Looking at buying a used race car. The owner has sent plenty of pics and answered all my questions. I'm worried about buying a car unseen. Anybody else have some experience?

I bought my Dart from a fellow in Alabama...........I was in Afghanistan at the time and had it shipped to the house in Minnesota.
I was told " rebuilt from bumper to bumper...........needs nothing ".
The guy ended every email with " God Bless ".
The only thing I kept from the suspension was the lower control arms.
Front and rear.
The ring gear was pitted from rust in the rear end and it had a worn out cone style posi.
The body was pretty solid , but there was a patch in the driver's side floor , done with copper sheet and tar paper.
I could smell the cow dung every time I went under the car for months , which told me where the car was sitting before it made it into his shop.
The 340 ran good , but I wasn't taking any chances , so it got replaced , with the transmission.
Essentially , I way over paid for a clean body.
Pictures can tell a lot of lies.
But that being said , I would probably still do it again if the right deal came along.
Can you find someone local to put eyes on it for you ?
I am in Minnesota , and for the price of lunch , I'd gladly do a favor for a fellow car guy.
Ask members if they know anything about the car or the guy ?
At a minimum , I would try to speak with the owner on the phone and try to gauge if he seems to be a normal sort.

You really should have someone or yourself look at it. As stated, pictures can brutally lie.

I would also want to pull a valve cover or something too. I think I would invest in a camera to inspect inside of a cylinder as well.

So, a couple of years ago, a couple of friends and I go up to see a guy who has 12 1962 Dodges for sale. All sounds good on the phone, all southwest cars ect. When he slides open the pole building door he says "Oh, I guess I sold some of them". There was 5 rusty cars there...…………….

I would go buy a plane ticket or see if a member here can go look at it. It is winter so people might want to get out of the house. Give them a few bucks for their time.

Thanks for replies It's a roller everything included besides motor and trans. I have to talked to him on the phone a few times. Seems like a young guy. He has answered all my questions. Car is in Mott North Dakota. He is not a mopar guy had small block chevy in it. He wants a Vega. There is a Vega in Minnesota he wants. The deal is I pick up Vega and pay for it and meet him in Bismarck to trade. This deal knocks $500 off price and a couple hours driving. The thing is I want an arrow so bad I don't think I was thinking clearly. Now that a week has gone by I'm have 2nd thoughts. My racing buddy who wants me to get car and is my co-pilot thinks it's a bad deal also but will go with me anyhow. We are planning on Feb 28th.

I agree with everyone else. proceed with caution! I was recently in a similar position. I live near Tacoma wa. and a tube chassis came up for sale in arkansas. I spoke to the gentleman a couple times on the phone. decided to take the gamble and bought it sight unseen. drove 4600 miles round trip in 4 days. this occasion what I ended up buying was far far more than I had expected and probably the best deal I've ever received

We bought a car out of Louisiana. We looked at plenty of pictures of course before making our decision. Lots of phone conversations with the owner also. We called NHRA and had them do a chassis cert on the car before we would head down to get it. The NHRA tech guy was very helpful in the fact that he not only passed the car for 8.50 cert he also called us back and let us know his thoughts on the car.
One thing to make sure of is make sure the car was built for a driver your size. We had to move a couple of bars when we got the car back to Michigan so I could fit more comfortably. Other than that it was a good experience.

Very nice looking cars! I think I will call him tonight. I just hate to give the impression I think he might be screwing me.

That deal is a bit odd, Why doesn't he just buy the Vega after he sells the Arrow to you?
If he flakes out on the deal you will be stuck with a Vega.

That would concern me as well.

If I bring Vega to him saves him 7 hours driving. He needs money from arrow sale to buy Vega. My biggest concern is if arrow not what I'm expecting. Them I'm stuck with a Vega. I think I'm going to tell him I will stop and look at Vega on my way out. Then if he wants Vega he will have to go get it. Thanks Guys

BIG red flag for me, deal killer.

I agree with the guys about buying something for the guy, he may not like what you bring, and you might not like what you see. 2 deal breaker possibilities with you holding bag either way. I’m only about 200 miles away if your not in too big a hurry. My work schedule is such that I wouldn’t be able to go for a couple weeks... Let me know. Jim

i have 3 race cars for sale,all i get is low ballers,and people that wants to trade worthless chevys for my cars

Yuu would have to be insane to follow through with that triangle of doom. The best way I can think to explain this is look at guys and their gals. Everyone has different taste and what is acceptable to one man might not be acceptable to another. I have a pic from my black '66 Charger here somewhere and among the items I found were 10 compression fittings in the braking system. The car has done almost 150 like that! All of my buddies were surprised when I got the car home and started tearing it down. They wanted me to slam the 511 / Lenco combo in and go. I have been around enough "race" cars to know better lol. As said above assume you are buying a shell unless there are lots of build pictures, receipts (from well known shops), etc. In my experience "ready to run" usually means "worn out junk" in race car speak.

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Those are cool cars! Watching sales like this linger on has put me on a mission to build my cars and race/drive them into the ground. There will be no resale value lol.

Thanks Guys I'm feeling much more confident in my decision to take a step back. I'm not expecting a high end race car here but I don't what junk either. It is a basic bracket car. He was running 6os with it in 2018 and it was Ihra certified. My plan was to put my 440 from my 64 ( which ran 11os @#3680) in it and run low 10s. Thanks Mike

I think you will be 1000's ahead if you look at your prospects in person. It's a long drive however it will be even a longer rebuild if you can't live with it. Good decision!

Thanks for the offer Jim. I will talk to him tonight and let you know. Thanks Mike