A Porsche-Powered Mint 400 Winner Sold for $21,150

The vehicle has a deep history dating back to the ‘80s.

The restored Mint 400 racer, powered by a Porsche flat-four.Bring a Trailer/Buck Vinson

The Mint 400 is one of the most reputable off-road races in the world, and it’s not every day that the public gets a chance to own a two-time winner of the race. This buggy is powered by a Porsche flat-four, has Weber carburetors, a 30-gallon fuel cell, and a Dirtrix frame. While the vehicle has already been sold to a private buyer, the car has a deep history of off-road racing that goes all the way back to the 1980s that we can’t help but talk about.

The rattle-can paint job that the vehicle had when Rory Ward and Ed Maurin first purchased it.Rory Ward

In May of 2014, Rory Ward got a call from his friend, Ed Maurin. Maurin owned the Larry Ragland Woodstuff Class 1 car, and was asking about a Class 2 car that he found for sale in Nebraska. Maurin originally only wanted the wheels and tires off of the car, but Ward recommended throwing the seller a lowball offer for the whole thing. To their surprise, the seller took the offer.

Ward did some digging and found that the car had a long racing history. It was originally built in 1982 by Dirtrix and powered by a Mazda rotary engine. It competed in the SCORE series and Desert Racing Association, and though the engine produced good power for the car, it was a rotary engine. And like most rotary engines, it had issues.

Rory Ward documented the car’s history and the build process on an online forum.

“From the people I’ve talked to, they said the car screamed and was very fast although it always seemed to run into problems, ruining a good run. The best result I could find was second place at the SCORE Off-Road World Championships in Riverside back in 1987,” Ward says.

In the late ‘80s, someone sourced an engine from a Porsche 914, modded to 2.8 liters by Rev Power, and threw it into the buggy. The history of the car after that is foggy, but rumor is that it was sold to a buyer in Texas and used as a weekend off-roader.

The car was stripped all the way down to the frame for a restoration.Rory Ward

After awing at what the duo had just purchased, Ward got to work. The car was stripped all the way down to the frame for a full restoration. The frame was sandblasted and powdercoated, the engine and transmission were sent off to be rebuilt, the shocks were sent back to Fox to be restored, and the brakes were overhauled and replaced. It was almost a different car when it was finished.

When the internals were in working order, Ward worked on small details like the interior and styling. He installed Mastercraft bucket seats and five-point harnesses, a Jamar shifter for the four-speed VW transmission, and got rid of the rattle-can paint. It was ready to race.

The car was finally complete, and it was prettier than ever.Rory Ward

Ward ended up selling the car after completing the restoration in December of 2015, and then it was sold again in 2020 to Buck Vinson. It was then raced by Vinson in the Vintage Open class in the 2021 and 2022 Mint 400, taking a class victory both years. Vinson decided to sell the vehicle last month on classic car auction site Bring a Trailer, and the winning bid was $21,150.

A vintage racer was turned to a weekend toy, then into a Craigslist listing, then restored back to its former glory. While the window to own it for yourself is over, the history behind this one-of-a-kind Mint 400 winner is more than enough to satisfy.

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