November 27 – Saturday after Thanksgiving – I drove about an hour and 40 minutes to Summit Point West Virginia and the Summit Point Motor Sports Park. I was there to meet AJ Pugiliese to buy one of his cars. He had three Formula Ford type cars – one with a Reynard chassis, the other two were Banshee’s that AJ had built himself. There really wasn’t much question which car I was going to get. Though it was tempting to own a race car built by one of the world’s best known race car designer/builders, the Reynard was from 1982. Thought it looked great, it also looked like the driver’s feet were just inches from being crushed in any kind of front end impact. Of the two Banshees, one had had some extensive modification to lighten it, especially the un-sprung weight out at the wheels. And there was only $500 difference in price. So I actually didn’t even try the other one.

The one I bought had raced successfully for three previous seasons. It’s silver now but will get a new paint job soon. Here are some of the stats:

110 HP; 117 ft-lbs torque; 918 pounds; 140 MPH top speed; 1.6 G cornering force; 4-speed manual with an H shift pattern; runs on straight 93 octane gas and gets somewhere around 5 or so MPG (I think); carries about 5 gallons; water cooled; on board starter; carbureted; standard distributor type ignition; 4 wheel disc brakes; adjustable anti-roll bar, caster, camber, toe-in, ride-height. And, though it’s not really anybody’s business, I was astounded that I could buy a real purpose built ready to race formula race car for under $10,000.

I spent about three hours with AJ asking questions. Racing and building race cars is obviously his passion and he seemed to be really happy to have a willing student. I can tell that I can learn a heck of lot from AJ and will be pumping him for coaching all season.

At the end of the three hours we rolled the car outside, started it up, and I got to drive it around the parking lot for a few laps around the garages. Not enough room to get going very fast, but fast enough to tell that it has a lot of kick and handles like a go-kart. Responsiveness is just beyond description.

Unfortunately, it is looking like I won’t get to put the car on track before March or April when the club runs their school. I don’t think I really need yet another school, I’ve done three already, but I will take the opportunity to get the car on the track, begin to get comfortable in the cockpit and also with what the car can do. Seat time will be very important, especially this first season. But of course, right now I’m like a kid who got a new sled for Christmas and there’s no snow in the forecast.

So – in the meantime – I’m scheduled to go out to Summit Point again next week and show AJ the new paint scheme I want, get the car fitted to me (adjusting seat, padding, pedals, shift lever), and to jaw with AJ some more. I’ve also ordered an upgraded computer so that I can do some racing sims for some practice in the virtual world until I can get on track in the real world. And, of course, I’ve ordered my driving suit and helmet – waiting eagerly for those to arrive.

My good friend Anne helped me name her – Accipiter. According to Anne, “It's actually a genus of raptors that includes sharp shinned hawks, cooper's hawks, and goshawks, as I recall. In my bird book it says they are ‘aggressive, capable of rapid acceleration, and reckless in pursuit of their prey.’ What could be a better name for a race car?"

My niece and nephew – Kate and Tom – helped me decide on a paint scheme. The picture on the blog now is as I bought her. I’ll post new pictures when I get her painted.