To begin with, let me state that this car was one of my unicorn cars. I had plotted for years of building a less-serious version of this car, right down to the paint. As life happens, I got the opportunity to pick up the exact car, and not build a replica. That being said, it's going to take a lot more work than it would have if I had started with a running/driving car.
I read about this car in the Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords write-up, and I'll include the pics here for reference.
Will it see the stages again?
How she sat when I got her:
She's been fairly gutted of the good parts, brakes, driveline, interior, etc. The good? Still has the cage, it wasn't pranged, and it's THE car I wanted.
Custom vise grip steering wheel. Door glass has been removed.
Cool car! Horrible wheels!
The overall plan is to get the car up and running with as many factory parts (engine, trans, etc) as reasonable, and then work on doing upgrades over time. It needs to move under its own power first, and then I can go from there. Ultimately though, it should look basically the same as it did when it raced.
This may take a while, but I figure if I post it, then I'll have to make progress or feel guilty!
In reply to Lof8 :
Agreed - although they are original to the as-raced condition, I may replace them with these:
This should be fun to watch. Please, post all sorts of pictures and information. Id love to know all the details of a serious rally car. Especially a mustang.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
Will do - I don't know how much of a serious rally car it will be (especially in my hands lol) but it should be able to hold its own out on Brianne Corn Raceway for a rallycross event.
The most important question if you plan to rally it is: Did it come with the original logbook? If not, and you plan to rally it, definitely check into what cage upgrades you will need to meet current spec, because without an SCCA logbook, not sure if you'll be able to use backdate rules. I could be mistaken, however....
In either case, there are cage upgrades you SHOULD do if you plan to rally - A-pillar supports for instance - because there is no better time to do it now, with the car all gutted, and there is no substitute for your safety on stage.
In reply to irish44j :
I just plan to rallycross it - not actually rally-race it competitively. Maybe a road rally, but no through-the-trees-at-100+mph stuff. I haven't found anything other than rallycross where the car would fit into a class competitively anyway.
It did not come with a logbook, and the cage is not certified to the best of my knowledge. I plan to use the rollcage as is - although by the word "use" I mean leaving it alone, not flipping the car on its roof and testing it lol.
This is beyond awesome. Im excited to follow along.
Where did you grab this? I feel Iike I know this car from somewhere but I'm not sure where.
You know there's a rallycross in Austin next weekend, right? You should come out. Dave has a Mustang out there that needs a head gasket among other things. They're fun cars in the dirt.
Also, this car would be legal to run RallySprint at Rally Ready assuming we hold one again. Not 100mph, but fast enough that you need to wear your brown pants.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
It was for sale at Vorshlag - I'm in San Antonio, so it was an easy Saturday drive. I'm unsure what happened to the car in between the time it was built and it ended up in Texas. It was originally in California.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
Also, this car would be legal to run RallySprint at Rally Ready assuming we hold one again. Not 100mph, but fast enough that you need to wear your brown pants.
This would be the kind of thing I'd be looking to do!
Either someone ran it at Brianne's or maybe at Ralle De Paris when I spectated years ago? Or Lake Superior Pro Rally when I was in Michigan? I'm sure I've seen it.
The rally community in Texas is very small and we've just about all met each other. The center of it all is Brianne at her place and Dave at Rally Ready. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I love rally cars and all the stupidity that they entail.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
Either someone ran it at Brianne's or maybe at Ralle De Paris when I spectated years ago? Or Lake Superior Pro Rally when I was in Michigan? I'm sure I've seen it.
The rally community in Texas is very small and we've just about all met each other. The center of it all is Brianne at her place and Dave at Rally Ready. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I love rally cars and all the stupidity that they entail.
Probably so. I would bet on TX before MI though. I'll have to get up to Brianne's or Rally Ready to compare notes with the Mustang guys. I am not sure which way to go on a few things - shocks, differential, for example.
whats the specs on the suspension? interested in seeing how they lifted it
Neat, I always wondered what happened to this car. And if the car is fully gutted, I'd just get a whole nother mustang to pull parts from, will save you a lot of headache. And I second the cage updates, if it's already stripped now's the time. I'd also seam weld the E36 M3 out of the body if it hasn't been done already, the sn95 is pretty floppy from the factory, there's also reinforcement plates available to help stiffen everything up.
BTD
Reader
4/20/18 9:02 p.m.
I loved reading about this car back in the day and planned on an SN-95 rally-x build because of it. Glad to see it's getting another lease on life!
Well that's pretty dang neat.
Re: the vicegrips steering - I'm old enough to remember back in the early 70s when John Buffum was still driving a first generation Escort, and he drove a full stage at the Press On Regardless with a set of vicegrips on the steering column. Since it was JB, he was still fast! As I remember, this was the incident that produced the ever popular "Oh e36m3" T-shirts we all wore in the rally community back then (But that might have been another rally - this was in the early days when JB was still earning the "Stuffum Buffum" moniker, and that was - gasp! - about 45 years ago).
In reply to octavious :
I just completed a move from one rental house in suburban congestion to a decent house with a much larger garage and driveway (plus some green space for the SWMBO). Still trying to get the garage in order, but I will have updates soon!
In reply to edizzle89 :
The suspension isn't lifted, there's just no motor/trans in it.
In reply to FIYAPOWA :
I saw you looking for moving help & wondered what was up. Time to buy a few more cars now?