The History of the VW Kamei autoextras Golf & other Kamei sponsored cars

[fthaimike]

Hi my name is Michael Flynn from the UK

I collect and share history about kamei in Germany (mostly the Golf but have fotos of other cars), i came here to see if anyone is interested in anything about some of the kamei history i have gotten to learn about and collect over the years and also to see if anyone else has any info/fotos/ stories to share with me and others.

I have some links i use back to Kamei Germany and drivers etc.

Comments welcome before i post anything up.

I also own my own replica/inspired Kamei Golf.



Mike

[chunterer]

Welcome Mike,

I am sure we would only be too delighted to discuss your favourite subject with you.

As you have probably noticed there is quite a lot of historic touring car threads in this section so you have come to a good place!

I recall the Kamei (Grp2?)entries, as were they also involved with Mercedes cars at some point in the 70's?

[fthaimike]

yes they had/sponsored several cars, if you want i can start with the kamei golf here and maybe start another thread with all the other kamei stuff i have then maybe people can direct me to where each picture can go.

[fthaimike]

These ones came from Uwe.Meier-Andrae the owner of the kamei brand and motorsport manager during these times......

1977 (no exact date yet) - Hockenheimring #384 Bernd Renneisen (D)



When i chatted with Bernd Renneisen at a later time he gave me some info for the photos with his year driving....

"The car makes it´s debut in Hockenheim"

one of the pretty models aside the car is the wife of Kamei owner Mr. Uwe Meier-Andrae (if I remember right, she had been working as a stewardess before),
the other one must have been an employee of the Kamei office.

(For Mr. Meier-Andrae the project was a matter of advertising and marketing and he made a good show, for me I did not like this kind of living so much as I was a shy and introverted person who simply wanted to race.)

EDIT: more from the race...







Not 100% but this might be a program of race:
http://www.progcovers.com/motor/hockenheim770226.jpg

[fthaimike]

1977 (no exact date yet) - Mainz-Finthen airfield race #153 Bernd Renneisen (D)


The Escort ^ ^ ^ to the left with "ZAK" on the bonnet & the yellow spoiler was Dieter Alzen's.





photo used from race for advertisments etc:


My attemp with photoshop to rebuild the above photo:

you can see the Escort behind again with "ZAK" on the bonnet being driven by Dieter Alzen.

And a postcard:


Bernd Renneisen (D):

Second race: the Mainz-Finthen airfield race, it was somehow the "home race" as Mainz Finthen is situated just opposite the Rhine river to Wiesbaden, where there was the Kamei administration office.

possible race program but again i (mike) might be wrong:
http://www.progcovers.com/motor/mainz770522.jpg

To be continued......

[Hunter1300]

OH OH OH!!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!
Info request please!!!!

The picture attached, was this escort an Privateer Zakspeed built Car?
Im pretty sure it was but any information you have will gladly be received....

Any idea on the Zak chassis numbers they used? one or two cars run? years they sponsored the escort?

[fthaimike]

Originally Posted by Hunter1300

OH OH OH!!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!

Info request please!!!!



The picture attached, was this escort an Privateer Zakspeed built Car?

Im pretty sure it was but any information you have will gladly be received....



Any idea on the Zak chassis numbers they used? one or two cars run? years they sponsored the escort?

I will ask around for you.

Also some info for the Zakspeed car i have shown above will come up again better in a later race (ex-drm group 2 escorts)

[fthaimike]

I know one of the drivers of the car you have shown and asked about looks to be listed as Gartmann who drove another kamei car too which can be found here in books:
http://www.dietergartmann.de/1,000000648412,8,1

[Hunter1300]

Sorry where did the link you posted go?

[fthaimike]

This one of the foto you posted? (some detail on the page)

http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/18542779

I was funily enough just on the phone to Uwe owner of Kamei and he knows the driver well though sadly no details you require about the Zakspeed, you have to understand this was some time ago and he is't getting any younger :-( which is also one of the reasons i push to collect Kamei history.

