Racing an Alpine GTA?

Hi, new on here. I have been a fan of the Alpine GTA for many years but had sort of forgotten about it, until I saw one in Castle Donington a couple of days ago & had to explain to Mrs Andy97 what it was.

I nearly bought one once, & test drove a n/a verson; it drove very well. I wanted a fun car but something that was vey reliable - it had to be able to sit at Portsmouth Dockyard for a month or two whilst I was away at sea with the Roayl Navy & then start first time & drive me home 200 miles. I was therefore somewhat perturbed to note that the electric windows didn't work, the speedo was intermittent & a door handle fell off when I closed the door. I pointed all these things out to the seller, and advised him of my requirement & he told me to buy a Porsche!

I already had 944s on my radar anyway & ended up buying one of those! I've had 2 since, along with an Audi quattro.

Anyway, racing is my main interest & I race a Toyota Saloon in the CSCC Tin Tops series (40 min aces with a pit stop for one or two drivers). We have a sister series called Future Classics for Saloons, Sports & GTs up to 1990 year & it strikes me that a GTA would be a good (& different) car for this series: http://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/f ... assics.htm
I'd also like to consider it as a vehicle for this 6 hour club level event http://360mrc.com/

Has anyone raced one? (I am aware of the Europa Cup).

My Toyota is a very good car (ex works) & I couldn't afford to re-create something to that standard but I was thinking of something that I could prepare to "track day standard" but add in the safety extras for racing (cage, seat, extinguisher & electrical cut out) only, & strip out the interior, and thats all. Keep it road legal even, & maybe uprate other things later.

What do all you experts think? Does anyone even do a full cge for a GTA I assumeit would be bolt in, anyway)

If I went down this route, I'd still have to buy a very cheap car & cosmetics wouldn't be important, but it would have to be mechanically sound.

Other cars that are possibles are Porche 924 & 944s, Alfas & Audis, all ofwhich I know more about.

Hello and welcome andy, Simon auto tuning does lots of parts for tuning and track. Also RATS (clee) has been building a track slag gta so pop on his web site and give him a bell as he knows his stuff, also don't forget the a610!! But if u want to go down the Porsche root there is a 968 club sport on pistonheads.com for under £7k!!!!! Good luck but go with an Alpine!

Thanks Paul. A 968 would be good (& I am a big fan of the 944 series really) but too new for the series I am thinking of (FC is for up to 1990, unless i entered the other sister series, "Deutsche Marque") & too expensive for me!

I am definately looking for a real budget car for Future Classics/ 360MRC 6 hours. Philidini had a black Turbo for sale back in July(Thread: "GTA Turbo D Reg Cheapest in the world with an MOT") & that looked ideal for what I have in mind.

To be honest I doubt a GTA Turbo would be too compeitive in its class (944 Turbos would be in the same class, with 300 Bhp) unless a lot of money was sent, but I am just thinking of something cheap & cheerful (& reliable - electrics don't count!) that I could track day & race occasionally, whilst the Toyota remained as my "best" race car!!!

I am just thinking out loud at the moment!

PS. An A610 is also too new for Future Classics/ 360 6 hours.

Ah I see well a decent atmo would be cheap to buy and you could drop a 3.0l engine in it out of a 605/xm/safrane for not much moneys!! Also a gta will be lighter and have better traction that the 944!

Well, there's a really good mix of cars in Future Classics at the moment and always someone to dice with, no matter what car you are driving, but the most popular cars in the 2 litre to 3 litre class are 944 S2s at about 1190Kg & 210-220 Bhp.

In the over 4 litre class, the 944 Turbo is the car to have at about 1200Kg & 300 Bhp. (remember turbo cars have their capacity x 1.7 so a GTA turbo would be in the over 4 litre class).

Its mostly about the driver, though!!! And a well driven n/a GTA wth a well prepared engine (hot cams/ big valves???) should be on the pace, ditto a GTA Turbo in the big class.

I build and prepare GTA's for race, track and sprinting.

I have tuned both atmo and turbo GTA's.

I also make bespoke kevlar panels for the GTA's to aid with getting the weight down.

Rollcages manufactured and fitted.

All aspects of building a bespoke car covered.

07753 819161 anytime if you are interested.

Richard.

.............Derbyshire is a lot closer though

have a look at GTA on the artandrevs site under offers £60,000 and then go and buy a lottery ticket

Just to update, I won't know what I'm able to do until the end of march at the earliest (end of financial year!), except I know I will still be racing my Toyota saloon in some CSCC events. In the mean time, I'll keep thinking about this & other options!

[Alpineandy]

A few years back in a moment of weakness (realistically I couldn't afford it) I looked into the 70s sports car series. The real limiting factor for the A310 was the wheels/tyres which had to be standard.
The A310 uses quite small wheels as standard and couldn't see it being anywhere near competitive.
I'd have been OK with not winning but didn't fancy being last most of the time. I'd guess that the GTA doesn't have that problem.

I'm sure that an A310 races in 70s Roadsports at the moment - HSCC had one on their stand at the NEC Classic Car show in November.

I certainly think that a GTA or GTA Turbo could be competitive in CSCC "Future Classics"

A few years back in a moment of weakness (realistically I couldn't afford it) I looked into the 70s sports car series. The real limiting factor for the A310 was the wheels/tyres which had to be standard.
The A310 uses quite small wheels as standard and couldn't see it being anywhere near competitive.
I'd have been OK with not winning but didn't fancy being last most of the time. I'd guess that the GTA doesn't have that problem.

So how come the Austin A30 beats stuff like a Camero, overall, not just in class. Surely they must modify the gearing/ratios/wheel sizes. Or ar American cars really that slow.

[Alpineandy]

So how come the Austin A30 beats stuff like a Camero, overall, not just in class. Surely they must modify the gearing/ratios/wheel sizes. Or are American cars really that slow.

They do have different series with different rules.

I'm sure you've been beaten time-wise by a motorcycle engined car before now! Even though they're in a different class.

Not got any further with this I'm afraid and I think I've realised that my lack of talent behind the wheel probably precludes me racing/ tracking a GTA. FWD is probably safest for my level of talent, although I might still look again at a front engine-RWD track/ road car such as a 944 or even an RX8.

I still like the cars, though & saw Blue one near work in Kingswinford (Dudley) a week or so back and I really hope that Clee gets his track car racing with CSCC in the near future.