Question re. Banger Racing

[Mr H Sceptre]

OK, just trying to get a general concensus here....

 

Picture the scenario: there is a rare old European saloon for sale (we're talking Simca 1501/Lancia Gamma/Pug 604 type thing here), no MOT, a bit of a shed, & nobody appears willing to take it on & save it. The owner therefore will just scrap it. Would you rather it went to the banger boys for 'one last hurrah' before getting cubed, or would you rather it just went straight to meet its maker?

 

This is just purely theoretical by the way & I just wondered what everyone's thoughts are on this.

 

Ta!

[Wilko220]

At least going for scrap, it's more likely that any salvageable parts will be made available to owners of other surviving examples.

 

I entirely fail to 'get' classic banger racing. Even if it is a shed of an example, I just don't understand how people find enjoyment in destroying rare stuff that will never be made again. If someone is able to explain the psychology behind it, I'd be genuinely interested.

[trigger]

Tough call, I guess if no-one is ever going to buy it and it's rotting away then banger racing as long as the racer offers the stripped parts to other owners first instead of binning them.

 

I saw a number of Rovers getting ready to be raced on Saturday (see my photos in my show thread) and to be fair the majority of them were rotten as a pear so it didn't really bother me.

 

That said if i saw Pete_M's 604 end up on a track because he can't sell it then i would be disappointed (Not disappointed enough to save it though )

[DSdriver]

If its not the last one and you haven't spent a lot of time and money on it then I don't see the problem, it all comes down to it being baked bean tins so why not have a bit of fun with it first.

However Pete's pug I would be upset to see going round in circles because of the work done on it/the fact that it is a superb luxobarge/I love the colour/the calendar pics.

[whitevanman]

If it's ganna die, does it matter how?

[RedSparrow]

I think some people genuinely enjoy the sport; these are the ones who often do stock cars etc too, and to these racing something rare is not that important. I don't have a problem with this. Neither do I have a problem if there is an old rare thing and no-one except racers wants it. Like Pete-M's Pug, sad but it's quite possible no-one will even want any bits of it by the look of things. If you've made a big affort to sell with no luck, let it go out with a bang.

 

I do think some like to destroy something rare literally for the sake of destroying something rare. Picture a kid a school who no-one likes but is a bully and likes to steal toys from other kids and smash them because he is jealous.

 

Most of those Rovers from the P3-5 thing looked pretty rotten anyway.

[Volksy]

At least going for scrap, it's more likely that any salvageable parts will be made available to owners of other surviving examples.

 

To be honest, this isn't true. Most yards will send older, and probably rarer vehicles, direct to the frag complete as the chances of them selling parts off it will be minimal.

At least a lot of the banger racers sell the parts off via eghey etc.

[Cavcraft]

I disagree, Wilco. 'Going for scrap' often means exactly that and 99.9% of car scrap yards and metal recyclers won't be remotely interested in offering it for parts first, where racers often would. Ok they'd want to keep the body panels but bumpers, interiors, fuel tanks, clocks switches and gauges etc could be sold on to help someone, and to be fair most banger drivers offer to do this.

[trigger]

Just as Billy said, most large scrappys wouldn't be interested in keeping them for spares as it's baked bean tin money to them where as a banger racer will offer the parts for sale as they can make some money back from them.

[RobT]

Based on the above scenario I'd say let it be bangered if it's that much of a shed. If you're the person selling the likelihood is all you want to see is the cash, and fair enough. Sounds a bit harsh I know but you can't save them all as the cliche goes.

 

It is a shame to see decent cars mashed up, but if you've been trying to sell a car for AGES and then a banger comes along with the money, I'd be tempted to let him have it. Life goes on and you'll soon get over it.

 

Edit: Unless they're mashing up a Rover of course, then they are bastards

[alf892]

No question about it.............banger it. even though I would love to get my hands on a P3 Sports Saloon like the one in TIg's thread....

 

Most hobbies will offend someone when they are either practised or spoken about.

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

Jeese what a dilema.

 

Knee jerk to it would be send it to be scrapped - nice clinical ending to the cars life, however, as it has been so rightly pointed out very few scrap cars are dismantled in the old fashioned sense of that word, they are just now seen a commodity to be cubed and shipped.

 

Banger people do tend to offer parts (interior trim) etc so if I had to force an answer I would say Banger it.

