went to an autocross today in indy...saw a yenko stinger - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #1 09-24-2006, 12:43 AM

yes, a genuine yenko stinger.

for the younger members, a yenko stinger is a corvair. in the vein of the shelby mustang a yenko was a modified corvair that qualified for a class in road racing. lightened, hopped up etc.

this one was far from stock. and it ran a turboed motor. it looked really cool with extensive lowering, a gutted interior and very wide wheels and rubber. with carbon fiber and many drilled parts it weighed in at 1900#, 1850 if he took out the passenger seat.

the gentleman driving it was considerably older than i am but drove like a demon. he has been racing it since the seventies. so he knows pretty well what it will do. it was most impressive but was beaten by a lotus seven clone.

we ran the austrailian pursuit style with double elemination. i took my magnum since heavy rain was forcast and it is awd. it wasnt wet enough to make it competitive and i lost twice right away. but had a great time.

my 84 euro 280e will be done soon so i will be trying that out at the autocross as soon as possible.

tom w

Orkrist2 · #2 09-24-2006, 05:55 AM

I love auto-x. I've heard of Yenko but not the Stinger. Here's a pic from my last foray. Sorry not an action shot, but I was by myself this time. The white MGB GT ismine. The yellow 914 kills me every time.

t walgamuth · #3 09-24-2006, 11:10 AM

your mg looks very nice.

those 914s are tough!

the most important thing is to have fun.

yesterday there was one fellow who got beat in the first round and complained loudly that he had to run against someone in a tougher class. in his second run he was correctly classed and overcooked it and spun out. then nailed the gas and spun it around 360 and kept going. (not cool in an australian pursuit) ...no sense at all.

then he quickly left.

hey! he missed all the fun.

i am thinking of selling off my collector car and investing in a lotus seven clone. something that i could potentially post fastest time of the meet with if i drive correctly. the guy who won yesterday was almost as old as i am and did it with a seven clone with a toyota four in it.

tom w

t walgamuth · #4 09-24-2006, 11:23 AM

there were i think four subies there. turboed and fwd. they are extremely tough in an autocross. doubly so on yesterday's wet pavement!

to be competetive in the stock classes you need an extra set of wheels and some slicks. so that is most likely over 500.

but you can have a lot of fun on whatever you have to run.

but if it is not pretty new best to bring it on a trailer so if you break something you can load it up and go to work on monday.

although the majority drive their autocross cars to the meets and swap the tires there.

tom w

suginami · #5 09-24-2006, 12:30 PM

I didn't think Subaru made any FWD cars, at least since the '70's.

t walgamuth · #6 09-24-2006, 12:46 PM

sorry, i meant awd. using fwd to mean front wheel drive is a relatively new thing. to me fwd still means four wheel drive unless i stop and think.

tom w