Last year, I launched a search to find my own little slice of gearhead paradise. I’d love to have a place with a lot of land and a colossal pole barn for all of my vehicles. Honestly, I’d also just buy an old car dealership and have my attorney/wife figure out how to get it zoned as a residential property. I’m also a sucker for art deco design and would probably plotz at the sight of an art deco car dealership.
Sadly, things aren’t looking so hot with interest rates and the market out here, so Sheryl and I will be sticking with our tiny apartment until the situation improves. Still, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming. And contributor Mark Tucker answered the question in Friday’s Morning Dump with something that sounds rather fun:
I have no interest in racing against anyone, so I’ll take my millions and buy a piece of land big enough to build a little race track of my own. Something where you’re lucky if you can hit 100 mph on the longest straight, but has 20 turns or something. Then I’d buy a bunch of cheap slow cars, and spend my days getting to know every inch of my new playground. If you’re nice, I might let you play, too.
Apparently, there are racetracks like this currently for sale! Grattan Raceway in Belding, Michigan is for sale and is begging to become the Autopian Motorsports Complex.
I’m not going to lie, I have thought about getting a property big enough to build a track. Then, I would spend my weekends trying to set hot laps. I need to know how quickly a transit bus could get around a scale dirt replica of a racetrack. Could my bus drift in the mud? So many questions! Oh, or I could build a makeshift high-speed ring.
Thank you for the fun thoughts, Mark!
Your comments on the Charli XCX Autopian Drive-In jam were also pretty awesome. But one really stood out from resident V10-enthusiast V10omous:
Meh, change your name to Charli XC90 and we’ll know how much you really love cars.
Have a great evening, everyone!
(Images: Grattan Raceway)
ZIllow and Trulia both have the estimated price for this at $1.65 million. If the listings are correct, there is a 2100 sf, 3 bedroom house on the property.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7201-Lessiter-Rd-NE-Belding-MI-48809/295001318_zpid/
https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/belding/7201-lessiter-rd-ne-belding-mi-48809–2099560300
Busses definitely will hang their back end out on wet, dirt or gravel roads. I have owned a couple that were converted to motor homes, they can be fun.
If you are going to build a private race track at the bottom of your garden, it absolutely has to be Trial Mountain from the original Gran Turismo.
Nothing else comes close.
Autumn ring mini please!
Forza’s Maple Valley for me
Fill the infield with solar panels and you’d probably make some money. You’d certainly generate more electricity than you’d ever need.
FYI, they want $7M. Hence why it’s still for sale.
For that price near GR someone will carve it up for a subdivision of McMansions
“Could my bus drift in the mud?”
Drove a 60′ articulated NABI a while back. During the winter all I thought about was how to find a large ice/snow covered parking lot and go crazy.
So, you can buy the racetrack, but the house and the access driveway isn’t part of it? https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/7201-7511-Lessiter-Rd-NE-Belding-MI/28251930/ It’s not far from Grand Rapids– the best city in Michigan, IMHO.
Hopefully they have an easement for access.
Ah, yeah, as long as nobody follows in the footsteps of the Lotto Lout: (pardon the source being a British tabloid) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1440199/Lotto-lout-gives-neighbours-hell-by-racing-bangers-round-garden.html
Man the Telegraph has gone downhill, The Sun & The Star used to be the tabloid press, well I guess they still are, no doubt other publications have joined them in the gutter.
Also the old adage of ‘you can’t buy class’ still rings true.
I wonder how much they are asking. I don’t have that much even minus a couple zeroes so I won’t waste their time by asking, but man that is the dream!
$7M, hence why it’s still for sale.
hmmm. Yes, with the thousand or so autopian members, that’s only $7k a pop… As long as someone picks up the bill for me I am so in!
I love you guys, but I don’t want to share my home with 1000 people.
Time share. We can all get it for like 8 hours once a year haha.
Grattan is, by far, my favorite track I’ve been to. Better than VIR. It’s such a technical and flowing track. I hope it finds a good caretaker!
whaaaaaaat? I mean, it’s fun, but doesn’t hold a candle to the big tracks, in my book. And I have many, many laps there.
YESSSSS, BUY IT
Opportunity for another Autopian membership level: racetrack co-owner level. I’m sure the group of misfits, both staff and readers, can come up with a kick ass membership level name.
setup a kickstarter for this . 🙂
Paul Newman Level !