It's Better to Have a Vintage Race Car You Don't Need to Worry About
Putting the racing before vintage.

BY COLIN COMER
APR 15, 2016

As much as vintage racers hate to admit it, we aren't creating history when we compete; we are merely celebrating it. So if you're going vintage racing, is it smarter to drive something faster and more durable? In other words, something less vintage?

I've argued both sides of this. For years, I drove a 1966 Ford Mustang GT350 B-Production car in the highly competitive Group 6 class. Never mind that my little Shelby was the proverbial knife in a gunfight, up against later cars with big-blocks and four-wheel disc brakes. I contended that drum brakes, a 289-cubic-inch engine, skinny tires, and midpack battles constituted real historic racing.

Then I bought my first modern-era (1997), tube-frame Trans-Am Mustang. Wow. Screw those old production-based race cars! It was a revelation. It was a purpose-built race car with more than 600 hp, 14-inch-wide slicks all around, and lots of downforce. Also, brakes that worked and a stout roll cage. Capable of top speeds just shy of 200 mph, it had the performance of today's quickest supercars but was faster around the track. Trans-Am cars of this era are also extremely robust, having been built for endurance racing.

On top of all that, if I'd crashed it, I wouldn't have destroyed something as important as a GT350. I suddenly felt bad for the years I spent sneering at guys driving post-historic-era cars in vintage racing. I was now one of them.

After much success in the '97 over a few seasons, I jumped at the opportunity to buy the car pictured here: Jon Gooding's 1995 Mountain Dew Roush Mustang Trans-Am car. Roush TA cars are the gold standard in this realm, and this one was well-sorted. It had the good stuff—a current GT1/TA-spec, 358-cubic-inch, 750-hp Ford V8 and a wide-gear Hewland five-speed transmission. As someone who witnessed firsthand the Trans-Am wars in the mid-Nineties, I feel pretty special when I strap into a car I used to watch from the fence.

As advertised, the Roush needed little work to get on track. In the years since, it has required only careful maintenance and preparation. It's also put me on the top step of more podiums than I likely deserve.

The best part is that I can drive this car at ten-tenths without guilt. We all want to live out the Walter Mitty fantasy, but in an irreplaceable historic car, it's sometimes not worth the risk.

SQUARE IT UP: Buying and caring for a vintage race car is similar to buying any old car, only the stakes are higher. You don't want to uncover a problem at 150 mph. Also, racing a car brings all sorts of extra expenses. Ex-Trans-Am cars can be had from $75,000, depending on provenance and condition, but costs for parts and prep make a crack cocaine addiction seem economical.

THE BASICS: Make sure you aren't buying a twisted or poorly repaired chassis. Verify the car's past—big premiums are placed on history and cars from certain manufacturers.

ENGINE: TA cars like mine raced in period with 310-cubic-inch Ford engines that made about 600 hp. Today, you'll want a 358-cubic-inch, 750-hp Windsor engine, which can cost up to $60,000 if built from scratch. Or, for about $15,000, Roush Yates sells "take-out" 358-cubic-inch NASCAR engines that can be adapted to a TA car. No matter your choice, none of these last forever. Figure $10,000 every two seasons for a rebuild (unless it blows up sooner).

TRANSMISSION: Even wide-gear Hewland gearboxes break. A new one costs $15,000; a rebuild is about $5000. Jerico transmissions are cheaper and easier to use.

BRAKES: Be prepared to spend on brake rotors and hats, as you'll burn them up. Pads, however, are surprisingly long-lived.

TIRES: You don't want to run a Trans-Am car fast on tires past roughly six heat cycles. Hoosier has a current TA tire package that runs about $2000. You'll use two sets a weekend if you want to fight for the front of the grid.

SPARES: The more of everything, the better. You're going to break stuff. If a spares package isn't included with the car, budget for one. There is no shortage of mechanical parts available for these cars, but some components unique to individual chassis may have to be fabricated.

SAFETY GEAR: Don't skimp here. Get fresh belts, window nets, and a good containment seat. Service the fuel and fire systems.

USE YOUR HEAD: A full-fledged TA car shouldn't be the first thing you take to a track. They're fantastic to drive but also challenging. Things happen really fast, requiring an acute awareness of what you and the car are doing at all times. Nobody remembers a vintage-race result, but they always remember the guy who wrecked doing something stupid.