time to build anything at the mo, and KEC needs work as it is, and may even take a year out with it, as i'd love time to develop it further.

Other than 35k plus FIA Race Minis, there's nowt, ebay used to be full of Mighty Minis and Rally cars for our budget (shoulda kept the green Mighty Mini)

Any comments chaps ?, i'm i looking in the wrong places ?

Have you tried here?

https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Searc ... hText=mini

There's nothing in your price bracket at the moment but something may turn up.

surfblue63 wrote:Have you tried here?

https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Searc ... hText=mini

There's nothing in your price bracket at the moment but something may turn up.

Not one i'd watched Stu, so ill add that to my list !

Might be worth contacting the Mini 7 club?

I think now that cheap and good race cars will be impossible to find in a 3-5 grand budget as it just costs so much to buy a decent base to start with and then there is all the stuff needed to actually build the car and get it legal, virtually everything needs a proper cage, dated belts, dated seats in some cases, transponders etc, so it all adds up

this coupled with the fact that most people are either unable or unprepared to actually build a car now means that most cars have been more expensive to build in the first place as specialists have done most of the work.

I think mighty minis are probably a good example of this, when I was involved in them you could buy a half decent rover cooper for 1500 quid and then turn it into a half decent car for maybe 2 grand - hell, the first season we did it two of the cars on the grid where painted with thinned down household gloss

a half decent mighty mini is now probably about 6-7 grand due to the scarcity of the base unit, plus all the cheap ones have vanished into Portugal for that copycat race series, or the good ones have been snapped up as a starter car to be converted into an s class mini seven - plus mighties is still relatively popular over here

there is a few comp cars floating about for sale, but most of them are old rally cars so are normally battered to hell, or completely overweight/impractical for anything else.

I think good period cars will just continue to hold their value, they will never become worn out old bangers that are worth more in bits as there is just so much stuff that you can do with them, my car is probably a good example of a car that could (if I had the time and money!) be competed in every single weekend for more than half the year, either in circuits or hillclimbs/sprints etc

That Mk3/4 that Dave J bought earlier this year was a steal, all the right bits on for sprints/track but that was a few grand over £5K. You still see the odd Metro track car for that kind of money but the bits cost so much now that those days are gone as Rich says. Mk1 wise, you can't really build anything for the track for less than £20K

BigWig wrote:Might be worth contacting the Mini 7 club?

A "starter" M7 for £3-6k might just do for your first race only. After that, you'll need to go faster and buy more bits or sell it and buy a top 10 finishing potential car for £10k+.

If I were you, I'd start looking for abandoned Mk3/4 race sprint hillclimb projects and spend your cash there. During your build, only look at sprints or hillclimbs - there are plenty all over the country.

The only difference between motor racing and pouring your money down a drain is the bucket. And I (really do) mean that.

YMJ wrote: The only difference between motor racing and pouring your money down a drain is the bucket. And I (really do) mean that.

doesn't stop us all doing it though, eh.........

rich@minispares.com wrote:

YMJ wrote: The only difference between motor racing and pouring your money down a drain is the bucket. And I (really do) mean that.

doesn't stop us all doing it though, eh.........

....says my new best friend forever...I don't reckon more than a day or two goes by without me phoning MS North for the bit I forgot to order with the last load of bits that's just been dispatched...

YMJ wrote: I don't reckon more than a day or two goes by without me phoning MS North for the bit I forgot to order with the last load of bits that's just been dispatched...

Not just me then!

what about this?

certainly is cheap enough and comes with enough decent bits and bobs?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-METRO-NON- ... Swg0pZYTUB

seller does post on here I think?

I think he does post on here, and I did see that, and hes had it a while, but I just can't tempt Nick with a Metro

billycooper wrote: but I just can't tempt Nick with a Metro

surely if your buying it and doing the work on it he gets what he is given......

rich@minispares.com wrote:

billycooper wrote: but I just can't tempt Nick with a Metro

surely if your buying it and doing the work on it he gets what he is given......

Richard, as ever you have a very valid point !

There are a couple of competition Minis lurking in garages near me that could be bought for good money. Including Wager's ex Miglia with a Lloyd Hutchinson built 1430 for around £12k!

IAIN on here had / has this for sale. I think he had it at Blyton?

http://www.minimart-gateside.co.uk/hill ... %20car.htm

Seems fairly priced, given the spec.

Don't let his location put you off - we not only have tarmac roads up here, we invented 'em!

Al

This is for sale here in Denmark.



Jens Christian.

Pandora wrote:IAIN on here had / has this for sale. I think he had it at Blyton?

http://www.minimart-gateside.co.uk/hill ... %20car.htm

Seems fairly priced, given the spec.

Don't let his location put you off - we not only have tarmac roads up here, we invented 'em!

Al

id look at that, is this the car Iain is using at Harewood this weekend ?

billycooper wrote:

Pandora wrote:IAIN on here had / has this for sale. I think he had it at Blyton?

http://www.minimart-gateside.co.uk/hill ... %20car.htm

Seems fairly priced, given the spec.

Don't let his location put you off - we not only have tarmac roads up here, we invented 'em!

Al

id look at that, is this the car Iain is using at Harewood this weekend ?

Contacted Iain car is sold, but thanks for your help chaps

Pandora wrote:IAIN on here had / has this for sale. I think he had it at Blyton?

http://www.minimart-gateside.co.uk/hill ... %20car.htm

Seems fairly priced, given the spec.

Don't let his location put you off - we not only have tarmac roads up here, we invented 'em!

Al

If you were to build this car yourself from scratch, it would cost you £££££s more than the asking price. Plus...you could modify this to race/compete in pretty well anything except pre-66.

Don't worry that it's sold.....there'll always be another one!