Which year of the $2000 Challenge was your first hearing/reading of it? First car that stuck out?

poopshovel again said:

In reply to John Welsh :

I just searched for the “money shot” from right before the authorities arrived, and I’m afraid it may be gone forever 

The picture you seek might be in here... 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/k-car-krazy-preserving-a-time-capsule/125947/page1/

I've been getting the magazine since 1987, so I was aware of the Challenge from the very beginning. I've been to the Challenge 7 or 8 times, but only once with my own car. I first went to Gainesville to experience the whole thing, but the car that I really, really went to see was the Jeep Cherokee. Seeing a Jeep kick butt on an autocross just ain't right, in a really awesome way.

John Welsh said:

poopshovel again said:

In reply to John Welsh :

I just searched for the “money shot” from right before the authorities arrived, and I’m afraid it may be gone forever 

The picture you seek might be in here... 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/k-car-krazy-preserving-a-time-capsule/125947/page1/

Can someone please recount the story for those of us who weren't around then? I've heard people reference it but never the full story

I saw the magazine on the shelf at a Hastings around 2005ish and thought it was interesting.

If I was closer to Gainesville I probably would have gone to multiple challenges by now

The Mongrel v8 Miata was 2003, and the Nelson Nova was 2004. Very much remember those cars. 

NOHOME said:

There was a certain MG Midget that I think won the event. Was it a Turbo Pinto engine?

It was a Cosworth Vega engine that was "sitting under the bench", on carburetors.

$1500 my ass...  the car or engine individually should've FMV'd out of $1500

The first I heard of the Challenge was a small blurb in Hot Rod about some crazy guy from PA with a 4 door Nova running stupid times in the 1/4 for under $2000. That was around 2004, and that guy was Andrew Nelson. I said to myself then, "Man, I want to do that someday!".

5 years later, I found myself riding shotgun down the east coast in a VERY questionable $1000 F150 dragging a 1991 turbo Miata that I helped my friend Greg put together in his uncle's garage. We joined Greg's college buddy and his friend who campaigned an E30, and we had a blast. To our surprise, we ended up in 4th place overall with the Miata. We wanted more, so we joined forces, got some other friends involved, and built the XJ-R. That car... err... SUV led me to my writing career after gaining notoriety for infamously swapping a turbo onto the Jeep in the Best Western parking lot. I ended up meeting David S. Wallens that night, who later convinced me at another Challenge to get the courage to start writing. I submitted some work to the guys at Bangshift.com after they featured the Jeep, and eventually was able to do some work for the guys at GRM!

Little did I know at the time, reading that little blurb 15 years ago set off a chain of events that would literally change my life! 

TL/DR: The Challenge is awesome. Definitely go. You never know where it will lead you!

RevRico said:

In reply to poopshovel again :

Yea, you're gonna need to tell me some more about that marshmallow toaster

We’ll be at Fight Club in October.

I had done autox in my youth and subscribed to GRM...then got a job and didn't do much of the car thing.

Fast forward to 2004 or 5 I bought a Boxster S and did a few autocrosses.

Was at the bookstore and saw a challenge issue, bought it, and immediately wanted to build a car. 

My 2006 entry, A VG30et swapped rx-7:

Team Gutty was the first one that caught my eye.

I think it was the comradery combined with the OCD level of detail in the final build-I didn't even like Hondas at that point.

The sucker vette re-arranged everybody's concept of what was possible, and Nelson's 10 second bug did as well.

The XJ-R at the $2014 Challenge is what got my attention. 

I keep thinking the XJ in my front yard needs me to copy their homework on the suspension and stick a 302 and a t5 in it. Maybe that'll be $2020 or $2021.

Daylan C said:

The XJ-R at the $2014 Challenge is what got my attention. 

I keep thinking the XJ in my front yard needs me to copy their homework on the suspension and stick a 302 and a t5 in it. Maybe that'll be $2020 or $2021.

YUSSSSS!!!

In reply to Daylan C & Tony:

I was there the years for The XJ-R.  It remains in my heart as one of the greatest Challenge cars ever. As great as it is in pictures it genuinely is a sight to behold even more so in person. The interior was downright pristine. I mean like the paint was so fresh you might swear is was still wet (which it may have been.)  Also, in person what you got to see was the level of teamwork. It was impressive.

I think my favorite part is that it is one thing to see another Miata do exactly as God and Mazda intended.  It something much more to see an unlikely candidate do it, and do it better! 

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

I was not there for all the Gutty entries but I was there for the Honda/Subaru.  This is another example where the pictures are great but the genuine version so much more.  Also, teamwork and dedication in spades! 

Came on board for the Ro-Spit, so was watching, and blown away by the Cosworth Midget.

My mind has not stopped being blown in lo these 20 years.

I'm tired of being a wanna-be challenger, I want to be a challenger.

Been reading since early 90s so remember the $1500 Challenge making me think “I should do that.”  So in ‘01 I started building a car for the $2002 event.

the first standout car to me was the Mongrel Motorsports BMW 2002.

i remember Andrew Nelson’s first post saying something like “I’m coming down to win the drags and learn about the other events.”  I was like, berkeley this guy.   Then I dropped my wrench when I heard him start the Nova.  The ground shook.  It was life-changing.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

You know, I wish I saw those runs.  Our car broke the trans during the drags, and we spend a lot of time replacing it for the next day's autocross.  So we missed all of his runs....

I recall it mentioned on the scirocco.org mailing list, but I never explored further about it back in high school around 2004ish i think? 

My first time seeing a car? I saw mark lasota (spin_outs) triumph tr8 at a zepherhills pca autocross back in 2012. The blue mustang made appearances at a few local brooksville events too.

NickD said:

Reading an old Hot Rod Magazine from 2004 in around 2007/2008. I remember them remarking on a Triumph TR6 with an Eaton blower set up to run on propane and how it "did not run as planned"

That's the one that hooked me. I was away from home with limited access to periodicals. The middle of South Dakota is a lonely place. I must have read that article at least 20 times.

I think I had been a subscriber for less than a year when I first read fo the $1500 challenge. Then I read the next year when Phil Kimes 240z won. Then in 2002 I entered a ZC swapped civic. My favorite part of that car was the stupid bumper stickers I had on the windshield. We had a local record, yes they still sold records until their demise a few years ago, called "ear x tacy". It's something of a local tradition to cut up their stickers and rearrange the letters to say something witty like "ax yer cat". Mine said 'cheap race car". The "h" was un upside down "y" for those curious.

The black 4 door Nova.  

I'm honestly not sure, but probably some time in the early '00s. I think I first found the magazine around 2002 or '03, and I've been reading pretty much continuously since, so it'd be right around that time. 

I'm amazed at how many people were affected by the Black 4 door Nova. Gives me ideas...

For inspiration:

But also:

And another favorite of mine. I had a Delta 88 back in 2004. #whitewallsforlife