Tag Archives: Rally

Twin Barrel Carb – Peugeot 304 Cabriolet

On the 23rd of April 1965 Peugeot launched it small front wheel drive family car the 204 powered by a 53 hp motor that would be fitted to a range of body styles that included a sedan/saloon/berline, convertible/cabriolet, hatchback/coupe, estate/wagon, and a van.

Peugeot 304 Convertible, Bristol and South Gloucestershire Stationary Engine Club Rally

Between 1969 and 1971 the 204 was the best selling car in France and leading up to this success Peugeot spotted a gap in the market for a mid size car that was larger than the 204 but smaller than the large rear wheel drive 504 that had been voted European Car of the Year upon it’s launch in 1968.

Peuget 304 Convertible, Castle Combe,

The mid size 304 shared many features with the 204 including it’s drive train with a by now uprated 65hp engine, mid chassis pan and front doors, all of which saved tremendous costs and increased the viability of the 304 which was styled by Pininfarina to mimic the larger 504 with a larger rear over hang than the 204.

Peugeot 304 Convertible, Bristol and South Gloucestershire Stationary Engine Club Rally

The 304 was launched in 1969 with fully independent suspension, floor mounted gear shift, front disc brakes and head lights that could easily be adjusted for driving on the left or the right according to the local market needs at the point of sale.

Peuget 304 Convertible, Castle Combe,

The cabriolet 304 was introduced in March 1970 alongside a coupé both of which replaced equivalent 204 models in the Peugeot range.

Peuget 304 Convertible, Castle Combe,

In March 1972 the 304 Cabriolet and Coupé were the first to receive a further uprated ‘S’ motor with a a twin choke/twin barrel carburetor that produced 75 hp, however these two models were deleted from the Peugeot range and not replaced in July 1972 and August 1973 respectively, almost certainly as a result of the recession which stalled global economies as an outcome of the oil crisis. The estate / wagon continued in production until 1980 by which time a new 305 series had been introduced to replace it.

Today’s featured 304 Cabriolet seen at Castle Combe with the roof down and at the South Gloucestershire Stationary Engine Club Rally, Coalpit Heath, Gloucestershire was one of the last to be built and not registered in the UK until May 1975 nearly three years after it had been built.

Thanks for joining me on this “Twin Barrel Carb” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting a Golf Mk IV owners camp. Don’t forget to come back now !

Kenyan National Champion – Lancia Rally 037

In 1982 the FIA mandated new rules for sports car racing and rallying called Group B which allowed manufacturers to compete with any vehicle they had built 200 examples of, further more evolutions of these models were permitted each year so long as 20 examples had been built.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The category never really took off in racing with only Porsche and Ferrari building legible cars and only Porsche racing a works example on a limited schedule, but in for rallying Group B proved popular amongst manufacturers including Lancia, Audi, Austin Rover, Ford, Peugeot and Porsche, who all built models to compete in the Group B category.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

With the career of the successful FIAT 131 Abarth at an end the FIAT Group turned to Abarth to develop a vehicle loosely based on the Lancia Beta Montecarlo / Scorpion mid engined coupé.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Abarth working with Pininfarina and Dallara under project manager Sergio Limone used the central floor pan of the Beta Montecarlo with subframes fitted front and rear as the basis of their new Group B contender.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The 2 litre / 122 cui twin cam motor from the three time World Rally Championship winning FIAT 131 Abarth was upgraded by fitting a Volumex supercharger which brought the power up to 285 hp, but more importantly significantly improved the throttle response over turbocharged motors. The engine was fitted longitudinally, on the original Montecarlo’s the motor was transversely mounted, and drove only the rear wheels.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The Olio Fiat backed Lancia Rally 037 made it debut in 1982 but recorded only two finishes from 9 starts. However in 1983 the now Martini sponsored team recorded 5 wins from the 6 events it started, four to Walter Rörhl and one to Makku Alén, enough to secure the 1983 World Rally Championship for Lancia, the last such win for a rear wheel drive car, but not enough to secure the drivers championship for Walter who left the team at the end of the season to join Audi.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The #17 seen in these photographs was built in 1983 and is believed to have been used by Attilio Bettega during that season in Europe before being shipped to Kenya in 1984 in preparation for the Safari Rally.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Vic Preston Jnr, returned to the Martini fold to drive the car to a win in a Kenyan national championship round in preparation for the Safari on which he finished 6th in the same car with John Lyall.

