Does this seem like a good deal??? Race car for sale.

[Mike_R]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-BMW-2002-Race-Car-/130601083856?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item1e686e63d0

[Chamonix72]

I'm not an expert, but I strongly doubt you could build that car for that price.

[Mike_R]

I'm not an expert, but I strongly doubt you could build that car for that price.

Thats an understatement! If that is the car as represented than the engine is worth more than $15,000

[M3M3]

i am going to say the starting bid is at least 5k higher than the value. for that kind of money you can get a much more sophisticated and faster car.

did it cost a bunch to build? yup. used race cars go for 50 cents on the dollar invested. (there are exceptions of course, like if the car has a proven record of wins and lap records, solid engine health documentation, up to date safety gear, etc.)

it also says "ITB" on the back of the car. no way that car is ITB class legal. very long list of obvious issues.

it is also a 75. heavy. and not legal for most vintage series iirc. "too new".

[c.d.iesel]

YUM......

.... and YUM

........and YUM YUM

go for it .

[M3M3]

I'm not an expert, but I strongly doubt you could build that car for that price.

Thats an understatement! If that is the car as represented than the engine is worth more than $15,000

did i miss something? i see nothing in the ad that even mentions the engine besides the size. a totally build race engine from a top bmw race engine builder for the car can be had for well under 10k.

[TobyB]

well, for the class I run, $10k buys you a do- it- yourself engine kit, but I'm a bit nuts.

No, you couldn't pay someone to build that for that. It looks great. I'm sure there's 20k into it.

Including labor.

But you wouldn't WANT to build that. Nationally, it has to run an unrestricted class,

it's not vintage- elegible in a lot of regions, and WTF is up with that

roll cage tube going OVER the tunnel? That's nuts!

In this economy, you could give me 15k for MY car- and it's significantly

further- prepared than that one. AND class legal (mostly...) and it comes

with a lot of spares. You'd get more than 15k in parts, and my labor for free.

That's just the way it is these days.

An ITB car starts around 5k, but isn't always easy to find. A nice one sold locally

last summer for 8k.

Yes, it'd cost 15k to build one. Maybe less if you did most of the work.

But the resale market for hopelessly outdated race

cars is in the dumper right now. So don't build one. Buy one.

Because a 'proper' ITB motor's $5k to build no matter what. Yup, just

about exactly what a 'proper' street motor costs...

If you really want this car, sure, buy it- but buy it because you want

a nice lapping- day car, because it's not going to fit well into most rule sets.

If it fits well locally- then cool. But you'll have to stick with the clubs it's legal in.

If you like it- yes, it should be yours. If you want a bargain, this ain't it.

My opinion only, of course...

t

[gastephens]

I can't speak to value but I can say that the car would be vintage legal in most places on the east coast. It would not be competitive however. If you just want to dip your toe into vintage racing this is a way to do it.

There are some really fast 2002s that are highly lightened and modified. I too question the cage design. To be fast the cage must be designed to stiffen the car as well as keep you safe. This one seems like it was a bit of an afterthought. To run up front you will need at least 200hp and maybe as much as 225hp. You wont get that with a 38 downdraft.

This car is a ticket to the show but you will be sitting in the cheap seats.

[gastephens]

I can't speak to value but I can say that the car would be vintage legal in most places on the east coast. It would not be competitive however. If you just want to dip your toe into vintage racing this is a way to do it.

There are some really fast 2002s that are highly lightened and modified. I too question the cage design. To be fast the cage must be designed to stiffen the car as well as keep you safe. This one seems like it was a bit of an afterthought. To run up front you will need at least 200hp and maybe as much as 225hp. You wont get that with a 38 downdraft.

This car is a ticket to the show but you will be sitting in the cheap seats.

[TobyB]

the car would be vintage legal in most places on the east coast

Wow! Here, it's a roundie or nothing, and they get persnickety about the VIN, even. And cage design...

And taking out the front sheetmetal? That even kicks you out of E Production in SCCA...

As to 225hp, though, yeah, that's in the same ballpark as Sovren....

t

[Rigmaster]

Hard to tell if it's a "good deal" or not. I agree with most of the comments so far. The roll bar tube over the tunnel is extremely unusual- but maybe the seller's Ebay username ("fabperson") provides a clue.

It does look like a clean car in the pics, and even if the seller did most of the work on the car himself (i.e.- no labor cost), he's still probably not making any money at that price.

That being said, I wouldn't pay anything close to that price without going over the car very closely in person.

You need to ask yourself what the ultimate purpose of the car will be. If it's to run vintage, then it would probably be a fun car, but as others have mentioned, it will not be a class winner- not even close. If you're looking for a track toy or car to do driver's schools, etc, it would also be alot of fun. It's obviously not legal for SCCA ITB (big brakes, etc), but it could run in NASA and have some good competition depending on your location.

As point of reference, about a year ago I bought a 71 2002 that was built to SCCA ITB spec. It's not cosmetically nearly as nice as the car in this Ebay listing, but it's mechanically sound and a TON of fun. I paid spent ~$4600 including delivery for my car- and I am very pleased with my purchase. I don't plan on racing the car in SCCA, though I might run it in NASA some time in the next couple of years.

[eurotrash]

I will literally be passing right through there on Friday on my way to FT. Wayne, IN.

[gastephens]

HSR will let you run a Miata and SVRA has a class for replica stock cars so they will take pretty much anything.

VARAC has a class for later cars.

VDCA and VRG are a bit more selective but with the bad economy they might take a later 02.

Its getting hard to race a real vintage car any more.

[M3M3]

i can't figure out why it has ITB all over it. there is no way that car was ever even close to legal to run ITB class.

non-stock brakes

no rad support

no heater core/box

no bumpers

no dash

38/38 carb

i am sure there are more issues.

pretty car, but.....looks like a classic case of someone buillt a race car without reading any rule books or deciding what race series to run in. what results is a track day car that isn't legal in much and not competitive in anything.