March 80A

[Simon Hadfield]

Chris, I now have my car back here in England and the SCCA (I presume) numbers on the roll hoop are 11-8023 and 11-8048 - and possibly some other numbers obliterated. Am I right in thinking that 11 is the area and that two numbers would indicate a change of class or ownership in 1980? Having no logbook and no pro history makes life difficult!

[Chris Townsend]

Simon

Region 11 is Florida. 8023 might mean 23rd car registered in 1980 but I'm not sure how the coding works there. One clue to original owner might be in the Florida registration as Bill Anspach was based down there; there were others later but I think he was the only one from new.
Is there an AM stamping on the tub or is it a replacement? Anspach had an early build number as he appeared at Palm Beach in Feb 80.

Chris

[JagtechOhio]

Greetings from a new (old) guy. I stumbled across this site for the first time tonight, and am writing to hopefully contribute to your fantastic data base. First for the information I found online tonight, then to my firsthand factual additions. This is a list of all the 80A's I found for the 1980 Pro Series events: some overlap your previous entries. The numbers shown are presumed to be car entry numbers, NOT chassis numbers:

Round 1, Long Beach 3-29-80

#6 Jacques Villenuve Shierson Racing
Rick Koehler
Dan Marvin John Norman Racing
#22 Price Cobb John Norman Racing (yellow)
#2 Jeff Wood (white/ yellow/ blue)
John Mortensen Shierson Racing
Tommy Grunnah Relco Racing

Round 2, Sears Point (in addition to the previous entrants)

Tom Stewart

Round 4, Brainerd

Ralph Mannaker

Round 5, Lime Rock

Charles Cass Shierson Racing

Round 6, Elkhart Lake

Bob Schader

Round 10, Mexico City

Mike Rosen


I can't personally verify this information: I am guessing that these entries are, for the most part, individual chassis that do not have common ownership. I have not compared this list to your existing knowledge yet.

Peripheral notes: A March 80A recently changed hands that was represented as chassis #8, and was described as a former Shierson car that was a "sister" car to Jacque's. It was painted black in the advert on Motorsports Market.

I was at Lime Rock for Round 5, wrenching a Triumph TR4 for an SCCA National E production race that weekend. That was a sad event, as Tom Stewart perished during a qualifying run. The disposition of the chassis is trivial, but I doubt it was reconstructed.

Here's what I know, with apologies for the lack of greater specificity...

I was hired by Rick Capone Racing in August 1980, to assist Bruce Cavey in preparing Hubert Phipp's 80A March. I don't know who previously owned this chassis, and at the time the bodywork was all white. The first event I recall attending was an SCCA National, run in support of the Pro Atlantic event at Bridgehampton on 9/14/80. I was given the inglorious task of constructing FENDERS for the car: the bright idea was to attempt to earn qualifying points for A Sports Racing and the SCCA Runoffs. Hubert then planned to rent a Can Am car from John Gunn and put a whuppin' on Jerry Hansen. The plan did not go well.

Arriving in West Palm Beach Florida to Capone's shop, I soon became acquainted with Dr. Bill Anspach. He owned his 80A late in 1980, and I recall it was finished in solid green. That's all I know about his chassis.

Phipps opted to have his car campaigned by Stimola Race Preparation for the 1981 season, and I was hired to prepare and maintain it. So along with Hubert's chassis, the following 80A's were in Locust Valley, NY at the end of 1980:

Peter Lerch orange/ white I believe this was ex-Opert, not sure

Paul Fassler black w/ Relco stickers 99% sure this was ex-Grunnah

Dale Lang green This is the car later driven by Eric Lang

So that's four chassis, none of which were new, and none of which were ex-Shierson from any word I ever heared.

One of my first assignments on the Phipps chassis will likely identify it to this day. In the aftermath of Tom Stewart's crash, Joe Stimola was concerned about an apparent lack of structual integrity of the monocoque. I was instructed to fabricate and install doublers that ran the length and depth of the inside of the tub: unless it has been re-skinned along the way, that will verify the chassis as Phipp's. I also fabricated a redesigned dash, and faired in the engine compartment with an aluminum undertray. I added "fences" to the top of the sidepod panels, mimicing the Ligier F1 cars of that day. I also reconstructed a sidepod for use on the car: you may find some green gelcoat beneath the layers, as it had been torn off the Lang chassis at some point during the previous season.