 

(never thought I would say that though).

[cort16]

If the car belonged to me then it really depends on the car itself. There's some ones that I've had that would fill me with glee to see getting smashed to bits out on the track and others I would be gutted to see smashed up as I have an emotional attachment to them. My first car was Cortina in my family for 8 years, served us really well and saw us and me through a lot of very hard times. I loved that car and would have been gutted to see it smashed up even though it was totally rotten. It went to the local breakers and I do believe some parts of it where re-used by whitevanman on another Cortina.

[Mash]

I'm in agreement here - there is more chance of the parts being offered by banger racers. However, I would say that if there are any rare panels on it that are salvagable (even if they need a bit of welding) then it would be advisable to swap them for worse ones (if that's possible) before it goes round the oval. For example I've got a pair of front wings for my Datsun 1000 which are off a scrap car that would need work if I ever wanted to use them but they are unobtainable so beggars can't be choosers.

 

Course if the car is that rare then chances are no-one will even want the parts!

 

Is a big problem - how many years can you hang on to something before you get fed up of waiting for someone to take it on as a project? Banger racing is often the way cars end their life because the cash seems readily available and collection immediate and then they don't have the storage or cost issue because the car is only with them for a few weeks and then it's gone. Fact of life unfortunately, it's much easier to do that than it is to restore a car as much as we'd all like to save this car or that car, it's not practical. It's a shame if the car IS very much restorable or stupidly rare but there's not a lot can be done if you don't have the money/space/skills/approval from the missus.

[chaseracer]

Any commodity - whether oil, pork bellies, or (possibly) the last rhd 604STi - is worth what the buyer is prepared to pay for it. This actual value may be entirely at odds with the perceived value placed on the commodity by the seller, and is often completely divorced from the level of investment previously made which the seller wants to "make back".

 

Some you win, some you lose. That's life - deal with it, and move on.

[jonny69]

What about that white 405 on eBay that keeps coming up in the 'bargains' thread? Too good to banger race?

[RedSparrow]

Has anyone actually ever banger raced a Pug 405?! I can't find any evidence of anyone doing so on the internet-webs.

[chaseracer]

/\/\/\

 

Yes. I flogged some 205 alloys to a bloke who did just that at Birmingham Wheels some years back. I understand it did not end well...

[SambaS]

Banger racing is good fun. I do think classic banger racing is a shame. If a classic is at the end of its life it should go to a breakers. Not to be cubed. I couldn't take a 30+ year old car and crash it on purpose. And I'd find it equally as hard to break one. In the last month I've pulled apart some modern stuff that would have had 20 years of life left in it in the right hands. But like my boss says, can't keep thinking like that! The only positives I can think of are they're helping others live on, and makin me more determined to see mine right.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

How about buying the car, stripping all the good trim and bits of first and then selling to one of our rigger boot wearing chums?

[dollywobbler]

How about buying the car, stripping all the good trim and bits of first and then dropping it onto one of our rigger boot wearing chums?

 

Edited for accuracy.

 

 

Only joking folks!

[RedSparrow]

How about buying the car, stripping all the good trim and bits of first and then selling to one of our rigger boot wearing chums?

 

Storage + who will buy the bits if no-one wants a whole car?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

How about buying the car, stripping all the good trim and bits of first and then selling to one of our rigger boot wearing chums?

 

Storage + who will buy the bits if no-one wants a whole car?

 

 

True, but if you're giving the stuff away it shouldn't hang around too long. Mind you, I tried giving away a cloth E36 Coupe interior once. Ended up burning it on 5/11 and weighing the frames in with an old dishwasher.

[Shep Shepherd]

If/when The Volvo becomes unviable, I'd love to see it go out with a bang on the oval. However, I'd remove as many useful bits from it as I could beforehand

[Spiny Norman]

I can't really work up much enthusiasm for the "OMG all Weiners are EVIL" mentality that gets bandied about on some of the classic car sites, but I still can't be arsed with it, and it's certainly not "motor sport" in any way, shape or form.

