Hi, my name is James, and I’m an automotive addict.
Right now I have a MazdaSpeed3 and a Miata, and I am starting to race my Miata in local Auto-X events in the street-prepared class. I’ve been racing off-and-on since I was 19, and driving since I was 15. I like working on cars and I love driving and racing cars.
Are there any other auto-addicts, auto-nerds, gear heads, piston heads, rotor heads, or race junkies in the FIRST community? Let yourself be known!
My two cars, though you can’t see much of the Speed3:
I raced Spec Neon for a couple years and have competed in 4 24 hours of Lemons Races. Our team has actually competed in 6 races (we are the Green Chia Neon). http://www.chianeon.evilengineering.com/latchkeykids/
Before that, a friend and I scratch built a prototype sports racer for a guy that wanted to start his own series.
I recently got my Michigan level one permit on Monday… which may have been one of the happiest moments of my life. I love cars… but I haven’t been able to really drive any except for my mom’s Saturn Aura ('07 XE model, meaning a 3.5 V6 producing 224 torques and 220 brake-horsepower… I know more about it than she does!) I want to buy my own car by the end of high school, and my parents have promised me no help at all and have imposed a limit, in that I have to get a GM car (my dad works for them). Otherwise, I’d look at a '98 or so BMW 330i, for the style and the power.
I’ve already promised to myself that one day I will buy an '80s Porsche 911 as a project car with that ridiculous rear spoiler. And, maybe in college, I’ll get involved in a race series. But, right now, I’m too preoccupied with FIRST and my lack of money.
IKE: 24 Hours of Lemons sounds like an awesome race!
Kenavt: It’s a shame your parents insist on controlling what car you get even though they won’t help you out… doesn’t seem to make sense. If it didn’t have to be GM I would strongly advocate a Miata, which can be had for one or two grand. Right now I’m helping another coach on my team rebuild a 1988 325IS from the frame up.
JamesCH95, it kinda makes sense since my dad works for GM and I live in Michigan (after all). But… I fail to see how this helps GM in any way. The resale values of the car I pick won’t increase at all, and no one cares if I drive a GM/won’t decide whether to get a GM car or not based on whether I’m driving one. About the Miata… it’s a great little car, but I’d like to get something a little bit more practical. Carrying four people is a must. Those old '80s BMWs with the ridiculous kidney grills are pretty cool!
If I had spare time (and gas money), my car would be a 1969, midnight blue Plymouth Road runner with a 426 cu. in. Hemi and Hurst shifter. That is a completely stock 425 HP engine for those of you born after 1975.
I’ve been messing with cars for a long time…did my first engine overhaul at age 14. I’m almost 50 now.
I’m getting ready to take my 55 Chevy on a short drive over to New Mexico this weekend. Then I need to change the valve springs in it and get back to a dragstrip…last racing adventure (this past November) was a 250 mile drive up to Speedworld north of Phoenix, where I ran 11.25 at 122 mph.
Jim,
That doesn’t look like a stock engine for a '55. Is that dual quads sticking out of the hood?
BTW,
Learned to drive in a '57 Chevy 4 door with a 235 engine that belonged to the family. Also was driving the '57 when a senior citizen drove through a stop sign and T-boned it, when I was senior in high school. The hit came after about 4 months of Saturdays, rebuilding the body and repainting, I was devastated. The new parts were the only thing that kept it from rolling.
Wow, that’s tragic…although not nearly as tragic as it could have been…cars can be replaced, people can’t
My 55 is not quite stock, it has a blown LS-7 mostly under the hood. That’s the old LS-7 that they quite making about 20 years ago, for all you youngsters
I really don’t race cars but I just turned 17 and right now I drive a '98 Ford Explorer and hopefully tomorrow will start driving my '71 VW Bug. I love the bug SO much. It’s a fun little car to drive. Oh yeah, it’s a convertible too. Me and my dad practically took the whole engine apart [we needed to replace some parts] and next I need to do a little body work on it. Racing sounds like fun but I really don’t have a car for it
A stock bug of that vintage in Michigan is a testament of automotive fortitude when driven in the winter. A convertible is downright pushing the envelope.
Jim, the tragic part was taking it to the junkyard after it was deemed totaled. A huge fork truck came up, hit the wheels with the forks and popped the wheels off, then smashed through the windows, lifted it up and set it on the top of a pile of other cars. It was like a knife going through my heart. Still have the ignition key.
I wasn’t going to post in this thread (trying to go the summer without posting on CD, kind of a vacation) but now I feel like I have to.
I’m a bit of an Automotive Addict, but I think a more appropriate term for me would be a Driving Addict.
Right now, I own a 2002 BMW 325Ci that I drive everyday and a 1989 240sx that is supposed to be a “Race Car” but it’s pending a motor swap. I’m more into Drifting than any other sort of motor sport though I’ve dabbled in a bunch at one point or another either through friends or my own interest. I’ve also owned a 1991 240sx and 1990 Rx-7.
I’m a huge fan of the Nissan S-Chassis (240sx) because they’re relatively inexpensive, easy to work on, Rear-Wheel drive etc. I got into Rx-7’s as an experiment but didn’t really like how the car rotated under power so I sold it. The BMW was my attempt at growing up and getting something comfortable and stylish, but that’s been beat on too.
This is the last race car I helped build and race in college. Ran about 3.2 second 0-60 and pulled around 1.4gs on the skid pad. Weighed 470lbs with 48f/52r weight distribution, motivated by a restricted GSXR-600 engine.
