Given that the MG has been "done" for a few years it seemed like time to start another project.
I’ve been watching the 20XX challenge coverage from afar for a number of years. It has always looked like fun and the low budget approach has always appealed to me.
I’ve “Started” several builds over the years and never managed to get to the event. The MG (Before I changed to Miata uprights and the 13B and cost ballooned to $7k), a 1991 turbo Miata I bought for $436 (It’s Towing/impound bill), a $150 Geo Metro (Still have the Engine/trans for some future silliness). Now that the MG is “done”, the kids are a little older and I’m not planning on moving any time soon it’s time to try again.
My goals for the build are pretty simple. Build something dumber than the MG is. Also I want it to have a roof. And with the new “tube frame” rules in the challenge my particular brand of creativity is encouraged.
A few months back I was surfing the instaface and saw this image.
Credit to Vanuf Art Design.
I was enthralled. I loved the juxtaposition of the classic 60s lines with the current bulbous insanity that is LMP cars. It tugged at the same part of my lizard brain that thought I needed to mash together a 1978 MG midget and a DTM car.
I Google Image searched endlessly and was able to determine that this was in fact just a photoshop celebration of what could be. In fact it appears it’s creators did not even bless the internet with a rear view and the side view I located is incomplete.
I could not tolerate this I must make such a beast reality. As an added bonus it will make a better track car then the MG. It has a Roof and can be built with a full W2W cage from the beginning.
So a plan was hatched. I started searching craigslist for VW’s and started to do some preliminary design work. That’s when the first hurdle was encountered. It’s Too big! The rendering looks the business but using a standard Bug windshield to keep the aesthetic close the finished vehicle would approach 7.5’ wide. That’s too wide for my trailer, and just too wide overall. I also started looking at weights and building with a Bug as a base even using just the external sheetmetal the finished car would likely be 2400+ lbs. Cost was also looking challenging as Bugs in my area tend to be $1k and the drivetrain would not be cheap. At this point I became discouraged and pushed it all to the back of my mind.
A few weeks later at work some coworkers were giving me a hard time about how many cars I own and one of them asked if I still had that old car hanging from my ceiling. I said yeah I still had the old Subaru. Someone unfamiliar with the 360 asked me what it was and I described it to them in my usual way.. Oh a Subaru 360 is a Japanese microcar that looks just like a ¾ scale VW Bug… and that’s when it hit me. The answer has been hanging in my garage for 10 years.
Scaling the concept around a Subaru 360 works. The shell is really close in width to a actual LMP car center section. Weight can be very small as the 360 body with it’s sardine can sheetmetal is only 200lbs total. Plus it will have suicide doors.
And the best part is I will actually be able to build it from 1 manufacture. Desired power level will be ~200 WHP which is well within the limits of affordable Subaru engines. A 2WD converted Subaru trans is fully capable of the power requirements.
I was back on the hunt for parts and the GRM forum delivered a winner. Forum member TheJed had listed a $300 Subaru Brighton for sale that came with a spare transmission and tons of spare parts.
Physical Progress will be slow for the next month or so as I get the garage straightened up and ready for the build to begin. I expect to start the proper build in the next 2 weeks. Next post will be about the digital design of the car.
I also got a great deal for a 2002 WRX for $1100. I may end up using it as a donor but still am deciding. For now the plan is to move forward with the Brighton donor.