Shopping for 9-5's as we speak. What exchange rate do I get to use, the one from the date of purchase?
Shopping for 9-5's as we speak. What exchange rate do I get to use, the one from the date of purchase?
The 4th gen Camaro was mine, stock bits from other models, full interior, street legal, legit passed RI emissions standards.
Full interior but to some ones point here I should have pointed out the rats nest it was when I started along with the all the "natural lightening" that was fixed.
The Infiniti was just cool...no getting around it. But I think the most style points were after the event, who doesn't love a Thunderbird SC (Another GT Luxo Barge) on a trailer doing a burn out!! Someone better have a photo to post.
In general you can find those luxo cars cheap, have seen running jags at $1000 or so. Overall a solid formula, big power decent chassis, tons of weight!
As a first timer the biggest 2 things I noticed when we got there were:
How many people still didn't have a put together car. Driving from RI I had no desire to work on my sh(*^t there.
The number of challengers running Brand New Hoosier A6 tires!!! Sure they didn't count in the budget, but the tire bill is huge!! I don't doubt my autocross times would have been better if not on 5 year old R-comps!
What I am really waiting for is the commercial vehicle class!!! Nothing like seeing big rigs or straight trucks run around a road coarse!! Maybe I should start looking now....did they have diesel at the track??
BTW if anyone is working on a challenge car in RI, North East CT or Southern Mass let me know, am willing to get greasy and drink some beer.
Dan
Dan
SVreX wrote: Turboed Alfa driven to an autoX win by the owner (not a pro) was a good story.
Which has little to do with how the car looks.
I went to the event trying to win, not tell a story. I don't see how a car that would be a legal CSP Miata that wins the autocross via the owner driving it has any impact on the concours score.
I know it's a magazine and all. But having the score be so nebulous really is a turn off to want to attend again.
Sorry about the diversion, but it's important here- because some people think luxo barge cars are cool, they automatically get extra credit for not doing much. An Alfa Spider did exactly the same thing as the Lexus- flown, bought, did the best it could, and drove home- but it was way, way down in the results. Did he need to get an Armani suit?
SVreX wrote:alfadriver wrote:Yep. Because the magazine is trying to generate stories.SVreX wrote: The Concours is all about effort, and story.Why? I'm penalized if I find a great Miata for $1500 and turn it into a car that can top 10 nationally in Topeka but don't have to do anything beyond polish the car? But if I find a POS one for $1500, and produce the same thing I get extra credit? that makes no sense at all.
Now, I have never been to a challenge before, but that isn't how I read the rules, and I believe that is an interpretation.
We are all free to interpret however we want. And at the end of the day, the interpretation that matters is not our own. I see that as more fun, getting to see how everyone else interprets the rules. If we all conform to one single interpretation, we would miss a lot of great builds.
In reply to rcutclif:
I have been there 11 times, and listened to these arguments (and the staff explanations) every single year, both before and after the event.
Read them again:
1st line of the GRM Challenge rules says: This event is meant to be a fun editorial exercise so that Grassroots Motorsports can show its readers what creative people can do with a car, their hands and a little cash.
That's the new version of what used to say the purpose of the event is to generate editorial content.
That means they are trying to generate stories. 
They are a publishing company. They don't need to run this event so we can compete for a plastic trophy and argue about insignificant rules. They do it for the editorial content, the stories.
You can bring ANYTHING. Just make it a good story.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/volvo-850r-wagon-695-in-nyc/105101/page1/
What are we fighting about again?
David S. Wallens wrote: What are we fighting about again?
What is a cool car to start with? I don't want to fly to Miami and get any old $2000 Ferrari, afterall.
It does seem important to know what a cool luxo barge is before settling on one.
Or even a cool car in general.
pimpm3 wrote: My buddy decides to bring possibly the most unlikely challenge competitor of the lot a 1995 Buick Roadmaster Wagon. Blue leather baby!
Someone - if it hasn't happened already - REALLY needs to do a Family Truckster.
Seriously?! Can we all get our panties out of our cracks and get back to talking Challenge smack?
I have not, and with most likelihood will not, ever win a trophy at the Challenge but do I try to bring a car. Do I have aspirations of building a beast that looks good? Sure but if it doesn't happen I'm still going to come. Why? You berkeleyers are crazy and you build some crazy E36 M3 and I love spending time with you since I first came to a challenge solo (not knowing a soul) and Les B was kind enough to show me the ropes and let me hang with his crew all weekend. Last year I brought two coolers full of beer just to share.
Come, have fun, win, don't win, meet some awesome motor heads and hopefully watch Joe do another EPIC burnout on his trailer (video does exist of this). Stop by, I'll probably have beer again this year.
Your killing me... thanks for ruining the suprise
hobiercr wrote: Seriously?! Can we all get our panties out of our cracks and get back to talking Challenge smack? I have not, and with most likelihood will not, ever win a trophy at the Challenge but do I try to bring a car. Do I have aspirations of building a beast that looks good? Sure but if it doesn't happen I'm still going to come. Why? You berkeleyers are crazy and you build some crazy E36 M3 and I love spending time with you since I first came to a challenge solo (not knowing a soul) and Les B was kind enough to show me the ropes and let me hang with his crew all weekend. Last year I brought two coolers full of beer just to share. Come, have fun, win, don't win, meet some awesome motor heads and hopefully watch Joe do another EPIC burnout on his trailer (video does exist of this). Stop by, I'll probably have beer again this year.
