After years of dreaming, I finally went out and got myself a race car. It's nothing special, a Mazda Protege5 with a Mazdaspeed powertrain swap. It's been a race car since new, having done a few Grand Am Cup races, including Daytona in 2004.
While not $20xx challenge priced, the car, a mountain of spares and deilvery from 180km (about 110 miles) away, is all mine for $6500 (Canadian).
Don't mind me, I'm just a little excited ![laugh laugh](https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/static/ckeditor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/20/1626807323_163955778_10158452411645787_5246954466902389648_n_mmthumb.jpg)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/20/1626807338_164297405_10158452411620787_3812815623747232512_n_mmthumb.jpg)
Very cool and congrats. Do you know who originally built it?
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I was told it was built by what is now Paragon Competition in Toronto, Ontario.
Congrats, enjoy, stay safe and . . . Just Win Baby
SCORE! I'm excited for you!
Nice score.
Where will you race this?
In reply to akylekoz :
My goal is to run our Ontario regional racing series, similar to SCCA. I could also run Champ Car or Lucky Dog, though I'd need a team for those.
Nice! Welcome to the addiction!
Congratulations. Once you've driven a properly prepared race car on the track there's really no going back to street cars.
Congrats! car looks great.
Tom1200
SuperDork
7/20/21 3:01 p.m.
There's no going back now congratulations.
That is sweet. I so wish made that combo in the showroom. Is the transmission stick or modified? Not known for strong diffs, right?
Look great! Congrats! Drive safe ![wink wink](https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/static/ckeditor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png)
In reply to GTwannaB :
The trans has been upgraded to prevent overheating, and it has a Quaife LSD in it.
Wow, that's pretty awesome.
Duke
MegaDork
7/21/21 7:40 a.m.
In reply to BMWGeoff :
That's super cool! Nice score.
Mandatory change of user account or else I will personally report the OP for violation of the site's T&Cs.
People think they can get away with anything these days.
BTW, sicccckk racecar dude. Pumped fo u.
Congrats! I was very intrigued in the car, but couldn't figure out a way to get it to the states cheaply.
In reply to trigun7469 :
It was too good a deal for me to pass up.
In reply to BMWGeoff : Well if you decide to run champcar in the states, I would be interested in renting a seat, and could probably find some other teammates to race.
In reply to trigun7469 :
I'll definitely keep that in mind.
I found a few more pics of it racing back in the day
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/23/1627054454_1_mmthumb.jpg)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/23/1627054469_03gacmos-17_mmthumb.jpg)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/23/1627054492_03gacmos-58_mmthumb.jpg)
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2021/07/23/1627054514_04gacday-35_mmthumb.jpg)
I hope you’re ready to go down the rabbit hole.
”Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty”- Peter Egan
In reply to racerfink :
If I waited until I was ready, I'd never do anything.