The other day I added up how much I've spent on racing & car stuff...

...and the results are encouraging! Only about $35k since 2006, including money allocated to finish the Corolla. To give you an idea of what kind of stuff you could get here with that, it's about:

• a Challenge budget short of a new Swift Sport
• 1/2 of the cost, at best, of a type of house you Americans would call "a shack" (IMO a nicer word than the one we have for them, if you know its origin)

Doing autocross and track days since 2006 and offroad rallies and "four-wheeling" since 2008 has been a lot more fun than sitting in traffic, making payments and living in fear of a breakdown!

I could do that. But I won't.

If I did that, it would wind up being the equivalent of a McMansion. I'm not going there!

I made the mistake of doing that on a project car, My 1989 Conquest with the 351-W in it. Added up the busted engines I bought, bad transmissions, and EVERYTHING I had for it. Over $35k. Never ran, never drove it. Had to get rid of it. Made me sick. I literally puked.

I absolutely refuse to do this.

Rule #1 to racing stuffs: Never count how much money you've spent (read: wasted) on it. It will only make you depressed.

Best not to keep track. My Costs: Equivalent of $$ cost of a comfy house 1 marriage 2 jobs that were interfering with the race schedule.

Was it worth it? Hell Yah!!!

E36 M3, I'm really glad I don't have the receipts. I know I spent that much on that stupid truck.

fastoldfart wrote: Best not to keep track. My Costs: Equivalent of $$ cost of a comfy house 1 marriage 2 jobs that were interfering with the race schedule. Was it worth it? Hell Yah!!!

Not to thread jack or anything, but what kind of car and where are the details on that thing in your avatar?!

But think of it this way: You probably had at least $35k worth of fun, right?

I do keep receipts of what I have spent on my current race car and did for my former race car but never added then up and don't ever intend to for the same reasons given by posters above. I figure that as long as I have a roof over my head, a car to drive, food on the table, and some money in the bank, I'm good!

I also refuse to do this, probably $35k in just two different project cars alone.

And I'm going to put in more OT this week now that I think of this.

jimbbski wrote: I figure that as long as I have a roof over my head, a car to drive, food on the table, and some money in the bank, I'm good!

I told my wife when we first started seriously dating and talking about marriage this almost exactly. I told her that I would own more than one car, but the bills would be paid, fridge would be full, and savings account would be comfortable. Since we're not at the comfy level yet, I still drive my 2000 P71.

I just hope that when I die, my wife doesn't sell my projects for what I told her I have into them.

I took $5000 worth of cycled-out Hoosier bias ply slicks to the dump last weekend. I did 12 out of 13 rounds of my regional series last year w/ Friday practice added on 4 or 5 times. And I bought a set of body molds for $5k and had to heat the garage to use 'em.

I keep a receipt pile in case I need to re-order anything, but I never look.

Once, I added up the inch plus stack of parts receipts from the Sprite plus minimum wage times 2700. hours.

Last labor day weekend when I won my class and group and set fast lap of the event of any class, all three days, was beyond value. Absolutely a highlight of my life.

Every mile I've driven my Sprite has been a joy, and completing it gave me the confidence and chutzpah to buy our first project house and undertake the epic renovation.

That house paid for the awesome place we're in now (with my dream shop and garage) - And I made enough of a name dominating in a car I built, prepared and drove that I'm getting calls from some very established fabricators looking for me to do jobs they can't.

It's worth it. Totally worth it.

If my wife ever sees this thread OP, I will hunt you down.

Never do this...
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Never

Mods, hurry and delete this thread!Some things are simply best unknown!

i did the same math listed above. 20k in a drag car... i then got out all together. sold everything, tools too. best decision i ever made. YMMV

-J0N

Do not ever do this, this is worst case self-flagellation!

Just the normal day to day vehicle upkeep receipts are enough to make me puke and that is doing the work myself!

But I must say I'm quite tame on the project car front outside of a few pieces, like the $1500 powerglide and $600 Ford AOD transmissions I built myself just sitting around, the $1200 chrome moly rollbar I had put in my old stang once upon a time, etc.....

Keeping rough numbers in my head has taught me that its usually cheaper to save up and start with something in much nicer shape, rather than the rattletraps I normally begin with. Even my Neon, which was in pretty nice shape to begin with, has cost something like 6-7K, and is now an unreliable, loud, uncomfortable, and only marginally faster car.

I think my next automotive toy will be bought new off a dealer's lot. Could be cheaper that way.

Several years ago a buddy that runs dirt track parked his car one season. He was getting a bit burnt out and needed a break. He told me "I took all the money I'd normally spend on racing and spent it on my house. My house is really nice now!"

Noooooooooooope. Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent, not at this juncture.

I feel like I save tons of money with driving older cars, but who knows. I enjoy the work and I'm pretty sure I don't spend as much as a car payment would be.

I would love to have all the money back from racing. Because you know what's better than having gone to an awesome race? Going to an awesome race now! So I could race a bunch more if I still had that money. I need to go make more money so I can race some more.

Nope. Nope. Nope.