The Great Beater Challenge is back after a COVID related absence (mostly, there was a smaller junior version) in 2020 with a very different route than previous years. The event is titled as “Flatland Fails” so no mountains but open prairies instead as we head east to Saskatchewan. As a review of the basic premise: buy a vehicle and fix it up all for less than $700 Cdn, then drive on a defined road trip with a scavenger hunt along the way. In this installment I will introduce our ride and theme as well as an overview of some of the other competitors.
This year my challenge preparations were a little rushed and not as fully formed as I had hoped. The pandemic has not impacted everyone in the same way. For me the biggest impact has been that work has never been busier. Certainly that is not a complaint as I am very happy that the family has stayed healthy and employed over the period. Being busy at work combined with both a project vehicle of my own and for my son meant that it was no wonder that our GBC car was a little basic this year. Half formed even. We were using my 1992 Ford Mustang LX and the concept was airplane inspired. The P51 Mustang + Ford Mustang would become B21 Mustang (B = Beater, 21 = 2021). The vision was wings, tail fin and a propeller with flight suits for each of us.
First up was the construction of the wings which I figured needed to be wide enough so they looked like wings when parked but narrow enough to drive on the road. So this called for either foldable or removable sections. I had a spare garden gate hinge kit lying around that looked like it might work. Then some free construction cast off wood as my building material of choice for these events.
The wing was to be roof mounted and I planned for a fabric covering that would hopefully reduce weight as well as drag and lift.
The rear mounted tail fin was to be mounted in place of the stock hatch mounted wing. After removing an amazing number of bolts the wing was off. Interestingly, underneath it seemed to be unpainted but in primer. Electrical tape was then used to seal up the not required holes against the weather as well as the dust of the expected gravel roads.
Final mounting occurred early on the morning of the Challenge. Unfortunately, this left no time for the propeller. Here is a photo of it without the wing extensions in place. I hit my head on the wing pretty much every time I got in and out of the car. Luckily, I have a “Top Gun” Halloween costume from a couple of years ago that I wore with some Aviator style sunglasses. My three sons all got white t-shirts, leather inspired jackets and Aviator style sunglasses.
I had volunteered to a be judge for the Challenge this year so it was a bit busier than normal during the morning so I only managed a few poor shots of the car in the staging lot that did not really show the wings to their best effect. It looks a little less than complete without the planned propeller unfortunately. Luckily another competitor had a brief walk around video which shows it at here at the 10:52 time mark.
The original plan was for all of three of my sons to participate which was a tight but a do-able fit. Somehow the Mustang felt a little tighter on space than the two door Toyota Tercel we had used in 2019. The middle boy, who has participated every year with me, had a very unsettled stomach so felt he needed to drop out given the almost complete lack of bathroom facilities along the route. Even bushes or trees would be in short supply as the route followed the sparsely populated historical Red Coat trail. In fact each team was encouraged to carry extra gasoline so as not to run out. We waited until the last possible moment before taking him home just in case he suddenly felt better. The youngest son bailed as well as he spied a chance to play Minecraft all weekend instead. So it was down to two of us but on the bright side this gave us much more room in the car.
Here is a selection of the other teams and vehicles. I do not access to the final numbers yet but I would ballpark it at thirty to forty in total.
They ranged from stock looking rarities like this Canadian market 1979 Pontiac Acadian to …
… a painted and customized vehicles like this GMC Safari minivan sporting an ice-cream theme.
This Dodge RAM pickup had an agriculture pivot mounted on it. I suspect they got very poor gas mileage.
This 1983 Dodge 400 convertible languished on Kijiji (like Craig’s list) for months before finally disappearing. I was glad to see it here but equally glad it was not me driving it. One carbureted K-car is plenty for a lifetime.
A Volkswagen Golf done up in the “harlequin” style.
A “Free Candy” themed 1998 Plymouth Voyager. Yes, they had free candy to hand out on route. It appeared that at some point the minivan had collided with a deer with the impact spot marked out on the hood. They also had a note that said “Honk if you love Phyllis!” which was apparently the name of the van. This was family entry who also entered the Ford pickup seen next to it. They also have a YouTube video up on getting to the challenge.