Lancia Rally 037, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Subsequently Vic and John won the 1984 Kenyan National Rally Championship with the car after recording 10 wins from 12 events.

The car remained in Kenya and for the 1986 Safari Rally the Martini Lancia team prepared it with the latest 325hp 2,111 cc 128.8 cui motor with water injection to cool the supercharged air for John Hillier and David Williamson who recorded a 10th place finish.

Current owner David Kedward bought the car in Kenya and imported it to the UK.

Thanks for joining me on this “Kenyan National Champion” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a BRM. Don’t forget to come back now !

Shiny Sundance Yellow For Sale – Hillman 998 Rally Imp

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In 1964 allegedly unknown to the management of the Rootes Group Rootes Group competition manager Des O’Dell homologated a competition version of the Hillman Imp known as the Rally Imp by braking into the factory every Sunday.

Des then replaced the pistons and cylinder linings on 20 motors so that on the following Monday 20 Imps would be fitted with 998cc / 61 cui motors instead of the regular 875 cc / 60 cui motors.

Hillman Rally Imp,

Once sufficient numbers had been built Des submitted his list of modified cars to the sporting authorities who accepted that the larger engines had been built in sufficient numbers to be considered legible for competition.

Imps were subsequently used for track racing on behalf of Rootes by Alan Fraser racing who entered their cars for Rootes Mechanic Bernard Unett, Ray Calcutt, Nick Brittan and Tony Lanfranchi in a successful campaigns in 1966 and 1967 against numerous Mini’s.

Hillman Rally Imp,

In Rally events works Imps were regular class winners in the hands of numerous drivers including Rosemary Smith who along with Valerie Domleo scored the Imps biggest rally victory an outright win on the Tulip Rally in the Netherlands in April 1965.

The Imp also helped Rootes secure the team prize on the 1965 and ’66 RAC Rally in the UK.

Hillman Rally Imp,

A couple of weeks ago I spent the day marshalling with Ian Fisher of the Craven Motor Club at the Craven Hullavington Sprint.

During the day Ian told me that until this event Craven has primarily been a club for Rally enthusiasts and that his start in motorsport in the 1960’s had been with a Hillman Imp and that he had converted a second hand automatic transmission Rover SD1 to a manual Group A competition spec for Rallying in the UK, Belgium and Ireland during the 1980’s.

Hillman Rally Imp,

While we were talking Ian also mentioned that he had today’s featured Historic 998cc / 61 cui Rally Imp for sale and so I naturally asked him to send me these photographs and volunteered to write a blog about it.

This 1966 Sundance Yellow Imp was built up on a low mileage Imp Sport shell in 2011 and has HRVIF papers for historic rallying and the steel boot, bonnet and front bumper necessary for acquiring FIA papers if needed.

Hillman Rally Imp,

Safety equipment includes a full cage, plumbed in and hand held fire extinguishers and five point harness harnesses valid until 2015.

As seen here to keep the weight down the car has fibreglass bonnet and boot lids with the rear side and rear windows in perspex.

Hillman Rally Imp,

The Chesman 998 cc / 61 cui motor is fitted with twin carburetors, stainless steel manifold, big valve head and competition cam and clutch for the strengthened Dave Weedon close ratio transaxle that has raised first and lowered 3rd and 4th gear ratio’s.

Suspension with Koni shock absorbers front and rear is described as ‘almost like new’ the Vauxhall Viva brake discs are fitted with Mintex pads and the car comes with six Minilite lookalike wheels fitted with Kumho tyres.

