The 4-0 is coming, what to do?

This March, I will turn 40. My wife will turn 40 in October the same year.

We both decided to go big- we will set our tax return aside and divide it for appropriate purchases.

My original plan was to buy a used MG transmission (which I did) and take it to a University Motors technical seminar and learn how to rebuild it. Come to find out that will likely be a $1000 endeavor- no thanks, I'll buy a book and figure it out.

So the question remains: what in the world do I buy for the big 4-0? I'd really like to buy Pete Gosset's Europa, but funds won't likely allow that. I have never raced, and desperately want to do so. Any ideas to get me on a track in a car?

Bri

Throw something on a local auto-x board, tell em what's up- I bet you get rides lined up....

mndsm wrote: Throw something on a local auto-x board, tell em what's up- I bet you get rides lined up....

Yep, this... Or race your own car. Whatever it may be!

I'd love to race my little Midget- but time and money may keep me from getting it done before net summer.

I looked into a driving course a la Skip Barber, but March is too icy for track driving.

The local auto-x board is a great idea! I'll check into it...

If you've never sat in a full on race car, there's plenty of places that you can drive one. Entry level prices usually start around $400 to $500. I won't ever forget the first time I drove a stock car at Charlotte under the lights. Pretty awesome. All kinds of race schools or driving schools out there to pick from.

paranoid_android74 wrote: I'd really like to buy Pete Gosset's Europa, but funds won't likely allow that.

I'm open to trades/partial trades. Could really use a car for my 16-year old step-daughter(automatic only). Music gear? Weird stuff?

I'm sure that someday - eventually - I have time/money to work on it, but I don't see a reason to let it languish in the garage until then.

Rent a TaG or shifter kart for a day!

Do you already know what you are doing behind the wheel on track?

If so, and you have a friend with an appropriate vehicle who trusts you behind the wheel, offer to pay all expenses for the weekend and some wear and tear, and see if you can get them to let you drive their car in alternating sessions.

That's what I let a friend of mine do last month that wanted to drive. Paid my entry fees and for the covered spot, I took care of fuel and transponder.

Buy into a chump/lemons team? That's the cheapest way to steer right and left with other cars.

paranoid_android74 wrote: I'd love to race my little Midget- but time and money may keep me from getting it done before net summer. *snip* The local auto-x board is a great idea! I'll check into it...

Autocross your daily driver... Unless it is an SUV or something else with a high COG...

Comp go kart

When I turned 40 I built a D/SR MGB and really enjoyed it. Put 10K on it in 10 yrs., won my share of trophies and sold it for a fair price. Well worth the realization that the big 4-0 gave me. It sounds like the same realization is on you big time. What ever you decide, enjoy it to the fullest.

I sold off much of my other "fun stuff" to buy MG parts. So the guitars and surplus firearms are gone.

And I don't have a surplus DD.

Maybe I can scrape the money together, I don't know. It will be tax time before I know for sure.

petegossett wrote:

paranoid_android74 wrote: I'd really like to buy Pete Gosset's Europa, but funds won't likely allow that.

I'm open to trades/partial trades. Could really use a car for my 16-year old step-daughter(automatic only). Music gear? Weird stuff? I'm sure that someday - eventually - I have time/money to work on it, but I don't see a reason to let it languish in the garage until then.

It's a Chrysler Pacifica- yawn!

A racing kart might just do it though...

noddaz wrote:

paranoid_android74 wrote: I'd love to race my little Midget- but time and money may keep me from getting it done before net summer. *snip* The local auto-x board is a great idea! I'll check into it...

Autocross your daily driver... Unless it is an SUV or something else with a high COG...

My 40th is in January and my wife was hoping to send me (us) to a Skip Barber school but she lost her job last year and there's no way we can afford it now. I'm thinking a day of karting is a good alternative or we may head to Atlanta for the 2014 Mitty.

Rally school.

Midlife crisis cars:

Classic- Alfa Spider
Modern version of that- Miata
Classic+status: Porsche 911, generally
Over the top: Ferrari.

Oh, and I'd force your SD to drive a manual. She's 16- learning can happen.

The reality is- what car do you like that you can afford? Go racing with it. People bring anything and everything to autocross and to the track. So that you keep doing it, it's important to get a car that you like. It's your car, afterall.

One other suggestion- you might find classes over at Washtenaw Com Col cheaper- I built a couple of motors in a restoration class there. One was for the GRM challenge a long time ago.

Good suggestions here. Get some autox under your belt now if you can...I know some groups run all winter. Racing schools are always a safe bet. For my 30th (this was 11+ years ago), my wife got my a gift certificate to a driving school. I wound up swapping it out for HPDE days, but still a great idea.

I spent my big 4-0 b-day at the race track in my first ever LeMons race. Just by fate, my actual b-day was on a Saturday, so I celebrated at the track. My family came for the day to watch, so I couldn't have thought of a better place to be. If you can manage to get into LeMons for your b-day, do it!!

40 didn't bother me, 41 did. You know, like 37, 38, 39, 30-10...the end of your 30's. Once you hit 41 however, you were officially considered old.

Then I realized that you 40's are much better than your 30's if you do it right and then I was OK. So how to get on track?

The advice that I got (and I think it was spot on) was this: begin as you mean to go on. If you want cheap, fun, and tons of potential, get a Civic. You can autocross, do track days, and then move into Honda Challenge. And old ITA car is a great start.

If you want to move into something more serious down the road, you should start with RWD. That means E30 or Miata. Both have spec series, both offer great bargains at the lower end, and both can keep up with you for a long time.

40 is nothing. (been there done that) 50 however is a mortality check. At 40 you probably have not lived half your life yet. 50 however the odds that you are half way there is much more of a reality.

Forgo spending on material things like a transmission. Pool your money and make some memories. Take a trip travel to that place you both have always wanted to go to. You can stair at a transmission on the floor until you are 50. A couple weeks on a beach under palm trees of skiing the alps or go to the far east or Australia or ?? These all make memories!!! A transmission not so much.

Ohya I am never going to have a "mid life crisis" This means I am accepting that I am half way there. I will never grow up!!! I am the crazy uncle that the family talks about at parties. And I like it that way.

50 isn't the end of the world but it can be a wake up call for many. Get the heavier physical items like jumping outta perfectly good airplanes, racing, MC RR school, bungee jumping, big hunting trips etc. off your list when you're younger JIC.

40 was so long ago that I forget what I did. I do know that the 40-50 was the best time of my life.

I started building my Spec Miata the year I turned 40 - if I remember correctly...

I didn't do it because it was the big 4 0. I did b/c the timing was right.