The Current Plan:
We drop the car off at a reputable transport company after Prescott. They then get the lowest price on getting the rally car to Newark, NJ by the 24th. ($1400 to $1600 one way BTW) We have flights booked to get us to NJ a day before the rally and back on the following Monday. When we arrive we’ll need to rent a trailer for the weekend from U-Haul and borrow someones (yet to find) truck for service. We’ll need to borrow tools and we’ll only have some light spares for the rally, as the car can’t be crammed full of stuff for shipping. We can then pay to ship it back, or drive it back ourselves after Christmas. These Christmas plans have yet to be made – and YES – I did say we’d drive the rally car back. It’s been done before. This couldn’t be done with an open class, dog box, monster turbo, rally car. As you can see to the right – we can make it blend right in!

This plan is rough because we won’t have our tow dolly or service vehicle. We’re super limited on spares and tires. It’s also very expensive.

Other Ideas:
We calculated the cost of driving the Blazer & Rally Neon. With gas and $80 a night hotel rooms we’re looking at a $2300 round trip. Much closer to the $2000 tow fund budget. The problem is – I don’t get paid time off, and my schedule is already booked. I know I can drive it back, but not both ways. We’re now looking for friends, fellow rallyists, long lost acquaintances, to drive the whole rig from Southern California to Newark, NJ. We would even be willing to fly them out (or back) here for such a trip.

The ideal solution would be to get with a team already going from the West that can step a 1 car trailer up to a 2 car trailer. A little more fuel – but the total cost of the trip for them would be less. We can then take spares and tools and team up for Rally New York. We would be willing to spend $2300 for the round trip. One team has already come and gone, and we need to find others interested.

We’ve posted and emailed and called. If you can help us out, or have a suggestion that I haven’t thought of yet, email or post a comment!
Prescott will be here before you know it. I’m heading down to the shop tomorrow to maintain and prepare the car. Hopefully a plan will arise in the next week.
For even MORE granular detail on the subject – check out my Rally New York post on Special Stage.