Getting There! (race car imagery warning)

[Neil Haughey]

I know some of you guys have been asking to see some progress shots, I have some taken by Steph from a little while back but I thought we might as well jump right up to the present.

This is what greated me up at EMC Saturday morning [], that is some shine from fresh paint.

The boys offered to wheel her outdoors for a better look, they will be busy finishing the car off this week so a smile for the camera

Almost outside

I do like a nice round butt

Maritime looks so different in bright light, these next 2 images are overexposed but this is how it looked to the naked eye

and

I can think of almost nothing else at the moment other than getting this beauty out on track.
Thanks
Neil

 

[MarkK]

May I say sir,you have superb taste[]

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Who picked the colour and are you racing as a team! []

Looks great Neil, hope you get it on track soon, just to give Mark some competition.

Mike

 

[Neil Haughey]

I think Mark has plenty of competition from the likes of Alex, Pete, George etc. I do agree though with Mark, we both have superb car colour taste [].

BTW the seat is changing to this one,

If anyone wants a Sparco Rev cheap please contact me, its 09 build so plenty of life left in it.

The wheels on it are my 7" set for wheeling it around. My 8" set is off being refurbed to a nice anthracite grey colour. The gutter trims, mirrors and headlight covers where all sat in the car as they had there final paint seperately. Not promising anything but there is an outside chance rather a lot of the 944 community may see it on track in just over a week.

Cheers
Neil

 

[MarkK]

Enjoy your new car Neil it looks fabulous,I am sure it will become like an old freind,I am really enjoying this racing malarky and I am sure you will love your racing too,wish you the very best in your new project!

 

[Neil Haughey]

Thanks Mark and good luck up at Cadwell.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Might have to delete all the gratuitous shots of maritime blue racing 944s. Not jealous, no. Not at all.

Either of you guys at Silverstone on the 19th? Admin can be open to bribes of passenger laps [].

 

[Diver944]

Looking really good Neil, hurry up and get your ARDS licence sorted []

 

[edh]

Looks great (although the colour is a bit common these days... [] )

Would be fantastic to see it out at Silverstone - maybe you could get that second seat fitted for the day? []

 

[Paz]

Hi Neil, was nice to meet you on Saturday, the S2 looks fantastic - good luck with the racing []

 

[944Turbo]

looking good!

 

[barks944]

Looks great! Very jealous

 

[Neil Haughey]

Bit of an update guys, or could call this post everything Kev Eacock said to me a year ago was right with regards to building an S2 race car.

Well today I did my regular 6 hour round trip pilgrimage up to Birmingham and back, this time was to corner weight the car with me in it. Now before I spill the beans on the figures remember that whilst we have built my car from a bare motorsport shell using the full EMC fibreglass kit, I have maintained electric windows on both sides, pop up headlights, wash wipe and horn, side indicators all to be fully road legal. You could drive the thing pretty much anywhere (if mad enough)

The weight of the car complete with roughly 20 litres of fuel is a frankly amazing 1130 Kg, with me in it that went up to 1202 Kg so 12 Kg above the PCGB class 2 weight limit. Corner splits are also very well balanced but I have to have some secrets [], interested parties will have to pay EMC to do the same. Now when I get a bit fitter and shift a good 5 Kg or so of me things will only get better.

To say I am chuffed is an understatement, the car is everything I hoped to see at this stage [].

 

[DivineE]

Mark has started a craze! Got to say they do look very sexy in that colour though! Where did it come from? Is it related to a Porsche racing colour or just something discovered that looks good on 944s?

Lovely car and project, now I'm increasingly looking forward to retirement age when I will hopefully have the time and money to take up racing. I think the time of dreaming I might get into racing as a young man has long passed!

 

[Neil Haughey]

Ben, I believe maritime was one of the colours used on the 968 CS and the 964 RS. It was also a very rare factory colour on the 944, someone on here I believe had a maritime S2.

I actually chose this colour before it seemingly became so popular. At the time (march last year) Lali's 968 was sat up at EMC and looked wonderful, probably the nicest track car I have seen but I was thinking of white as the blank canvas for a race car. However at that time EMC had built a series of cars painted white and going up to Donny for the first PCGB race it seemed way to common for my liking. Since I have always loved the colour it was an easy choice to go for maritime in the end.

