Looks like Toyota is wanting to clear out some of the garage space in their Cologne Germany GP headquarters, because they’re selling off some race used bits and bobs. Man, I could have titled this post, “Chris, give me a raise.”
I remember once, when I was the nominal crew chief on a Formula Ford team I was paging through a Brit racing magazine that in the back had an advertisement for a place that handled used bits from race cars. Fenders of Jag D Types and wings off of Indy cars and that sort of thing. I remarked out loud something along the lines of, “Huh. Niki Lauda’s old front wing for a mere twenty thousand dollars.”
“Twenty KAY,” exclaimed Rick, the driver from underneath the car. “Are you mental? That’s our whole budget for the year! And that includes the cost of the car! Hand me that rivet gun will yah?”
Rick did have a point. As far as racing trinkets go, used F1 parts are probably the least bang for your buck. I was in a Ferrari store last month, and they had an F1 crankshaft in a nice Lucite case. Immaculate piece of craftsmanship. Polished to a mirror shine, but you could still see where the trim weights ere added. Price? 45 thousand dollars. It’d look nice on my mantle, I thought … but for 45K, I could get a used Ferrari. The whole car.
And that, in a nutshell, is the conundrum gearheads like us face when it comes to coveting stuff like this: They make even less economic sense than a sportscar.
That economic reality isn’t slowing down the Toyota F1 team though. They have seen fit to sell off a range of components from its past F1 cars, which are now available for sale on the team website. Carbon fiber wings, brakes and light alloy wheels are all there for the taking if any of you have the inclination with prices ranging from £175 to £4,400.
The lower end of stuff, dollar-wise, would be the wheels, brake discs and suspension parts from less than £200. The more complicated, large, and, let’s face it, impressive stuff like front and rear wing assemblies can be yours for between £700 and £2,000.
Got more to spend? How about a complete rear wing, engine cover and underbody section – essentially half the car – is available for a paltry £4,400, says Toyota. That’s what, around 7 grand in good ol’American green backs.
Try not to think that you could buy a used Miata in perfect shape for that much and have enough money left over for gas for the next five years.
Source: Pistonheads
Photo from Flickr user p_c_w
