What do I do with this car?

A

autotec

New member
Hello all,

I'm new to this site, so just a little backround on me. I was never a wheel to wheel kind of guy due to me not wanting to wreck my daily driver. But I have competed in many autocrosses, both high speed and the parking lot style. To make a long story short, I bought a 89 Mazda MX-6 GT that was built by Team Highball back in the late 80's. I bought it because it was a good deal. ( kinda ) What class would this car fit into? Would it even be competitive in said class? I have always wanted to try some wheel to wheel, so here is my chance. But I just do not want to be in the way of other people just so I can go out and have some fun. Any ideas would be great.

Thanks, Justin
 
In the pictures that came with the car, it was raced in GT-2 in the past. The prior owner said it can be classed with the ITE cars now. Looking at the cars I would be up against, I think I would just be in everybodys way.
 
GT2 seems odd, at least SCCA GT2. That would be a full prep race car with a fuel cell, fire system and such.
What motor is in the car? I assume it is a unibody car not a tube frame. What part of the country are you located in?
 
Probably also a turbo, if I remember correctly.

ITO perhaps? SPU? It is very likely a regional-only classes kind of car, but still fun.
 
autotec said:
In the pictures that came with the car, it was raced in GT-2 in the past. The prior owner said it can be classed with the ITE cars now. Looking at the cars I would be up against, I think I would just be in everybodys way.
Click to expand...

If that's the car I am thinking of it was raced in GT2 with EMRA in the early 90's when it belonged to Bruce Hollander, who I think owned it before the owner you are talking about. EMRA classing was/is different than SCCA classing.

Big ass turbo on it at the time.
 
I saw the ad and, while it was a lot of car for the $$, it's kind of a motherless child in SCCA regional racing. If anything, it would be an ITE car or SP(whatever), but the answer completely depends on what your region does. Get a copy of your local "region-specific" class rules, and figure out where it fits.

KK

EDIT - I get to invoke Old Guy status here and relate the story that we actually raced one of those cars in the old ESCORT showroom stock series in the mid-80s. It wasn't as modified as this example but it was a really fun car. We had to run almost NO camber in the front, to keep the tires on the ground. With an open diff (required stock), it would spin a tire the entire length of the straight at Portland or Seattle. It was really a gas to drive.

EDIT EDIT - if that blue/white car is the one you bought, it's NOT the one I saw advertised. The Luk cars were not turbos. The one I saw was, as was our SSA ESCORT car.

K
 
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No it wasn't the white car. It was the yellow one. I was actually looking for a simple "school" car just to get my feet wet, but this one just seemed right. It is a turbo. It's going to need some work to get it up to par, but it should be a fun car for a few track days. I'm located in WI. I'll have pictures on Sun after I clean it up a bit. Thanks for all the info.

Justin
 
Yup - that's the one I saw. Again, lots of cool parts (I really like the wheels) for the money but it's kind of a dead-ender in terms of an SCCA Club Racing class.

I'd like to think I know something about race cars of that period but I'm at a loss as to where it started life (in terms of sanction/class). All of the IMSA ChampSpark, IS, and Luk cars were NA; it doesn't have enough craziness to be an IMSA GT car. I *think* it might be an old ChampSpark car retrofitted later with the blown motor.

K
 
Justin, whatever you do, make sure the roll cage material (wall thickness and diameter) is proper. Many cars built to non-SCCA used cage material too small to meet SCCA requirements today...

I'm thinking "ITE" except not every region supports ITE or allows turbos in IT classes. If not ITE, then SPO (using SEDiv definitions here).

Good luck with the car!
 
Thanks for all the help and advice. Starting next week, I'm going to start going through the car to see what kind of shape it's really in. From what I've been told, it hasn't seen a track in quite some time. Plus it's been passed around for the last 5 years. Worst case, it would make a fun track day car for my wife and I. Thanks again.

Justin
 
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