The Grassroots Motorsports 2004 challenge was run recently, and an Alfa spider came in 10th, with a 1st overall in the autorcross. Woot!

For those who don't know, the GRM challenge is a contest that requires you to create a car for (this year) $2004 which will compete in a concours (must look pretty), drag race (must scoot), and autocross (cars turn ya know). Winners in each event are given points, and the one with the most points at the end of the weekend wins.

The Alfa entry was a 78 spider prepared by Michigan area Alfisti. It was mightily "non-stock", complete with a turbo. Eric Storhok, a team member, posted a colorful account, quoted in its entirety in the "more" section of this story.

Considering there's no real limit on what you can do with your car, as long as you stay on budget, this definitely sounds like something me and my Honda-nut friend Damion might take a crack at some day.

As a quick reminder- in 2001/02, we built a '78 Spider to compete in the GRM $2002 Challenge, this car was an interesting project, and we added a turbo to the engine to boost the power. 3 years later, this was the last competition for the Turbolare Spider. The GRM Challenge is a competition where you can spend $200x on the entire car, compete in a drag race, autocross, and concours. Highest points wins....

It was an interesting weekend.

We targeted a third consecutive top 10 finish in the GRM 2004 Challenge with the turbo Spider, and thought we could do it pretty confidently. Swapped a cam, different rear end, polishing, and some metal welded in should help us in all 3 events- drag race, concours, and autocross. Things started well, Ed, Ines and I prepared the car for tech and the concours, while Jim installed the data acquisition unit that we were experimenting with for Bonneville. Short note- that worked great, we are good for the salt. Did the concours first- the judges really liked the car, so we hoped for another decent score. Not sure about top score, as the bar has been clearly raised over the years. It turned out that event with the improvements, our score dropped from '03. That is how nice the top cars look now. Took a run on the strip- burn the old rubber off the tires. 14.94- slow, and Ed reported the car felt flat. I figured it was running way too rich, but that was since all previous data acquisition had failed to record the actual a/f. Second run, data acq system up and running- 15... seconds. Running REALLY rich, and recorded about 10:1 a/f. We backed that off a lot for the 3rd run, best estimate for 12-12.5:1. Got it spot on as it turned out, and it really didn't matter.... As Ed shifted into second, the car didn't go, from my perspective, I thought he missed 2nd gear- no big deal- 17 seconds, and something like 95-95 mph trap speed. The engine was running well, apparently. So I go off in search of a drill bit to modify a homemade boost adjustment tool. Ed makes it back to the pits, and reports that we do not have 1st or 2nd gear. Not good. We figure the bolt on the shift fork sheared, which is somewhat common, and decide to put it in second and leave it there for the autocross. To do that, we need the drain plug off, and a long screwdriver... But as the oil finished draining, Ed reports "uh, there are gear parts here." So our hearts sink even lower. Jim crawls under the car to discover the 1-2 syncro has basically exploded- a "I've never seen that happen" failure. Now we are forced to swap the transmission. Thankfully, I keep bringing a spare to all the challenges- mostly to hope we don't need it. It's 3pm, we were supposed to do a photo shoot at 4pm with other "Classic Motorsports" type cars, and we need to be off the parking lot at 5:30 since there is another event that night. As we start, things progress really quickly, to the point where we don't go to the shoot, and keep working. 5pm, we are done!!! When we get back to the hotel, Jim buttens up few other details. Holy cow, I can't believe we are back in the race! The side story- this "spare" was the original trans in the car, which actually has parts deep in the box- the bolt holding the shit tower fell into the box, which is why we swapped the box in back in Jan- so the "new" box had all of 5-6 miles on it when it blew up, and the spare had parts floating around. Gotta run anyway... The autocross was a blast of a course, big sweeping turns, and one slalom. Looked like a 100% power course, but it was more about balance an stick as it turned out. First run- 91 reported seconds- uh- something is wrong. Re-run #1. High 55 seconds- but the car is badly bouncing off the re-limiter in second gear coming out of the big sweeper. Run 2- barely faster- shifting to 3rd didn't help much... Run 3- 7600 rpm limit helped some, low 55's. Go for broke- what the heck- 8000 rpm limit. I'll remind you that this is totally stock internals- bearings, rods, valves and springs- just lighter pistons with the lower compression, and almost 14psi boost. Run 4- couple of bobbles, but I get red flagged since a car spun. Re-run 4- as I'm sitting at the start line, I see a red/black Talon get a 54.5. Didn't faze me much, as I thought low 54's/ high 53's would be FTD. On the run, the car is really hot (220+ F), and it hic-ups 3 times. 54.442 seconds- not bad, and some ovations from the spectators. Let the car cool, and go for the last run- got a really good one going, but I messed up the last corner just a hair for a 54.9. I park the car, and figure someone will beat that for sure. For the afternoon, I didn't watch much, as a friend of mine asked me to run his mid-engined V8 Corvair. That was a blast to drive, let me tell you! 327 small block, and it was darn nicely balanced. Managed a 57.4 clean, but hit 2 cones on a 56.5 run- needs some brakes. Fun, fun, fun. Another friend offers to let me drive his big block Mustang, but by the time I get back, he's got one run left after letting one of the pro drivers take a few runs- since he's got a good time, I persuade him to take the last run. By this time, Ines catches up with me- she is looking really nervous. It's 3pm, and still nobody has been faster than my 54 second run. You are kidding, right? There is one car I expect to beat us, the Silver Bullet Omni GLHS that is very fast, and is driven by a guy who has run the car for 4 years now. But I hear they are struggling with the big sweeper- too much power... Ines tells me their third run was a 54.8, which made her very nervous. So we watch their last run- small braking bobble coming out of the big sweeper, some hesitancy coming through the last corner- 55 seconds... I think we did it! FTD in a turbo Alfa AFTER a transmission swap!!! We were not sure until the banquet, but yes, we got FTD. Still figured no way for top 10, but amazingly, we did finish an unofficial 10th!! Final results will be posted today. The Spider will be officially retired after our drivers school on the 18th. Thanks a bunch to Jim, Ed, and Ines for this year, and Matt Gerhart, Jeff Koncsol, Nathan Fogg, and Charles Hailey for helping build the car!