This 1951 Hudson Hornet has a surprise under the hood.
This is no Twin-H power! Instead a 199cid AMC inline six power plant has been swapped in. This team has their own YouTube channel where they discuss the engine in depth. AMC 199 Engine Update: Great Beater Challenge – YouTube
Another Volkswagen, this time a 1999 Jetta with a cartoon theme?
This 1960 Valiant V200 was absolutely fantastic and was bought out of a junkyard near Turner Valley for the princely sum of $250 by a multi year competitor. Note the running boards for extra scoring points.
Fantastic details on this including a vintage trike he sold along the route.
A really nice looking Oldsmobile Cutlass coupe.
GBC veterans brought this Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor with a tartan theme that unfortunately got a little ruined by the rain on their journey to the start line. They were all clothed in tartan as well to match their car.
Another long term team brought this Ford Aerostar minivan with roof mounted spares.
A clean looking Volkswagen Rabbit with mismatched wheels.
Roof mounted gas cans and running boards on this Mercedes.
It is always nice to see a Mazda MX-3 with the tiny 1.8L V6 engine. We had seen this back in early 2020 when we went ice racing.
A very solid looking Seventies Buick in an era appropriate brown.
Moving forward to the 80s but staying with Buick we come to this 1981 LeSabre which appears to be sitting a little low at the rear.
A Saturn with a pickup conversion. If you look carefully there is a motorbike in the back. Or most of one as it was without an engine.
Must be a contagious as this Ford Festiva was also converted to a mini-truck. Not sure I would want sit in that back seat with the roll-bar so close to one’s forehead!
This is just a selection of the teams and vehicles. In the next installment we take off on this year’s journey with grain elevators, ghost towns and maybe even a dinosaur to come.
The whole Great Beater Challenge 2021 series
The Red Coat Trail on Day 1 Part 1
I look forward to reading every year the posts on the “Great Beater Challenge.” Sounds like a good time and a lot of comraderie. Love to see the wide variety of cars and the “engineering” involved in getting them and keeping them running. Looking forward to further posts on this year’s race.
I’m not sure if the $700 limit is “wink wink” rule? If not, some of the entrants may be missing their callings in life. If the buying prowess is repeatable they could find lucrative work as purchasing agents. lol
Have fun
I concur about the $700 (questionable) value of probably the bulk of above posted vehicles. In my neck of the woods here in southern Manitoba, even the crustiest of some of these vehicles would be at least a $1000.
But how hard is it to get someone to write you up a bogus bill of sale for $700?
Anywho, glad to see the beater challenge back on the road again, so to speak.
Yeah, the Hudson? Someone has a good accountant.
Someone with an auto shop or related business might have an advantage.
I can think of multiple situations that would result in having access to “free” used parts laying about. I’d imagine no one values their own skilled labor regardless of the number of hours put into these cars.
While many of these cars might be worth well over $700 now, I can see how participants could keep their total cash outlay under that $700 limit.
Since these are all labors of love, I don’t want to spoil the fun by judging results according to strict accounting rules.
I think it is for a lot of people. The other thing to consider is safety repairs are exception from the budget. So tires, brakes, suspension repairs are all not included.
There are penalty points for being over budget as well.
Our Mustang had a purchase price slightly over but I sold the tires that came with it to get to $700. The replacement ones were a safety item and so except from the budget. But I was ok with it since the my car I feel meets the spirit (and almost always under budget) of the event every year.
Sounds like 24 Hours of LeMons rules, without having to build a roll cage.
Hi, would love to hear how you got on with the Studebaker you bought last year please.
Sadly I sold that one several months ago. There was family “need” for the space that evaporated shortly after I sold it. 🙁
Some competitions with a dollar limit allow the runner-up to purchase the winning entry for whatever the limit is supposed to be.
Winner has to either sell or forfeit.
How interesting that Ford did not paint under the bolt-on piece on the rear hatch. I look forward to seeing how the B-21 handles its route.