If you would are interested in buying this car, all the usual disclaimers apply, please send a personal message to the facebook account linked to this site with your contact details and I will gladly forward them to Ian.

Thanks for joining me on this “Shiny Sundance Yellow For Sale” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a Cooper Formula One car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Lost Luck Of The Irish – Wyedean Forest Rally

Following last weeks blog on the 40th Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally today’s blog features the remaining prize winners on the event who did not get a mention.

Peugeot 106, Matthew Davis, Ryan Taylor, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Rex Paddock Memorial Trophy for the best prepared car entered by a Forest of Dean Motor Club member went to the 1400 C class #251 Peugeot 106 that Matthew Davis and Ryan Taylor drove to a 91st place overall finish.

Subaru Impreza, Nigel Drew, Pauline Nash, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Lionel Ward Trophy for best finish by a Forest of Dean Motor Club Crew was awarded to Nigel Drew and Pauline Nash who drove their #29 Subaru Impreza to a 22nd place finish overall.

Nissan Micra, Nigel Jenkins, Kirsty Walby, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Nigel Jenkins and Kirsty Walby driving the RF1.4 #239 Nissan Micra won the Finishing Touches Hair and Beauty Cup for finishing 98th overall and last of the Forest of Dean Motor Club entered crews.

Peugeot 106 Rallye 2, Rachel Patterson, Tom Wood, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Bob Brain Trophy for highest placed lady driver was won by Rachel Patterson who along with co driver Tom Wood brought their 1400C class #246 Peugeot 106 Rallye 2 home in 105th place overall.

Subaru Impreza WRC, David Weston, Kirsty Riddick, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

Kirsty Riddick who navigated David Weston’s #2 Subaru Impreza WRC to a second place finish overall won the Lilian Turley Trophy for best placed lady co-driver.

Ford Focus WRC 05, Damian Cole, Jack Moreton, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

Jack Moreton navigated Damian Cole’s #6 Ford Focus WRC 05 to a 6th place finish and earned himself the Michael ‘Beef’ Park Trophy for highest placed under 22 co-driver.

Mitsubishi EVO X, Gunnar Karl Johannesson, George Gwynn, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Forest of Green District Youth Cup for the highest placed under 22 driver was won by Gunnar Karl Johannesson who with George Gwynn finished 29th overall in their class N4 #51 Mitsubishi Evo X.

Land Rover Freelander M Sport, Spence Price, Chris Hands, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

There was only one off road vehicle in the event namely the #105 Land Rover Freelander M Sport driven by Spence Price and Chris Hands to a 96th place finish overall and the B G Landrovers Ross on Wye Trophy for highest place off road 4×4.

Citroën C2 VTR, Dan Moss, Sam Allen, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Gwynne Speed Rally Championship honours for best Citroën C2 finishers went to the #110 Citroën C2 VTR crew of Dan Moss and Sam Allen who finished 94th overall.

Lancia Stratos, Steve Perez, Paul Spooner, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

I’ll add a couple Psychoontyres awards of my own first for best sounding car to make it past the last corner on the opening Blaze Bailey Stage was the Ferrari Dino V6 powered #44 Lancia Stratos crewed by Steve Perez and Paul Spooner, which unfortunately retired with suspension problems after finishing stage 2.

Volkswagen Lupo Sport, Danny O'Reilly, Karen Phelps, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Finally the Psychoontyres best sense of Humour award goes to the #264 Volkswagen Lupo Sport crew of Danny O’Reilly and Karen Phelps who posted their retirement as “Lost luck of the Irish after SS6”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lost Luck Of the Irish” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1969 NASCAR contender. Don’t forget to come back now !

Autosport International – NEC Birmingham

2015 is barely a week old and already more motoring related event’s have occurred with in a two hour drive of me than I could possibly attend ! On Friday I managed to make it to the NEC for the Autosport International, I got in despite forgetting to print my advance ticket and unfortunately I also forgot to charge my camera batteries so these snaps were all taken with my camera phone which did not last long, talk about starting the new year on the back foot !