Painted Royal Blue and numbered 90 as pictured, the season began early in 1981 in Florida. During SCCA events that year, we competed with the Fassler, Lerch, and Anspach cars, and another black 80A driven by Joe Nastasi (NY). My recollection is that the Lang car sat idle for almost the complete season. There were not any other 80A's at the club events in my memory: the Shelton brothers were still running '79B's, and Joe Castellano and Peter Greenfield were piloting RT-1's. The dreaded 4's had not yet appeared at that level, and most of our events were Northeastern, Central, and Southern U.S.

Phipps was competitive on the club level, and qualified for the SCCA Runoffs. Pro Atlantic Series events were another story: with outdated equipment, a relatively inexperienced driver and a greenhorn mechanic, the #90 was mid-pack at best. I'll take some small credit for the reliability, but most goes to Eric (insert last name here) who built the engines at Stimola's.

That's all of the 80A's I can account for, and somewhere I may have Hubert's chassis number in an old notebook. Sadly, I was left holding it when the 1981 Runoffs arrived: Hubert opted to run a Garvin Brown prepared RT-4 in order to improve his chances. Darned if he didn't win in it.

Beyond that time, I have no history to share on any of the March 80A's. I left Stimola in early 1982 for a cup of coffee with Bobby Unser (Unser/ Garza Racing Schlitz Gusto #55), and spent May/ October wrenching on Rex Ramsey's 5 L Can Am effort.

Sorry for the long and disjointed post, my writing is usually a bit more entertaining. Please stop by if you are someone who's path I may have crossed: the memories are scrubbed in, but the friendships have dissolved to marbles. MANY THANKS to the poster who contributed the photo of the #90 car in it's glory....it was like seeing an old girlfriend again. And Bruin, if that's the same girl, she looks better than ever. Best wishes,

Andrew Bernstein

[JagtechOhio]

Greetings, me again...

So now I've compared my notes with all of yours, and can add the following:

Bruin, your first photo does not show an OE March dash. That could be the one I made, the gauges were either side of the front hoop and the panel did not extend up to its peak.

With extreme apology in advance to Mr. Nelkin, I don't recall ever seeing green on the Phipps car. The only exception to that was the repaired sidepod I mentioned, which I beleive was resurrected from a previous shunt of the Lang car.

The Lang car was partially disassembled and dormant when I arrived at Stimola in late 1980. I knew little about it, but the car had been to battle...so I suspect it was an early chassis, and I know it was green. Is it possible that this was Mr. Nelkin's 80A?

The car identified as #8 in the advert I mentioned was probably not sold "recently": I went back and looked at the 2004 copyright on the photo, so likely the sale was in 2006 as Chris has documented.

I'll look for Phipp's chassis number, but I might be able to verify 100% through detailed photos. For sure, it was not driven by Lerch in 1980 or '81...it was driven in front of Lerch.

Peter Marcovichi directed Stimola Race Engines during that era, and he was involved with enough administrative detail that he could probably shed some additional light. He's still in the business, building vintage race engines in NY. I believe Eric (insert name here) is still his associate. If anyone knows them, please tell them Andy sends his warm regards. Same to all of you.

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

Many thanks for the above. It makes several things clear.
Firstly, the Phipps car can't be R.J. Nelkin's as Nelkin ran the pro race that day while Phipps, as you say, was in SCCA. The white bodywork on the original car suggests to me that it might have been new, or maybe come from the collapse of the John Clegg team.
Can you remember who else ran the SCCA at Bridgehampton [or better have an entry list...] Also, any photos of SCCA Atlantics? Results sheets are so rare that I'm trying to put grids together from photographic evidence...

If Fassler's car had Relco stickers still on it that was for sure Grunnah's bodywork, so probably Grunnah's car underneath.

I think Dale Lang had his car from new. Lang seems to have bought a new March Atlantic most years from the mid 70s and raced it sparingly in SCCA. I was just talking to Ralph Manaker, who bought Lang's 76B. Manaker also had an 80A and he's digging out the paperwork for me.

Would Eric be Eric Kerman? I've talked to him a bit about his own cars and ought to get back in touch.

