Good Pre-75 autox platforms ~$7k

Stampie said:

Fiat X1/9 was introduced in 72. 

I think actually 74, and because that is the only year that qualifies for no Cali emissions (as well as generally more attractive bumpers), the 74 cars are more expensive. 

But still, would've been my response.

projectmg said:

My use case would primarily be as a fun weekend car to rev out and enjoy on the backroads, and with some use in autocross as well.

If you have 52 weekends in the year, make sure you can enjoy driving it for as many as possible. 

Depending on where you live that might rule out some of the soft tops, or even make something with AC more attractive. Midengine cars do pretty well in the snow...

Amc Gremlin or a Rambler from the 60s is light and easy to find cheap and in good shape and with a good str 6 you could have some fun with it.

Ford Pintos are out there and tons of aftermarket.

VW Bugs are still out there and super easy to do anything with for cheap.

Ford Maverick.

Chevy Vega or another small car from that time.

Or go Chevy Nova from the 70s still common and easy to find. Mid 70 to late '70s would work. Or mid 60's if you could find one in ok shape.

Ford Falconer.

If you can find a deal on an RX-2 or RX-3 they are really good.  My dad was SCCA president in TX way back in the day and raced RX's of various years with 12A and 13A engines.  One event he did with the PCA and beat almost all of the 911s in attendance in an RX-3.

kevlarcorolla said:

I have my eye on an early fiat 124 coupe,seem to be good value if a clean non rusty one is found.

 Parts supply seems plentifull and not crazy money.

I really love those cars but honestly, most of them were already rusting by the time they left the factory and made it to the dealer's lot.  

To the OP's question - if I wanted to try to be competitive in today's autocross world with a 50ish year old car I'd be focused on whatever can accommodate the most tire... then add horsepower.

In reply to bludroptop :

I found a '68 that appears to be well kept,its in winter storage so will make the 1500km trip to look it over very carefully in the spring.

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Stampie said:

Fiat X1/9 was introduced in 72. 

I think actually 74, and because that is the only year that qualifies for no Cali emissions (as well as generally more attractive bumpers), the 74 cars are more expensive. 

But still, would've been my response.

We're both right.  Introduced in 72 but not brought to the US until 74.  I love when both parties are right.

There is always the Javelin also so how could we forget about that and the person named that way...hahahha.

How close to a yenko stinger corvair clone could you get for that budget? Also, if you want to go a decent distance with a build, look at SCCA C prepared allowances for corvairs if you are wanting to autocross. Nobody has done a serious build in a long time. Strikes me as a fun car for non-absurd prices.

I have a spridget, fun and valid, I'm not budget building and I have a decent setup on mine for about $7k (bugeye too, a square body spridget is about 1/2 price of a bugeye). Hard part would be if you want a budget overdrive on the bmc a series engine, that's getting expensive, I have close to $2k and months of parts hunting in that upgrade that I am in process of.

Apexcarver said:

How close to a yenko stinger corvair clone could you get for that budget? Also, if you want to go a decent distance with a build, look at SCCA C prepared allowances for corvairs if you are wanting to autocross. Nobody has done a serious build in a long time. Strikes me as a fun car for non-absurd prices.

 

I have a spridget, fun and valid, I'm not budget building and I have a decent setup on mine for about $7k (bugeye too, a square body spridget is about 1/2 price of a bugeye). Hard part would be if you want a budget overdrive on the bmc a series engine, that's getting expensive, I have close to $2k and months of parts hunting in that upgrade that I am in process of.

 

 

That is a great looking car. 

2nd gen Corvair is the hotness

Stampie said:

Fiat X1/9 was introduced in 72. 

Uh, 1974.

Edit:  damn, beat by someone else with Fiat knowledge. Yeah, you'll pay top dollar for a '74 small bumper X1/9. 

A $7000 purchase price still leaves a wildly variable 'build' cost. Popular cars like MGs will be far less to develop than an oddball like an Opel.

Though not auto-x specific, I chose to think outside the normal box while still playing inside the same warehouse. $4000, though it needs a 6 cylinder delete.

Doesn't share many parts with Mustangs but it does with Fairlanes, and there are enough things out there to make it what I want. Since the photo it has coil overs and a disc brake kit is in a box in the garage.  Probably get a 4 door for half as much; same wheelbase, etc.  Won't handle like an X1/9 though, no matter what I do to it.

