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Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:25 am
by Roger Booth
Hi Everyone,
I've sort of a reformed autocrosser, but man, how I'd love to get back on that wagon

We recently moved from the east coast to Irvine, and in the process, sold off a car - so now we have only a family truckster. So if I am to start autocrossing again, I'll need to buy a car. I was a pretty active autocrosser for like a decade, so I don't mind buying a car to autocross - heck, I more or less need another one someday - but still, it's a reasonably large pile of money. Hence my question.
I'm wondering what the long term outlook for El Toro is, now that it seems to be the Great Park. I know that any club can lose any site unexpectedly, but there is a difference between "We are planning to have events there for the foreseeable future", and "We've already been issued notice that next week is our last event", if you know what I mean.
So can someone share what they know about the future of El Toro?
Thanks,
-Roger
Re: Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:43 am
by Doug Kott
Welcome to the Left Coast, or what I like to call the Pacific Southwest!
It's pretty hard to supply a definitive answer, what with the dire state of the economy and the stop/start nature of Great Park progress. Others on the board no doubt follow this more closely.
But even if it's only for a year or two, what do you have to lose? Buy a nice used Miata that's essentially bottomed out on depreciation and drive the wheels off. We have other venues too...AAA Speedway, and there's also San Diego.
Re: Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:14 pm
by Steve Ekstrand
SoCal won't quit autocrossing if we lose El Toro. It just won't be across the street from you (or maybe it will). This is one of the top regions in the country.
Re: Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:28 pm
by Robert Puertas
Hi Roger.
Welcome to Irvine and Solo in SoCal. Come out to the event this weekend at ET and meet your fellow addicts.
Ditto what has been said already. 3 good autocross venues within an hours drive.
Buy a Porsche and you can add their excellent events to your calendar too.
If you have any non-autocross questions about your new home, don't hesitate to ask.
Re: Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:54 pm
by Roger Booth
Thanks for the welcome and feedback, guys. I actually saw that there was an El Toro event this weekend, but it is my son's birthday.
I don't see any more El Toro events on the schedule for the year, but that's OK, I'm a terrible procrastinator and an obnoxiously careful shopper, so I need a good 6 months to make a car purchase. I'm not sure what kind of car I want, anyhow. I autocrossed a couple of LS1 Camaros, and completely loved everything about them - but I've always wanted a Miata. And a guy at work has a nice 944 he wants to sell. And RX8's seem awfully cheap these days. And Bullitt Mustangs are so cool. So I need to focus a little bit
Hopefully I can figure something out, pry my wallet open, and see you guys on the tarmac sometime soon.
-Roger
Re: Greetings from a transplant / El Toro Question
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:45 pm
by Jonathan Lugod
you can buy one of god's chariots (st joke)
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