Hal had been a co-worker for many years. I never really knew he was gearhead. After talking about his RX7 and autocrossing with his son I dropped off a few Grassroots Motorsports Magazines on his desk. Well it just so happened that one of those issues was about the Challenge. This event demands the most creative fiscal and engineering minds. Build and race a car for $2010 in the year 2010. Then in 2011 you get exactly one more dollar - spend it wisely. GRM has been doing this event for a number of years. It brings out the most unusual and creative cars - all on a budget.
Hal had enjoyed his 1984 RX7 so it seemed like a reasonable car to start with. Small Block Chevy Power? Really? Yes. A used 350 out of a '94 Suburban with 130,000 miles was a start. It was a great customizing challenge. We couldn't spend our way out of trouble, we needed to engineer, design and fabricate. Using stock car ideas we set the engine as low and as far back in the chassis as we possibly could. Sectioning in the firewall, creating a custom oil pan to clear the rear steering geometry of the chassis allowed this RX7 to appear totally stock on the outside. No air cleaner sticking out of the hood for us.
