what happened to the 1994 alfa 155 and mazda xedos

[alfaromeo]

Does anyone know what happened to the 1994 alfa 155 and mazda xedos and where are thy now?

[Radisichrox]

I remember seeing an advertisement in Autosport for a set of the 1995 155s that were used in the BTCC. I have no idea of the Xedos.

[kmchow]

The Xedos were bought and raced in the NATCC in '97. Afterwards, the cars made appearances at selected import car shows. They were for sale for $50K US each back in '98 I think.

I thought the '94 Alfa eventually went to the ASTC? Is there any particular reason why you asked about those years and models of cars? Are you a fan of the Xedos? There doesn't seem to be many fans of the Xedos.

[TimD]

I think you're right about that '94 Alfa. Wasn't it the one that David Auger had as a privateer?

[racer69]

Yep, one of the 1994 Alfa's went to Australia and was raced by Garry Rogers Motorsport for Steven Richards in the 1995 ASTC. Raced once in 1996 (when Steven crashed his new Honda and couldn't get it repaired in time) and Auger bought it for the '97 ASTC and has raced it since. It won the 2000/2001 Independants title.

Also suffered an amazing accident at Phillip Island in 1997.

[KA]

The 1993 Xedos (the purple & yellow car driven by Patrick Watts) was raced in the 1993 Touring Car World Cup (at Monza) at the end of the year by ex-F1 driver and sometime Abba drummer(!) Slim Borgudd- he then used the car to win the 1994 Nordic Touring car series. He also drove it in the 94 World Cup at Donington- (it was still purple & yellow..)

The two cars kmchow referred in the 1997 NATCC were owned by a guy named Bob Schader (I think that's the spelling..)- he drove one, and ran a number of drivers in the other, including South African Desire Wilson- one of the few women to drive in F1- who made at least one appearance.

I think the cars had been advertised in Autosport for some time in late 96 before Schader bought them- the advert also included the 323 that was built for Matt Neal to drive in the 94 World Cup- I think this ended up in Belgium.

The Schader cars were plain white, and one of them must be the ex-David Leslie 1994 car. Does anyone know whether the other is the '93 car resprayed white, or did Mazda rebuild the Matt Neal car which was crashed at Silverstone?

[kmchow]

So many Xedos were built? I recall one or two raced in the JTCC? I think at least of the JTCC cars were sold to the Nordic championship?? I am guessing possibly 6 cars in the BTCC? 2 race/1back x 1993 and 2 race/1 backup x 1994? Did Mazda have backup cars?
Yeah, the cars suffered from a serious lack of hp, but Schader was bragging he made significant gains during the year.

[JEMMO]

I doubt whether there were as many as 6 cars built. In 93 there was only one car entered for Patrick Watts and in 94 there was probably no back up car or another driver could have driven it after Matt Neal crashed his race car. After Matt's accident did Mazda withdraw due to a a lack of funds?

[KA]

Originally posted by JEMMO
I doubt whether there were as many as 6 cars built. In 93 there was only one car entered for Patrick Watts and in 94 there was probably no back up car or another driver could have driven it after Matt Neal crashed his race car. After Matt's accident did Mazda withdraw due to a a lack of funds?

3, maybe 4 if the Neal car was rebuilt/replaced is probably closer to the mark. As you said, the 93 effort was a single car, and 2 new cars were built for 94 (the 93 car going to Scandinavia). Matt Neal didn't race a Xedos again after the Silverstone shunt, so that car presumably wasn't rebuilt immediately- it was always a very low-budget operation

They continued with a single car for Leslie for a few races, but didn't finish the season.

The last Xedos appearance in the UK was Borgudd at the World Cup, in the purple/yellow ex-Watts car- Matt Neal ran a newly-built 323 Lantis, which he only used at that meeting (that car may have raced in the Belgian GT series, which included clases for tourers, a couple of yeas ago)

Oddly enough, Roger Dowson's team built another 323 for Borgudd to race as an independent in the BTCC in 1996(?), but it never happened due to lack of money- it tested (by Chris Goodwin I think), but never raced (like Andy Rouse's Toyota Corolla 5-door- does anyone remember that...?)

Those 3 cars may be the only Xedos tourers built- I don't know (without looking it up) whether any raced in Japan although I think the Japanese Mazda teams tended to favour the 323 (although had no success with it)- I don't think they ran factory cars in the JTCC much after 1994/5 anyway.

[KA]

Originally posted by kmchow
Are you a fan of the Xedos? There doesn't seem to be many fans of the Xedos.

It could have probably been a successful car- certainly Patrick Watts showed some useful potential with it in 1993, but the funding was always inadequate- the car wasn't that far off the pace at the start of 93, but quickly fell behind- presumably not much development was going on

A shame really- I always thought it was a good-looking car (if you ignore the paintjob- purple and yellow- very nice....!)

[marcus]

i liked the look of the Mazda ...was very nice ..I so wanted it to come out here to Oz ..but it never did.

and yes as said the Alfa came out here and is still being run in the Australian super touring car championship this year even though it is now 8 years old ????

[kmchow]

Well, it turns out that I am mistaken--there does not seem to have been any Xedos racing in the JTCC. There were only Lantis and 323 Familias in the JTCC. But I agree, it was nice to see the Xedos,heck a ST car, in my local hometown. It was a very moving and emotional experience to see the cars up close!