When you joined Capone did he have other Atlantics in the shop? I'm particularly interested in his own cars and the 80X that James Michelet has in 1981 which might have been a March development car sold in late 1980

[JagtechOhio]

Greetings Mr. Townsend,

Forgive my haste at the moment, I have a customer arriving in a moment...thank you for your reply!

Eric Kerman was indeed the gentleman I was referring to. I never saw his car, but think it might have been a 76?

The only complete Atlantic at Capone's shop I ever saw was Rick's white March...I believe it was a '78, and I know for a fact it was an ex-Shierson car, and the name Howdy Holmes pops into mind. That part I'm not certain on.

There was shreds of Phipp's previous car, which may have been a 76 March that was badly wrecked, sometime during the 1980 SCCA club season?

I litterally just found this link:
http://www.autocourse.ca/archives/us...-fatlantic.htm

This might be new info for you: I haven't had a chance to digest it yet myself. I need to look at it carefully, as something doesn't jive with my memory...I vividly recall the Long Beach and Mexico city races, but I'm drawing a blank on the Western Canada swing. Gotta go, I sent Bruin a direct email but haven't heared back yet.

Andrew Bernstein

[JagtechOhio]

Here's the same site, the first link was 1981, this is 1980:


http://www.autocourse.ca/index.php?file=results.html

Andrew Bernstein

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

Hi. I respect that site, but my own records based on Competition Press and Formula are actually better!

Capone certainly had an ex Holmes 78B for sale in 1982 but was never sure that was his race car for the previous few seasons [it was usually called a 79B]
I think Rick is still around so I might try and trace where it went next

Do you remember anything about Nastasi's car? I've seen photos of it - might post one from Nelson Ledges 1981 - but have no idea where it came from
Nastasi was quite quick too it seems

[JagtechOhio]

Greetings Mr. Townsend,
Rick Capone had the 78 when I arrived at his shop, July or August of 1980. I am not aware that he ran any pro series events in the car. I was involved in race prepping it for an SCCA event, I think Daytona, which would have been probably early August. Rick is a good man, please relay my best wishes.

The Phipps 80A was not new, and I knew nothing of its former history. I was instructed to rig it up as an A Sports Racer at Capone's shop, still all white, and off to Bridgehampton we went.

So the grid sheets I found at least have served as a touchstone for my memory, and at least you know I'm not full of it! The Phipps car ingloriously left Bridgehampton and went to Stimola's, where we both stayed for the next year.

I also found Charlie Crott's name listed as a DNQ for the October 1980 Pro Series race at Montreal: that car was prepped at Stimola, and I was at that event to lend a hand. Dark blue March 76, if I recall correctly. Charlie was a hobbyist, nice southern gentleman.

Paul Fassler's 80A (ex-Grunnah) arrived at Stimola's right about that time. It is possible that Lerch's came along with it, but may have already been there. The two of them were pals. I wrenched Lerch's car for the '81 Montreal race, as Phipps had headed off to quicker pastures and was piloting a Garvin Brown RT-4. That's the one he raced to the SCCA Runoffs victory...the March had earned him the qualifying points, and was then set aside at Stimola's. I was helping Wayne Menaker and Eric Kerman with Steve Shelton's entry for that race, so at least I got a handshake from Hubert.

Joe Nistasi was a race car driver. He was often poking around to see if he could steal a trick or two, and I had the impression that he would have had better results with better equipment. I don't know any history on that 80A either, but he was still campaigning it when we bumped elbows at an SCCA national at Pocono, Pennsylvania in late summer of 1982. I was there with Rex Ramsey's VDS Lola T-530 Can Am car, we were collecting points to qualify for the '82 Runoffs. All of that is in the other thread I hijacked...

You have most of the input I can provide at this point as far as the car histories. I could not find the Competiton Press and Formula information you referenced, and I'd like to have a look at that if you can provide a site link. Hopefully there has been enough information buried in my ramblings to help you set up the chess pieces. Feel free to ask any other questions if you think I can help. Pleased to have made your acquaintance!

Andrew Bernstein

[JagtechOhio]

Perhaps I have appeared in the wrong place, at the wrong time. No news flash there.

Bruin has yet to reply to my personal email, nor return here for the information he was originally seeking. Maybe he's just really ****ed to find out he went to all that trouble to paint his car Kermit the Frog green for no reason (apologies to Mr. Nelkin).