The thing is though its only really Lali's 968 and then mine and Mark's car in the last year and another that I don't know that looks like a 2.7 as it doesn't have the rear under wing, it only seems like a trend because the 2 of us post on here but this forum never sees or hears about the other 944 race cars out there. ISTR that none of class 2 cars running in this years PCGB Championship are maritime for example.

BTW Mark has certainly not started a craze [], I don't think he had even been to EMC by the time my shell was fully prepped/painted and delivered back to Northampton in May last year. If anything that honour should definitely go to Lali/Nurburgsingh his car now sadly departed showed just how nice a properly prepared track 968 can be.

 

[Neil Haughey]

ORIGINAL: DivineE

Lovely car and project, now I'm increasingly looking forward to retirement age when I will hopefully have the time and money to take up racing. I think the time of dreaming I might get into racing as a young man has long passed!

I think it comes down to priorities really. Neither of us have expensive lifestyles, I don't smoke or drink (much), don't really go out much (hardly ever) , no kids and not bothered about having a big flash house. I also lost interest in road cars after the nightmare I have had with our 968, so now I have my Rangie I just cruise about in that and honestly can't be bothered with going fast or anything else. We would sell the 968 if it wasn't for the fact so much money has been sunk into it and Steph loves the thing. Its the race car that gets all my money and attention. Depends what you want, do you want a fast flash road car or go racing? For anyone who isn't rich ultimately it seems the decision all of us have to make.

 

[Paz]

Wise words Neil

. . . now where can I find a nice Rangie to tow with . . ?

 

[MarkK]

This racing lark is way more expensive than i could ever have imagined at the start[&:],building the car is not cheap but if you want to try and do well and be competitive the tyre and brake costs really mount up if you try and do a full season...,buying spare sets of wheels,parts that break or wear after racing,accomodation cost,fuel cost....the list goes on.My normal tightfisted approach to money has gone out of the window and i know how people on addictive substances must feel...!
My love of Maritime as a colour came after seeing 964 rs and 968 cs in the colour back in the day,i nearly got it right back in 2000 and bought a 968cs from a Porsche dealer unseen, in what i thought in my head was maritime, but when i saw it for the first time i was disapointed to realise i had bought a Riviera blue car[&:]Doh!
Seeing Lali's lovely maritime 968 and Peter Es superlight at the forum track day last year definetley got me thinking about owning a track focused front engined car with no frills then somehow i started to go down the racing route,will always be gratefull to the guys at EMC for introducing me to racing and building my first race car for me,driving wise nothing has come close at all, so far anyway.
Neil you are going to have SO much fun in that car,please post some more pics as and when.Just as an idea there is another weekend of racing at Cadwell with the CSCC in the guise of Sports V Saloons,15 min race on the Sat and then 15 min race on the Sunday,both races together are 270 quid.Nice little warm up?[]

 

[sawood12]

Brilliant thread - it is great to see a couple of guys doing this. Those cars look lovely fresh of the EMC production line. I'm jealous big time.

 

[Neil Haughey]

When is that Mark? I thought there was another Cadwell race after the little rush of upcoming races at Mallory and Silverstone (Nat). Have to say really looking forward to racing at Donnington in a couple of months even though its pretty late in the year.

Mark you have had an amazing introduction to racing, keep it up mate.

I added up how much I have spent in the last year last night, I almost wish I hadn't done that its a lot of money but I don't know about anyone else but I can't stop thinking about the car, the tracks and putting the two together. It does become an obsession doesn't it.

Definitely adds up if one is doing a championship or a full season of events. In many ways its another thing that makes Future Classics so attractive as one can pick and choose a calendar to some degree, things like local test days at Combe for example are a fraction of the cost of a race for me and 1000% better than a track day. That will be how I try and control the costs anyways. Another way is to just drive slower []. In some respects the lower weight and power of the S2 was always an attraction for me in terms of costs as there is always a strong relationship between a cars power/weight and how much money it will burn on track. Running standard size disks for example on my car cost more or less the same as any other car (cheaper than the disks for Stephs MX-5 for example), the 4x Dunlops are about 600 notes all in and should last 1/2 a season.

I certainly hope to have a lot of fun in it so thanks for the positive thoughts Mark.