Another ETA:  I owned several Fiat 124 coupes and spiders. Any Spider tricks will work on a Coupe, but the Coupe better have a mint body and all it's coupe-specific bits because those cars have zero reproduction support. 

I have a friend who recently raw timed all of the E Street cars with his 57 MGA and E Street in central Florida is very competitive. 

Where are you guys finding Datsun 510's, BMW 2002's, Porsche 914's, Mazda RX-2/3's and all my other "bucket list" cars for under the OP's $7000 budget? 

In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :

You can get any of the ones in your post in California for sub $7k, they'll mostly be fairly rough projects though 

In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm seeing lots of project 914's between out there between 2 and 3k

Here is a 2002 for $1,400. It's disassembled but complete with most of the rust work done. Hell, it's probably challenge material at that price.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3476858219269927/

AMC Gremlin.  

They actually have a rich racing history in IMSA (Team Highball).  The AMC 6-cylinders are as reliable as gravity, and the early ones had 7 main bearings, making the bottom ends very stout.  All the "modern" Jeep stuff is readily available, so, for example, making a 232/258 bottom end with a 4.0 head and F/I is all parts-bin. The front suspension is the virtually the same as a 70 AMX or Javelin and all the disc brake stuff from the bigger cars swaps.  A Ford Explorer 8.8 w/ discs is pretty much a direct swap as well.  Lots of potential.  

FSP_ZX2 said:

AMC Gremlin.  

They actua tolly have a rich racing history in IMSA (Team Highball).  The AMC 6-cylinders are as reliable as gravity, and the early ones had 7 main bearings, making the bottom ends very stout.  All the "modern" Jeep stuff is readily available, so, for example, making a 232/258 bottom end with a 4.0 head and F/I is all parts-bin. The front suspension is the virtually the same as a 70 AMX or Javelin and all the disc brake stuff from the bigger cars swaps.  A Ford Explorer 8.8 w/ discs is pretty much a direct swap as well.  Lots of potential.  

Gimpy and I have talked about how much fun it would be to build one to full C-prepared specs. 

Another thought for the thread, mustang II. Tons of suspension support from hot rodders and circle track guys.

Pacer?

bentwrench said:

Pacer?

Powertrain is similar to the Gremlin--all easy and available.  The front suspension is unique (among AMCs)...so the parts-bin is much smaller. Because it's wide--the real axle solutions may not be as "off the shelf" as the Gremlin (or Hornet or Spirit or Concorde). 

I'll chime in on AMC's. This is my old 73 Javelin that I had and developed for 7 years and autocrossed quite a bit. I did all the "right" handling mods - all poly bushings, reinforced and extended front LCA's, big front sway bar, front disc brakes, quick-ratio steering gearbox, Ford 8.8 rear axle swap with 3.73's and LSD, KYB's, stiffer springs, etc. Most importantly 17x9/10.5 wheels with modern 200TW tires in 245/275.

It was way, way better than stock. It still wasn't quick or competitive. We even tried it on A6's once. The basic platform is too long with too much overhang front and rear, even compared to other era pony cars. The Spirit/Hornet/Gremlin is a much better dimension to start with.

I would also highly recommend an engine swap. The I6 is about a gazillion pounds right on the front crossmember and the V8 is even worse in all pig iron form. A small block Ford, LS, or even a 4-cylinder turbo would be a huge weight savings and power gain. Mine was an AMC 360/4 bbl that went 14's in the 1/4 and I wanted to put a 5.7 Hemi in it for weight savings and efi.

Incidentally, I autocrossed a 73 914 1.7 extensively at the same time and it was soooooo much faster than the Javelin around the cones. It's also about 2/3 the size.

jimbob_racing said:

A 240z may be out of your budget, so look for a 1974 260z or a 1975 280z. More bang for your buck in essentially the same s30 platform.

They are out there.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/d/glendale-heights-1971-datsun-240z/7565738593.html

Javelin said:

The I6 is about a gazillion pounds right on the front crossmember...

A 258 with an aluminum head and tubular headers will shed a bunch of that weight and still provide gobs of delicious I6 torque.  There are all sorts of recipes in the Jeep forums to make very respectable if not crazy power with these things.

Fiat 124 Sport , sedan or spider , from 1965 - 1985 ?

My father in law had the Russian variant = Lada, really fun little car on the back dirt roads !