Nissan Micra, Autosport International

As ever the Motor Sports Association stand was promoting affordable motor sport, above is Muriel a 1994 Nissan Micra which for £4,000 pounds including purchase and safety equipment was driven by Matt with wife Suze Endean navigating competed on last years international Rally Wales GB and finshed 50th overall and 5th in class. You can read more about Muriel on the Endean’s linked Project Micra page here.

Citroën DS3 RX, Autosport International

Rally Cross, racing on a mix surfaced circuit was initiated as a cheap form of television entertainment in 1967, since then it has grown to become a specialised form of motorsport in it’s own right. Notable masters of Rally Cross include Austrians Franz Wurz and John Button fathers of formula one drivers Alex and Jenson. Above is the Citroën DS3 RX of 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg who last year became the inaugural FIA World Rally Cross Champion. The Lydden Hill round of the 2015 Championship is penciled into my diary.

Chevrolet 210, Autosport International

With only 1300hp @ 16psi boost Adam Sayer’s ’57 Chevrolet 210 was by no means the most powerful vehicle at the show, but a welcome reminder that I have still not been to Santa Pod, the 3rd to 6th September looks to be the weekend to be there this year.

Renaultsport R.S. 01, Autosport International

The 500 hp Nismo V6 turbo powered Renaultsport R.S. 01 above is a GT car built for a one make series known as the Renault Sport Trophy rounds of which will be contested alongside the World Series by Renault Championship, dates for which can be found on this linked page.

Porsche 919 Hybrid, Autosport International

Porsche made a welcome come back with a top category contender to the Le Mans 24 hours and the World Endurance Championship last year and won the final race of the season in Brazil. I’ll be fascinated to see if Porsche can improve on last season when I attend the Six Hours of Silverstone on April 12th.

Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid, Autosport International

Bernie Ecclestone priced me out of the Formula One market many moons ago so I will follow the Formula One season on TV in between my own marshaling, competition and spectating commitments as usual, it’s always a great way to spend a bit of quality time with Dad, and it should be interesting to see if either the newly Honda powered McLaren’s or the re staffed Ferrari team can step up to the plate and give the Silver Arrow’s a run for their money.

As Murray Walker often said, anything can happen in Formula One and it usually does.

Thanks for joining me on this “Autosport International” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a continuation version of a Daytona 24 Hour winner. Don’t forget to come back now !

Monte Hat-trick – Porsche 911S

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From 1968 to 1970 Porsche scored three 1-2 victories on the fabled Monte Carlo Rally. In 1968 Vic Elford and David Stone driving a Porsche 911T won the event ahead of the 911S driven by Pauli Toivonen and M Tiukkanen, the following year Bjorn Waldegård and Lars Helmer driving a 911S finished ahead of the similar car driven by Gerárd Larrousse and JC Perramond. In 1970 the Porsche hat-trick of wins came when Waaldegård and Helmer drove today’s featured car to victory over Larrousse and M Gélin in another 911S.

Porsche, 911, Advertisement

The 1970 Monte Carlo had featured a concentration run to the Principality starting from eight European cities and was run in mild conditions. Porsche, Ford Alpine Renault and Lancia all entered significant works teams expected to challenge for top honours. British press interest in the, once, prestigious event was so low that Motor Sport correspondent GP, Geraint “Gerry” Phillips, opined, in March 1970, that what the Monte Carlo Rally needed to reengage Fleet Street was “… a bunch of hippies to entrench themselves on the Turini (rally stage) and spray the spectators with LSD.” !

