Literally. What company can I call to place an order, if money is no object, that will sell/build me a street-legal NASCAR-type car. One that will actually take an order. Top quality, an outfit that actually produces NASCAR cars preferably. Or the closest equivalent if such a thing is simply not legally possible. Is such a thing possible or am I stuck with high-end hot rod shops?
For “street-legal”, don’t you need to make available X examples to DOT for safety testing, running them into barriers and the like? Wasn’t this what tripped up importing cars like the Porsche 959, and the Skyline GT-R?
Assuming you don’t want the POS Car of Tomorrow, why not just go to one of the shops in NC, that do this sort of thing, like Roush Yates Engines; buy a NASCAR V-8 from them (for your enjoyment, I recommend one that’s tuned for Sears Point, not the ones optimized for life on a superspeedway between 7500 and 9000 RPM); bolt that into the custom frame/transaxle of your choice, and go from there? Also, I’m sure that several years old race cars will end up at car auctions from time to time, and you can buy one there. I’m not sure how you’d get it registered for the street, though. Is there an “Experimental” class, like there is for aviation? How do kit cars like the Noble M-12 get away with it?
Here you go. Not the best-designed web site, but they do indeed build streetable vehicles based on NASCAR-style racing chassis.
As the site notes, some compromises must be made to meet state and federal requirements for bumpers, lighting, window glass, emissions, etc. Standard motor is a 358 CID V-8 rated at about 600HP, mainly for drivability and to allow running on pump gas, compared to the higher-output but much more finicky NASCAR motors. I imagine, though, they’d drop in any motor the client was willing to pay for, and that could meet emissions tests.
Now that I’ve shown you where to get one, you have to give me a ride when you take delivery.
You’d be better off buying a car, perhaps a 60’s/early 70’s model, removing unnecessary features (heater, radio, etc.) and then start on power, handling and braking. These era cars, depending on the state in which you live, will most likely be exempt from “smog” requirements. They will also be easier to modify in that they are simpler and aftermarket parts are plentiful. The later the model car you start with, the more it will be saddled with more current street legal mandates such a crash bumpers, air bags, etc. As a general rule, you’d find a Chevy product easier on your pocketbook. It’s very dooable.
Or you could buy a kit from any of a number of reputable manufacturers and cram into it whatever degree of insanity you wished for a powerplant. Factory Five makes very nice kits for comparatively sane prices, including their Type 65 Coupe, which is not a NASCAR, but is a replica of a LeMans car. Their GTM Supercar kit uses an LSx engine, which basically means you can achieve whatever level of power you believe you can handle. If you don’t want to build it yourself, there are those who will do it for you (for a fee, of course).
All of these are registerable and streetable. Your local laws will inform exactly what you need to do to legally drive the thing on the street.
No, I am not employed by F5, I am just a longtime fan.
Here in CA, there’s a special designation with the DMV, called ‘Specially Constructed Vehicle’ (SCV) which is exempt from crash testing requirements, etc. The easiest way to do this is to acquire an SB-100 certificate, which will allow you to title and register the car you build as the model year of the engine block, or of the model year the kit most resembles, at the owner’s preference. In cases where there is no resemblance, the car can be titled as a '60.
This means the car would only have to comply with the smog rules as applied to model year '60 - in other words, PCV. No cats required, no EGR, etc., and the car will never have to pass a sniffer test.
A premium, street-legal hotrod would own a NASCAR stock car on the road. Whey settle for something that can’t do what you want?
Ford sells Mustangs and Focuses that could be considered the equivalent. The Mustang is a road racer and the Focus is a rallye car but they are stripped, equipped with roll cages and a modicum of race and performance parts and come direct from the manufacturer. NASCAR does not use lights but rallyes and sports cars do. This makes them eminently more street-legal.
I drive a street legal race car myself (not a Ford). Much depends on what your region’s laws are. It was not street legal in the state where I built and lived for the previous ten years.
BMW and Porsche also make street-legal race cars. They are not officially imported, but money-no-object, you could get one. Any car that is not on the approved for export list (the Skyline GTR and Mitsubishi Evo for many years) can be imported for racing if you promise to crush or export it within three years. Those have found street use while they were here
Or you just go to your local Nissan dealer and buy a brand new GTR.
I mentioned that it had not been available for many years.
And the current Skyline may be quick but it is not the race-bred beast that most of the previous generations were. A valid comparison would be a 2011 Hemi Charger 4 door sedan compared to a 1969 Hemi Charger Daytona.
The Skyline debacle really had nothing to do with them being “street legal” or not, because whether something can be legally driven on the street is largely regulated by the states, not by the federal government. The issue was whether they were properly imported or not, as international cross-border trade (in cars or anything else) i.e. smuggling IS a federal concern.
So whether you can buy a “street legal” NASCAR rig will depend on what state you live in. There are states like Florida where you can commute in a shopping cart with a leaf blower nailed to it if you want, NASCAR should be little trouble.
Have you driven one recently? I have. They’re freakin’ nuts if you know which buttons to press.
Florida is reasonably tolerant of strange vehicles. A quick Google search came up with this site which shows a few.
I’ve been through most of the US several times (30,000+ miles) with a rather unusual car myself. In all that time, I’ve only been pulled over twice - once when the officer coudn’t read my temporary plate and once when the officer mis-entered my plate and it thus came back as invalid. It does get lots of attention, though.
The atom is purely insane. Love the car - and am very jealous of you
Being “freakin’ nuts” does not equate to "street-legal NASCAR ". You can go faster in a Bugatti Veyron, but an AC Cobra 427 S/C will make you piss your pants faster.
My point was that the 2008+ GT-R was unlike the original raw performance car. It’s got automatic temperature control, 8-way power seats, eleven speakers, cruise control, and Bluetooth. The original didn’t have a heater and carpeting was a delete option. It didn’t need any buttons.
The OP is interested in a street legal racecar not a frighteningly fast luxo-boat.
Are you talking about the old Skyline GTR? Because(barring some special limited edition homologation special variant) they also came standard with automatic climate control - a fairly high-end option for the time and were reasonably well equipped with comfort features.
For the OP; Jeffrey’s Custom Conversion has what you’re looking for. Their tube chassis are built by a company that builds Nascar chassis (they won’t say who though.) Only the center section is different to accommodate a passenger seat. The bodies are modified to survive the street and accommodate the necessary stuff for the street; working head/tail lights, turn signals, windshield wipers, etc.
Hope this helps - DESK
Petty’s Garage
Randleman, NC
If you belong to FB. Get a hold of me
Jim Boyle
Newport News, Va
The OP was banned four years ago so I wouldn’t hold your breath.
How many street miles can you get with a NASCAR engine … I wouldn’t think many.