[JEMMO]

Originally posted by KA


Oddly enough, Roger Dowson's team built another 323 for Borgudd to race as an independent in the BTCC in 1996(?), but it never happened due to lack of money- it tested (by Chris Goodwin I think), but never raced (like Andy Rouse's Toyota Corolla 5-door- does anyone remember that...?)

That Roger Dowson 323 was going to be raced by Borgudd in 1995. I remember seeing it for sale in Autosport due to a lack of money to run it. Shame those 323F's never raced as they looked fantastic. I remember seeing the Rouse Corolla, was that in '96?

[kmchow]

I heard the Andy Rouse Corolla was later bought and raced as low level rally car? Talk about a sad end for ST cars!

[racer69]

Why did Mazda build Neal a 323 if he had raced an Xedos earlier in the season, and Mazda had pulled out anyway.

And why did the Andy Rouse Corolla never race, Patrick Watts was meant to race it in 1998?

[kmchow]

Why did Mazda build Neal a 323 if he had raced an Xedos earlier in the season, and Mazda had pulled out anyway.

AFAIK, I heard the team that was responsible for the Mazda effort was hoping to continue development and racing without Works support. But that dream quickly disappeared.

And why did the Andy Rouse Corolla never race, Patrick Watts was meant to race it in 1998?

Well, it turns out to homologate a car to FIA standards--which Andy Rouse was hoping to do--you need the manufacturer's blessing. But unfortunately, Toyota was refusing to give it's support. Theoretially, Andy Rouse could have been able to race if the BTCC organizers would give the car a special exemption. But without full FIA homogolation, it would have been hard to market the car as "privateer built/priced, works competitive/beating" car??? Why not support Andy? Hard to say. Some suggest it was b/c Toyota was intending to race the Altezza/Lexus IS200 in the very near BTCC future. Others think Toyota didn't want to confuse the public (or split their motorsport budget) since the Corolla was also being rallied as well. Would it be confusing to have a Rally and touring Corolla exist at the same time?? Do you want the Corolla to have a rally and adventurous image or do you want a racy touring car image??

Me? Heck, I think Toyota should have given Rouse the blessings. It wouldn't have cost Toyota a penny? Why not have a car show up for at least a few rounds? It's promoting your brand for crying out loud. OTOH, I guess Toyota didn't want to be embarassed if the car did poorly. If the car did poorly, I guess Toyota would almost be obliged to support them in order to defend the automaker's honour??? Am I getting to medieval???

[AdrianG]

Originally posted by racer69
Yep, one of the 1994 Alfa's went to Australia and was raced by Garry Rogers Motorsport for Steven Richards in the 1995 ASTC. Raced once in 1996 (when Steven crashed his new Honda and couldn't get it repaired in time) and Auger bought it for the '97 ASTC and has raced it since. It won the 2000/2001 Independants title.

Yes this car was a 1994 Alfa, but it had never been raced before Garry Rogers bought it. It was in fact the Alfa Corse teams Italian based test car, and it was origanally yellow.

[alfaromeo]

i just thought the red 94 alfa was a smart as anything with the front wing and rear spoiler. I also liked the look of the mazda(jaguar actually turned the design down and mazda bought it from them).

[4dnut]

Only ever 3 x built, Neale car written off.Slim Borgudd raced the Watts car. Watts car and Leslie car sold to Bob Schader in USA. Only painted on the exterior, Watts car still purple on the inside/engine bay etc. My friend and I have purchased the 2 x remaining Xedos BTCC cars.

[850Estate]

Originally Posted by 4dnut

Only ever 3 x built, Neale car written off.Slim Borgudd raced the Watts car. Watts car and Leslie car sold to Bob Schader in USA. Only painted on the exterior, Watts car still purple on the inside/engine bay etc. My friend and I have purchased the 2 x remaining Xedos BTCC cars.

Good to here, have you got any pictures of it now? Always thought it was a good looking car.

[GM10]

The Xedos driven by Leslie in 1994 is now property of a man who resides in NZ: http://www.supertouringregister.com/...r/vehicle/299/

Also the 1993 model: http://www.supertouringregister.com/...r/vehicle/148/

The one driven by Neal is signed as "destroyed" after the Silverstone accident: http://www.supertouringregister.com/...r/vehicle/419/

[CM388]

Originally Posted by GM10

The one driven by Neal is signed as "destroyed" after the Silverstone accident: http://www.supertouringregister.com/...r/vehicle/419/

I think in an interview in a one-off program ITV4 ran about the BTCC a few years back, Matt Neal said the only thing salvageable from the car after that Silverstone crash was the ECU, so I'd say destroyed is a pretty apt description!

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by CM388

I think in an interview in a one-off program ITV4 ran about the BTCC a few years back, Matt Neal said the only thing salvageable from the car after that Silverstone crash was the ECU, so I'd say destroyed is a pretty apt description!

I thought it was actually the dash. But yeah, would be cosmic seeing them Mazdas racing again

[JezzaNZ]

4dnut and I are putting the Watts and Leslie cars back to their BTCC livery and will be racing them in the future. We also have quite a few parts from the Neal car that came in the spares package.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by JezzaNZ

4dnut and I are putting the Watts and Leslie cars back to their BTCC livery and will be racing them in the future. We also have quite a few parts from the Neal car that came in the spares package.

Would that be in the UK series?