| The first thing you need to know are the rules of the | | | | enduro, right?" |
| particular enduro event you are going to enter. Here in | | | | I chose to ignore the black flag for a couple of laps. |
| the Central Vermont area you will find two types of | | | | The flagmen got pretty frantic and were leaning out |
| enduros. | | | | over the cars trying to get my attention. |
| 8 Cylinder enduro races are as rare as the "old boats" | | | | " They really want me to pit. I better go get that trunk |
| you would want to run in one. My old 1979 Ford | | | | lid strapped down". |
| Thunderbird was one of the best cars I have ever | | | | When I pulled into the pits, my crew guys told me to |
| driven in a race. | | | | shut the car down. |
| The 4 and 6 Cylinder enduros are more common. Little | | | | "What? Strap that lid down and let me get back out |
| cars can be found all over. I drove a 1997 Ford Escort | | | | there'. |
| Wagon last year. | | | | "There's nothing to strap it to!" |
| The 3 things you must look at when choosing your | | | | My car had completely disintegrated from the rear |
| enduro car. | | | | wheel wells back. One frame rail was bent 90 |
| 1) Price. You don't want to spend a lot. The car more | | | | degrees and sticking out straight. |
| than likely will be heavily damaged over the 200 laps | | | | The gas tank had been dragging on the track. That's |
| of a typical enduro. I paid $50 for that little Escort | | | | why those flagmen had been so frantic. |
| wagon. | | | | The moral of the story. Please choose a solid car for |
| 2) Solid Car. Not only do you not want to spend a lot | | | | your enduro racer. |
| on a car you know is going to get wrecked, you want | | | | 3) How much will you have to invest to get your racer |
| to find the most solid car for your money. Driving a | | | | race ready? If you're starting from scratch, it's going to |
| rusted junk in an enduro race is begging for disaster. I | | | | cost you about $500 to turn a street car into an |
| will use an example from one of my earlier races... | | | | enduro racer. That's materials. If you're paying |
| It's 1994 and I'm driving a 1979 Buick LeSabre in the | | | | someone to work on your racer, plan on a lot more. |
| annual Enduro 200 at Thunder Road. It's only about 100 | | | | How well does the car run? Choose a car that runs |
| laps into it and I get caught in a big pile-up. Some | | | | well and will take very little mechanical work to get |
| yahoo that was looking somewhere else plowed into | | | | race ready. |
| my car and my trunk lid popped open. | | | | Enduro racing can be a lot of fun if you build a strong |
| Once the wreck got sorted out and the survivors got | | | | car that can survive the chaos of this type of racing. |
| rolling again, I noticed that I was being black flagged. | | | | To build a strong car, you have to start with one and |
| "Why the heck are they black flagging me for? A | | | | that's what this article was all about. |
| popped up trunk lid should not be a problem in an | | | | |