Off the Wagon, On the Truck

You would think spending 13 months at the center of No Where, stripped of all vehicular distraction, I would have finally kicked the "let's build a race car" habit. Or, discovering new passions (like practical pistol shooting) would give me another avenue to apply my obsessive nature. Or, finding out that a lifetime of guitar playing is for naught and that another dime spent on musical gear is another dime gone (like much of my 401k).

But, alas, it is not so.

I have an addiction; I admit it. Fortunately, this habit will not be detected during a random test required by my employer resulting in me losing my job. No, this addiction requires that I spend my time, money, and blood building a race car.

And you can keep your 12 step program, I don't want to be cured.

I don't know where this came from. I did not grow up in a household of gearheads. True, it was Detroit, so maybe there's something in the water there that makes a boy grow up and want to build a car (or truck) that can go a little faster or a little farther. There is no great pay-off, no stardom, no beautiful blondes to take home. In fact, what is most likely are credit card bills, disappointment, and probable injury.

So it seems a bit auspicious that on the day of the last stage of the Greatest Race on Earth (The Dakar), that some close friends and I began deconstruction/construction of my new race car. While at the South Pole, I conceived of a plan to rally race a 2000-ish Dodge Dakota due to its reasonable wheelbase and v8 engine. However, in consultation with friends with more experience than I, it was decided that a super-short wheelbase and very light Toyota Tacoma 4x4 would be our weapon of choice to humiliate various Subaru's and Mitsubishi's racing in the California Rally Series.

Craigslist was consulted and we finally purchased the vehicle which will become the centerpoint of the dream. I say 'dream' because not only will we be competing in the California Rally Series, but we will attempt the 2nd greatest race on Earth, the Baja 1000 (and 500). The wheelbase is a bit of a handicap, but otherwise the truck should be fine. The truck will be the convergence of friends from many era's of my life. This truck will be their focus, for a while, too. There are a lot of hopes riding on these four wheels.

So here's how our hapless victim looked before the wrenches were taken out:

After a few hours with metric tools, we have reduced this otherwise 'OK' truck to this:


With the heavier bits removed, the truck is loaded up and headed to California where our third team member Jim will install a roll cage and a few other welding/fabricating tasks.

Stay tuned as this blog documents our build from rust to gory.

Google search meta words: toyota tacoma baja rally southpolerecovery spendeverydime racetillidie californiarallyseries creditcarddebt obsessivecompulsive rusttogory goingblindlywhererichmenhavegonebefore idontcarewhatthecardinalsdo