Let’s Talk Values

Despite what the sellers often think, most race cars are not worth anywhere near the sum of their parts. The only cars worth a lot are famous ones driven by famous drivers–and with spotless documentation proving that history.

And yes, there are more than a few misrepresented cars out there, from outright frauds to cars sporting a few original pieces along with lots of replacement parts. Race cars are like Lego bricks, and parts get swapped a lot.

Almost all significant, famous cars were insignificant and uncompetitive at some point in their past, and many were parted out to raise cash for the next one. If you’re chasing a high-dollar car with history, do your research. Be very suspicious and take your time. If you find a truly historic car, expect to pay top dollar–more than the sum of its parts and more than a restored version.

What about the bulk of the cars seen in vintage and historic racing? As usual, it depends.

Cars that consistently run up front may be worth nearly the sum of their parts. Any other race car just isn’t worth much to an informed buyer–more like half the value of its street counterpart.

Buying from the podium is a good strategy if you want to actually race the car. Even here, you have to make sure all of the podium-winning pieces are still on it. (Sometimes the trick parts get replaced and–you guessed it–go onto the previous owner’s next car.)

Ideally, not only will the car wear all the trick parts, but the previous owner will share the setup and prep strategies that made the car a success. A car like this will cost significantly more than the average race car–somewhere up to the sum of its parts.

Better yet, though, a lot of these cars, especially if they come with spares, sell for half or less than the total construction costs–and usually still less than a street or restored version.

Every other race car should be considered a project car and purchased for a project car price. A car that wasn’t a front-runner or hasn’t run in a while will likely be uncompetitive, unreliable and maybe even unsafe.

Expect to completely go through everything on the car, and realize that it should cost significantly less than a street or restored car. Of course, the seller typically won’t agree.

Vintage, Historic or Just Old?

What exactly constitutes a vintage race car? It depends–on the group, the event and the date of the rule book. The answer is constantly evolving.

Generally speaking, it’s more about the vibe: putting older cars on track while keeping the racing clean and courteous. And that means penalties for aggressive driving and car-on-car contact.

Car eligibility has evolved with the times as well. When the HSR started to come together at Road Atlanta in 1977, for example, the grids contained cars from the ’50s and ’60s. Today, HSR welcomes cars that might have run in the pro ranks just a few short years ago.

Likewise, the organization behind the Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races has updated its rules. Where it used to limit cars through 1972, this year the group will also welcome small-bore Japanese cars built through 1990.