Special Saloon/Super Saloon Register

[John D Wood]

Results sound about right, second in class to peters mini, that was the way it always finished. In four years I never beat that Baldwin car! same engine but the mini was a fair bit lighter, that's my excuse anyway. From memory I think it was only Peter and Allan Humberstone who ever beat me in class.The second Skoda I thought was Tony but the boss still insists saying that it was Dicks first time out with the car and was not yet yellow? I've learned better than to argue.

[allenbrown]

Derek Walker's Skoda "Ladybird 14" first raced in April 1979. If this picture is from 1981, the car was well-used by then.

[driftwood]

Allen your obviously feeling like punching above your weight today !!
I think i will be in Mrs Woods corner holding the towel even if your right your wrong!

I think its Tony Dickensons car lapping the field or its a qualifying photo- now where is the nearest exit

[Dan Rear]

As tactfully as I can, I agree with Drifty, and not with Mrs Wood, sorry John! Great pic tho', anymore like it, or stories of that era?

[John D Wood]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

As tactfully as I can, I agree with Drifty, and not with Mrs Wood, sorry John! Great pic tho', anymore like it, or stories of that era?

As the boss has gone out for the day, I think I'm safe in saying that it is indeed Tony D in the second skoda at the hairpin on the last lap, Dick had already gone through to win the race, lapping me and Michael but the others were still behind us at the end of the race, I think, it was a long time ago.

[allenbrown]

Anyone remember a yellow Lotus Esprit built on a March chassis running in about 1982-1983-1984? Don Berwick bought it in 1984 from a guy in the Donington area. Anyone have any idea who that could have been?

I asked Paul Haywood-Halfpenny but it didn't ring any bells. He did suggest I asked John Goulder but the number given on the web for his company doesn't seem to work.

[GBRM]

Allem, was that the car Mick Hill built? There was definitely a very very modified Lotus in the Donington championship and I think Colin Blower might have driven it too.
I'll check some old Autosports when I get home.

[driftwood]

I do not recall the name don berwick at all let alone racing esprit
please email me directly a photo
John Goulders esprit was the ex pat thomas 2 litre BDG chevron B35 center seat car after he had the wallinger ground effect ish Imp his cars where immaculate

another esprit was the 1 litre car built by dick wallinger with toleman TG280 corners car after he raced it he sold it to scotland I believe Ricky Gauld and RJ Cross sponsored the car
the only yellow esprit i can think of is Brian Robinsons Chevron B42 based car

Only March based esprit was Pats 822 bmw car and then the 2 maguire cars with march corners and Suggies white 1980 esprit built by Jim evans that later is turned into a skoda

the only person in donington area other than Goulder & wallinger is Malcolm Johnstone/Johnson and he raced 2 Skodas both chevron B19 23 based cars

[driftwood]

Mick hills car where Lola F5000 based
he had skoda ( the Pheonix) then built BMW M1 with a copy of the March Gp5 BMW M1
George welly Potter had an esprit and i think this was Micks Skoda
that car is now with Chris ( north sea oli Biz ) Crawford

[Dan Rear]

Wasn't it Don Bewick rather than 'Berwick'? I agree with what DW has put (blimey thats twice today!), the only yellow car I recall is Brian R's B48 one - not B42 DW. The Evans/Suggie car was white originally and used 762 parts I think. John Bothamley had a 792 (ex Norman D) based one, that was blue, Pat T's was red.

I have Bewick in a 3.4 Esprit at Donny august '83, prog says it was blue, I assume this was the Simms car? At that meet, both Thomas and Goulder are entered in 2-litre Esprits...

