Photo of the Day: Project Baja Shakedown

Photo by Josh McGuckin
Photo by Josh McGuckin

How many times have you said, “I want to build my own race car and then take it to the Baja 1000?” Have you actually done it? Well the good folks over at Project Baja in Colorado are doing just that, and they recently took their hand built class 11 VW out on her first test run.

Class 11 is basically a stock VW bug: 1600cc engine, stock transmission with 4 forward gears, stock front end, drum brakes, one shock on each corner, stock steering…you get the idea. Modifications are allowed for safety, so 1137 is rocking a full roll cage, fuel cell, race seats, and 5 point harnesses.

Photo by Josh McGuckin
Photo by Josh McGuckin

Josh McGuckin, Matt Wilson, Matt Fisher, and Evan Chute having been working on 1137 for three years. There were moments when they thought the car would never be finished, but the first shakedown turned up only one problem. Well, four of them. Fenders. They fall off. Quite easily. Fortunately they were able to fix them with the extra belt they were carrying with them. Off road racers are the MacGyvers of the motorsports world.

Photo by Josh McGuckin
Photo by Josh McGuckin

Class 11 rules state that the car must start with fenders. However, they don’t state that you need to finish with fenders. The boys will go back to the garage and figure out a better way to secure those fenders, or they may just rig up a button that blows the fenders right off as soon as they take the green flag. With this crew you never know.

We’ll have to wait until the Baja 1000 in November to find out.

Check out Roman and Nicole taking a GSR Beetle out for a spin in Napa, CA…

Emme Hall tflcar Emme is a driver, reviewer, and rabble rouser. She is the principle driver and trophy winner for the Mega Monkey Motorsportsâ„¢ 2 seat 1600 desert racer, powered by an air-cooled VW engine and has also been on the podium in a stock bug, a trophy bug, and an ultra-4. She is one of only 17 American women to have participated in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, a 9 day all female off road rally in Morocco with no GPS. You can check her out online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and either one of her blogs