[Guest]

Hello there autoshite people been here a while but registered as i saw people talking about my Rover p3 that i raced ( attempted to race)

i bought this car off of a hot rod froum it had been on there for a good few months with no interest, i offered the man the cash and drove 300 miles to get it. when we got it home we looked at the car for restoring or racing as i do both. this car had no brakes no floor no drivers side rear wing no radiator no reverse, it needed a full new interior and webasto roof. there was a missing leaf spring and the whole rear end was so rotten there was no spring hangers or floor. i stripped the car of all saleable parts and listed all parts that were reusable on ebay. i sold parts to people all over europe and it worked out that i was actually in profit by around £150. i then spent the next 6 months welding a floor, rear end, roof, brakes, repairing the gearbox etc etc. unfortunately for me on the night the car developed a missfire so didnt go out in the blaze of glory i hoped. so it will be raced again. once written off i have a buyer for the engine gearbox and wheels. the axles will then be removed and also sold on. i know from the outside banger racing looks like a barbaric sport but there are a lot of good guys who love there classics and will only race cars that nobody puts up the money to restore. i myself have had a a60, rover p4 and a triumph 2000 on the road.

[Rocket88]

Hello there autoshite people been here a while but registered as i saw people talking about my Rover p3 that i raced ( attempted to race)

i bought this car off of a hot rod froum it had been on there for a good few months with no interest, i offered the man the cash and drove 300 miles to get it. when we got it home we looked at the car for restoring or racing as i do both. this car had no brakes no floor no drivers side rear wing no radiator no reverse, it needed a full new interior and webasto roof. there was a missing leaf spring and the whole rear end was so rotten there was no spring hangers or floor. i stripped the car of all saleable parts and listed all parts that were reusable on ebay. i sold parts to people all over europe and it worked out that i was actually in profit by around £150. i then spent the next 6 months welding a floor, rear end, roof, brakes, repairing the gearbox etc etc. unfortunately for me on the night the car developed a missfire so didnt go out in the blaze of glory i hoped. so it will be raced again. once written off i have a buyer for the engine gearbox and wheels. the axles will then be removed and also sold on. i know from the outside banger racing looks like a barbaric sport but there are a lot of good guys who love there classics and will only race cars that nobody puts up the money to restore. i myself have had a a60, rover p4 and a triumph 2000 on the road.

 

I think that this is fair enough. I seems that sometimes only rodders and ovalists are the only people interested in old stuff that's pretty well bollocksed, and the reasons are fairly obvious.

To do a full restoration, at professional rates, and even for the simplest of cars, you're looking at around £25k . This means that old chod that is not that valuable is not going to attract buyers who are interested in restoring such stuff. Why buy a basket case Rover 80, when you can buy a minter for around £6k? Rodders will take this kind of stuff on, because they're usually pretty handy at tin bashing, welding etc, and they're probably going to throw away a lot of the knackered original stuff anyway.

[Tonka]

Having raced myself and helped prepare many a rotten shell to make it safe then filling and painting it to make it look mint for a pre-68 meet I feel a car has a better chance of donating it's parts to a good cause if it get's raced rather than simply being weighed in by a yard or a roaming hi-ab owner.

 

I was at a show two weeks ago where 3 of my ex team mates were displaying their mint classics and networking around various other owners to offload "cheap" Roller, Granada and Rover bits to a willing audience.

 

On a personal note my lad's Micra has been in a bump and because they do all Micra races at a local track we have coming 2 headlamps, bonnet, front grille, radiator and loads of other small bits off a racer for £25 the lot!

 

I doubt anybody on here would really say no to cheap bits even if they knew the car had been raced, better to help keep half a dozen on the road than have one car sat rotting away

[Wilko220]

We seem to have had a lot of thoroughly reasonable banger racers appear on this thread. That's great and full respect to you. All I can say is, I wish that all banger racers were like you lot and not the type who would buy a minter at the right price - such as, to take a random example, Pete_M's Peugeot - and happily strip and race it. Sadly, those types exist as well, which is quite unfortunate in my view.

[Spiny Norman]

I wish that all banger racers were like you lot and not the type who would buy a minter at the right price - such as, to take a random example, Pete_M's Peugeot - and happily strip and race it. Sadly, those types exist as well, which is quite unfortunate in my view.

 

I agree, it is unfortunate when a nice car gets oval'd but in the case of Pete's 604 no other bugger wants it, so what's the bloke to do if he wants rid and the only man holding the folding is a banger-iste?

The banger racers that piss me off are the minority who take without asking first.