Don Plumley

Here's my (admittedly biased) vote: 1993 993 C2 DE/Track/Driver RS Mods

hf1

+1
Match made in Heaven.

J richard

Otto Mechanic

It's funny, I was trying to figure out how to frame my experience in similar terms, but blowing it back 40 years

In my case it was 1986 and the muscle car was a 928S3. I too looked over the financial cliff of turning it into a race car and stepped back. Way back. Admittedly, there was no factory race program that involved the 928 at the time, though a CS version of the car was built in the 90's. Aside from a very few enthusiasts (Kibort, Anderson, etc.) the platform has languished, but that's another story.

Bottom line was the build and running costs would have been unsupportable for me, so I looked around and was naturally attracted to the 944S2, a car with a very distinguished (and factory supported) racing history. Not only has most of the engineering been done, it's not terribly expensive to build to a factory race spec. Sure, there are certain pieces of unobtainium like the magnesium wheels and oil pan, maybe the rumored but never fully documented lightweight flywheel, but most of the parts can be had and the true purist can still find a tub and have it acid dipped if they seriously want to. This is all to say a person can go just as crazy with a 944 Firehawk or CS style build as they could with a 997TT should they be so inclined. Also, for me the build itself is at least 80% of the fun since I think anyone who supports their own car knows you spend at least 80% of your time under it rather than in it. The older cars, like it or not, are much easier to work on. This isn't to say they're easy, but they are easier.

Personally, I prefer enduro style road racing to the formula style; I enjoy driving cars that are actually street legal on the track, but that's my gig. For me, the 944 is perfect, and I happen to prefer the NA S2 over the Turbo because I love low end torque, again personal preference.

Best of luck in your search,

Otto Mechanic

That's an insanely cheap car, not to mention flat out gorgeous and, of course, sold.

Otto Mechanic

This is a very common sentiment, and without doubt true from a purely pragmatic financial perspective; it's almost certainly true it will be cheaper to buy someone's past labor than pay current market. Labor costs always increase and for one reason or another "used" labor is always cheaper than "new". I (and many others) know this from experience.

But! (and this is a very large but, pun intended), there's a satisfaction to be gained from building your own car. If you have that bug in your system somewhere, listen to it; build your dream. You won't usually get to do it twice, and it can be just as rewarding to build a track car as it can be to shave a half-second off the track record. Never forget that?

Otto Mechanic

PS: Anyone who thinks a 3L 944S2 is slow hasn't ever driven one. Count on it.

Yellow996

Otto Mechanic

Indeed. Not truly a steal, but a start at a steal; sort of like hanging out on third waiting for the moment I'd personally hesitate to classify this example as an entry level car? I hope others might agree.

It's a very good price and what appears to be a very well prepared car, but I understood the OP to be in the 944 or Miatta spectrum somewhere? Maybe an early 80's 911?

Honestly, if I could afford one again, I'd start out with a 1978-1980 914, maybe a 1.7 or 2L. My dream back then was a 2.2L 914-6 (modified). I wanted to build a 916 tribute. I loved that car. I had an '80 1.7L I sucked a valve on during a race up CA Hwy 1 with a TR7 south of Davenport. I rebuilt it to 1.8, did the 916 re-body on it then sold it when I lost my shop for financial reasons.

Really, I can't say enough about the 914. It was a brilliant design and right up with the 356 and original 911. Buy one and drive it to start if you really want to work your way up on the Porsches. You won't regret it.

etchhead

dgm8138

Not to overly toot my own horn, but this would make someone a solid dedicated track car with few additional modifications:
https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1109378

It can be driven to the track (add back in the stock seat belt receptacle which I have) for now and then build the existing roll bar into a cage, add fire suppression, and add diff cooling when ready to go racing in PCA G stock or NASA's growing ST4 or maybe even ST5 class. As it sits...it fits into the ST5 class power:weight ratio (yes to NASA's dyno calculator) and I've driven it to 0.6s of the ST5 record on street tires at Pitt Race.

Dennis Black

@paulfdunn this was a thoughtful, pleasant post to read. Nice to see another helpful Rennlist member.

mglobe

ProCoach

MaynardZed

For a dedicated track car I'd go with an E36 or E46 BMW (Doesn't really matter if its an M3, or made into an M3). There's a reason you see a ton of them at most every track event. Lots of support and parts available for these cars and they are relatively cheap compared to 911 Porsche cars. They are quicker than Miatas, and at DE's you'll be giving intermediate drivers in Mustangs and Corvettes fits once you learn how to drive the BMW's. It's kind of fun being the 'underdog" compared to those high powered cars.

The E36 is nice and versatile as to where you can class them too if you move up to TT or race group. Anywhere from 15/1 weight to power to below 10/1. An E36 can be stripped down to less than 2300lbs. Swap in an LS1 or S54 (they make kits for these), some decent driving skills, and you'd have a car that is nearly unbeatable and could approach Cup cars and GT3's.

My E36 is at about 12.5/1 weight to power with me in it. I use junk yard stock S52 engines because of simplicity and redundancy. They're a few things that you have to do to the motors for track use, but not much. I just swapped in another used S52 that cost me $1500 and I'll just run it until it dies while I rebuild the one we just pulled out.