The first thing you need to know are the rules of the particular enduro event you are going to participate in. Here in the Central Vermont area you will find two types of enduros.
8-cylinder enduro racing is as rare as the “old boats” you’d want to race in one. My old 1979 Ford Thunderbird was one of the best cars I’ve ever driven in a race.
4 and 6 cylinder enduros are more common. Small cars can be found everywhere. I drove a 1997 Ford Escort Wagon last year.
The 3 things you should pay attention to when choosing your enduro car.
one) Price. You don’t want to spend a lot. The car will most likely sustain serious damage during the 200 laps of a typical enduro. I paid $50 for that little Escort van.
two) Solid car. Not only do you not want to spend a lot on a car that you know is going to crash, but you want to find the most solid car for your money. Driving a rusty junker in an enduro race is a disaster. I’ll use an example from one of my previous runs…
It’s 1994 and I’m driving a 1979 Buick LeSabre in the annual Enduro 200 at Thunder Road. I only got about 100 laps in and got caught up in a big crash. A redneck I was looking for elsewhere crashed into my car and the trunk lid popped open.
Once the crash was resolved and the survivors were rolling again, I realized they were black flagging me.
“Why the hell are they black flagging me? A raised trunk lid shouldn’t be a problem in an enduro, right?”
I plan to ignore the black flag for a couple of stints. The flaggers got pretty frantic and leaned over the cars trying to get my attention.
“They really want me to pit. I’d better go tie the trunk lid.”
When I came into the pits, the guys on my team told me to turn off the car.
“What? Close the lid and let me come back.”
“There’s nothing to tie him to!”
My car had completely disintegrated from the rear wheel wells. One frame rail was bent 90 degrees and was sticking out straight.
The gas tank had been dragging on the track. That was why those bannermen had been so frantic.
The moral of the story. Pick a solid car for your enduro racer.
3) How much will you have to invest to have your running career ready? If you’re starting from scratch, it’ll cost you around $500 to turn a street car into an enduro racer. That’s materials. If you pay someone to work at your broker, plan a lot more.
How well does the car run? Pick a car that runs well and requires very little mechanical work to be race ready.
Enduro racing can be a lot of fun if you build a strong car that can survive the chaos of this type of racing. To build a strong car you have to start with one and that is what this article is about.