How do I buy a Bob Bondurant or Ron Fellows Race School Corvette?
 

I was recently at the Spring Mountain Driving School and was interested to know if anyone knows if you can purchase either one of Ron Fellows (Spring Mountain) or Bob Bondurant Corvette Cars (Z06, ZR1, Grand Sport, C6)? If you know please let me know. Also what would it be worth?

Call them and ask.

About a year ago someone here unknowingly bought what turned out to be an ex Bondurant car from a local Phoenix dealer. He only figured it out after he discovered a GM warranty block on it. The dealer took it back claiming they didn't know. :crazy:

You can get them on their website. I looked at them last week

Why? It's been driven harder than most vettes out there have.

I am sure that after being at the Spring Mountain School you have witnessed how hard the cars are driven. In that vein, I am sure the cars are well maintained. Even so, they are exposed to some of the hardest stress possible. That includes the engine and drive train.
You can Google the NADA Blue Book and it will give you the values of what ever car you wish to look up. One of the school cars would be worth far less than even the trade in value for a car in poor condition. Also there obviously would be no GM warranty available.
Go another route . Good Luck and enjoy.

I'm sure if you offer them enough money, you could buy one of them, whichever you prefer, Z06, ZR1, or GS.

If the price is in consideration of their previous use, not necessarily a bad buy. In other words, I wouldn't expect to pay the same for a 2009 school car as a 2009 non-tracked Corvette.

Friend took the ZR1 school. Instructor said they go through a ton of tires, obviously, but are well maintained. My big hang-up would be the lack of a warranty.

I'd be REAL cautious, but may not be out of the question.

:cheers:

Lack of warranty plus exterior and interior wear would be the big issues. I doubt the hard usage has that much impact on them. The drive trains on these cars can really be abused and just keep on ticking for years. That still doesn't get you around the failures that have nothing to do with how hard the car is used.

Bill

I'd be looking at the ZR1 for cheap. Never done a track day. Are theses cars modded in any way?

I haven't seen the cars so I can't say but if you are looking to track a Vette one of these cars may be a good start. From what others have said I wouldn't want one for driving on the street. Do they have roll bars or cages?Because they are driven hard and fast I'll bet they are well maintained. On the other hand wouldn't be the first time I didn't know what I'm talking about!

Cars have Cora Exhaust and B&M shifter everything else is stock, Bob's cars have Borla's. Does anyone know how you can identify these cars (special VIN)?

From what I've seen Bondurant takes good care of their vehicles. Even so, I think I'd look elsewhere.

I'm not sure about Bondurant's current cars but I know a couple Canadian men who bought a pair of Bondurant's older Mustangs (when they were retired from service) which they road raced. The Mustangs were modified to a certain extent. These guys had to store the cars (here in Arizona) when they went back to Canada during the summers....the cars couldn't pass inspection to be brought into Canada. I know the one guy got tired of being passed all the time...he ended up buying a Corvette (but not from Bondurant). :)

:iagree:

:lurk:

So if you can buy a 2007 with 30K miles (LT3) with the factory warranty what is it worth?

Just thinking that a car as a DD with many more cold start ups and shorter drive times for warm up might show more engine wear. The tires and other suspension components would show more wear for sure on the Track vehicles. The Differential and Transmission I would think would have taken more abuse too on the Track car, how much dunno, but I would think the engine would be ok.
Good deal for a DIY types if the price was right, especially if the car was to stay a Track car.

I saw one of these for sale on the big famous car auction website a couple of years ago. Just contact the schoolhouse and ask. I'm sure they'll be glad to sale you one of their cars since they have to replace them occasionally anyway.

Exactly. Why would anyone want to buy such a car, when there are plenty of trades and FSBO options out there?

I ended up here earlier because I searched the web for an answer to this question. Tonight, I negotiated a deal with Desert Autosport for a 2011 Grand Sport Corvette, a former Bondurant car with 12,000 miles. Desert Autosport in Phoenix has a deal with the school and takes possession of the fleet cars as they are replaced with newer models. This particular year/model comes with both the stock seats and (if you want them) the Recaro racing seats, a harness bar with four point race harnesses (because Desert Autosport is a dealership, the stock seatbelts are installed prior to customer taking delivery--so I'll get both), a 160 degree thermostat, an hour meter, a Borla Cat Back exhaust S-Type II, and custom alignment specs...and in my car's case, a Bob Bondurant signature on the passenger side dash. I made an offer in line with what I thought a car with 12K miles track time was worth and they accepted it. I know what I'm buying and fully intend to use it on the track. I own a Cessna 172 (small single piston engine aircraft commonly used by flight schools for basic flight training). She's also been ridden hard, put away wet--I lease her to a flight school. The average private pilot who owns an airplane like mine flies it 50 hours a year and sinks $1200 to $2,500 of maintenance into her a year. My airplane flies 100 hours a month and I put $30K to $42K in maintenance into her a year (she's been flying for the school four years and every year maintenance gets more expensive.) The Bondurant cars probably aren't any different (I say probably because I haven't taken possession of her yet--I'll let you know how this turns out...) This car is coming with a log book of maintenance (which I will inspect before I close the deal--same thing one does before buying a used airplane) and I'm guessing it will look like my airplane's maintenance book-a ten volume encyclopedia. Boomer hit the nail on the head--I'm planning on doing quite a bit of DIY work and figure there might be some up front cash to get her to my standard but that's okay because I will pay well below market value. And I plan to ride her hard and put her away wet. This isn't a hangar queen I'll be showing at the annual local car show (my '81 midnight blue black leather chromed T-Top 4 speed all original with 26K miles been in the family from the beginning baby handles show duties--she's zero to 60 in two days but she'll go around a corner flat enough to keep you from spilling your coffee--if only there was somewhere to park the coffee cup.) It is a car I plan to have for a very long time and use on the track and around town, so I'm not worried about resale value. Don't know if this answered the original question or not--I'd just say you have to go into something like this with eyes wide open, understanding what it is you are buying, and make sure you don't overpay because you'll most likely need to invest a bit up front.

I've heard things from 3 ex-mechanics/employees that are convincing enough to consider the cars for track duty only and at a low low price.
One was fired and the others quit. None would ever go back.

Thanks HOXXOH, fully did not expect to see a reply post on a thread this old, much appreciated. A part of me says spend an extra $10K to $15K on a privately owned vehicle and prep her for the track but the gear head in me says go for it...(a similar sounding voice in my head has cost me dearly in the stock market more than once too.) I would love to talk to those mechanics you mentioned. I plan to discuss this purchase with a business owner next door to my place of work who operates a track drivers training school and maintains a small fleet of high end vehicles and get his take.