Banger racing fun but wrong ???

[commervan]

Ive been  to warton watching  banger racing  today and ive been  looking forward to  going  as it was unlimited  racing  today and you  get the  chance  to  watch all the v6 & v8s in anger with  no exhaust s on .
It was  in 2 years to start  off n was all 740s n 940s n 2 jags now being  a 940 driver I couldn't  help  but  be saddened  by their  destruction. 
Then in round  two  the cars were far rarer  a 70's coup volvo , 2 MK2 Supras  ,  xjs, granadas and a rake  of Lexus n big mercenary
After  being  on here n seeing all  the  cars being  saved n knowing  how thin on the ground  a lit of cars have become it just make me feel  guilty watching them dying 

[southside]

Been discussed on here many times. There is some bad eggs in the banger community but the majority are actually willing to help enthusiasts out.

Some of the cars may be rare but if you actually looked close up at most of them you would soon see they were far to rotten to ever warrant being returned to the road and atleast most spares are sold off to help keep others alive.

[AB car pix]

Not even entertaining.

Some old cool cars stripped to their bare bones hobbling round in a circle at 40mph tops.
And the highlight is when they get wrecked? Not my idea of fun.

[dodgerover]

Far more fun than watching them go straight in as frag which is all a lot of them would be good for.

At the end of the day 99% of racers pay good money for cars to put round the oval, stuff might be mega rare but if nobody else wants to pay money for it then it's only going to end in 2 ways either the oval or straight in with the rest of the metal for recycling.

[skkylinedave]

Never could get the attitude of banger racers saying they love the cars , but then smashing up the few remaining ones to result in even less left ? Thats seems totally illogical to me .

That and the fact i doubt many of the parts from classics find new homes. Most banger people i know are to busy hanging making stacks of dubious cash to hand around all morning waiting for some bloke to turn up to buy something for £40 when they could have picked up half a dozen cars instead .

I asked one of them about the cortina interiors etc and he said he just burns them or stuffs them in a car going to the scrapyard , didnt give a hoot that someone might want them .

[BT]

My old neighbour used to be a very keen banger racer (is that the right word? They seem more like a smasher to me than a racer) and it was kind of interesting.

He would banger things that I found incredible, Always classics, Cadillacs, rolls royces, American barges. He was a super friendly chap and he was an excellent source of cheap parts. He always bought any wheels and Reyes I had and he used to do me an excellent turn on spares. Pretty much every car he had was as rotten as a pear which I always thought was counter productive, surely you'd want something as solid as a rock? He was also very generous with his recovery/HIAB truck which was always incredibly useful.

Made him a few bizarre water tanks because they don't run radiators apparently, and some odd fuel tanks that looked like they'd hold £2.50 worth of unleaded.

I think sometimes the banger racing circle thrives and grows stronger with people's astonishment as what they do. If you're brought up around banger racing I suppose you'd see it no different.

I have actually never been banger racing however my missus in her younger days used to get taken there a lot by her father. Perhaps I'll have to go give it a watch and see what it's all about.

[dazcapri]

I love a banger meet but I suppose it's each to their own I'd rather see them go round the track as sit rotting/getting weighed in,as for banger lads not selling bits I've not had any trouble with them in fact in the past I've done deals where I've paid more for a parts car cos I'd sorted with a racer to give decent money for the rolling shell.
Ignoring all the dodgy racers/stolen car rumours etc for now and just as entertainment I'd rather watch bangers as something like cricket or rugby but the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same thing

[commervan]

I is good to watch n must be awesome fun to take part in and it hope some of the spares find a new home instead of being wasted.
There are so many cars these days which are scrapped cos people can buy another for the price of a mot n service so there's no shortage of cars to go at just let some of the rare stuff live again one way or another.

[andyw]

I go occasionally to a local track and I have no problem with racers using plentiful modern cars but don't like seeing the old stuff (pre-90s)getting used.

The last meet I went to in December a 60's Caddy was being raced. It wasn't it's first meet either, running a ford v6 it was unreliable and dog slow so wasn't even going out with a bang either!

Looking at the car it was a yank that had come over here in the '70s and our climate had taken it's toll, rust in every panel, most of the rear floor was non existant, it would have cost more to restore than it was worth but it was still sad to see it get wrecked.

