The Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus “Boot” saga continues. After winning the Baja 1000 in Class 2 beating the hyper-effort by Ford with its Bronco 2 comes more surprises. Now the Sleepy Hollow, New York, builder is making another off-roader very different from the Boot. Called the Mini Boot it’s a wild-looking beast that will be sold as a kit. But this kit car, once complete, will be a stock, street-legal SCG Mini Boot capable of entering the Paris-to-Dakar race in the Buggy class or Baja 1000 in Class 10. 

SCG upset the Baja 1000 faithful, winning the race with a Boot it drove to the event. Then, after winning, drove back to Sleepy Hollow. And, the win was against the Ford Bronco 2 effort that recorded a DNF. 

The Boot was an homage to the Steve McQueen Baja Boot from 1968

The Boot was an homage to the Steve McQueen Baja Boot from 1968. One of the main differences was that the SCG Boot would be produced in series. It received approval for 325 Boots to be built with legit vehicle identification numbers. Power is provided by an LT1 V8 with 460 hp. The winning Boot was fitted with an LT4. 

Certifying a race car to be street legal must be a pain. And expensive. The Mini Boot gets around that by being sold as a kit the customer assembles. It will have all necessary regulatory bits making it street legal once completed. The Mini Boot will be configured as a rear-wheel-drive three-seater.

The chassis will be steel but you can order a carbon fiber body as an option

On Instagram, SCG noted, “We may make it 2WD only as a 3-seater as 4WD is not Paris-to-Dakar legal in its class. As a 3-seater it would also be a better pre-runner.” However, it would be configured to also be built as a 4WD machine. The chassis will be steel but you can order a carbon fiber body as an option. 

There has also been talk of making a convertible version. This would further save weight and time for the owner constructing it. SCG has a targeted weight of 1,400 lbs for the coupe version. 

To that end, just about anything in the powertrain department should make the Mini Boot scoot. No engine or transmission will be sold with the kit. It was originally developed around a 2.2-liter EcoTec crate engine with a Sadev transaxle. Stock these engines came with 145 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque. Now, SCG suggests a GM LS3 V8 which is currently in the $15,000 range. 

Mini Boot kits will run about $103,000

While we’re talking prices, the Mini Boot isn’t cheap. Kits will run about $103,000. But if you’re thinking about racing it, that’s dirt-cheap money and saves an enormous amount of time besides. Plus, there’s versatility worked into the kit to offer different specs for different types of racing, which is another advantage. 

If you’ve got the off-road racing bug this looks to be a great way to travel. And in the context of something like the Baja 1000 it’s a cheap buy-in.