S-Chassis.com - The MISSILE List Pt.1

Let me know if you guys want this series to be a sticky or not . . . .

Copied from the DAdamsDrift Blog @ http://www.dadamsdrift.com
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Damn, I’m looking at the last date of entry on this thing, and it’s been a WHILE! Perhaps I should do like other blogs and just post random goodness . . . I used to do that, but it’s difficult to keep up with, especially between work, motorsports, trying to vie for sponsorship and building my car, LOL! Not to mention the other things in life, HAHAHA! At any rate, here’s another attempt. I won’t give it a specific interval, but I will say that, every once in a while, what I’ll attempt to do is compile a list of cars that would make good MISSILE drifters.

A MISSILE drift car (according to Nori Yaro) is described as follows:

A “missile” car has a couple of definitions in Japan, depending in which context you’re talking. Usually it refers to a drift car that has been left close to standard externally, while still being heavily modified under the skin. Imagine the sort of thing a D1 driver would take up to the mountains for a bit of practice on weekends.
In the case of these cars however, it means that cost of tyres petrol, and entry fee for a track day combined should cost about as much as the car itself.

To get an idea of what I’m talking about, I’ve included these two nifty vids http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/i...icon_smile.gif

And some cool pics, courtesy of Nori Yaro

http://noriyaro.com/wp-content/uploa..._nikko_001.jpg
http://noriyaro.com/wp-content/uploa..._nikko_006.jpg
http://noriyaro.com/wp-content/uploa..._nikko_009.jpg

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Okay, so now that the whole class is caught up, let’s move on with the list. This list isn’t going trying to be a be-all-end-all of cheap or missile drifters, it’s not supposed to be anything official, it’s just my opinion on what would make a good candidate for this particular facet of sliding cars. If you have any comments, questions or want to suggest a car for the list, let me know in the COMMENTS section below and I’ll get your suggestion put up on the next list. Oh! And on a side note, if you see YOUR car on this list (not literally but a similar make/model, body style, etc) it doesn’t mean that ALL cars like that are MISSILES just means that someone, who may be interested in building one, would be able to do so using that particular vehicle. Please don’t leave comments complaining or send me hate mail because you feel that X-Car shouldn’t be counted as a candidate for MISSILE. http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/i...icon_smile.gif For the sake of comparison, I think what I’ll do is set a price-cap of $1500 with a $200 price fluctuation. That should keep it pretty fair and help broaden the search some http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/i...icon_smile.gif
Also keep in mind that these are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER! It’s just how I think of em, LOL!
On With The List.

1. The 1979-1991 Mazda RX-7 N/A (FB and FC)

http://www.452-engines.com/uploaded_...n01-786036.jpg http://www.mazdarotary.net/images/Model_Pics/14_p1.jpg

This pair of drifters comes to mind first in the realm of possible missile projects. Rapidly decreasing prices (especially on NA FB’s) and bountiful aftermarket make these two cars ideal for what you would plan on doing! You can find several examples of these cars on Craigslist for not a lot of money (usually between $400 and $1500) and if you can get them running, all you need to do from there is weld up the diff and these body-rolling stocker-rockers would be yours for glory. Don’t forget that these motors, on the NA versions, are also pretty damn solid! So little-to-no work is required, in retrospect to their turbo counterparts, outside of normal maintenance and tune ups. These cars, as a whole, are also tough as nails and will take a pretty solid beating. So if you’re looking to get sideways, for not a lot of money, and don’t mind looking a little ratty (or want to go out of your way to do so), then these are definitely some really good options.

2. 1985-1987 BMW 3-Series and 1989-1995 BMW 525i

http://www.e30eta.com/images/ec33.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2396/...d5809f2f19.jpg

This pair of minions is another dynamic duo of low resale value and diminishing worth. These are the cars that epitomize value-loss and often get the misnomer of being extremely difficult to maintain and own. It’s because of this that I added them to this list. These cars are gems, nay, diamonds. They have a pretty huge cult following and are very fun to drive and tune. The E30’s 325 (i and e) prices are kinda high, right now you’d probably spend about $1000-$1700 to get one that can just drive itself home. The E30 318 isn’t far behind, if not a little more expensive. The E34 525i has some pretty low resale and for the prices listed in this post, you’re probably going to be towing home an automatic with a blown transmission. That’s FINE because 5-speed swaps on these are pretty straight forward and simple, granted you have all of the bits and pieces. The aftermarket for the 5-series is growing, while the aftermarket for the 3-series is in full effect! It’s also been proven that there are plenty of parts for the E30’s that are cheaper to buy than for the staple cars of drifting (read AE86 and S13). You can also rest assured that if you ding these cars up, there are plenty of junk yard shells and body panels lying around, LOL!

3. 1980-1988 Toyota Supra N/A*

http://gunnt.gallery.netspace.net.au...f_DSC03069.jpg http://www.stillsports.com/mkiii/supra1.jpg

I was extremely hesitant about adding this to the list, this car is questionable for this list because, while you can find the Supra and it’s variants (The Celica-Supra and RWD Celica) for under 1700, you’d be pretty hard pressed to modify these things for cheap. So I guess we’ll add this with an asterisk for now. At least until the aftermarket increases. HOWEVER! The availability and affordability of these cars should put them at the top of ANYONE’S list who is looking to start a missile project. These cars can be found in hoards and if you smash one up, just go out and get another one and move whatever bits you’ve worked on over. These cars are a bit heavy, but their body panels can take some punishment. You put a roll cage in one of these bad boys, lock the diff up and you will feel just fine getting close to anyone who dares to tandem with you. Craigslist has a good-number of these cars floating around and while you may have to dig a bit (depending on the area) you are sure to find one that will suit your needs.

4. 1984-1988 Nissan 300ZX NA (and maybe turbo)

http://www.goldfingerz.com/pass%20front%20angle.jpg http://www.abload.de/img/imagen8gbnn.jpg

This is another one that I kinda want to step back on and think about, but I’ll include anyway. While the aftermarket is anything but sufficient for these vehicles, the price of the actual chassis itself is seeing some significant price drops. A quick romp through Craigslist reveals that I can get my hands on a 2+2 N/A from 1988 for $1300. Now, this is actually a pretty decent looking car and it runs and drives. So, yeah, there are going to be some things wrong with it, but that’s not saying too much, because when you’re going for the Missile, a headlight that doesn’t work or the brake lights staying on really isn’t too much of a problem at that point, LOL! I will say again, however, that the aftermarket isn’t going to be as huge on these cars as it is on cars such as the S13 or AE86. Heck, it probably has a smaller aftermarket than a lot of the other cars on this and future lists. But this car does have one thing, it’s tough, will probably out-last you as far as reliability and can be replaced relatively cheaply if you manage to damage it beyond safe-running condition.

5. 1979-1993 Ford Mustang (Fox Body)

http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_c...Mustang_03.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/...ef786747ae.jpg

Now I know what you’re saying “But Dave . . .Dave . . . . . .Dave! I can’t find these for under $2500 and even then, it’s not going to be in the best condition…” That’s the point of this whole endeavor . . . Check this out http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/1493613346.html. That’s right here in Atlanta. Now, for this particular start-up, you’re going to probably have to dig around a bit to find your runner-driver, but once you get it going, it’s just a matter of hitting up the track with your diff locked up and some balls of steel. The Fox Body is a handful to drift, but once you get it down, it’ll take you pretty far! They’re great cars to work on and to drive. Also, if you choose this as your missile, you can focus pretty much on handling and drive train because your engine (if you can get your hands on a GT) will have more than enough power for a lot of levels of grassroots drifting.