+ I'm new to this list and vintage racing, having waited too long! I'm just
+ starting my search for my first car [which must be funded by the sale of a
+ non-eligible TVR Taimar 5000 [5L Ford].
A Taimar 5000 - I am impressed!
+ Not having huge amounts of time or money, I'm leaning toward a purpose
built + car to minimize development work, repairs, etc. And I'm not looking
for
+ "historically significant" or "museum quality" or a "podium finisher".
Just part-
+ time fun on a budget.
I'm looking at getting into historic racing myself, and from what I've
heard, the cheapest way to get onto the grid is to buy a car that somebody
else has finished preparing. For example, I saw an Elva Courier at the
weekend: The owner had spent 25,000 pounds restoring it, and the car is now
available for 8,000 pounds.
(If anyone is interested, I'll send out the contact details.)
+ I have too many questions ... but can a tall [6'3"] but skinny [170lbs]
fit
+ into Formula Ford? Are pedals adjustable or movable? What else should I
+ consider?
I suspect that you wouldn't fit into a single seater, since they tend to
be built around fairly short drivers. My advice would be to try on a bunch
of cars, and see what fits. I'm a similar sort of height to you, and have a
terrible time fitting cars!
TVRs have a lot of leg room, and can make excellent historic racers:
Vixens and Granturas are very chuckable, whilst Tuscans and Griffiths are
brutally fast. In fact, the Griffith 400 is considered to be the car to beat
here in Europe. (Surely I'm preaching to the converted here? :) )
The Marcos, especially in the early 1800 cc Volvo powered, wooden
chassis guise is an excellent race car, and is relatively cheap. Jem Marsh
is very tall, and has always built his cars to fit him. The Mini Marcos is
surprisingly fast - I think that one his 130 mph along the Mulsanne Straight
in '66 or '67.
Elans have a reasonable amount of leg room, though headroom might be a
problem. MGBs, due to a draftsman's error, have a longer-than-intended
wheelbase, and hence plenty of space inside. Morgans have a long wheelbase,
and again plenty of leg room if you're willing to play around.
Graeme
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