Oddballs of the World Unite!

[Racerwrtr]

How come some of the more interesting odd-ball cars don't have a place to race in Improved Touring? Right now I am racing a ubiquitous ITB VW Golf, but thinking about the future, I have been watching eBay and the classifieds and thinking what might be fun and different. Yet it seems everything cheap that has some character isn't on "the list." How come no Peugeots or Subaru models? What's wrong with the Audi 90, or even the 80? What's wrong with a Mitsubishi Galant or a Mercur Scorpio? Just because most of these are orphans (well, not the Audi or Subaru) doesn't mean they can't be developed, especially given the general public's seeming fascination with four-door "Touring Cars." Imagine how cool an SVX Subaru might be. Like it was from another planet! How about an Audi 90 (is quattro a possibility?) or Peugeot 405? Is it just me who sees the potential or are we destined to be sentenced to fields of the same look-alike cars?

Kevin
85 VW Golf GTi

[jhooten]

Does 2 known cars of partcular model being raced make it an odd ball? If so I drive an odd ball. It is an 85 Supra. You see a few of the 90s on the track but the 80s are rare as hen's teeth for some reason.

And we do have an Alfa running IT in the division.

[This message has been edited by jhooten (edited April 25, 2004).]

[JeffYoung]

I drive a TR8. Know at least one other, out in MidWest.

There is a silver, fast Alfa Milano in SEDiv. ITS, very cool.

In the Atlanta region, Ed Forest drives what might be the ultimate oddball -- an AMC Spirit. 4.2 liter in line six, biggest motor in IT.

[Geo]

Probably because nobody requested their classification.

I know the Scoobie is not classified because it was only available in the US with a slushbox which is strictly forbidden.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[joeg]

Just show up with a Pacer...

[sgallimo]

Not quite as aerodynamic as the Pacer but the Pulsar gets a few looks...

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-Scott Gallimore
-ITC #88 Pulsar

[lateapex911]

Originally posted by sgallimo:
Not quite as aerodynamic as the Pacer but the Pulsar gets a few looks...

Maybe Scott, but nobody comes up with bags of goldfish for your Fishbowl" either!



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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[SubieSethie]

I am not a SCCA member nor a racer, but I do a lot of track days. I would want to race my 1998 Impreza L in some kind of IT class. Does that count?

Later,
Seth E.

[Racerwrtr]

Seth,

That's kind of the point I was trying to get to. There are a whole bunch of newer cars (from the 90s) out there that aren't VW Golfs and Volvo 142s and Honda Civics that are reaching an age where they are starting to become affordable for IT racing. What's more, some of those cars, like your Subie and maybe like a Mitsubishi Galant or others are popular among the "rice rocket" Sport Compact Car set. (The Audi A4 with a 1.8 T kind of falls into the same category) Wouldn't it seem to make sense to try and find a place for cars like these in the IT scheme of things, instead of rehashing the legality of cars that at 20-30 years old already? How much sense does it make to build a "brand-new" 25 year-old race car? If I were starting from scratch I would rather build something from the 90s, maybe that has some dealer interest or at least a following among the latest generation of car enthusiasts (like your Subaru). But the way the rules are, AWD is verboten and that in itself leaves out some interesting and maybe fun stuff. I am still rather new to IT racing and had hoped that the "old-guard" would have jumped all over me for these radical thoughts (thereby generating some interesting discussion) but alas, it just hasn't happened. Staus quo being what it is...

Kevin
1985 VW Golf

[Knestis]

Since there are some new names here and the topic is appropriate, I'll toss out www.it2.evaluand.com - I've been distracted since late fall so the site hasn't been updated and the landscape has changed for a lot of these cars but there you go...

Kirk

[lateapex911]

you know, I agree that it would be nice to open up to soem cool cars, and I've said so many times..

And one of my reasons for pushing for PCAs was to have more flexibility so that perhaps we can stretch the boundries of what we normally run.



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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[Knestis]

Some 1990s cars that are currently outkasts but that I'd love to see listed, since they are so popular in the real world...

Toyota Tercel, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Sentra (1.6) - ITC?

Kia Sephia, Toyota Corolla, Chevy Cavalier, Mitsubishi Mirage, Hyundai Elantra (1.6) - ITB?

Hyundai Elantra (1.8) - ITA?

K

[Geo]

Originally posted by Knestis:
Some 1990s cars that are currently outkasts but that I'd love to see listed, since they are so popular in the real world...

Toyota Tercel, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Sentra (1.6) - ITC?

The 1.6 Sentra is already classified. In ITA. I think that needs to change since the 2 liter is moving to ITA, but it is already classified.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[Knestis]

That's pretty funny. You can imagine why I couldn't find it when I went looking!

K

[Racerwrtr]

Kirk:

I have looked at your IT2 site before and found it interesting. Could you update us as to the status of this initiative? How would one go about helping this along? Is this just SCCA, or have you talked with the folks at NASA, EMRA, Midwest Council, Waterford Hills, etc.?

Kevin
ITB Golf (A2)

[Geo]

Originally posted by Knestis:
That's pretty funny. You can imagine why I couldn't find it when I went looking!

K

Yeah, I know. That needs to be corrected.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[Knestis]

Truthfully, the steam was going out of the IT2 idea last summer but we stuck with it through the ARRC because it grew legs and generated a bunch of contingency sponsorship for that event.

Multiple requests for a class between ITA and ITS were slapped down over the last 18 months and now there is a movement of sorts underway to get a lot of the proposed IT2 cars dropped to A - the Neon, Nissans, etc.

It's kind of a moot point now but maybe some of those remaining orphan cars can find homes.

K

[Jake]

How cool would the Scion xB be in ITC?

[Dave Ebersole]

I would love to run my Porsche 914 in an IT class but not as they are corrently classified. Maybe the 1.7 in ITC or the 2.0 in ITB.
Dave Ebersole
O=00=O

[Geo]

Originally posted by Dave Ebersole:
I would love to run my Porsche 914 in an IT class but not as they are corrently classified. Maybe the 1.7 in ITC or the 2.0 in ITB.
Dave Ebersole
O=00=O

They are indeed both classified.

The 2.0 is currently in ITA and the 1.7 is currently in ITB. Keep watching Fastrack.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com