The first thing you need to know is the rules of the particular enduro event you are going to participate in. Here in the Central Vermont area you will find two types of enduros.

8-cylinder enduro racing is about as rare as the “old boats” you’d want to race in one. My old 1979 Ford Thunderbird was one of the best cars I’ve ever driven in a race.

4 and 6 cylinder enduros are more common. Small cars can be found everywhere. I drove a 1997 Ford Escort Wagon last year.

The 3 things you should look for when choosing your enduro car.

1) Price. You don’t want to spend a lot. The car will most likely sustain serious damage during the 200 laps of a typical enduro. I paid $50 for that little Escort van.

2) Solid car. Not only do you not want to spend a lot on a car that you know is going to crash, but you want to find the most solid car for your money. Driving a rusty junk in an enduro race is a disaster. I’ll use an example from one of my previous races…

It’s 1994 and I’m driving a 1979 Buick LeSabre at the annual Enduro 200 at Thunder Road. I’m only about 100 laps in and I get caught up in a big crash. A redneck who was looking elsewhere slammed into my car and the trunk lid flew open.

Once the crash was resolved and the survivors rolled again, I realized they were black-flagging me.

“Why the hell are they black-flagging me? A raised trunk lid shouldn’t be a problem on an enduro, right?”

I plan to ignore the black flag for a couple of lapses. The flagmen got pretty frenzied and leaned over the cars trying to get my attention.

“They really want me to pit. I’d better go tie the trunk lid down.”

When I pitted, the guys on my team told me to turn the car off.

“What? Close the lid and let me go back.”

“There is nothing to tie it to!”

My car had completely disintegrated from the rear wheel wells. One frame rail was bent 90 degrees and was sticking out straight.

The gas tank had been dragging on the track. That was why those bannermen had been so frenzied.

The moral of the story. Choose a solid car for your enduro racer.

3) How much will you have to invest to get your running career ready? If you’re starting from scratch, it will cost you around $500 to convert a street car into an enduro racer. That’s materials. If you pay someone to work on your broker, plan a lot more.

How well does the car run? Choose a car that runs well and requires very little mechanical work to be race ready.

Enduro racing can be a lot of fun if you build a strong car that can survive the chaos of enduro racing. To build a strong car, you need to start with one and that is what this article is all about.