Select your historic rally car
RALLY CAR SELECTION MATRIX
How to select a rally car ?
Its is simple and complex question at the same time. Just ask yourself several simple questions:
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What events I will use this car for ? This decides on the overall complexity of the project, technical requirements as well as cost.
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How technically original should it be ? This indicates how important will be availability of parts and expertise required in building the car. This has major influence on cost and time it takes to collect all the required parts.
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When is the first car start ? This decides how much time and cost is involved.
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Who will prepare the car for rallying ? this decides the time it will take to prepare , but also cost.
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What is my build budget ? this is the killer : how much cash on hand will you devote to the project.
Questions are the simple part of the problem. It is the answers to them that require complex decisions and have lasting consequences. When you choose one option, you are associated with it for better and for worse. It is impossible to easily and cheaply change a rally car into a racing car or an amateur car into a rally car and vice versa. Such a change can be very difficult, certainly very expensive, but it can also be technically impossible without destroying the car.
One important note: if you don't buy a fully ready-to-go car, then every car you buy will require some work. The workload is directly proportional to two factors: for what purposes it is intended and what originality requirements it must meet.
If you take a car above your financial capacity - you will never build this car and you will never start it. The sheds and garages are full of these unfinished projects, so be careful not to let your racer get stuck in the shed for years.
(Warning: Regardless of the size of the planned budget, exceeding it during the construction of a rally car is not unusual, but rather the norm. If you exceed it by only about 30%, it is a success - you cannot count on a better result, because even exceeding the budget by 100 % is not unusual. This is due to costing errors in the budgeting phase. You just either don't get everything or mis-estimate individual costs. Therefore, make maximum provisioning and don't try to understate costs when budgeting. But try to do as much as possible. alone, your work costs you nothing!)
We will demonstrate the process of selection a car for rallies on several examples (below).
Case ONE: You just like cars and amateur level is just for you
What does it mean ?
The required car may be a stock mass production model. It does not have to be original in all mechanical and body elements. Few months is ample time to prepare it on your own garage You can do it all yourself. The selected model depends on you budget and there are plenty of available models in any price range. The older the car the bigger problems with parts. Parts cost will large depend on how readily available they are on your local market. With just a bit of effort you an buy a “youngtimer” well under your € 5 K. Even if additional costs to fix it will run you 3 times as much as you spent for the car you have a very good chance to have about €1 K for gasoline and insurance.
Case TWO: You like sport , but regularity, where technique and strategy not speed is the decisive element is just for you.
What does it mean ?
Just like in Case ONE: The required car may be a stock mass production model. It does not have to be original in all mechanical and body elements. Few months is ample time to prepare it on your own garage You can do it all yourself. The selected model depends on you budget and there are plenty of available models in any price range. The older the car the bigger problems with parts. Parts cost will large depend on how readily available they are on your local market. With just a bit of effort you an buy a “youngtimer” well under your € 5 K. Even if additional costs to fix it will run you 3 times as much as you spent for the car you have a very good chance to have about €1 K for gasoline, insurance and regularity rally car equipment.
Case THREE - If your choice is sporting (special stage) rallies ( regional level)
What does it mean ?
The required car may sill be a stock mass production model. It does not have to be original in all mechanical and body elements. Preparing it for rallies usually must be planned for next season, but you you can still do it all yourself. The selected model depends on you budget and there are plenty of available models in any price range. The older the car the bigger problems with parts. Parts cost will large depend on how readily available they are on your local market. With just a bit of effort you an buy a “youngtimer” well under your € 5 K. The cost to fix it and prepare it for regional rallies ( including safety equipment will add to about € 5K. Not much will be left from your budget , but it is doable within it.
Case FOUR - If your choice is sporting (special stage) rallies national championship.
What does it mean ?
The required car may sill be a stock mass production model. It does not have to be original in all mechanical and body elements. Preparing it for rallies usually must be planned for next season, but you you can still do it all yourself. The selected model depends on you budget and there are plenty of available models in any price range. The older the car the bigger problems with parts. Parts cost will large depend on how readily available they are on your local market. With just a bit of effort you an buy a “youngtimer” well under your € 5 K. The cost to fix it and prepare it for regional rallies ( including safety equipment will add to about € 5K. Not much will be left from your budget , but it is doable within it.
Case FIVE - If your choice is FIA European Sporting Rally Championship.