He told me the driver only last year drove i think well in the nurburgring 24hrs & is in the previous link, he said he is also building a replica of the Kamei Ford Capri he raced and you see through his book :-)

A lot of famous names pop up as Kamei drivers which i will try to add here.

It also seems though not maybe in this case with yours but with a lot of the full on kamei owned cars they started life as regular car and got sent to a specialist to be converted into a race car.

[fthaimike]

01/05/1977 DRM - round 3 . Nurburgring Eifel . 40. Int. ADAC-Eifelrennen . #44 . Division 2 . Bernd Renneisen (D)

Early style front decal on car here:



possible program:
http://www.progcovers.com/motor/nurburgring010577.jpg

Some dates are guessed by linking car numbers up with racingsportscardotcom

[fthaimike]

29/05/1977 WMC - round 4 . Nurburgring 1000 km . XXIII. ADAC 1000 KM Rennen . #63 .
Group 2/Div. 1 . Bernd Renneisen (D) - Wolfgang Wolf (D) (Result = 2nd in class, 30th overall)


http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...977-05-29.html

Paul Kooyman:

The No 63 picture was taken at the left hander Breidscheid corner at the Nürburgring,
here you have to go deep into the ankers trying not to end up into the bridge wall.



Paul Kooyman:

The frontal picture, it's taken at the Steilstrecke corner, the right hander at the bottom of the Steilstrecke, leading to the Karussel



unknown photographer:


program: http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...1977-05-29.jpg

[Hunter1300]

Originally Posted by fthaimike

This one of the foto you posted? (some detail on the page)

http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/18542779

I was funily enough just on the phone to Uwe owner of Kamei and he knows the driver well though sadly no details you require about the Zakspeed, you have to understand this was some time ago and he is't getting any younger :-( which is also one of the reasons i push to collect Kamei history.

He told me the driver only last year drove i think well in the nurburgring 24hrs & is in the previous link, he said he is also building a replica of the Kamei Ford Capri he raced and you see through his book :-)

A lot of famous names pop up as Kamei drivers which i will try to add here.

It also seems though not maybe in this case with yours but with a lot of the full on kamei owned cars they started life as regular car and got sent to a specialist to be converted into a race car.

There was a link posted to frank de jong touring car web site but seems to have been deleted can you post it again.

Also yes if you are able to gain as much information regarding the escort I would be very grateful.
I think I have this original car locked away in my garage and yes its a Zak built car, many parts are missing and the cars is in very poor condition. I look to restore the car in a year or so, so as many pictures and information will be gladly received.

[fthaimike]

not sure what i did with the link though it only took a short while to find on google.

in that link i posted it also says:
Zakspeed Escort BDA Dransmann / Gartmann 1984 vehicle scored solo 1984 3 overall victories at the VLN driver pairing Dransmann / Gartmann and a second driven by Bernhard Dransmann. In this case, probably more of a failure. Also very nice read in "Nürburgring --- at night and Fog "by Dieter Gartmann (reference possibilities here):

http://20832.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7513

http://20832.com/?rubrik=blogdetail&blogID=440

i would try following those leads and like i did with the kamei golf look for any names / contacts in links and email them.

i found more info on my journey by continualy using lots of internet sites like google and other countries using any tags on fotos you have and drivers names, good luck finding more info on your escort and if i find any i will get back to you and also as Uwe at Kamei knows the driver listed in your foto and who has those books then when i get a link to him i will ask him too, i have an interest in him here because of his kamei ford capri.

[fthaimike]

Another foto of your kamei sponsored escort:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7552094...n/photostream/

this might be photogorapher of 1st pic:
Escort BDA Dransmann VLN 1984


Memory of one of the most spectacular cars that I have experienced to date on the Nordschleife: the Dransmann Escort BDA, driven by Bernhard Dransmann and / or Dieter Gartmann, 1984 (3 wins in a row!), Here after a failure, parked - I think , in Wippermann.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75520942@N08/8363925051/

[fthaimike]

Only adding races that i have fotos for....

