Peter,
Thanks for replying, and merry xmas (again).
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WEBSITE
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If you ever need a spruce-up give me a shout. Would have to be in March, though - other sites to do first...
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CHAMPIONSHIP
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I think I'd be looking to run in a Castle Combe series to both keep travel costs down and to learn the racing art by driving the same track, thereby gradually honing skills and being able to try new things each time. Of course, I'm only guessing at this so anyone who runs a car at Combe might like to give me a few pointers....?
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CAR
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It's probably folly to suggest this, but I don't think it would be practical or wise to start with a ultra competitive car. The way I see it (at first anyway) is the slower you go, the more time you have to work on skills and the softer the inevitable impacts will be. After a time I'm sure it will be a constant quest for 'more speed, more speed' but to begin with I'm quite happy to sit at the back and watch what everyone else does.
Most likely car is one that is interesting (therefore NO GTis), does not have a boy-racer-esque body kit (no Fords), isn't ugly, handles quite well ... I need go no further than to say it would almost definately be a Mini. Love 'em, you see. Would probably be non-Coopered to keep initial cost down.
If we/ I did go the Mini route, I'm not sure whether I'd go with my heart with an old Mini, or go for reliability and possible greater ease with a newer Mini (say, a couple of years old). I suppose it would depend on what cropped-up and how it looked from a finance POV.
An old TVR might be very cool on track and satisfy our Blackpool allegiance, but there are few prepared racers and we've no experience of their mechanicals or even how they handle. I'm talking about a Vixen or Grantura - Andrew Guy advised me a while back that there are very few championships for M-series or Wedges (discounting the new Tasmins). I also think that race parts for such cars would be both rare and expensive, so therefore not an option at the moment (sigh).
However, having said that, I see in Motorsport this month there's a yellow race-prepared Vixen (HSCC-spec methinks) but it's far too expensive for my non-existent funds.
I could never bring myself to sit in an MG Metro - I'm of an age whereby I've seen (and known) the sad boy racers with blacked-out windows (etc) on the roads, so draw parallels. Metro isn't 'historic' enough for me either (unless a 6R4, but that's another story...). I like my chrome!
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COMBE
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An affinity with Combe? Probably. It's the nearest track to me, it provides excellent racing and is ideal for my photographic adventures. I don't like the biting cold, though - someone plant some trees, for God's sake.
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AUTOSPORT TUSCAN
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I've drooled over Tuscans (and T70s, M8Fs, Miuras, Lotus Cortinas, TGP machines, ...) for sale in Autosport or Motorsport for nigh on 7 years. The one you point to had not escaped my attention.
But the chances of purchasing it (or any other Tuscan) are as remote as winning the lottery. Besides, I'd certainly not wish to race a TVR-engined Tuscan - I've been bred on the sound of a Rover V8! I'll go out of my way to hear one - trips to see my step-brother are ALWAYS punctuated by a quick blast in his wedge, with him driving sadly
It was excellent when Andrew introduced me to the blokes of RKP Racing (website coming soon) while they were running the engine of their Rover SDi. Grin Factor 10!!
There have been several Tuscans (RV8-powered) advertised in recent months, and all have been around £15,000. That's about £13,000 too much
But who knows what I might afford if I find a job. Yeah... 'if'. Anyone got too much cash...?
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FLORIAN AND HIS MINI
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I think it is the travel costs that bump up Florian's budget. He said to me in a recent mail that Blighty is a kind of hotspot for historic racing, so I suppose if he lived here he could race for less. Perhaps Brits are living in the past
I don't want to live anywhere else if that's true!
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ZZZZZZZZZ
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I agree wholeheartedly with the statements about Tourers and Boremula 1 (or Boredom Factor 1)
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CSCC
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Your club seems quite good, but it is relatively small when considering the other saloon racing options that Andrew could have competed under BRSCC or BARC. On an exposure scale, it doesn't seem particular big - certainly, I'd never heard of the various CSCC races I saw at Combe until Andrew contacted me. Perhaps that's an indictment on me, but in my defence I've sampled a large array of series since 1992/3 at all sorts of levels. Perhaps it is the fact that you only returned to Combe this year after so long a gap that explains my ignorance
Tuscans have qualifying races in order to fit all the cars in!
Thanks.