Wanna Buy My Son A Car?

My oldest son is 14, so it's only natural that he's thinking about the day when he'll have his own wheels. He's scoped out a few, but it's going to be a while before he needs to be thinking about driving, let alone owning and paying insurance. But every once in a while a car comes along that a guy just has to have. Today, my son found that car.

Here it is:

Here's another view:

If you're wondering, it's a 1999 Dallara IndyCar listed at eBay. It's street legal, with headlights, taillights, turn signals and the whole nine yards. It has a different engine than it did originally -- that's okay since this car was turning laps with an average speed of over 220 miles per hour, and I really don't think the boy needs to get to school that fast!

This car has a sentimental attachment for him. As an eight year-old, he wrote an email to his favorite driver, Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indy 500 winner. In return, Cheever emailed back, telling him to stop by the garage on a certain day and he'd let the boy sit in his race car. So, on a hot May afternoon, Cheever took our family back into his garage and let both of the boys sit in his backup car. He took some time with each of them, showing them the controls, the pedals, the mirrors and letting them experience the inside of a car that would top out around 250 miles per hour in straight line speed. Well, the boy hasn't been the same since.

In Cheever's garage that day was his primary race car and three other cars so we can't be sure, but there's a good chance that this modified street legal car was the Eddie Cheever backup car in which an eight year-old and a six year-old boy had the experience of their lives.

So, if you have an extra 25,000 dollars lying around with nothing to buy, think of my poor race fan son who would love to driving to school in the car of his dreams, and bid. We'll handle picking it up. And could you toss in an extra few thousand dollars for insurance?