Would you buy an ex-racer.....
Discussion
Yes, and I did. I got it for a song needing a new HG. Good old K series engines. 5 years later I sold it for what I'd paid. Everyone's a winner.
It's still going 9 years after I sold it, it now has a 1.6K instead of the old 1.4 kss. The racing has given it a few bumps that it didn't leave the factory with, but it ran very well and came with lots of goodies, like a DS, a LSD, race rad and a few other things I've probably forgotten.
It's still going 9 years after I sold it, it now has a 1.6K instead of the old 1.4 kss. The racing has given it a few bumps that it didn't leave the factory with, but it ran very well and came with lots of goodies, like a DS, a LSD, race rad and a few other things I've probably forgotten.
Yes I would. I think my car may have done a part season in Academy, but I bought on condition, have done 7000 miles in it without any issues and this year have been offered more on trade in for another Caterham than I paid for it. As someone once pointed out to me, a whole season of Academy racing is about an hour of track time. It's what they were designed for.
IMHO there's a big difference between an ex Acsdemy car and an ex race car. The former is a road car which was raced a bit for a season and the latter is likely to have been raced hard for several seasons. The latter is unlikely to here ever been road registered either. And would require handbrake, lights etc to register for the road. But s well looked after ex race car at the right price buys you performance and a sorted car for less than the equivalent road car.
te imaginable.sfaulds said:
The hardest thing to put right on a Caterham (in my experience) is neglect - not something that's likely on an ex-racer. Current condition is key imho - there's not much scope for hiding faults on a seven.
Absolutely this, and buy on condition. If you fire it up and the cam followers clatter away for 30 seconds till the oil gets round (a favourite on K series Academy cars because of oil starvation in corners) then you know it's had a hard life. However an ex race car, if not damaged, can be great. So it's spent a few hours of its life with the brakes being hammered and the suspension bushes being crashed over kerbs. So what? If the brakes are worn out or the susoension worn, replace them. It's easy enough. If the clutch is done it's a £300-400 job if you can't DIY. Hardly a big deal. These things happen on garage queens too, even before you contract upgradeitis and decide that your 20k mile engine is "past its best" and needs, ooh, let's see now. What it needs is another 20 bhp! That's it.Better a new engine and some suspension bushes than extensive corrosion.
So ex-racers are fine, if the condition, spec and price is right. If not, get another car.
Another ex-race car owner here. I was specifically looking for a spec including lsd, 6 speed etc for a trackday car, so something with scruffy bodywork but mechanically solid was good for me. A reskin is costly, so it's about getting a car that's as close to what you want it to be initially.
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