Racing Cars - They Shoot Horses Don’t They?

There was a group in the 70’s called The Racing Cars that had a song called They Shoot Horses Don’t They - not particularly memorable - I can only recall it because of the name of the group. After searching for an MR2 on which to base a race car on, the title could be changed to They Shoot Cars Don’t They ? Maybe I was being picky because of the as new condition of my last AW11, but some of the cars I looked at could best be described as fit only for storing compost. I wasn’t fussed on the condition of the car, as long as it was rust free and hadn’t had any major smacks (little ones I didn’t mind) First up was an 86 manual supercharged being sold by a possible future serial killer who looked disbelievingly at Ade everytime she pointed out a pitfall of the car - after all she is a woman and what do they know about cars - despite me mentioning that the reason I brought Ade along is because of her far greater knowledge of superchargers than me. About $2000-$3000 had been spent on the car in maintenance since purchase but cosmetically it was still a dog. None of the panels lined up, the panel behind the headlights was bent - obviously had been hit in the front - but the most worrying aspect was the gap between the left and right front wheels and the guards - about 2cm difference between each side. There was no oil in the supercharger and the owner was very very reluctant to let us drive it. No insurance, and we might just drive away and not come back he said. Hmmm, leave the MX5 in his driveway and steal his MR2 - us city folk maybe crazy, but we are not that crazy. Upon driving, it didn’t perform like it should, like a lot of imports it felt more used than the mileage said and to quote Jeremy Clarkson the handling was like sharing a waterbed with a baboon that had been dosed in itching powder. Ade drove it next, and watching the car accelerate down the road there was a large amount of oil smoke coming from the exhaust. My offer of $3000 was $1000 too short, but $4000 was too much for that car. Next was an 88 manual supercharged with an interior that looked like it had been used to house seventy very hairy cats, that didn’t matter as most of the interior was going to be biffed anyway. The exterior was better, the brake pads were worn, the sandals were bald and there had been a frontal, but the repair was ok. Now if I thought the interior was bad, boy was I in for a shock when I opened the engine cover. If you can remember "The Worst Toilet In Scotland" in the film Trainspotting you will be able to get an idea as to the condition of the engine compartment. It appeared not to have been serviced ever, there was a thick layer of oil and dirt over everything and checking the oil level - which had the texture and colour of tar - the level was way BELOW the minimum mark, barely registering on the dipstick. There was no water in the cooling system and what was left was a trace of dark brown soup. The warrant had expired 6 months ago and it wouldn’t get another one without a lot of money spent on it -I didn’t even bother driving it. Next I decided to look at a 93 NA manual SW20 - I could race in the 2 litre class as opposed to the over 2 litre class with a supercharged 1600. It was fairly straight bodywise, but upon starting, first the oil light took 20 seconds to go out accompanied by a nice rattle from the engine and then smoke emerged from the dashboard. After getting off the phone the day before from a friend who lives in England whose workmate’s TVR Griffith had a similar problem followed very quickly by a fire that destroyed the car, I quickly turned the MR2 off and again didn’t bother driving it. The search for racecars continued and after talking to a few people the cheapest and easiest way to do it is to buy one already built. Unfortunately MR2 racecars are hard to come by and I eventually found what I considered to be the next best thing - a Corolla AE86 RWD hatch which had cost the guy I bought it off $25000 - $30000 to build as a rally car. Being set up for rallying and having Intermediate Rally tyres I obviously didn’t expect it to be that quick on a testing day at Pukekohe , but I wanted to see what it was like to give me an idea as to what needed to be changed for the track. I had some slicks which I didn’t end up using as they had a slow leak through the valves, and when I dropped them off at the local tyre shop, the tyre guy said "You want to spend money on those? They haven’t got any tread left on them" to which I replied that they were race tyres and were supposed to be like that - he hadn’t seen any before. Initially I was lapping at 1 min 23 which was slower than the MR2 but after some practice I got down to 1 min 19 - not too bad considering the tyres and the soft rally suspension set up.

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It was amusing watching Steve disappear down the straight as being an NA I didn’t have anywhere the same power, 4 secs a lap slower than Steve is a long time. I think with some decent sandals, harder springs and a proper wheel alignment I could probably get down to 1 min 15 - 16. Despite all the fun there is still a lack of complete fulfillment that I get from an MR2. Owning the Corolla reminds me of an old Chinese proverb - which says you have to travel to discover that you need not have left home. So I’m probably going to sell it and build an MR2, which will be more expensive but more rewarding and judging from the last newsletter the idea of MR2 racing is gaining in popularity. The search for more possible racecars that should be shot will carry on, once the Corolla is sold..........

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Matt Halliday

Ed’s Note: Brad has now purchased the Corolla off Matt and will hopefully be making his debute at the Club Lotus Dial-Your-Own-Time event at Taupo on the 29th November. Keep an eye out for him!