As always, there are a lot of things that people find for under $700 that simply amaze me. It seems that every time I come across something in the condition of the cars in this challenge, some seller thinks its worth $5k (US, even).
The GBC stories are some of my favorite posts on CC each year! Glad to see it’s back and that you’re participating as usual.
That Crown Vic…were they going for a Scotch Tape or an Aladdin Lunch Box theme?
Can’t wait to see the rest of the trip!
I love the GBC – and can’t wait to see the updates from the treeless Great Plains.
Of this selection of entrants, one that jumps out at me is the VW Harlequin. Admittedly, it’s probably the least “beater” of all these cars, but I’d forgotten about the Harlequin entirely, and I’m still amazed that some folks were actually bold enough to buy these new. I wonder if this one belongs to a long-time owner, or someone who stumbled upon it recently. I think only a few hundred were sold in North America.
And for some reason, I think if I were to choose one of these vehicles to drive around Saskatchewan for a week, I think I’d choose that Dodge Ram with the agricultural implement attached to it. Just because.
I don’t believe it was a “real” Harlequin. One that someone created themselves.
Yes, but being an A3, I think this is the generation I recall as being offered as the Harlequin.
I have an A4 currently (as my only car) but I think of the A3 as being the last “non-sellout” version (which sounds odd, since that would make my A4 as a sellout, which I think it is). The seating position seemed to have been lowered after the A3, and the ergonomic A3 dash with high mounted radio was ditched in favor of a low mounted center console radio. They slathered the engine in plastic covering (doesn’t make it run any better and gets in the way). And they put in a “left and right” turn signal indicator on the dash (instead of the single indicator that flashed whether you put the lever in position to turn left or right). Granted these seem like little things, but I think they were done to “standardize” the car to make it more saleable to someone looking for a generic car…but those were some of the details I looked for that told me it was a VW versus some other make (kind of like Saab with the odd transaxle/engine orientation, the ignition between the seats, and other things that you would shake your head up and down and say you recognized it as a Saab).
Whoops, seem to have gotten up on my preachy side, I guess I kind of wish I bought an A3 rather than an A4…the timing didn’t work out, my A2 GTi was in a low-speed parking lot accident which got it totalled (mostly because of age, it was 14 years old) and I fixed it up (kind of a Harlequin, but only 2 colors, because the fender and hood came from the same car and I never repainted mine after the swap) and kept it until the A4s were out…guess I should have totalled it and bought an A3, in retrospect.
The sad thing is that I’m suspecting my 21 year old Golf could be a candidate for one of these beaters…and it is my only car (but the paint does match, is actually pretty good, except from sun fade on the plastic parts (outside mirrors, door handles, bumper cover). Guess I’ve had other priorities than a nice car, but I’m in denial (my next car needs to be an automatic, but I don’t want one..so I keep procrastinating my next purchase…plus cars are not good deals to buy right now…but I can always come up with some excuse.
You guys are having too much fun ! .
I’d choose the Valiant, I love A body MoPars .
When I had a VW shop in a college town in the 1970’s home made harlequins were a fairly common thing, mostly Typ III’s .
-Nate
I’m always amused when I see a beater Mercedes in the crowd. Pricey and elegant when new, no better than any other $700 car when used. The only thing I laugh harder at is finding a Cartier clock in a junkyard Lincoln.
If I was running the GBC and had to choose from these entrants I’d go with: 1) the Acadian for sentimental reasons 2) the Hudson because it’s cool 3) the Valiant because it’s weird 4) the Cutlass because pure 70s class and (hopefully still) genuine Rocket motorvation.
Thanks for participating and reporting on the GBC’s, David! These are one of the CC highlights of the year.0
Thanks David for taking my earlier suggestion of a P51 theme under advisement.
These are nice reversible modifications, since you plan to keep this car.
I suppose the suggestion of using your wife’s Cricut for decals was deemed a little over the top? ;o)
I also like how your rear stabilizer harkens back to your Civic from a few years ago with its boy-racer themed wing. Kudos!
I am so looking forward to this series. Tales from the road, the scenery, plus a little Canadian history… yes these posts were truly missed last year.
