The Good and Bad Sides of Buying a Proven Car
In a society that has grown to not only offer, but in many cases demand, quick delivery when it comes to food, products, and service, it can trickle into the areas of automotive as well.
We have trips to take, events to participate in, and memories to create, and without quick deliveries of parts and decent turnaround time on service work, that might not be possible.
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When it comes to building a car, there are those that want to find a good stock (or really close to stock) vehicle to start with, and build the car exactly how they would want it. Whether that means a specific class focus, or the ability to go into multiple classes, it’s not uncommon to see chassis shops busier than ever these days.
The problem with building a car from scratch is time and money. It’ll inherently cost more when you start from scratch and build something the way you want it, and unless you’re willing to spend a lot of money, it will ultimately take longer.
The alternative is to buy a car that is already built the way you want it, or most of the way that you want it. It eliminates the money in time factor, because somebody has already spent those valuable dollars and hours to get it there at a discount to you.
As originally purchased from Joel Steele, the 'Snot Rocket 2.0' came into Brett LaSala's possession as the quickest H-pattern stock shift ride in the country!
The problem with buying somebody’s car is getting past the “oh that’s the ‘previous owner’s’ car” reference. And unless you change it significantly, or write your own chapter of history, there are people that will continue to point out whose car used to be.
A good example is Brett LaSala‘s ‘Snot Rocket 2.0’ that was recently sold. That 2012 Ford Mustang had a story history under previous owner Joel Steele, making what was at the time the quickest and fastest pattern stick shift run in the country.
Then Joel decided to build something more serious to further pursue his goals, and the car went up for sale as a roller. Brett LaSala sold the original ‘Snot Rocket’ to Zach Meyers, and went to work on the newer, lighter and ultimately quicker and faster ‘Snot Rocket.’
The OG Snot Rocket sits in the background, with Snot Rocket 2.0 up front. What will the new owner do with Snot Rocket 2.0?
Because Joel never ran the car in drag-and-drive competition, and Brett LaSala changed the car up with a new color scheme and different engine and transmission, some never refer to it as “Joel Steele’s old car.” After a few years of use, the car has gained new notoriety and a new following. With the records Brett set during Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive (quickest and fastest car on a radial - 6.34 average, 6.26 at 227 mph single pass), Brett had fully established ‘Snot Rocket 2.0’ as a force to be reckoned with.
Then, just a couple weeks ago, the car went up for sale. And as expected, it sold in a very short amount of time. Over the next couple days, we started to learn of the car’s new owner (first name only) and the intentions, including the switch in power to an ACE Racing Engines LS combination.
For those that don’t know, ACE Racing Engines is responsible for the engines that powered Michael Westbrook’s S-10 and Mikael Borggren’s Volvo to 6-second laps in drag-and-drive events.
The new owner Shayne has stated that he is coming after Brett’s best time, which includes a 3.99 eighth-mile blast. He’s also hinted that he might run drag-and-drive with the combination! Can he do it, and will Shayne successfully write a third unique chapter for the Mustang? Only time will tell.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Brett LaSala and Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com