History Can someone explain turning racecars into street car?

This is one that I have never understood, finding a racecar whether it is an old oval track car, drag car or dry lakes car and turning back into s street car and destroying all of the history.

I view racing as the ultimate form of hot rodding, dry lakes, dry racing, and oval track roadster racing all started as street driven hot rods that evolved into pure racecars.

If I found an old hot rod or custom in a barn the last thing that would come to my mind is to make it a race car I would preserve it's history as found/parked, but there seems to be no respect when it comes to old race cars.

I have heard people make the claim you can't do anything with an old race car, however there many clubs and events for racing vintage period correct style cars, you could race almost every weekend of the summer.

Just in New York there are six vintage oval track clubs a couple vintage clubs in New England and a handful in the Southeast, my club the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modifieds has 14 races a year.

For drag racing you have the South East Gassers, and events like T.R.O.G. The Pine Tree Jamboree, Dash Drags, hill climbs etc..

 

My first thought is no rust, it hasn't been driven on salty winter roads.

Phil

 

In many cases a old race car needs to be trailered to events. Not everyone wants/can do that.

 

I don't get it either-ruining a car that has some historical importance just so the guy can "play" race driver.The ones I dislike the most are the so-called street driven sprint cars,because of the room needed for transmission etc,the cars usually look terrible

 

I get angry enough when some historical groups requier the cars to be self-starting even if they were never raced that way!

 

I agree if the car has any kind of history or pedigree it should be saved to show us and future generations “ how it was done “

the problem with a “race only “ car is for most folks it simply becomes a static show piece .

getting out to race tracks and event , trailers , tools parts etc etc etc . For a car that might get used a handful of times a year is a pain for most folks when I can have a street driver and jump in and go when ever is , in the big picture a much more user friendly car .


Also a dedicated race car when the time comes to sell it is usually not worth a 3rd of what was invested in it .

I got lots of friends who had sub 9 second drag cars and they all sold for 1/2 to less then half of what the car cost to build .

where as guy who just had “ fun cars “ street / strip 11 second or slower cars , usually sold them for good money as it’s a street /strip car and much more versatile.

totally agree with you @Robert J. Palmer about preserving history , but this is the way I see it and why purpose built cars can end up back as steerable copies of there former glory .

 

I would have no problem in turning a old race car into a street car,to me a car that can not be driven on the street is a waste of money and I do not have a trailer.

 

If you step up and buy the car, you get to decide what to do with it.

Pretty simple.

 

What is your definenion of histroy and pedigree?

Most people would walk past this car (owned by my friend Mike Gray) and wouldn't think it had any pedigree...


...However it is the only surviving car that raced the opening night of Fonda Speedway The Track of Champions the top track in this area.

 

If it can't get me to work, I can't afford to buy it.

 

YEP. To each his own.

Ben

 

@Robert J. Palmer whats under the hood of that Henry J? Is it still running the same type engine it had back in the day?

 

If you are looking for a body to build a car and it happens to have been a race car, is it better to have the car on the road or sitting in some guys storage or worse rotting away outside. Not many tracks left around here, and not many guys in their eighties racing 33 fords. This used to be a race car, the owner shares the history with anyone interested. He did not build the car, he has some old photos and clippings. It is part of the story, I am glad he shared it with me. The colour makes the girls swoon, gets driven enough to have been rearended and repaired, the history keeps adding up.

 

If number 75 was at a car show there would be a crowd around it all day long, granted for different reasons than if it was a shiny street car. Kudos to whomever kept it and is willing to show it off.

 

@Robert J. Palmer neat car with history , yes.

a friend of mines older brother in the mid 90’s had a 69 camaro it was an original Z28 car.

he back halved it Big block with a blower out of the hood , tubbed with a cage , a stupid metallic purple paint job with funny yellow , red and brown striped down the side and across the hood . ( ‘‘twas the style back then )

but it was a major contender it the 1/4 mile in its day very well known car in southern Ontario and into the states .
Once he got bored of it sold it to a buddy who continued to rave it with some mods to keep it competitive then he sold it to a guy who restored it back to stock .

I still see it from time to time at car shows in all it’s restored glory .

I’m sure most drag racers would love to see it back in its as raced glory ( me included minus the stupid 90’s paint job )

but would it be seen and raced ?

or would it be holed away in a garage someplace as it no longer passes tech or is really competitive?

it’s a hard one to put up steadfast rules or beliefs to. At the end of the day any old car being saved and getting used is a win in my books .


A buddy of mine still has his 7 second 86 mustang in his garage , under an 1” Of dust and not moved in maybe 15 years .
It was a monster on the track . But now it resides in purgatory.

to fast and crazy to be driven on the street , to much hassle to race as mike is older with kids and a business etc . And again would probably need 20 grand or more to get back into racing form .