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Having won on the dry Monte Carlo Waldegård and Lars Helmer proved the versatility of the 911 by winning the Swedish Rally run on snow by 23 mins, after having a clutch replaced that required the engine to be removed in a freezing lay-by.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The second 911S model introduced in 1969 features a 2 1/4″ longer wheel base than the original, to improve the handling, though there was no increase in the overall length of the car.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The motor for the 911S was increased in size from 2 litres / 122 cui to 2.3 litres / 134 cui and with fuel injection this competition car produced 230hp, 50 more than the fuel injected road going version of the 911S.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Swede Bjorn Waldergård was a front line rally driver from 1962 to 1992, the World Rally Championship (WRC) started in 1973 and he won 16 of the 95 WRC events in which he started. His wins included the three toughest events on the WRC Circuit, the Safari, Acroplolis and RAC rallies in 1977 when he was driving for Ford. In 1979 Bjorn won the World Rally Drivers Championship driving for the works Ford and Mercedes Benz rally teams. Winning the Safari Rally for the third time in 1990, with Fred Gallagher, driving a Toyota Bjorn became the oldest person to ever win a World Championship Rally a record he holds to this day.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

In his report on the road going Porsche 911S for Motor Sport in February 1970 Dennis ‘DSJ’ Jenkinson observed that a 911 cost twice as much as the 4.2 E-Type Jaguar he bought in 1966, to replace his Porsche 356, and that by 1970 the 911S had risen in price to become half the cost of a Lamborghini Miura, he concluded “It is all a question of keeping a sense of proportion.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Monte Hat-trick” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a slightly more outrageously flared Porsche 911. Don’t forget to come back now !

Championship Clincher – Talbot Sunbeam Lotus (Type 81)

In 1977 the European division of Chrysler launched the Chrysler Sunbeam hatchback which was financed with Government aid that was part of a strategic plan to keep jobs at Chryslers Linwood factory in Scotland where the Hillman Imp production had come to a halt in 1976.

The new hatchback used the floor plan of the Hillman Avenger, another model manufactured at Linwood, of which sales were falling and which was to be discontinued in 1981.

In 1978 Chrysler commissioned Lotus to develop a competition version of the Sunbeam hatchback, which appears to have shared the same type number ’81’ as the Lotus Ford ’81’ Formula One car.

Incidentally this appears to be the third of two completely unrelated projects have shared a Lotus Type number, I have read suggestions this occurred because some one lost the book in which the Lotus projects were recorded, I have also seen suggestions that what ever Lotus type numbers vehicles have now, they were not necessarily the same as those that appeared on the original Lotus drawings.

The Sunbeam Lotus was produced with a 150 hp for road trim and 250 hp for competition rally trim both versions using variants of the Lotus Type 907 motor first seen in the Lotus 62 sports racing car and later in the Lotus Elite, Type 75, road car.

The Sunbeam Lotus was first seen in early 1979 but by the end of the year Chrysler had sold it’s European operations to Peugeot for US$1 (One US Dollar) which came packaged with all of Chrysler Europe’s debt. For 1980 all of Chrysler Europe’s models including the Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus were rebranded as Talbots and all of the road going Sunbeam Lotus models appear with Talbot badges.

In 1979 a works Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus team entered selected World Championship Rally events in anticipation for a full scale onslaught in 1981. The following year the now Talbot entered team scored three wins two for Henri Toivonen one on snow and the other on gravel, while Frenchman Guy Fréquelin partnered by Jean Todt, since of Peugeot and Ferrari management and now president of the FIA.

In 1981 going into the final rally of the season the RAC Rally Guy and Jean led the World Rally Drivers Chanpionship and Talbot the manufacturers championship despite only managing to score one overall victory. For some reason Guy never got to grips with his second RAC Rally start and he retired while Ari Vatenen his only challenger finished second in a Ford Escort behind Hannu Mikkola in his Audi. After Henri Toivonen also retired the manufacturers championship was clinched for Talbot by Swedes Stig Blomqvist and Bjorn Cederberg in the #14 Swedish Dealer Team entered Talbot which carried the registration/license plated LAC999V.

However I can’t be sure that the car shown in the two photos above is the same car because all thought the car above carries the LAC999V plates it is painted in the factory Talbot Sunbeam Lotus colours which were not the same as the colours carried on Stig’s car in the 1981 RAC Rally.

Thanks for joining me on this “Championship Clincher” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Rolls Royce. Don’t forget to come back now !