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Mk1 Cav not for the faint hearted


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Seen at arena essex today. 

One off meeting for drivers that raced before 1994. Oldest fella racing was 75 !!

most were racing ford focus and other such crap,but this dare I say it,did look the part ! 

 

image.jpgAnd then after 2 races 

image.jpg

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Edited by davo
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I just don't get it.  Why do people spend good money on a car, spend more money and time preparing it like that, in the CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE it's going to end up smashed to hell?  OK, it's a risk you take with a rally car, but you don't take that out knowing it will get mangled - damage would be accidental in a rally or  classic race car.

BJ

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there have been endless debates about banger racers and in particular classic bangers.

Banger racing is VERY cheap, to prep a car for other forms of racing, buying and fitting all the safety equipment is expensive and time consumimg.

 Banger racers have a basic H Frame on which is the fuel and battery, the seat and belts bolt to this and a floor plate,Steel protection plate on the drivers door, plus there is a water tank to replace the rad.

 These items transfer from car to car, So take a car that is destined to be crushed, strip it to a shell, engine and wheels, put in all the kit from the last car, regular racers claim to do this in a day.

 Banger racing is not always about crashing, there are racers who just go to get a 'big hit' but there are others that are more subtle and just nudge other racers aside as they try and win the race, these drivers often make a car last several meetings.

 When the car is finally damaged beyond futher use all the kit comes out of it and the remains are weighed in, so the cost of the car is is next to nothing.

 As for classic bangers, i went to the Standlake Heavy Metal meeting last year (there is realy little else happening motorsport wise in January) that has a classic banger class so i was interested to see what condition the classic being raced were in, the only car there that i thought could possible have been restored was a Hillman Minx, the rest were definately in the not possible / labour of love catergory they were so far gone, there was one MK 7 and Two MK 9 Jags being raced, all them that rotten you would wonder about the sanity of just driving them around the paddock, no sills, rear footwells, or boot floor, it was only plates bolted across the door shuts that held the rear half to the front !! but being big and heavy they proved un-stoppable, slow so didn't win but knocking everything out of the way and still going at the end of the meeting.

 The Cavalier above will be viewed with sadness because of its destruction, but unfortunately MK 1 Cavaliers do not have a high value, so a rusty one is scrap value only.

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OK thanks for the info Ian.  Not being into this sort of thing meant I had no idea that the safety equipment was transferrable.

 I still say it looks like a lot of work just to paint the damn' things, but the graffiti boys under our subway seem to do "artwork" pretty quickly!

Maybe what niggled me was seeing that bumper trim trailing on the floor post-shunt, when I couldn't get one of those for love nor money when I needed it a couple of years back.

BJ

 

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Banger racing always good for a discussion !!!!!

ive done this a good few years ago, and it's always been a hot topic re classic cars ! 

What makes me feel really old is cortinas  & grandas were raced when I was doing it & they were plentiful and cheap,now they are collectable !!! Before that it was A60's. 

On the flip side I know a lot of ex banger drivers that are now classic car owners normally with a car that was the same model as their chosen weapon in their day !

also remember a lot of the spares do get sold on too to keep other cars alive. 

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Ive been to a few banger meets, locally. Ive even been to a pre68 meet at hednesford hills raceway and looking around the pits at the cars, im not surprised some of them were there. Yes, a nice fancy paint job and some air brushing makes the car look worthy, but you look closer and the old ones are badly rotten, to a point where its probably been considered for resto but no ones been brave enough. And thus, ends up on the oval.

 

What P1sses me off, is the fact that the rarer the car, the better. Ive seen cars that are 1 of 2 in the country being "sent in". Once example, an Eunos Cosmo. Lovely looking early 90s jap sports car. But alas, getting parts to keep that car would be a bigger challange than racing it.

 

It is a shame that some nice classics get wiped out, and I myself cringe at some. But at least they are given a send off, and usually the parts removed from them are sold to us. I know ive bought a fair few parts off someone banger racing mantas!

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 I still say it looks like a lot of work just to paint the damn' things,

This is all part of the banger scene.

It is very tribel, with teams each having their own colours, the team names are known up and down the country, the likes of the Warlords, Bad News, The Bears, Suicide Squad, Motley Crew and dozens more, each team has a track that they are associated with, their home track in a manner of speaking

  The colours make for easy identification when racing so you don't attack a member of your own squd plus you can identify another racer who has attacked a team mate and dish out a reprisal. There are some long running fueds between teams that can result in some huge hits 'following in', full speed into the rear of a stationary car, but no racer would ever target the drivers door, they could never show their face again at any track if they did.