What does it mean ?
OK, so you want to take part in FIA European Historic Rally Championship. In this case the car must be homologated before 1992, and must be very strictly original, with practically no deviations build in accordance with its original FIA homologation. But note, that your base to build can still be a stock, mass production model. In Group 1, 2 or Group N cars were practically identical with the mass produced versions. So you are not forced to make any major modifications. In Groups 4, B and the base homologated car is a short production version but still based on a stock mass produced car. If you go for any of these more modified GTS groups you face significant modifications consisting or very often parts that were not produced in large volume, and thus this is a more costly option. In either case originality of all parts is a must and this increases the required budget. The entry level is reasonable - typically under €10 K should be enough to complete the project. The project will take longer though 1-2 years is normally typically enough to finish it.
So what rally car can be build for all those applications and at such a low cost ?
To keep the budget low you must selects a car mass produced model, which was and still is very popular on your used car market. This will allow you to buy a complete running car with all parts and accessories at the lowest possible price. Body work and painting can be extremely time consuming and costly and the real saving start right there: an inexpensive donor that requires as little major reconstruction as possible. What follows is parts cost and availability. If there are still plenty of these models on the road, practically all parts will be available either OEM, replacement or used. This further reduces the build cost.
Now significant saving can you achieve? Well, VERY SIGNIFICANT !! If a fender runs you €20 instead of 500 euro this is very significant cost difference. Just think of the total savings you can accumulate buying an inexpensive and popular donor model.
What cars would be the least expensive:
Contrary to what people think , the leas expensive mdels on the Polish market are not Polish made cars. Actually the cars come from our neighbors Germany and Russia. It is the Russian made Lada 2101-2105-2107 and German Build Golf II.
Lada parts are still produced and /or were produced until few years ago. You can still buy practically brand new Lada 2105 or 2107 in Ukraine or Russia , and import it to Poland ( the is a large croup of companies which specialize in such transactions a s well as pars import so your risk is practically non existent. Parts are shamefully cheap!
VW Golf II was one of the most popular cars in Europe and thousands of them were imported to Poland both new and used. Thousands of them are still on the road here. Parts are really dirt cheap and available from many local sources
There are actually two models widely available in Poland, which meet these requirements: Lada 2105-2107 and or VW Golf II. Believe of not, any of these cars complete and in pretty good running condition can be bought for as little as €1,000.
VFTS Lada is a Group B car FIA Homologation number B-222 you can build for :
under €10,000 !
What are the side effects of your selection i
Described above is obviously a bare bone approach. These cars are well within reach for almost anyone and preparation of these cars for whatever type of sports you fancy is within anybody’s reach. This is the greatest advantage you grant yourself by selecting any of these two models.
There is a however a drawback i selecting any of these or similar models. These cars are not the WRC winners and may not give you a real shot at winning rallies. You will enjoy the fun or real rallying an an added advantage of inexpensively rebuilding a car if roll over and end up in a ditch , as happens in rallies.
This is not en affect of your selection but a consequence of your budget
If you want to go for the car which would give you a real advantage over the competition just multiply your budget bay a significant factor and remember starting in Porsche 911 SC RS, Ford Sierra Cossworth or Subaru Legacy still does not guarantee that you will win anything and any damage can make a real whole in your budget pocket. The competition at the top of your competition is fierce and your investment in car model likely will not yield automatic effect , though it will automatically generate 10 or more times the cost we are showing above. The rest is a function of your budget. There is no upper limit you can spend for any rally car. Remember, if your budget doe not allow you to buy w top WRC champion model (you can either be a rally spectator or get yourself an inexpensive rally car and be a rally participant. The choice is yours. I say follow the rule rally of thumb : if you can't buy what you would like, have what co can buy and have fun with it. I assure you: you will have time of your life in historic rallies no matter what you drive. If you drive a Lamborghini to work and Ferrari for fun on weekends , you can afford almost anything you want. But if you are like most of us and drive the same family normal reasonably priced, mass produced family sedan to work and on weekends , you can rally in a Golf or a Lada, without too much damage to your ego.
This is no reason to be sad or to abandon your plans
Most of the competitors in Poland Historic Rally Championship is exactly in the same situation. Starting in a budget rally car you wuill be in the majority and your direct competition will be riding the also budget rally cars like the one you built.
Just build the car you can afford and rally with us !