08/10/1977 WMC - round 8 . Hockenheim . ADAC-Rennsport-Finale . #47 . Group 2/Div. 1 . Bernd Renneisen (D) . Wolfgang Wolf, (D)

http://www.racingsportscars.com/race...977-10-09.html

[fthaimike]

16/10/1977 Zolder Joisten . VI. ADAC/SFG Saison Abschlussrennen “H.P. Joisten Trophy” . German Touring Car Races . #16? (19). TC 1600 . Bernd Renneisen (D)

http://www.racingsportscars.com/race...977-10-16.html





Paul Kooyman:

The No 19 car was at Zolder, at the fast S corner following the 90 dgrees,
named the Jochen Rindt bocht

[fthaimike]

09/7/1978 - GP Nürburgring - Großer Preis der Tourenwagen, 4-Stunden-Rennen Europameisterschaftslauf Nürburgring #82 . Group 2 1600 . Klaus Assmuth (D) . Leopold von Bayern (D) . Miroslav Lochmann (CS)


Nürburgring Zeitung Magazin Programm 1978


http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...978-07-09e.jpg

http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...1978-07-09.jpg

this foto is taken from a top trumps style card game:


seen here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...amei-Card2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...amei-Card3.jpg

[fthaimike]

unknown race, i think this was found on a french model site so maybe the No9 is a reference picture on the box.



the pic has a tag of 78 DRM

[fthaimike]

Sales brochure used at the USA Kamei Factory (long closed) that i scanned in cover and repaired:

[fthaimike]

Originally Posted by Hunter1300

OH OH OH!!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!
Info request please!!!!

The picture attached, was this escort an Privateer Zakspeed built Car?
Im pretty sure it was but any information you have will gladly be received....

Any idea on the Zak chassis numbers they used? one or two cars run? years they sponsored the escort?

I have just sent an email to Mr Dieter Gartmann and also asked about your Escort that he drove.

[fthaimike]

Hi Hunter1300, i have some bad news sorry on the kamei sposored Zakspeed Escort you believe to possibly own seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7552094...n/photostream/

I did some investigating and through some motorsport connections i found the car after this comment from a friend:

"That is now the car of Werner Weiss, ex-Dransmann Escort".


When i showed Mr Werner Weiss some photos his responce was "Hello Michael this is my car i buy it in this colours 1989"

He races in the German hillclimb series that i have a fan page of on Facebook "I Love BergCup" though didn't realise it was the same car after all this time and watching it many times as it has a different paint scheme on it:

[Zandbak]

An Audi Quattro raced with Kamei livery in the Belgian Historic championship in 2012, one of the drivers was André Lotterer!

http://www.bravoracing.be/?page_id=1025

[fthaimike]

thanks yes that is the Nothelle / Kamei Audi, it is a restoration of their car that they raced originally and a great restoration.

I have lots of stuff when it originally raced that i can add in here at a later time if your interested?

We Met Marcus Nothelle last year at brands Hatch when they showed their 1976 replica 1st ever racing golf, it was amazing to have our kamei replica in the same garage with them :-)

[Hunter1300]

Originally Posted by fthaimike

Hi Hunter1300, i have some bad news sorry on the kamei sposored Zakspeed Escort you believe to possibly own seen here:

I did some investigating and through some motorsport connections i found the car after this comment from a friend:
"That is now the car of Werner Weiss, ex-Dransmann Escort".
When i showed Mr Werner Weiss some photos his responce was "Hello Michael this is my car i buy it in this colours 1989"

He races in the German hillclimb series that i have a fan page of on Facebook "I Love BergCup" though didn't realise it was the same car after all this time and watching it many times as it has a different paint scheme on it:

Interesting, iv seen an spoken to mr Weiss I knew his car was a Zak car but hadn't realised it was the Kamei car... Which kind of leads me to ask the question of what was my car? It came with a Zak number an a modified shell in line with the mods Zak did. All I know is that my car was a privateer car, what were the penthouse sponsored cars???