Grassroots Motorsports

Fortunately, not all teens have to choose between homework and shop time. A few are lucky enough to turn that first car into high school credit. Andrew Winterhalter is one such student, as he built one heck of a senior project with his father, Jon.

Using the Internets

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Luckily, budget-minded enthusiasts who’d like to build a home-brewed car can find lots of inspiration, tips, diagrams and how-tos on the Internet. Jon and Andrew knew this early on, and made the most out of what others, such as Jim McSorley, had done.

In addition, books on home-built Seven replicas—cars commonly called Locosts—were more than useful. “We studied the Ron Champion bible [“Build Your Own Sports Car for as Little as £250—and Race It!’], but it’s more inspirational than informational for the U.S. builder,” Jon adds, as this book is written for the English market.

Most conventional wisdom regarding a Locost suggests using a Toyota Corolla GT-S or Mazda Miata as the donor vehicle. The father-and-son duo considered both options, but Miatas were out of their price range and they couldn’t locate a Corolla in time. Then Andrew came across a running 1980 BMW 320i for just $275, and it seemed to fit the bill.

“At first, we were trying to find a rear-wheel-drive car with a solid axle because that’s what they had in the Ron Champion book,” Andrew says. “We also thought it would be easier to build that way. But in the end, the price was right for the BMW donor.”

Jon and Andrew drove the BMW home and began the disassembly. They trashed the rusted body and kept any part that could potentially be used in the build. In an effort to save as much time and money as possible, even mounting brackets and small components were salvaged.

While the BMW engine isn’t the ideal donor—it’s taller and pokier than they wanted—it still works. Starting with a running car, especially one that costs less than $300, goes a long way to preventing headaches and money loss. However, Jon laments that it is a bit old for a project of this magnitude.

It’s a Series of Tubes

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Building the multi-tube space frame from scratch would take some work. While sourcing the frame tubing was easy enough, it wasn’t a sign of things to come for the rest of the build. “On the first day of cutting tubes, we got surprisingly far,” Andrew recalls. “We cut about 70 percent of the main chassis tubes. But as I later found out, this was the easy part.”

Things got a little harder when the actual chassis construction began. While the Internet and books helped get the build off the ground, not all of that info helped.

For example, many Locost builders go with a stick axle. Since the Winterhalters used the BMW’s independent rear suspension, everything from the seat bulkhead back had to be a custom job—something a bit involved for two guys who aren’t professional fabricators. Construction was also slowed each time custom brackets for the various accessories had to be created.

Luckily, good planning and foresight also went into this project, as Andrew and Jon budgeted two years for the build. While two years may seem like a long time for some, it was the right pace for them.

“The time from having the frame built to having everything else attached is very time consuming,” Jon adds. “It’s like building a house. Having the frame built and under roof looks like real progress, but the job is not yet one half completed.”

Spinning the Wheel

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Jon and Andrew decided not to let a silly thing like a complete lack of fabrication skills stand in their way. Since they spent considerable time building a custom frame for their custom car, they weren’t about to stop there by buying their body panels. Jon went back to the Internet and books, this time to build an English wheel. In sticking with the budget theme, the wheel set him back roughly $300.

Jon used the English wheel and a wood buck he built to shape the nose cone from four pieces of aluminum. The fenders were shaped on a shrinker, while the rest of the panels were bent around the car’s frame or a large-diameter tube.

They may have been inexperienced, but that didn’t stop Jon and Andrew from creating a topnotch machine. Upon seeing this low-buck creation up close, you’d never know it was the product of a father and son wanting to have some fun in the garage. The panels fit well, and there’s just something inherently cool about an aluminum-bodied racer.

Passed With Flying Colors

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Andrew and his father finished the build in their allotted two years, and they even managed to do something extra with the car: About a year into the project, Jon began totaling his receipts and realized that they could probably make the car legal for our $2005 Kumho Tires Challenge event.

After all was said and done, the Locost build cost $1993.03, something Jon doesn’t think would be possible today with the rise in the cost of metal. He, isn’t opposed to building another one, however, and even has two donor Miatas waiting in the wings.

As far as high school graduation was concerned, Andrew breezed through and is currently attending Penn State. At the end of his senior presentation, he said, “By the way, the car is outside in the parking lot.” To top it off, the car is driven on a weekly basis, and the pair took it to North Carolina’s Tail of the Dragon last year.

“The Tail of the Dragon was definitely better than math class,” Andrew says. “The fact that my dad and I built it ourselves and that it works makes me happy.”

$2005 Challenge BMW-powered Locost Expenditures

item	price
1980 BMW 320i	$291.50
tubing	$338.02
aluminum sheet	$226.46
16 bushings and 8 pickup point sleeves for wishbones	$95.00
shorten and balance driveshaft	$132.50
front and rear brake pads and shoes	$45.02
ignition rotor	$6.08
headlights	$57.98
front shocks	$29.43
clutch disc, crankshaft seal	$78.89
glasspack muffler 2.5x2-in. diameter, 4-ft.x11/2-in. tubing, 1 hanger	$28.26
used Jeep CJ taillights	$30.00
hose clamps	$3.69
v-belt, radiator hoses	$33.77
fender welting, hood latches	$31.77
amber lights	$5.68
red light, fuses	$8.94
wire, fuses, brake fluid	$9.45
gas tank cap	$4.59
Mothers aluminum polish, coolant	$17.97
horn button	$4.21
19x38-in. windshield	$49.19
Trico 14-in. wiper blades	$14.82
mirror	$7.38
mirror, fuel line	$12.38
used Honda CRX adjustable coil-overs	$30.00
used Miata rear shock absorbers	$5.00
G-Force harness, arm restraints	$84.98
carnauba paste wax	$5.55
steering wheel cover (handle bar tape)	$6.31
MIG weld wire, TIG filler wire	$27.00
front brake hoses, seat edging	$6.00
rear brake cylinder	$26.71
battery	$26.50
stainless steel mesh for grille	$4.00
hardware, nuts, bolts	$175.11
paint	$32.89
total budget:	$1993.03