Intro from outside of Amish Country, Pennsylvania

[Nick F40]

Just a quick post to introduce myself. My name's Nick and i'm a young guy here, only 19, 20 in January and I'm a lifelong car guy. Grew up around sports cars and sports car racing, my dad had a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite and would always go to Summit Point and hillclimbs.
I go back and forth from the sports car scene and VW scene and this. Although vintage Sprite's and Spitfire's will always be my fancy, I love Pro Touring, I guess the over 10 years of reading Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports helped:cheers: I always loved it when people built these for the reason of not just going straight and to prove they can handle.
I build model cars also so over the years meeting a guy that did IMSA style muscle cars really opened my eyes to Pro Touring.
As of now I own an 85 GTI, love it to death, love any euro car really, have been into Vw's for awhile now, I still will love them but i'll be the guy that goes to a big VAG event in an old car:twothumbs
And my cousin, Nate Kauffman, which is a member on here has been getting me even more involved with his cars.
I'm looking for a victim now but since I don't have a lot of money my car may not be as spectacular, but I plan to do a lot of research and hope I can get a lot of help and tips from you guys!
Cheers,
Nick:6gears:

[David Sloan]

Welcome to the site! Just do what you want an all will be good!

[Bryce]

Welcome. What car do you want to start with?

[Nick F40]

Thanks both of you!

I am looking at a 71 Valiant. I need to get rid of my GTI first though haha I'd love to keep it and it'll hurt to get rid of here but money is good!:wrc:

[DarkBuddha]

Welcome. It seems a shame to have to let the GTI go, but understandable, especially if you get good coin for it. Hope the Valiant turns out, 'cause they can be pretty tasty when done right... say something like "Poison Dart":

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/10/0601phr_001_z1970_dodge_dart-1.jpg

[Nick F40]

Yeah I know...it will be hard for sure, I know i'll cry!:crying: haha but exactly, if I get good coin, i'm not going to turn that down.
Thanks and yeah, that is my goal, you are right! I love that car. I want to go maybe a new way in pro touring, kind of go a touring car route with it :woot:
Oh, i've read up on your Merkur, love those things! Yours is beautiful, good find and I would love to import a Cossie! Put that motor in a Falcon.
I'm probably one of the very few guys that loves both of these subjects and talks like I did above:lmao: I love VW's and european cars but at the same time, love this stuff, I know...i'm weird.

[DarkBuddha]

I don't think it is at all weird. In fact, there are more of us than we know, though we're definitely still a minority. But a lot of us have been (and were originally) inspired by European design and engineering, while at the same time we're into musclecars. That's certainly true for me... I grew up on Fiats/Lancias/Alfas and reading volumes of my father's old Car&Driver and Road&Track magazines, but my brother and his friends were into musclecars. When I was 15, the XR was brand new and became one of my dream cars, but $21k price tag was out of reach, so I bought my '70 Mach for $1200 instead. Now I own both. And I'm sure you've seen the "pro-touring" euro builds on here already, but if not, do a search. I'm hoping to eventually go a bit pro-touring with the restoration of my father's '67 OSI, creating something of a hybrid between a musclecar and a European sports coupe.

BTW, starting in 2011 we can legally import the original '86 Sierra RS Cosworth, but at this point my XR is built beyond the original RS performance and has the bodywork. About the only thing I'd like to do is an AWD conversion from a later Sierra Cosworth 4x4 model. A turbo YB powered Falcon would be cool, but good YBs are getting harder to find and expensive to build ($6K-8K). I know a few folks stateside that have YB motors sitting on stands waiting for a home if you ever get serious about it, but I think a turbo 2.3 out of an XR, SVO, or Turbocoupe would be an awesome (and much cheaper) alternative.

[Nick F40]

Yup! Well then, we think the same then. That's exactly like me, I love old Triumphs and Austin Healey's and will always go to hillclimbs andvintage racing events but at the same time love muscle cars.
It is like you said a small minority because most are just into muscle cars but I even know I guy who has a Chevelle and a Nova and is one if the biggest Chevy fans, loves old american cars but you'll see him also as one of the biggest fans of ALMS, FIA GT, WTCC and F1, which is how you and I are and maybe a few others on here, and the funny thing is, he roots for Peugeot and Ferrari haha
In the Grassroots Motorsport world, we just like to call that "normal" if that is even the right word with all those guys:lmao:

And SWEET! Thank god, finally. That's why I want to get the Valiant, cheaper than one of them. That is probably my all time favorite, iport car you could say, i'd take that over any evo or sti. The cool thing about yours though is that yours is a stateside version instead of just an imported Cosworth so in a sense yours is cooler. But yes, I would love to put that engine or like you said the SVO Yamaha engine or 2.3 in a Falcon and if I can't do that, i'm 2.3 turboing a Tempo!
That's all a little later down the road, you know...when I have more money.

Oh and I can't wait to see that OSI then, I have only seen one in person, they are hard to find.:cheers:

[MonzaRacer]

Hey if you like European cars dont knock later Ecotech powered Saturns as you can buy bolt on turbo and supercharger kits. Lot of potential AND with plastic panels you could mod it to look more like European cars.
Also wait a year and "totaled" Fiestas will abound soon.Big thing is watch your budget and have fun. And If you start on American cars you are in same state as Marcus at SC&C.A sponsor on here!
Good luck.

[DarkBuddha]

Oh and I can't wait to see that OSI then, I have only seen one in person, they are hard to find.:cheers:
If you've seen one in person, then you're one of a rare few. Most have never heard of 'em in the states, even among euro car fans, and seeing one in person is like spotting bigfoot. I think there are 5 or 6 in the states now, and a couple of those (including ours) hasn't seen the light of day in years and years.

BTW, rumor has it we're finally supposed to get the euro Ford Focus ST in 2012... not quite the 300+hp Focus RS, but a 265hp Focus? Yes please.

[Nick F40]

True, I've seen a sick Saturn down at Ocean City when I was down for a big VW show, it was crazy turboed but all stock looking!
That's a big one, I have to watch my budget for sure, I know i'll have fun:cheers:
Yes, I looked him up, he actually isn't too far away. Now what would be awsome, in the fact that I have now found a shop that's close and is in Pa, I've finally found one. Working with him would be amazing! I would be so thankful to be able to work there, working on cars i'm interested in and know about! and thanks, didn't know he was a sponser here.