So you wanna go racing? Race cars for sale

Fancy having a go at racing? British club racing offers new and old hands the opportunity to race just about any type of car and with nearly 200 championships available across the UK to compete in there is something for everybody.

Fair enough motor sport is not cheap but neither are many other hobbies these days, if you want to go racing you can start with a £3k race car (have you seen the price of push bikes lately?) and you can keep the costs down further if you manage the spanner work yourself. Lots of teams also offer the facility to run and manage a car for you, offering a simple season package deal or even a race by race deal where drivers just turn up at the circuit and the car is waiting, prepped and ready to go – ‘arrive and drives’.

Just about anything can be raced in a championship somewhere, but to start with think about what you fancy owning and racing. Even if you really want to race a Volvo Estate then you have got options… admittedly if you want to have a chance at getting some decent results maybe consider something else! Take a look at the Paddock42 Championship Directory, it may help you decide what you want to race and help you get some dates in the diary to go to a few meetings. Once in the paddock you can speak to the club organising the meeting along with the drivers and teams – get your timing right though, if it’s race day don’t go expecting to have a meaningful chat when the spanners are flying and the teams/ drivers are trying to get out on the grid!

“Even if you really want to race a Volvo Estate then you have got options”

Historic motorsport has gone from strength to strength over the last few years but forget about budgeting £3k to buy a historic racer, you will need to invest a lot more and if the car has pedigree, especially having had success with a well known driver at the wheel then its re-mortgage time. Having said that the advantage of racing historics is the fact that they do keep their value and if you manage to race it at major national and international meetings with success then the value will increase further. Expect to pay anything from £20k up for a classic single seaters or early saloon. Do take a look at some of the classic ‘tin top’ championships that are available, Mk2 2 Golf Championship and CSSC Future Classic Championship are good examples where you can race a classic for not a lot of money.

If you are new to motor sport, the key thing to remember when looking at race cars for sale is not to believe that once you own it, you can just jump in it a drive it. It may be advertised as ‘ready to race’ but the set up will clearly be for another driver who may like the car to feel a totally different way to you. Invest in some track time and take the car testing, it will help you sort out faults and give you some behind the wheel. Remember, all sorts of shenanigans can go on with so called ‘championship winning’ cars not having the same ‘championship winning’ engine anymore due to an ‘unfortunate’ last race of the season malfunction. Allow a good season – a year, to get it dialled in and as you want it.

“It may be advertised as ‘ready to race’ but go testing.”

Something else to remember, engineering skills in the paddock are wide ranging, from ‘gorilla mechanics’ and bodges through to beautifully crafted hand made parts and some well designed and carefully thought out technical cleverness. If it has been raced hard then make sure you have the budget to get it into top shape, if it is messy, oily and scruffy expect to have problems. Scrutineering should be easy and a well-prepped car will always please the officials. Plus if you have paid your race entry, towed the thing for 8 hours to get to the circuit, you are already in for a few hundred quid so the last thing you need is a mechanical failure. Heading for home when you have not even had your race suit on or got the car out on track does not make for a jolly weekend…

Points to consider if you are wanting to buy a race car and go racing:

Do your homework – look at several cars, a well-prepped example is a good place to start.
Don’t believe all the ‘paddock chat’ – make your own conclusions.
Take your time, attend meetings & talk to the clubs running the championships.
All the gear and no idea still applies – spend money on the car and not on getting your helmet airbrushed so you look good in the paddock.
Try and get as much tech info from the previous owner, go through every inch of the car then go testing.
Put it on a rolling road, get the suspension set up by a specialist…get it to handle right, power can come later.

Searching for race cars for sale? Do your homework and get saving, but when you do start racing it’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

For more information about getting started get in touch with the MSA and tell them we sent you….

Check out the Paddock42 Championship Directory here.

Check out race cars for sale here.

Do you have a race car for sale? Advertise it on Paddock42 for FREE just click here then click register on the top of the home page to get started.

Photo by Team P42 Contributor Richard Crawford shot at the Silverstone Classic 2014.

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