The Ultimate No-Budget Racecar Transporter

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Next item that's not optional is a winch since driving a car up a ramp into a box truck is about as dumb an idea as one could ever have.  See this video to gain an understanding of my point here.  Don't become another youtube star!  Winches are very reasonable at H.F. and that's all you need to be able to load your track beast into your truck beast in a safe manner.  For the Team Geo Metro-Gnome race transport truck I use a $60 H.F. winch that's hard wired into the truck's 12v system.  It has no problem hauling most cars up the ramps and into the safety of the truck box.  So far the list of cars transported in the truck includes a certain Datsun 510 rally car, several Miatas, a Porsche 914, my Toyota Starlet and or course the Geo Metro Gnome.  It's pretty convenient to be able to carry cars without the pain of using a trailer. 

OK, now that we can put a car in here what else should we have?  As you can see under the cover I put on for the benefit of the DMV there are lots of goodies and the sink now has a toolbox covering it.  I have pretty much everything in my truck.  It's really like a garage on wheels.  Since the box is 8' wide I can have a 18″ wide counter and tool cabinet on one side and still have room for most cars I would care to haul.  The 914 was the widest vehicle I've carried and it fit with about 4″ on each side.  Tight, but no problem since you don't have to open the car's door while the car is winched into the truck.  I made a simple tire rack out of 2×4 lumber and some metal brackets.  As you can see there is a spare engine for the Metro-Gnome just in case this happens.  See the air-compressor too?  Pretty handy and it's on wheels in case we need to run out to the car and fill tires or whatever.  I also have a little TIG welder to fix up any on track boo boos. 

As you can see the G.T. (Gnome Transporter) is equipped with a comfortable bunk area.  It's nice to be able to sleep in the truck while waiting for a track to open or when doing multi day events.  The window on the side there was nabbed off a SSJY disco van.  The side door you see there was not originally there and I just bought a Home Depot steel fire door for a house and installed it myself.  It's there so one doesn't have to climb over the car in the box to get out.  It's also nice to be able to shut the big door during bad weather and just enter through the small one.  On the last wall I just built a simple line of shelves that allows for storage of every kind of spare imaginable.  Coleman's law states that every spare you bring is one you won't need so we bring one of everything in order to make sure nothing ever breaks.  We also have a 2k watt power inverter and some 12volt plugs for charging phones and stuff.  The inverter can run everything but the welder and compressor and is very handy.  Diesel trucks have two gigantic batteries and it takes a lot to run them down.

Up front the stock and awful bench seat was tossed and a pair of boneyard Mazda 626 seats were installed.  Such a major improvement!  With a 40 gallon fuel capacity the G.T. can roll for 8 hours without stopping and I have done it a few times without having to go to the orthopedist the next day.  L.A. to Thunderhill is a long haul and driver comfort matters.  The center console is a storage locker from the H.D. cut to fit the sloping floor of the cab.  It houses a cooler for road drinks and ham sandwiches.  And dog food.

So I was lauding the fact that one can take a 2 axle truck on the freeway at full speed but there is a nifty box truck bonus if you don't mind going a bit slower.  The truck can carry one car inside and then tow a trailer with a second race car on board.  That means that you can transport two race cars and all the spares, tools, and stuff needed for a weekend at about 12mpg!  Now that's a deal!!

It's really been a surprise how much use I have gotten out of this truck.  I have all my tools and supplies for any automotive work in one easy to move, lockable, workspace.  I even take the beast on non-race car trips as it can carry all the dirtbikes and camping gear a group of people could ever need for an epic desert trip.  It' an industrial “loft style” R/V!!