What kind of car is the late 80's Mazda two door that was all wheel drive, turbo...blah blah blah. Mazda MTX or something like that... Any ideas?

 

323 gtx. it was turbo'd as well. http://www.bensrallypage.com is the only place you can find em, as they are a popular rally car.

 

Perfect... Thanks for the help!

 

the bad thing about this rare car is that they were only made in 1988 in the GTX model.

good luck. That would be a great winter beater.

aj

 

Blake Meredith has one and apparently its a rocketship. You might hit him up for some info.

 

If you look through the Ben's rally page link supplied earlier, there seem to be a few '89 cars around too.

I never really paid attention to the BF chassis cars.

 

I used to work next to blake when he owned/worked @ a shop..

hella nice guy and the car is railed!

 

I put 130 K miles on one.
Nice handling car too, underbraked though.
Watch out for bad 2nd gear synchros.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. This may be in the wrong spot, but if anyone has any experience with all-wheel drive turbo cars let me know. I'm looking at the Mazda, Celica GT-4 (all trac turbo) and Subaru's. Yes, primary purpose is a winter beater. Let's just say I had quite a few instances where people almost took me out in the winter weather...me being in a new $40k truck. I thinking get one of these cars, put a roll cage in it and slowly start getting some shocks/springs, seat, harness, comp tires and have some fun...

 

yeah but then it gets ugly. tell yourself you really dont need two race cars...

 

whatchu need?

 

he didnt ask about big wings, WRsuX boy...

 

Granted my first car was a Celica All-Trac turbo (new), but I really didn't do anything with (race or anything). Now looking at an older car, what are the problem areas? AWD System (diff, axles, you know driveline stuff)? Turbo unit problems...(guess I could always put a HX-35 w/ 14cfm housing on it which is good for about 35lbs of boost)? Brakes (which ones do you have to press the hub off...I like how I can take two screws out and get the rotor off like the ITR)? Don't really care about suspension. See I have set of double adjustable KONI shocks and coilovers that KONI can convert to fit on any car for a good price (they owe me big time). Really only cost is the cage...

 

how about the one that started it all (mass produced sporty all wheel drive vehicles)? Audi.

I looked at a 91 20V turbo last year. original owner (71k miles). in excellent condition except for a bad window regulator and broken A/C. it drove perfect and was super strong.... $5500 and it was mine.... if only I had the money. what a great commuter car that would have been!

it was gone by the next weekend

I like the stong, tight, heavy feel of the german machinery. Plus that 5 cylinder 20V turbo motor can definitely make the ponies with only a few minor changes. throw in Quattro and you really have a nice package.

good luck in your search.

Todd

PS there is a Hybrid Audi running around here; it is an older (1984-87) 4000S with the 20V turbo motor. a real sleeper and a real screamer!

 

You can also find older AWD cars for sale in the classified section at SpecialStage.com and often on eBay. I've owned an Eclipse GSX, a 323 GTX, a Galant VR-4, and now have a 2.5 RS in garage. They were all great cars. I got to drive a Lancia Delta Integrale once, too. That's one I'd love to own - if I had a garage full of spare parts.

I've also been lucky enough over the years to co-drive a GTX, a Celica GT-4/All-Trac, an older Subie AWD turbo coupe, and an Audi Coupe Quattro in SCCA Pro/Club Rally. Nothing like a few special stages to convince one of the superiority of AWD.

 

Hey, a buddy of mine picked up an older Toyota Corolla that has AWD, yes it does.. nice sleeper. You'd never know it had awd in there, it looks ultra-boring. So he got it for $500, needed a headgasket replaced, he did that himself and the car runs like a champ. He was almost ready to make a rally project out of it too, since a lot of Celica/Trueno parts bolt right up (bigger brakes, motors, etc)... but he doesnt need another money pit, he needed a cheap, safe, reliable winter beater. And for $500 it is just that.

See if you can find one of those, insurance will be dirt cheap, so will the car.

 

Just talked to one of my friends who has one. The USA got 88s and 89s. And apparently a few oddball 87s did show up that were sold as 88s. The 87s have smaller front brakes.

 

Anything 10+ years old with a blower and three diffs is destined to be a money sponge - particularly if previous owners diddled with them. We used to rally against a big pile of AllTracs and GTXen and they always seemed to be popping, chugging, smoking or quitting altogether. I blame HKS (and enthusiastic spending) for most of the problems. The lure of bolt-on electronic horsepower is an intoxicating thing...

Kirk

 

since the topic is winter beaters, what do you guys know about '90 Subaru Legacy's?

 

The 323 GTX's are fun little cars. Though in stock from I think they have 3 open diffs! 3 * $900 Quaffe == $3000 in diffs! Ouch.


[Modified by SPiFF, 4:30 PM 12/10/2002]

 

I have a 1985 Subaru RX Turbo - It's 4WD not AWD. It has a transfer case with high and low range. Great winter beater. Very very bad performance car - it has positive camber!!! The mid-80's Subarus were prone to unibody rust. I have had mine welded once and probably will need more repairs next year. I would not want to auto-x or rally it as it would probably break in half under the strain Also the turbo has no power.

 

If you'd seen how many of the so-called professional teams installed HKS stuff, you'd think again. When I went to trouble-shoot one factory-backed rally car (from a team that shall remain nameless), I found that they had installed the fuel line to the boost gauge and the manifold hose to the fuel pressure gauge. And then there were what we called SPE's (self-proclaimed engineers). They always thought they could do it better, cheaper and faster. They'd throw a whole bunch of parts from various sources and then blame HKS if the car didn't run. It's a lot like Audi and "Unintended Acceleration" - user error was the cause of the problem.

Our HKS-powered GTX was a rocket ship...

... and ran like a top.


[Modified by WebbRacing.com, 4:51 PM 12/10/2002]

 

What are the costs of parts for the GTX? I know parts for a car where only a couple thousand were imported to the US may be sort of high. Where are the places to purchase aftermarket rally type items?

Good stuff guys...thanks!

 

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/