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Originally Posted by Robert_R
Peter, I already tried to contact the Envoy owner, but have not reached him yet. At least his wife told me that the car is still unsold, so let's wait and see.
To sum it up, it looks like:
- without question the most economic and sensible choice would be a race-ready F Ford
- the most expensive, but "historical correct" choice with better driveability compared to F3 and more events to choose from would be a F Junior
- in between would be the F3 (more difficult to drive, higher maintenance cost and prone to engine wear - but not as expensive priced as the F Junior)
Hmmmmmm...
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See what the Envoy man has to say when you get hold of him.
I think you will find there is not so much difference in running costs between the FFord and FJunior.
The Junior engine might need rebuilding more often (because it does higher revs), but the parts to rebuild it aren't so expensive (what is expensive is building the engine in the first place - modifying the cylinder head, steel crank & rods etc), normal wear and tear items aren't expensive, it is only the major components that are (and they should not need replacing).
As long as you don't do anything silly (run out of oil for example!) the parts like steel crankshaft etc will last a very long time - they are better components than the road ones used in FFord.
The gearbox will cost virtually the same - since it is near enough the same.
Brakes, tyres etc are similar (junior brake pads should last longer - they are proper racing components not from a road car).
Another advantage of Junior is that there is a far greater variation in the performance of the cars - from the beginning to the end of junior cars evolved a great deal (from front engine to rear engine & monocoque). Most early FFords are very similar (they have to use a lot of the same components for a start), and their performance has far more to do with the driver than the car.
So when it comes to racing, if you have an obscure Junior then if you don't do so well it is the car's fault and if it goes well the driver is fantastic! The FFords tend to be more competitive!
Also Juniors are more valuable - and keep their value better than an FF, plus you can go to more upmarket events (Goodwood, Monaco etc all have races for Juniors) - that also increases their value.
If you have an unusual Junior it is easier to get entries at the top events.
I hope the FF people don't take offence at these suggestions, but I think they are fair - and the price difference between the two formulae would suggest that others see it this way as well - I'm certainly not trying to put down the FFs, they are great and have some of the most exciting races in historic racing.
But I think if you can find/afford one you will be better off with a Junior in the long run.
Another factor is how many races you will do, if you are going to do 10's of races a year then running costs could become significant, if you are only going to do a few then it won't make so much difference (the costs of entering, reaching and staying at the events will be the same).
If your tax bill is that high I don't think you will have a problem running this type of historic car (especially if you have some practical skills and commonsense), the one year I had to pay taxes (my company always looses money - unfortunately!) it would hardly have paid for an un-restored FF!
You might even find that you could deduct some of the costs as publicity, so it could help lower the bill!!