Great Job on that Bradley, yall deserve the win, the work and effort that went into that car is incredible. So many awesome cars this year too.
Dave Green photos
The price sounded fair: “Free but I wouldn't turn down a bottle of a good whiskey.”
Stampie, a longtime GRM forum member, had landed a Bradley GT kit car body. But it was time for a new owner, so he offered it to the rest of the GRM community.
gumby, another cornerstone member of the group, took advantage of the offer.
The goal: the Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge presented by CRC Industries and TITAN Fuel Tanks, held October 22-23, 2021, at Central Florida’s Gainesville Raceway.
But how to turn a bare body into a contender?
gumby explains:
I tend to follow the "simplify and add lightness" mentality, but when factoring for the budget aspect our starting points aren't always ideal. There is another quote lost to the annals of racing history something to the effect of, "a race car chassis should be sturdy and simple; and so should the driver." I have no idea where I heard that and surely butchered the paraphrasing, but mix in "cheap" and these objectives play heavily into my program. A proven inexpensive route to working suspension involves grabbing and modifying production based stuff vs. designing 100% from scratch. My autoX Ranger and Datsaniti are solid proofs of concept, even the LMP 360 is using production uprights.
An unlikely donor supplies those necessary production car parts: a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis–basically, a fancy Crown Vic.
The build itself filled some 20 pages of the GRM forum. Not only did the car make the event–hopes and dreams can only go so far–but the final creation took top honors at the $2000 Challenge while also posting the event’s fastest autocross time.
More highlights from the weekend:
Calvin Nelson pedaled the family’s Pontiac Sunbird down the dragstrip in 9.064 seconds at 150.1 mph. The team kept finding speed but, at the same time, faced deteriorating track conditions as dew rolled in that evening.
We had rookies. Lots of them.
We had students. Lots of them–teens still in grade school plus multiple college teams.
Georgia Tech has been sending teams to the Challenge for nearly 20 years. This year's crew debuted a new vehicle–a mid-engine Chevy S-10 pickup–but it broke at the starting line on their first run.
In 2019, nocones announced an ambitious build: some kind of prototype-influenced racer based on a Subaru 360 shell purchased for $1. It was there and, yes, it was as cool as expected.
Laura Harbour recently finished third in F Street Prepared Ladies at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals in a Toyota Celica GT-S that ran at last year’s $2000 Challenge. Her codriver, Lauren Keach, took second in the same car. The car still meets $2000 Challenge eligibility, so Laura brought it to Gainesville and collected the Editors’ Choice trophy while running with much more modified vehicles.
More photos and stories to come very soon; the GRM staff is just returning home from the event. Full results at the $2000 Challenge site, and full coverage scheduled for the pages of Grassroots Motorsports magazine. Watch our YouTube for $2000 Challenge videos.
Thanks, everyone, for joining us in Gainesville.
Great Job on that Bradley, yall deserve the win, the work and effort that went into that car is incredible. So many awesome cars this year too.
I'm so happy to have been included in this with the chance to redeem myself from my... poor... 2019 presentation. Amazing guys with ridiculous skills that humbled me every time we worked on it.
now... where are my sprinkles? I was promised sprinkles.
I do kinda wonder if Stampie looked at it and thought "yeah, that's what I had planned"
Mr_Asa said:I do kinda wonder if Stampie looked at it and thought "yeah, that's what I had planned"
He does have a "master planner" vibe going on doesn't he?
Nocones build looks every bit as cool as the first digital mockup I saw. Amazing execution.
Also, I for one welcome our "drop a shell on a mostly custom tube frame chassis" overlords!
In reply to CrustyRedXpress :
That would apply if we didn't use most of the panther chassis, including the entire front suspension, frame rails and even the lower rear arms.
David, it was awesome having you in our pit spot, spending some time chatting and gathering intel. Thank you for banging this article out same-day so I can easily share without formulating my own words!
When we first conceived the Challenge back in 1999, we figured people would take a low-buck car and maybe add some springs and a few bolt-ons--maybe tweak the boost a bit. Never ever thought we'd see anything even close to this year's field. Absolutely stunning work.
best Bradley ever !
In reply to californiamilleghia :
I concur.
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