1955 Buick or 1992 Mercedes for Bonneville

[vwpsycho]

It might seem obvious, but... I believe it's important to really like the racecar one has chosen. Inevitably, the time comes somewhere during a racecar project when technical problems and bad luck might conspire to make one wonder: "what the hell am I doing this for...?"
Anyway -sounds like you like both of your cars. 

If you have an unlimited budget, have unlimited time, are a skilled automotive engineer, or all the above (!), you can readily make any 4-wheeled automobile go fast.

I recommend you build the Benz, because:
A) German sedans are intrinsically safe and engineered to travel at 120-150 mph when they roll off the assembly line.
and
B) There are a number of reasonably attainable records for in Production or Gas Coupe, or perhaps even in Blown Gas Coupe, should you decide one day to stuff a Kompressor engine in it, or a big ol' normally-aspirated 32v V8, -à la the AMG Hammer, from years ago.

Good Luck!




 

[Sumner]

Scrub Radius is not something I thought about at all when I built my cars. I either used earlyFord spindles with Centerlines or Ford wheels. Or on the Vega I had early Econoline spindles with Centerlines. Worked for hundreds of thousands of cars and miles. Worked fine for me. I can see how it could get screwed up. But I don't think either of the OP cars would need much attention in that area. Maybe?

there are thousands of street rods out there with terrible scrub radius that work fine on the street but  will they drive good on the salt over 175?  The combo you have can work well as you have shown.  What is your scrub radius ... maybe not that bad?

I'll also take a different track than some and say consider very carefully just using what is in the garage for a car to build.  How many of us say that a record isn't important and then later it is.  Look for the best combination, car/engine wise you can get/afford up front and put your time and money into it vs. something that will never be competitive and probably not easy to ever sell if you want to move on.  I'm not an authority on what the OP has, but if he knows going in that it would never be competitive then why build it?

Sum

[jimmy six]

  Since both are enclosed cars one weighing a lot. This means there will be more rust to form on that one. Over time and not much of it aluminum will turn into Alka-Selzer so you need think of that too.

. If the bug hits you hard enough it will lead you to a fiberglass open wheel car maybe with head in the air. I will comment that unless you really like building cars with lots of safety requirements you may look to the USFRA's World of Speed 130 and150 club for starters.

Good Luck.....it will all be fun.......

[SteveM]

Mercedes W201 chassis also have a pretty significant racing heritage, a good knowledge base (several internet forums devoted to this chassis and the W123 and W124 cars), and readily available aftermarket parts from suspension, engine, and safety equipment suppliers.

At one time, I had a W201 16-V "roller" chassis that I wanted to turn into a diesel powered LSR car.  This was before I understood anything about how the LSR rules worked.  After realizing that there were no separate diesel car classes, and that I might have to run in a blown fuel class, I quickly abandoned that project, along with the time and money I had devoted to it.

Picture this - Mercedes Cosworth 16V air dam and lower bodywork, slammed ride height, tucked in wheels with Moon disks, full DTM style (SCTA compliant) roll cage, any variety of engines, from de-stroked 16V Cosworth, to a 3 Liter production engine, to an AMG V-8 which would put the car in the Gas Coupe category...  It's a beautiful thing to picture in your mind's eyes.

If I remember correctly, when the 16V Cosworth cars were introduced, they had one of the lowest Cd's of any production sedan at the time.

Steve.
Steve.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

There's a '73 or '74 Vega Cosworth for sale at one of the used car lots up here.  I believe the tag on the windshield says $5995.  Anybody want contact information for the dealership?

[ship]

Mercedes W201 chassis also have a pretty significant racing heritage, a good knowledge base (several internet forums devoted to this chassis and the W123 and W124 cars), and readily available aftermarket parts from suspension, engine, and safety equipment suppliers.

At one time, I had a W201 16-V "roller" chassis that I wanted to turn into a diesel powered LSR car.  This was before I understood anything about how the LSR rules worked.  After realizing that there were no separate diesel car classes, and that I might have to run in a blown fuel class, I quickly abandoned that project, along with the time and money I had devoted to it.

Picture this - Mercedes Cosworth 16V air dam and lower bodywork, slammed ride height, tucked in wheels with Moon disks, full DTM style (SCTA compliant) roll cage, any variety of engines, from de-stroked 16V Cosworth, to a 3 Liter production engine, to an AMG V-8 which would put the car in the Gas Coupe category...  It's a beautiful thing to picture in your mind's eyes.

If I remember correctly, when the 16V Cosworth cars were introduced, they had one of the lowest Cd's of any production sedan at the time.

Steve.
Steve.

I was thinking this exact same thing.

But I dont think I can put the 16v body on a stock 201 if I'm reading the rules correctly?  I have all the parts for that body

I love both my cars and would have a blast even if I never set a record.   life's about the experience to me I guess.

[Stan Back]

Am I screwed up? . . . well, yeah!

I'm thinking that according to some rule that says under some circumstances some time somewhere, if there ain't a diesel class available, you can run diesel in GASOLINE class.

Every year a diesel-powered Street Roadster runs in Blown Street Roadster (a closer look shows a lot of ventilation out the rear deck (non-compliant), but if you don't take it to Impound, no one, even me, seems to mind.

So can a blown diesel run in Production Supercharged?