 There are a lot of racers who don't belong to a team, some of them change their colours every meeting, others turn out in the same scheme every time. a few prefer a 'raw car' still in the original paint with just the numbers added.

Major race meetings will have a prize for the best turned out car, the artwork can be amazing, airbrushed pictures and 'shaded' numbers, metal flake paint, it is all part of the show

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  • 2 months later...
On 10/23/2015 at 0:21 AM, MANTAMAN said:

there have been endless debates about banger racers and in particular classic bangers.

Banger racing is VERY cheap, to prep a car for other forms of racing, buying and fitting all the safety equipment is expensive and time consumimg.

 Banger racers have a basic H Frame on which is the fuel and battery, the seat and belts bolt to this and a floor plate,Steel protection plate on the drivers door, plus there is a water tank to replace the rad.

 These items transfer from car to car, So take a car that is destined to be crushed, strip it to a shell, engine and wheels, put in all the kit from the last car, regular racers claim to do this in a day.

 Banger racing is not always about crashing, there are racers who just go to get a 'big hit' but there are others that are more subtle and just nudge other racers aside as they try and win the race, these drivers often make a car last several meetings.

 When the car is finally damaged beyond futher use all the kit comes out of it and the remains are weighed in, so the cost of the car is is next to nothing.

 As for classic bangers, i went to the Standlake Heavy Metal meeting last year (there is realy little else happening motorsport wise in January) that has a classic banger class so i was interested to see what condition the classic being raced were in, the only car there that i thought could possible have been restored was a Hillman Minx, the rest were definately in the not possible / labour of love catergory they were so far gone, there was one MK 7 and Two MK 9 Jags being raced, all them that rotten you would wonder about the sanity of just driving them around the paddock, no sills, rear footwells, or boot floor, it was only plates bolted across the door shuts that held the rear half to the front !! but being big and heavy they proved un-stoppable, slow so didn't win but knocking everything out of the way and still going at the end of the meeting.

 The Cavalier above will be viewed with sadness because of its destruction, but unfortunately MK 1 Cavaliers do not have a high value, so a rusty one is scrap value only.

"but unfortunately MK 1 Cavaliers do not have a high value,"  I've turned down two and a half Grand for mine twice from different people, during the last month, also last week I want to it in a car park and there was a note on the windscreen " Get in touch I want to buy this car, with a phone number"  I consider that as good offers  for a 38 year old car, which after all is just an old Vauxhall !! And if that is an offer, I suppose they would up that if I was prepared to sell.

Edited by Julian
missed a bit out
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57 minutes ago, Julian said:

"but unfortunately MK 1 Cavaliers do not have a high value,"

When i typed these words an average daily driver MK 1 Cavalier could be bought for a few hundred quid, which in turn ment that a rusty example needing a full restoration was only worth it's weigh in price.

 In the last few weeks i have noticed a slight increase in Cavalier MK 1 values and excellent examples have been changing hands for good money but they still lag behind other classic cars and a rusty example still has very little value.

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17 hours ago, Julian said:

"but unfortunately MK 1 Cavaliers do not have a high value,"  I've turned down two and a half Grand for mine twice from different people, during the last month, also last week I want to it in a car park and there was a note on the windscreen " Get in touch I want to buy this car, with a phone number"  I consider that as good offers  for a 38 year old car, which after all is just an old Vauxhall !! And if that is an offer, I suppose they would up that if I was prepared to sell.

MK 1 four door Saloons do not command a high value generally but are on the way up however yours is a coupe Julian therefore a Manta in disguise & as such is worth currently about 20 % less than the equivalent Manta IMHO.

My Manta is exactly the same as your Cavalier being a 1.9 Auto in good condition & I have been offered £5500 for it, therefore your car is worth £4400 at least.

Anyone who offers you £2500 for your car is frankly taking the piss  but as you said you are not considering selling. 

Edited by Rapierdave
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/25/2016 at 2:11 PM, Rapierdave said:

MK 1 four door Saloons do not command a high value generally but are on the way up however yours is a coupe Julian therefore a Manta in disguise & as such is worth currently about 20 % less than the equivalent Manta IMHO.

My Manta is exactly the same as your Cavalier being a 1.9 Auto in good condition & I have been offered £5500 for it, therefore your car is worth £4400 at least.

Anyone who offers you £2500 for your car is frankly taking the piss  but as you said you are not considering selling. 

Another 14 months and it will be exempt from tax.

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