Buying a tracked car

As I’ve posted before I’m looking for a NC Miata for an all arounder/DD/autox car. The more I get into Miata land the more excited I get about taking my future car to driving events (autox, HPDE, whatever...)

Local to me a NC has popped up with a few of the mods I have been looking at already done. It’s lower mileage (60k) then what I have been looking at and the price is reasonable and within budget. I could afford to buy it and swap out the parts I don’t want with the parts I do and still be in budget. 

Initially I have been shying away from anything that doesn’t appear stock or babied but when I think about it that doesn’t really make sense. I plan to track the car, why not start with one that already has what I need? I know cars wear out quickly on track and so I would want to know how many events it’s been to but assuming everything checks out and it runs well... why not? 

Is this sound thinking? Is it not? Unload your wisdom on me here

I see nothing wrong with buying a tracked car as a track car.  Like anything, though, you would want one that has been maintained well, not just beat on.  Most guys I know that have track cars maintain them better than their daily driver.  I change oil after every 2 track days.  The brake are inspected and bled before every track day.  Suspension and drivetrain are checked rigorously before an event.  That’s what you want to find.

An NC I wouldn't worry too much. Obviously hard to know, but I wouldn't bat an eye at a well tracked NC with that low of miles.

Tracked cars are owned by people who want them to be reliable on track. Generally enthusiasts, and people with enough money to make the mods necessary to track the car. Often a log book, or frequent maintenance, etc. I have no problem buying a tracked car. 

A “riced” car, or a street racer is a completely different story.   They are frequently owned by people who do not have enough money for track entry fees, never do maintenance, believe faster means mooor boost, beat the E36 M3 out of them, and are less concerned with reliability and longevity then they are with the number of YouTube hits they can generate. 

What SVReX said. Just look for a car that's been put together well with quality parts and been looked after.

In reply to maj75 :

Wow, that's quite a maintenance schedule.  I wish my car got that type of lovin!

In reply to bcp2011 :

That's pretty common for track cars. I know that my cars that get tracked are maintained muuuuuuch better than my daily cars. My truck has some sort of front end clunk. It's been there a while. I'll get to it eventually. If a track car clunks it's immediately on the lift getting looked at. Bushing are all good. Brakes are excellent. I know when I changed each fluid. I've had a wrench on every suspension bolt. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to bcp2011 :

That's pretty common for track cars. I know that my cars that get tracked are maintained muuuuuuch better than my daily cars. My truck has some sort of front end clunk. It's been there a while. I'll get to it eventually. If a track car clunks it's immediately on the lift getting looked at. Bushing are all good. Brakes are excellent. I know when I changed each fluid. I've had a wrench on every suspension bolt. 

All of this.

Especially that last part if you are anywhere with a winter.  A track car will actually come apart when you want to work on it.  Even someone's babied street car will have parts fused together with iron oxide.

SVReX nailed it.  A real “track car” will have received way more attention and maintenance than most garage queens, even if they don’t look as nice.  I own a $3500 Miata with $12k worth of maintenance and upgrades.  That’s a track car.  Study up on which mods are for performance/reliability vs. bling/show, and shop accordingly.

You can get a pretty good deal buying an enthusiast's car. You get a car that's been taken care of and the performance is already there. I would just check to see if the mods are well thought out and are quality. i.e. if it's Racelands it's probably rice.

Don't get me wrong guys, I take care of my daily / track car, but just not an oil change every two days and new brake fluids every event.  I've done maybe 10 days so far this year and it's all been on the same bottle of Castrol SRF, and it seems to be holding fine.  

20+ years ago I bought a 90 Miata showroom stock race car and daily drove it. The car had actually had been rolled twice but mechanically it was very sound.

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to buy an enthusiast car.

I wanted a Miata to build to do HPDE events. I bought a "track car."

Happened upon a car that had quite a bit of track parts already installed; roll bar, wheels & tires, name brand coilovers, wilwood brakes, aluminum radiator, sparco seat, harness, de-powered rack, hardtop,  AC deleted...etc.  Paid pretty much top dollar for the car, but it was nearly the exact amount that I would have had to pay for all the parts that were already on the car, and it was ready to go, instead of another languishing project in the garage waiting on me to buy and install the parts. The car only had a handful of track days, the PO had just run out of time to go driving, and let the car go.

I actually got to go to the track and drive, instead of mussing about building the car.  Wouldn't change a thing about what I did, can still minor upgrades on the car, do the maintenance, and it's always ready when events come up.

EDIT:

FWIW, this is dedicated track car. We don't go get ice cream, or take long drives. It drives poorly on the street due to the alignment; it's loud, obnoxious, and uncomfortable.  I trailer it to events, try to improve my skills a bit, and trailer it home..that's it.