[driftwood]

OK lets get some facts straight and some one needs to send me foto of this Blue esprit of Bewick

1 Sugdens esprit built 1979/80 was the remains of Jim Evans 762-11 Khausen car that was written off by Paul Gardiner this is re bodied into Skoda for 86 painted orange This car ran 3.4 GA power
Esprit was white in 1980 i have just looked at my 83 Don GT photos and now car is YELLOW and is raced in 84& 85 like this
maybe Bewick drove the car?
OR he has borrowed ron cummings Esprit that is march 742-20 car with 3.4 GA car is painted white

2 Bothamly esprit is maguire built off his 792 hart f2 car then sold to geoff Farmer the 792 chassis etc is used with remains of Norrie Gailbraiths 782-20 to make a mongrel libre car

3 Brian Robinson has B42 & B48 F2 cars 1 is built into Esprit GT car ( i have foto of the 2 cars side by side) this car is then sold to Paul Rhodes for 84 season and later runs without body in libre race
4 Pat thomas cars are red esprits when he sells Chevron B35 2 litre bdg car to Goulder it is painted green then sold to Jon Fletcher painted white for 86

5 I do not recall Richard Simms in esprit ( send me a foto)

6 i make amendment to Mick Hill skoda being turned into Potters esprit John Salisbury races it in 83

7 Dan please stop agreeing with me its un natural and Allen will soon start to get worried

[Dan Rear]

Simms, apparently had a 3.4 GA car based on a 'March 78S'. Welly's Chevy car used some Ensign parts in it. Robinson Esprit was B48 based, the B42 became the Grange 85T T'sports car.

Did Norrie have 782-20?? What about your Dad's car?? V few pics of GT Esprits have been posted so far, I have none, and can't post anyway. Roger Cowman was Donny/Derby based too.

What about Mrs Wood? Allen keener on Skodas than Esprits.

[allenbrown]

You're the man, Dan!

August 1983 is a bit earlier than I expected but that would be the car I'm looking for. Don (Bewick, not Berwick as I wrote earlier) told me it had "a March chassis" and "a 6-cylinder German engine" which didn't mean much to me at the time. Simms had built his Esprit in 1982 using a March "78S" chassis and a GA engine which matches Don's description perfectly. Simms won first time out in this car at Aintree in August 1982.

The reason I'm trying to find it is that when Don bought the Esprit, he part-exchanged his old (ex-Malcolm Johnstone) Skoda-Chevron and I'm really trying to find out who ended up with the Skoda-Chevron. So if I can find out who Don bought the Esprit from, I get a bit closer.

So - for the sake of arguement - let's say Simms had acquired the Skoda/Chevron in part-exchange. What would he have done with it. Simms was racing in Thundersports then wasn't he? Would he have turned it back into a Chevron for Thundersports? He actually raced a Chevron "B23/26" at Snetterton 5 Aug 1984. Same car? His co-driver was John Salisbury - who he?

[Dan Rear]

Salisbury had a 5-litre Skoda in 83, is this ex Hill/Phoenix, or ex-Turner/Collier. I suspect the latter Drifty. Did Pat T have 2 Esprits, one B35 based, the other 822? That would explain why he and Goulder are both entered at that Aug 83 Donny GT. Also in Esprits were Farmer and Robbo in 2-litres, plus Suggie in turbo '762' car, Bewick and Potter in 3.4 and Chevy Esprits respectively.

Where's he now - DW that is.... I'm off for the day!

[driftwood]

OK
1 i didnt want to 2nd guess Simms and this 78S car as that has kicked up off another thread on 73 4 5S cars AB i will talk directly to u on this as ive seen the remains and it came from simms to another horse trader
Simms also owned all the stock of GA engines & parts he bought off Cosowrth hence why he used GA motors

2 John salisbury see my above comment re mick hills skoda he raced car fred cowell racing ( foto coming to u now) im sure he did do some Thundersports races with skoda

3 Simms in chevron B23/26 well B19 chassis is 23 to those who do not need to count pop rivets with 26 tail with wing on it

4 allen only interested in skodas to unveil B19 21 23 chevrons not cos he likes skodas

5 we had maguire esprit 1500 ( i nearly bought the car back for sentimental reasons then i woke up and smelt the coffee and thought WHY? what can i do with it)

i have many pics of cars we took in period not scanned but i do have a collection from Jeremy jackson who doesnt play with us no more!
I cant post his pics without asking

[allenbrown]

How dare you! I love Skodas!