Also racing that day was a mk3 capri, obligatory mk2 Granada and a sierra.

[nomad]

I've heard a few times "It's a shame when rare classics get trashed on the track"
Agreed, but if I need to sell my car and advertise it as "Worth £1000 when fixed - but needs £1500 parts/welding for MOT", how many folk do you think will offer to buy it?
If the racers are willing to buy a wreck that's uneconomical to repair, why not?

"It's going for scrap - why not let it go out in a blaze of glory?" is another argument.

For the folk who say they can't get spares from the banger crowd - have you asked?
(and how many spares do you get from a car that's sent to be crushed?)

[MkX]

I don't know why but I've always had a hankering to banger race a Silver Shadow, although I suppose a Spirit might do as well.

[dazcapri]

Mar 6, 2017 22:30:58 GMT andyw said:

I go occasionally to a local track and I have no problem with racers using plentiful modern cars but don't like seeing the old stuff (pre-90s)getting used.

I know what you mean but I still prefer to see the older stuff racing. I missed the Christmas meet at Barford this year I must be getting old I can't stand the cold anymore and Barford in winter is freezing

[PandaSelecta]

I remember an interview with a banger racer and he said "we get all sorts here, even tree hugging hippies". Well of course you do, they're the ones who think all old cars are bad for the planet, and we should all have electric cars

[dazcapri]

Mar 6, 2017 23:20:27 GMT PandaSelecta said:

I remember an interview with a banger racer and he said "we get all sorts here, even tree hugging hippies". Well of course you do, they're the ones who think all old cars are bad for the planet, and we should all have electric cars

The art critic Brian Sewell was a banger fan he did a radio 4 episode on his love for the bangers at Wimbledon

[Barrass]

Banger races should include cars that have been taken away from people driving with no insurance or multiple DUI offences when the vehicle hasn't been claimed back.

[93fxdl]

Wonder how much longer this thread will be relevant? Just about every motorsport venue is getting hounded by the likes of elf n safety, noise police etc, or being redeveloped into urban sprawl,
A local to me does racing, the cars he uses are pretty much beyond redemption, but all parts are for sale and if someone wants the whole car, a deal can be usually be struck,
Ttfn Glenn

[sarkie83]

Lots of discussions out there on what is raced, and I do still go to watch the odd event.

All i'm going to say is that I think think there should have been an rolling upper age limit of what determines a 'banger' a long time ago, but tbh it's a bit late now.

[bagpuss86]

I don't see the issue with banger racing, sure some of the cars are rarities but they're either too far gone to be worth saving or the racer has paid the right price for them.

It's the same as using a rare old car for any other form of motorsport, there will always be someone who thinks it's a waste of a car if it's turned in to a touring car / drifter / autocross car, just because it's not how they want to see it.

[alecf]

I used to race rookirods with £200 scrap yard saxos with cages and usual safety kit etc. So been around the bangers quite a bit.
You will be surprised the amount of work that goes into one. As pointed out a lot of them are far from salvageable for a road going car. I saw a jag xk120 being bangered at stoke a few years back, there was uproar. The guy cam on the mic and explained it was running a 1.6 pinto as the engine and box and rear axle even weren't with it. He had literary brought a bare rotten shell. He told everyone who was concerned to come and look at the car in the pits to see how much welding needed doing to get it to even pass scrutinering as a banger. They do it for the talking/wow factor.
Now some of the stuff ive seen wrecked is destined for the scrap yard anyway. Its horses for courses I suppose, I enjoy watching it and have come close a few times to building one. I have a few mates who do it and love wrecking there 1600 civics.

[BT]

Mar 7, 2017 13:22:40 GMT alecf said:

I saw a jag xk120 being bangered at stoke a few years back, there was uproar. The guy cam on the mic and explained it was running a 1.6 pinto as the engine and box and rear axle even weren't with it. He had literary brought a bare rotten shell. He told everyone who was concerned to come and look at the car in the pits to see how much welding needed doing to get it to even pass scrutinering as a banger. They do it for the talking/wow factor.

Out of pure curiosity I thought I would google XK120 banger and see if anything came up, there is a link to Ovalchat or something but it seems you must be registered to read it. However the following link is free for all and has photos.

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=873833