First Step - Advice on car selection
Posted: December 18th, 2012, 6:10 pm
Hello all,
I am a new member here from the unlikely location of Sri Lanka. I'm a big Italian car fan and at the forefront of the Italian car scene in Sri Lanka. Owing to successive poor importers/distributors Italian cars have had a poor reputation in our country, which we are slowly changing. My first Italian car experience was an uncle's 131 and then some years later I bought a Fiat Regata 100S.
I currently own 6 Alfa Romeos of which 2 are being restored for sale, one is a daily driver 159 and the other 3 (Giulia GTJ, Alfetta GTV and Sud Sprint) are basically very standard in tune.
However in a bid to improve the image of Italian cars I believe we need to get a car or two into at least minor competition. Now motorsports are still what experts would call at a primitive stage in the country despite a long history that began when we were a British colony. Budgets are small and races are very short to keep costs down. Current participation of Italian cars is zero although Fiat has a good racing heritage here that began with the 500C, 600, 1100 and ended 124s.
I am vary about turning any of my Alfas into a fast sprinter or hill climb machine because of their rarity and hence value (cars over 2 years old cannot be imported) and new cars are hit with import taxes between 200 and 300% of their value!
And so I have been thinking of buying a cheapish Fiat or Alfa and turning it into a fast machine that could compete in Hill climbs and drag races for starters. I must also say that my technical knowledge is not great and I'm hopeless with spanners. Anything mechanical will be carried out by our workshop.
Cars that I can currently afford that are available or come up for sale from time to time are these. I've purposely narrowed down to the the lightest ones.
1. Fiat 128 - There are two for sale in excellent shape. Rough examples can be found as they were assembled here in the late 70's and early 80's. Almost all are 1100 SOHC but a 1300 transplant is allowed since they originally did come with that capacity. Will compete with Mini 1275s, Mazda 1300s and Nissan Micras
2. Fiat Uno Turbo Mk1 - There only 2 cars that ever came into SL and they are both in very poor states - body, cosmetics and mechanicals. They are not officially up for sale but I am quite sure I can track them down and induce the owners to part with them as they must be struggling to keep them on the road. These will compete with Toyota Starlet Turbos which have numerous JDM mods. One Uno turbo competed in Hill Climbs against Starlets and Renault 5 GT turbos and was moderately successful.
3. Alfa 33 1.5 ie. This would be the priciest car of the lot and yet be in poor condition. Competition will be from Honda Civics, Mazda 323s.
4. 5 door Fiat Uno 45s 903cc OHV and 999cc SOHC s. 45s will compete with Mini 1000 and Indian Suzukis.
My budget will not be large too. I do not want a complex project for my first time that will frustrate me. I would like something quite straight forward. What I'm looking for are some options and guidance, with rough estimates so that I can zero in on one of the above.
Please feel free to ask me any questions. Thank you in advance.
I am a new member here from the unlikely location of Sri Lanka. I'm a big Italian car fan and at the forefront of the Italian car scene in Sri Lanka. Owing to successive poor importers/distributors Italian cars have had a poor reputation in our country, which we are slowly changing. My first Italian car experience was an uncle's 131 and then some years later I bought a Fiat Regata 100S.
I currently own 6 Alfa Romeos of which 2 are being restored for sale, one is a daily driver 159 and the other 3 (Giulia GTJ, Alfetta GTV and Sud Sprint) are basically very standard in tune.
However in a bid to improve the image of Italian cars I believe we need to get a car or two into at least minor competition. Now motorsports are still what experts would call at a primitive stage in the country despite a long history that began when we were a British colony. Budgets are small and races are very short to keep costs down. Current participation of Italian cars is zero although Fiat has a good racing heritage here that began with the 500C, 600, 1100 and ended 124s.
I am vary about turning any of my Alfas into a fast sprinter or hill climb machine because of their rarity and hence value (cars over 2 years old cannot be imported) and new cars are hit with import taxes between 200 and 300% of their value!
And so I have been thinking of buying a cheapish Fiat or Alfa and turning it into a fast machine that could compete in Hill climbs and drag races for starters. I must also say that my technical knowledge is not great and I'm hopeless with spanners. Anything mechanical will be carried out by our workshop.
Cars that I can currently afford that are available or come up for sale from time to time are these. I've purposely narrowed down to the the lightest ones.
1. Fiat 128 - There are two for sale in excellent shape. Rough examples can be found as they were assembled here in the late 70's and early 80's. Almost all are 1100 SOHC but a 1300 transplant is allowed since they originally did come with that capacity. Will compete with Mini 1275s, Mazda 1300s and Nissan Micras
2. Fiat Uno Turbo Mk1 - There only 2 cars that ever came into SL and they are both in very poor states - body, cosmetics and mechanicals. They are not officially up for sale but I am quite sure I can track them down and induce the owners to part with them as they must be struggling to keep them on the road. These will compete with Toyota Starlet Turbos which have numerous JDM mods. One Uno turbo competed in Hill Climbs against Starlets and Renault 5 GT turbos and was moderately successful.
3. Alfa 33 1.5 ie. This would be the priciest car of the lot and yet be in poor condition. Competition will be from Honda Civics, Mazda 323s.
4. 5 door Fiat Uno 45s 903cc OHV and 999cc SOHC s. 45s will compete with Mini 1000 and Indian Suzukis.
My budget will not be large too. I do not want a complex project for my first time that will frustrate me. I would like something quite straight forward. What I'm looking for are some options and guidance, with rough estimates so that I can zero in on one of the above.
Please feel free to ask me any questions. Thank you in advance.