Hi Jeff -- FF racing is a blast. You would love every minute of it. I
raced a 79A Tiga from 1991-1993 and won the SCCA Chicago Region
cahmpionship in 1991, lost it by one foot at the finish line on the last
lap of the last race in 1992. I absolutely loved drafting and racing
inches away from other trusted drivers. You will find out what "fast"
really is. I was not the fastest driver but turned 1:16's at Blackhawk
and 2:30's at RA. Here are some comments on your questions:
1. What kind? - There used to be a road test type survey of Club Fords,
picture of each, rating of each available, published by some magazine
(maybe SCCA rag Sports Car). Sorry, gave mine away when I sold my car.
Most of the cars are competitive with each other. Best to stay with a
popular model because more of the hard-to-find parts are findable. Some
absolutely gorgeous Lola's are out there and their parts are all
available but $$$.
2. Reliability - a well prepared FF is as reliable as the car you are
racing now.
3. Some better handling? - yes, but if you read the results of SCCA CFF
races, you will see quite a variety of cars winning.
4. All engines are "absolutely" identical. That was the way FF rules
were written. Get a recent copy of SCCA General Competition Regulations
- it spells out what can be done. HOWEVER, careful preparation is
necessary to run at the front. Pegasus sells completely prepared engines
built by Jay Ivey for $1999. This class is like FV - a prepared engine
puts out significantly more hp even though stock dimensionally.
7. Beware of cars so rare that body panels are unavailable. I found that
to be the biggest problem. Suspension pieces are almost all available
from a guy in Sterling, Illinois whose name I will eventually remember.
He has built tooling and reproduces suspension for almost all models. In
SCCA racing, occasionally a corner got torn off the car. The bill is
usually $500-$1500. Crashes worse than this ruined bodywork and bent
frames. This shouldn't happen so often in vintage racing.
Watch out for unreplaceable special stuff like goofy CV joints on Tiga's
- absolutely unreplaceable when I was racing. Old tube frames rust from
the inside out. Specially fabricated front hubs and other suspension
parts also rust from the inside out. Any used car will probably need all
heim joints replaced, and present cost is probably $700. Take somebody
with you who is familiar with FF's.
If I were going to buy one, I'd steer clear of partial cars and cars
that have been stored forever, and buy one with a good current history.
Try the classified ads in the back of Sports Car magazine.
Good Luck! uncle jack
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