So I've been trying to sell my Sprint/Hillclimb/Race car for a while now:

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/34/viewthread.php?tid=199075
https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/64346/locost-7-seven-bec-racesprinthillclimb-car

But have been getting nowhere. I dont want to let it go for a pittance and dont want to break it up for parts but on the other hand my single seater will be back from the chassis builders soon so I want the space/money so I can build that.

So I have had an idea to run a small competition to give it away to one lucky person. I have looked into the legalities and as long as it has a competitive elelment and isnt just a lottery/raffle it appears to be perfectly legal (comes under the same rules as crossword competitions and such)

My current thinking is:

-£10 per entry.
-800 minimum entries
-1000 maximum entries
-The proceeds of any entries past 950 (upto £500 will go to charity)
-The prize will be my Race Car + Trailer + Spares

For the competition I am thinking of buying 4x scales (like these: 150Kg/300kg Heavy Duty Digital Postal Parcel Platform Scales Weigh Post Office

Each entrant will make a guess on the 4x scale values for the wheel (FR, FL, RR, RL), once the entries are recived the car will be stuck on the scales exactly as it is now and the person who is the closest (the lowest mean error) will win the car.

Payment will likely be via PayPal so people can include a message with there contact deets and guess.

The weighing will be in public with entrants welcome to attend and some sort of trustworthy independant witness will be there.

The entrants guesses will be on a Google Doc spreadsheet and will have some sort of calcualtion so once the actual values are added it will give the mean error of each entrant and rank them.

It has been cornerweighted once and the overall weight is in the public domain but not the individual values and the car has changed significantly since then, also no record was taken of the values (I dont even know them now) The three people who were present at the cornerweight session and there families will be barred from entering as will the people who helped me build the car.

I'm sure there are 1000 petrol heads out there in the UK who would take a punt on winning there own race car and 1000/1 odds are better than most competitions!

Just wondering what people think? Would people actually have a go?

I'd have a ticket or 2. Sounds like a great idea.

i would like to have a go but i don't want to spend my times researching and trying to get a good guess, i would much rather a, "pick names out of a hat style" because really the odds of your idea are not really 1 in 1000 as there is some thought and experience involved, also i don't think you would get 800 people that want to take an educated guess,

just my thoughts on it

Rosco

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rosco86
i would like to have a go but i don't want to spend my times researching and trying to get a good guess, i would much rather a, "pick names out of a hat style" because really the odds of your idea are not really 1 in 1000 as there is some thought and experience involved, also i don't think you would get 800 people that want to take an educated guess,

just my thoughts on it

Rosco

---

I'd be interested also and I'm sure a few people would be up for buying more than one ticket. But I do agree with Rosco about the competition style, which would make it a lot easier for you also!

I like it, the guessing the weights sounds fun.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rosco86
i would like to have a go but i don't want to spend my times researching and trying to get a good guess, i would much rather a, "pick names out of a hat style" because really the odds of your idea are not really 1 in 1000 as there is some thought and experience involved, also i don't think you would get 800 people that want to take an educated guess,

just my thoughts on it

Rosco

---

Thanks for the replies, seem like some positive feedback so far.

Would be one hell of a Xmas present for someone!

I'd have a crack.

What happens if two people guess the same weight and its correct?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Norfolkluegojnr
I'd have a crack.

What happens if two people guess the same weight and its correct?

---

Well one of the reasons for doing the mean error over all 4 wheels is that the chance of 2 people getting the same error is miniscule but... I think there will be a tie-breaker question as well which people will need to submit a guess for which would be to guess how fat I am! I would jump on a scale as well (with whatever clothes I am wearing and whatever is in my pocket)s. FYI there is a 20kg range for my weight over the last 5 years.

Sounds like a great Idea and something which I would have a go at.

I would have a punt.

Nice idea, but I honestly think you'll struggle to get 80 people interested let alone 800.

what happens if you dont reach 800?

Great idea, but I thought for a competition like this to be 'legal'm a closing date for entries must be stipulated?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rosco86
what happens if you dont reach 800?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by loggyboy
Nice idea, but I honestly think you'll struggle to get 80 people interested let alone 800.

---

i wouldn't be buying a ticket because the chances of winning i think are poor, like i said earlier if it was a straight forward out of a hat i would have 2 or 3 go's

i can understand your situation, its a mint car, but most people want to build there own unless its a real bargain buy

I think you'd be better off splitting the car than going down this route.
It would be a crying shame but I think the prize idea is leaving you open to a whole world of pain.
Good luck which ever route you choose!

quote:

---

Originally posted by gaz_gaz
I think you'd be better off splitting the car than going down this route.
It would be a crying shame but I think the prize idea is leaving you open to a whole world of pain.
Good luck which ever route you choose!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rosco86
i would like to have a go but i don't want to spend my times researching and trying to get a good guess, i would much rather a, "pick names out of a hat style" because really the odds of your idea are not really 1 in 1000 as there is some thought and experience involved, also i don't think you would get 800 people that want to take an educated guess,

just my thoughts on it

Rosco

---

Ditto again, the fairest way,

so no insiders can cheat, as there's always one !

As I've fully explained though its illegal. I can't really explain it any simpler than that. It has to be a competition that involves skill or knowledge or a competitive element. I would like to do a lottery/raffle as its easier and totally fair but its not legal.

If I did it as a lottery the gambling commission could simply take away all of the proceeds and then prosecute me for running illegal gambling operations.

[Edited on 8/10/15 by Doctor Derek Doctors]

Good idea but some risk involved as I thought you weren't allowed to cancel giving out the prize due to insufficient entries.

Sadly I think i'd break the car for parts, Not the first time this will have happened to a decent competition car and usually gets a decent return.

As for the competition, it might all get a bit messy particularly if you don't shift enough tickets and have to spend time
refunding folk and dealing with queries

Just my 2p

Sounds good in theory but you may be opening a can of legal worms that noone foresaw. You may want to get legal advice and insurance to safegaurd against any messiness, scams and loss.