For example, I knew nothing of the Frank Slide, however your GBC a few years back wherein you covered that subject had me go down that rabbit hole of surfing. It really is true that you learn something new every day at CC.
Thank you for the suggestion. We were going to use the Cricut for some decals but time got the better of all of us. If we had done that plus made a front prop I think it would have looked quite sharp.
I’m no colonnade expert, but that blue Cutlass looks to be about a 1975. The Buick would seem about a ’74 to me.
I am pulling for the Valiant. I hope you took Daniel Stern’s cell number with you, just in case.
That Cutlass looks like a ’77, to me; the ’75s had round headlamps.
I’m pullin’ for the Valiant, too, of course!
I vote to offer Cutlass owner a bit more than winning pays, throw in a trophy too. LoL
Alright, you take the Cutlass and I’ll take the Valiant!
Amazing selection $700 here only gets you something well past its prime but nothing in the classic category or I’d be swooping on Cheap Hudsons and Valiants every week, A 300 6 Ford would be good as Hornett power I would have thought but I guess what is laying around works just as well, looking forward to the on the road update from B21.
Nice to see this is happening despite the pandemic. I am rooting for the Acadian for obvious reasons. My 1st car was a 1987 Pontiac Acadian.
The engine in the Hudson is just about 2/3 the displacement of the original Big Six, so if its specific power is 50% better, they’d be breaking even on power. But I doubt that it is.
This is the inverse of the post-merger Hudsons with the Hudson engine in the Nash body.
Great write up David!
I am the owner of the 1960 Valiant V200 (don’t call it a Plymouth!) and am still amazed at how many people love it despite it’s Virgil Exner ugliness.
I really we wish we could have finished the rally but were done in by cooling woes (ever hear of silicate fallout? Neither have I).
A lot of people have questioned the $700 and how were the competitors able to come under budget. The rules allow one to sell off extra parts for up to 50% of the purchase price to help fund the project. I was able to sell $125 of spares found in the trunk and stuffed in the car so really I started out at $125 and maxed out at under $500 due to horse trading and careful Kijiji buying and literally driving around back alleys looking for parts (like two driver side Nissan Altima power leather seats-and they work!)
This is always a fun series to read every year. I’m surprised the folks with the ’70’s Buick didn’t put dog dish hub caps and a magnetic roof light on it and go with a Kojak theme.
Yes, but being an A3, I think this is the generation I recall as being offered as the Harlequin.
I have an A4 currently (as my only car) but I think of the A3 as being the last “non-sellout” version (which sounds odd, since that would make my A4 as a sellout, which I think it is). The seating position seemed to have been lowered after the A3, and the ergonomic A3 dash with high mounted radio was ditched in favor of a low mounted center console radio. They slathered the engine in plastic covering (doesn’t make it run any better and gets in the way). And they put in a “left and right” turn signal indicator on the dash (instead of the single indicator that flashed whether you put the lever in position to turn left or right). Granted these seem like little things, but I think they were done to “standardize” the car to make it more saleable to someone looking for a generic car…but those were some of the details I looked for that told me it was a VW versus some other make (kind of like Saab with the odd transaxle/engine orientation, the ignition between the seats, and other things that you would shake your head up and down and say you recognized it as a Saab).
Whoops, seem to have gotten up on my preachy side, I guess I kind of wish I bought an A3 rather than an A4…the timing didn’t work out, my A2 GTi was in a low-speed parking lot accident which got it totalled (mostly because of age, it was 14 years old) and I fixed it up (kind of a Harlequin, but only 2 colors, because the fender and hood came from the same car and I never repainted mine after the swap) and kept it until the A4s were out…guess I should have totalled it and bought an A3, in retrospect.
The sad thing is that I’m suspecting my 21 year old Golf could be a candidate for one of these beaters…and it is my only car (but the paint does match, is actually pretty good, except from sun fade on the plastic parts (outside mirrors, door handles, bumper cover). Guess I’ve had other priorities than a nice car, but I’m in denial (my next car needs to be an automatic, but I don’t want one..so I keep procrastinating my next purchase…plus cars are not good deals to buy right now…but I can always come up with some excuse.