[driftwood]

1 Dan some of us do try to earn a living in between looking at 10 tenths and porn sites
2 Allen if you love skodas come buy me a pint and i will show u a house locally for 20 years or so has had 5 or 6 of em sitting in drive!

3 Salisbury chevy skoda im sure is Micks Pheonix car not the Collier/Turner 1975 car however If Mrs Wood wants to correct me I will not argue
4 Dan i love your questioning of Pat T 2 esprits are you asking or telling me?!?!
the reason i am so precises is A i was there when he raced the cars B i have fotos of the cars C i have questioned him on the cars D the 822 ended up being my fathers interseries can am audi turbo 822 and i only discovered that 12 months after i had sold the car to Czec collector- it had been Corrado Fabis euro f2 car for most of the 82 season

[Dan Rear]

Drifty, I was asking re Pat T Esprits, no probs that he ahd 2, I suspected one of them may have ended up with Eddie. What was his Europa based on, March 803B??

[allenbrown]

I am curious. Was the "March 78S" two-seater chassis that Simms used to build his Esprit in 1982 the same March chassis that had been used in the Skoda three years earlier?

Bewick has confirmed by email that he had the ex-Simms Esprit.

[driftwood]

dan yr getting confused !
we had maguire geoff had the other
Pats cars
esprit 2 litre bdg was chevron B35 based sold to john goulder then jon fletcher - NFI what happened after JF had it
2 esprit was march 822 car built with fabis euro f2 tub no plate ( his race car with plate new tub went to japan end of year) and spare parts pat did 1- 2 races? motor blew issues with engine builder and oil supplier ( sore point with PT) he loaned car as F2 cars to swede kaiser? for hello sweden show car work car then stold to swiss Horag then it became interserie car Miroslav adamev raced it
HSB bichler team car Karl raced 812 car 822 was the renta driver car
dad had it for years i only discovered what it was AFTER i sold the roller to czech guy and worked thru the esprit history with Pat

europa was eric pattersons 1500 car on colin bennet prepared 803
then sold to john churchill with bmw m12 fitted
then sold as rolelr to richard gamble with rover v8 fitted
last time i saw car wa s02? at rogers hurts place tub on flight case body in yard
no idea who took the 803 but it is possibly racing in classic f3 now

allen i will mail u re simms march thing off line then u can throw it to Dan to chew on

Simmms had 74S# 6 DFV car under skoda body 3.4 Ga it had been in scotland with a Robertson
it was Jim evans who really had it first off Richard Brown in 75 and Jim is in AS advertising a part finished skoda car ( check my old mails with AS ad scans- u now i never leave u in the dark )
Simms crashed the car and it sat as a wreck then peter bllor took it rebuilt it sat in his shop 15 years
sold to peter dunn raced in sports car races last 3 years now in france

[MONDELLO MAN]

re posts 243/249

Matties Escorts .
The first escort, the red Amoco car was bought from John Young of Superspeed , it was a fully trimmed shell , fitted with an mae , which Mattie did not use , fitting instead a BDA supplied by Holbay, as I said earlier it was sold to rally driver Noel Smith, the second MK1, ran in white Amoco and then Churchman green red and white colours was built to order for Mattie by Jeff Goodliffe , still using an all steel shell, an FVA was fitted , latyer upgraded by Alan Smith to FVC spec .Mttie recalls the car was fitted with cast aluminium front struts and ,tca's, the rear suspenson (shocks) were monted on the bottom of the axle tube , on the top to the floor pan , and it worked very well .
The space frame MK2 was commisioned from John Robinson ,on a visit to his premises , not a cancelled order as suggested , the MK1 was traded in against it , MK2 sold to Fintan Newport at the end of 78, Fintan racecd it for a few years , before selling it to the manwho still has it today,

[allenbrown]

So you're saying that the 74S that went into the Skoda was not the "78S" that went into the Esprit?

[driftwood]

i will say yes thats right but let me mail u direct so u dont do a Dan and get wires crossed
i want a foto of Simms esprit and then i can see what the car is so soemone out there must have 1 or AS report to refer to

[big andy]

what was alan humberston driving when he beat you john d w

[driftwood]

1300 bda stilletto