It would be far easier to swap in a 302 or 351 , remove all the race specific stuff and just have a fun driver . But yet another “ race built specific duty car” lost to the ages . Lots of cool stuff on his car . Not Hamb friendly but still an era of coolness to slot of folks .

 

Robert, Sometimes that is the only way a person can justify doing anything with it, especially if one has to justify it to other family members or loved ones.

I gather you do not approve of this video of a guy "playing" with a vintage Bugatti? I think its spectacular.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1930s-era-champ-car-new-project.223598/

Oldtom, You are not going to be a fan of my replica champ car build. I chose not to need a crew to fire it up or push start, an engine builder to keep a high strung race motor in tune / repair, or for that matter, a financial institution that will loan me enough money to seek out original parts and preserve an original historic car.
At least my replica will have no provenance...
...except the provenance I create with it...

I agree.

Play with it any way you like.
The next caretaker can "restore it back to original" and lock it away in his private collection with a "please do not touch" sign.
In addition to my champ car replica I have the last altered that was built at the famed Logghe Stamping Company. I am the original and sole owner, which I surmise has more than a little historical significance. When I started a thread on it
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-last-logghe-altered-restore-it-or-race-it.352899/
I decided to update it and race it again but the advice on the HAMB was split between restoring it or doing what I did - make it safe enough to race again without a tow car or a finnicky powerplant.

 

Lets not forget the many drag and drive events. Midwest drags; drag week etc.
All of my cars have been street driven and modified for track use. To modify a race car to a street car can usually be done without ruining the car. Lights; mufflers; street tires is about all you really need.

 

that seems to be the fad right now just about every night on the news there's a person that is the first to do something, personally my picture album is just about full of it. you claim that to be the only survivor on opening night, someone will come up with the only survivor red car running goodyears with pink rim's, repurposed race cars to the street is the ultimate recycle

 

racer-x,
Agreed. Many things like softer springs, less dampening in the shocks, a lower compression ratio, milder cam, DOT tires, up-to-date belts, etc. are either invisible to the casual observer or easily retrofitted with historically (and often times insanely costly) original pieces.

 

I buy my cars for one specific reason..for me to do with them what I want.
I never ask for anyone else's permission to do what I want with my stuff..I hope no one else does either.
I have no desire to buy any car that would require its history to be maintained.
The phrase "I'm only the caretaker" would certainly apply in that scenario.
I'm not a caretaker of someone else's vision, maybe that's why I buy cars and make them my own, the sooner the better..history be Damned.

 

Destroying history? That's a JOKE, right? ...and exactly who's idea of history are we destroying? It's all relative.
According to "restorers", the moment we start modifying an old car, we are destroying it's history and integrity.
Hell, this whole hobby is based on destroying history!
Unless a car was built by someone of real importance, or did something really significant, beyond just some stupid local history, 95% of these "finds" should be able to be modified guilt free.

 

race cars are a different category from street driven hotrods. They even have different names. (race car and hotrod) Sure a race car is a hotrod, kind of, but to me the term hotrod has always meant street driven.

 

If it’s possibly why not. It definitely will not be a clone or tribute which are meaningless to me. The 40 Chevrolet I bought as a drag racing gas class car from Noel Melovich in Pasadena in 1974 and turned into an El Mirage/Bonneville racer would just died a slow death. Yes it earned the rust from the salt damage and set many speed records doing it. My son and I both drove it; I was happy to give it to him to make a street driving hot rod from it. It never was his intent to make a shiny new penny from it but to make it safe on the the street and leave it with its last look from its past.
He asked me to build and engine that was not too radical but used as many parts as I could from the original racing GMC stock head 6 cylinder and I did. All the parts may not be HAMB friendly but the total car is.

 

I can see it with muscle cars, because they are worth more in original condition, but otherwise it doesn't matter.

 

My answer to op is Because "I can."

 

The first day a race car hits the track is the last day it's ever the same. It's always being changed/updated to be more competitive till it isn't anymore and is shoved to the side. Preserving the history of a race car is tricky. Did you preserve it from the first, or last, day it was raced? Since it was changed all of it's life, why shouldn't/couldn't it be changed again?

 

some people have a different view of preserving cars. I'd rather see a car on the street, than a car parked never to drive again.

 

What's to explain?
It's their car, their choice.

 

Most old race cars are only known locally so the rest of the world would not know the history.

 

Oh common Jim why confuse them with simple logic.

I have an odd thought on the project and this is purely from a hot rodders point of view. Vintage race car, never get driven except maybe on a track once a year in an exhibition race. Vintage race car made street legal and drivable, often gets driven and still may get raced once a year in an exhibition race.

Most (all???) vintage race cars will not pass tech, if you make one pass tech you have lost the history.