Got $40K? Become A Member Of Your Own Country Club Racetrack
Atlanta Motorsports Park is a private country club that offers membership for motorsports fans looking for executive level privileges and amenities. Recently, the facility celebrated the unveiling of a design for a new 2-mile-long motorsports driving course. The track is touted as being eco-friendly, (although we haven't learned how) and will contain six challenging driving courses that will be open every day of the year. The design came from noted Formula One designers, Tilke Architects. Yeah, we've never heard of them either. But, the track will feature 141 feet of elevation changes, which sounds fun, and recreations of a few of the best turns from tracks around the globe such as Nurburgring and Sap-Francorchamps.
How good is this place and how elite is the treatment you'll receive if you become a member? Well, the facility scored $100,000 in new memberships before the unveiling of the new track design and then promptly took the newest members of the club for a tour of the site via helicopter. The $40,000 Family-Founding Diamond Membership secures your family a lifetime membership, no monthly dues, founding member recognition, all access to members-only amenities, two personalized lockers in the member locker room, prime pit spots, and early entry into all events. There are cheaper levels of membership, but let's face it, if you're buying into a country club just so you have a place to wring every last mph out of your auto then you aren't worried about saving a few bucks.
10 Mostly Worthless Facts
1.Barkan Designs Counter Balance pickup features a mid-mounted engine, which makes room for a trunk where the engine would be in a traditional pickup. The engine sits beneath the rear seats, which are elevated enough for the passengers to have a 360-degree view.
2. Positioned between the 4.0L V-8 and 5.7L V-8 and replacing the older 4.7L V-8, Toyota is launching an all-aluminum 4.6L V-6 engine and six-speed AOD tranny to go along with it. The engine puts out 310 hp at 5,600 rpm and 327 lb-ft of torque at 3,400 rpm and will be available in 2010 model Tundras and Sequoias.
3.In the movie Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox's character wants desperately to own a black 1985 Toyota SR-5 4x4.
4.In the movie Twister, Bill Paxton's character wants desperately to catch a tornado by driving a 1995 Dodge Ram 2500.
5.And in the movie Red Dawn, Patrick Swayze's character is desperate to escape the evil Soviets, Cubans, and Nicaraguans that have invaded the United States in passenger jets by hauling ass through the back roads of Colorado in a '78 Chevy K10 Cheyenne 4x4.
6.American Bantam cars and trucks were designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. They were built from 1938 to 1940, derived from the English Austin Seven. The truck measures just 10 feet long and is narrow enough to fit into the bed of a modern longbed full-size pickup.
7. To date, three different people have asked Mike if he had the whole "cash for clunkers" program backwards when they saw him behind the wheel of his '73 C10.
8. Calin is in love with his new toolbox. We don't blame him, it's pretty cool.
9. Mike just got a speeding ticket in the project Titan. He's going to put the tips we presented in the August issue to the test and see if he can get out of paying the man for it.
10.Our friend Mike Cotten bought an old school van for 300 bucks, and using junk he's got lying around his shop, laid it out on airbags, got it running, and is meeting us in Tennessee at a truck show in it. So far, he's dropped exactly $362 bucks into it and he's almost finished. He's a thrifty guy and we hate him for that.