I think you just won a trophy: my heart.
hobiercr wrote: Seriously?! Can we all get our panties out of our cracks and get back to talking Challenge smack? I have not, and with most likelihood will not, ever win a trophy at the Challenge but do I try to bring a car. Do I have aspirations of building a beast that looks good? Sure but if it doesn't happen I'm still going to come. Why? You berkeleyers are crazy and you build some crazy E36 M3 and I love spending time with you since I first came to a challenge solo (not knowing a soul) and Les B was kind enough to show me the ropes and let me hang with his crew all weekend. Last year I brought two coolers full of beer just to share. Come, have fun, win, don't win, meet some awesome motor heads and hopefully watch Joe do another EPIC burnout on his trailer (video does exist of this). Stop by, I'll probably have beer again this year.
Smack talk challenge accepted:
I bet I can more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class. Plus I'm from darn close to Wisconsin...
rcutclif wrote:hobiercr wrote: Seriously?! Can we all get our panties out of our cracks and get back to talking Challenge smack? I have not, and with most likelihood will not, ever win a trophy at the Challenge but do I try to bring a car. Do I have aspirations of building a beast that looks good? Sure but if it doesn't happen I'm still going to come. Why? You berkeleyers are crazy and you build some crazy E36 M3 and I love spending time with you since I first came to a challenge solo (not knowing a soul) and Les B was kind enough to show me the ropes and let me hang with his crew all weekend. Last year I brought two coolers full of beer just to share. Come, have fun, win, don't win, meet some awesome motor heads and hopefully watch Joe do another EPIC burnout on his trailer (video does exist of this). Stop by, I'll probably have beer again this year.Smack talk challenge accepted: I bet I can more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class. Plus I'm from darn close to Wisconsin...
Sounds like someone's already been dipping into said beer.
I am not sure why everyone is bent out of shape this is supposed to be fun!
Is the concourse geared towards a good story over a clean car? I have no idea I have never been a judge. If it does reward some points to a good back story I can understand why, this is an editorial event after all.
Back to the main premise of the class... Look I am under no illusions as to winning this event. That has never been a realistic goal for me personally. Each of us enter and or attend this event for different reasons. Me personally I go to have a good time, hang out with like minded people and to see the crazy stuff people come up with for a small budget. I have been at least six times and have never placed higher then 11th. I have always built my entries with the intent of selling them after the event and that limits how far I can go with a build. Lets face it a gutted car with plexiglass windows is a little harder to sell then one that is daily driver capable.
John stumbled onto something last year and I think this "Aristocrat class" within the challenge builds upon that. You don't have to build a purpose built vehicle that is useless for anything else to have a good time and actually compete. He showed that a well bought car can do quite well without a lot of prep. Heck he owned it less then 48 hours!
There are a ton of powerful, inexpensive cars out there as the many posts on this threat have shown. They have been under represented up to this point and creating a class where they can competed allows some of the people who have no chance and no intentions of winning have a little fun. It also gives alot of first time challengers a realistic place to play with a daily driver.
There is also the added benefit of creating new and different editorial content. Setting up a Miata or a Civic or a Mustang for autocross and drag racing has been discussed literally like a million times. Try looking up autocross setup information for a LS400 or a Buick Roadmaster. Trust me it sucks, there is nothing out there.
I look forward to losing to a Miata and a Mustang in October, while I spank an Infiniti and another Lexus. 
See you guys there....
David S. Wallens wrote:rcutclif wrote: I bet I can more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class. Plus I'm from darn close to Wisconsin...Sounds like someone's already been dipping into said beer.
The fun part is filling in the missing verb.
I bet I can drink more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class.
I bet I can brew more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class.
I bet I can spill more beer in my trunk than the rest of the aristocrat class.
In reply to pimpm3:
Don't plan on winning anything in a poverty car like a GS400. Come back when you have the money for the top of the line model.
Also, when I blow my car up I may need a ride to the airport.
WillrunifChased wrote: In reply to pimpm3: Don't plan on winning anything in a poverty car like a GS400. Come back when you have the money for the top of the line model. Also, when I blow my car up I may need a ride to the airport.
I can make you a heck of a deal on a Fiero for the drive home
pimpm3 wrote:WillrunifChased wrote: In reply to pimpm3: Don't plan on winning anything in a poverty car like a GS400. Come back when you have the money for the top of the line model. Also, when I blow my car up I may need a ride to the airport.I can make you a heck of a deal on a Fiero for the drive home
I'd take an uber ride home to PA before I would buy that back.
The paint has held up surprisingly well, and it actually started the first try the other day. Other then that it was infested with ants...
pimpm3 wrote:WillrunifChased wrote: In reply to pimpm3: Don't plan on winning anything in a poverty car like a GS400. Come back when you have the money for the top of the line model. Also, when I blow my car up I may need a ride to the airport.I can make you a heck of a deal on a Fiero for the drive home
Its only fair you buy his gs400 if your ls400 blows up. He did buy your challenge car last year after it was blown up.
This is going to be fantastic guys! My only hope is that I can be there to watch the mayhem go down.
pimpm3 wrote: The paint has held up surprisingly well, and it actually started the first try the other day. Other then that it was infested with ants...
Should I put in a second entry for the fiero?
I could trailer the ls400 down to Jacksonville. Then have my friend drive it to Gainesville while trailering the fiero over.
Esoteric Nixon wrote: Just going to leave this here... https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/5190625404.html
Why do I want a pair of m90s sticking out of the hood. Gutted with a cadge. Massive MTs on the back. Compleetly forget about the autocross. Hell you would do better aiming to all the cones on time and take the penalty's than try to avoid them.
WillrunifChased wrote:pimpm3 wrote: The paint has held up surprisingly well, and it actually started the first try the other day. Other then that it was infested with ants...Should I put in a second entry for the fiero? I could trailer the ls400 down to Jacksonville. Then have my friend drive it to Gainesville while trailering the fiero over.
No, my wife is out of town the week before and I will not be able to go to Gainesville till Friday morning. No time to do a parking lot build.
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