Chris hasn't replied to my request for additional resources, so I'll correct a few more mistakes for posterity and leave it at that.

First on the list, the mistakes I posted by virtue of using the Autocourse archive links above. To wit:

Edmonton, CASC round #6, 8/15/81.
I was quite correct, neither Hubert's 80A, its mechanic, or anyone from Stimola Race Preparation made that west coast trip for this race or the next one at Westwood. Chris has correctly written on oldracingcars.com that Phipps piloted the Garvin Brown Ralt RT-4, and this was his first event in it to my knowledge. Which also means that if the reason for the DNF is correct, that probably was not an Eric Kerman-built Stimola Race engine in the Ralt.

The #90 Phipps March 80A ran the first five CASC North American Formula Atlantic Series races. Additionally, the car competed at maybe seven or eight SCCA National events in 1981. I know he won both of the Nationals at Summit Point Raceway, there may have been others cited in Cris' personal archives. That March 80A never had one DNQ/S or mechanical DNF, and Hubert never messed up beyond a spin at West Palm Beach SCCA to start the year, and knocking the left front corner off the car at Mosport CASC. Eric Kerman's engines were bulletproof, so if Phipps lost an engine in his Ralt at Edmonton, I doubt it was one of Eric's. And it certainly wouldn't have been a Joe Grimaldi engine.

Westwood, CASC round #7, 8/23/81
Phipp's second race in the Ralt RT-4, not the March 80A as stated in the autocourse results. The March is parked in Stimola's shop, and Joe has assigned me to take over Peter Lerch's March 80A at the driver's request. Lerch was furious and almost scared to drive his car, having previously had two off-road-excursions caused by throttle linkage stuck at WOT.

Now for corrections to the oldracingcars.com information. The first point of note is the cover photo for the FA section: that sure looks like Howdy Holmes in the Doug Shierson Racing March 78B to me, which is the one that Rick Capone had in 1980. Ain't it?

Long Beach, CASC round #1, 3/14/81
Phipps is correctly listed in the 80A, but it is shown as a Garvin Brown Racing entry. Please strike that, or correct it. The car gave Hubert fits that day: I had been instructed to install a toggle switch on the roll hoop as a safety kill switch during the winter preparation. It had not been among the list of minor problems that showed up during the SCCA races we had already run: at Long Beach, the switch was vibrating to bits, and Hubert's skipping engine got him into his pit box. Stimola immediately saw the problem and got him back underway.

Joe Castellano owned a Ralt RT-1, which was also a stablemate at Stimola's and prepared by Bill Maher. The light blue color scheme looked exactly like the one in a photograph that appears earlier in this thread: in the picture, the RT-1 is going through a left-hander with a March close behind. I don't remember what the Doc was running at Long Beach, if it was an RT-4 as stated then it was a rent-a ride.

Mexico City, CASC round #2, 4/5/81
For the sake of consistancy, you can add that the Phipps entry was from Stimola Race Prep.

Mosport CASC round #3, 6/14/81
Peter Lerch is listed in a 78B, this is incorrect. Lerch was driving his orange/ white March 80A, wrenched by an Englishman named Chris Dieken if memory serves. Stimola Race Prep. The only March 78 or 79 chassis I recall ever being at Stimola's during my time there were the two owned by Tom and Steve Shelton. They each received their RT-4's around September 1981.

Mid Ohio CASC round #4, 6/28/81
Same errata concerning Lerch's entry as previously stated.

Peter Greenfield was a frequent visitor at Stimola's shop, and competed in some events with Phipps. I'm thinking he had an RT-1 at that time, and didn't have the 80A that both he and his son Micheal later raced. He's shown as a DNS, I don't remember anything about him being at Mid Ohio with a March. Another point to research.

Edmonton CASC round #6, 8/16/81
The oldracingcars entry for Phipps is correct, with this as his first race in the RT-4 to my knowledge. Davey White was the team manager, Ziggy Harkus and Anton (insert name here) wrenched the car. Like I said, not sure about the engine builder. Everyone at Stimolas was otherwise occupied and not in attendance.

Westwood CASC round #7, 8/23/81
oldracingcars entry for Phipps is correct, with this note: my much belated congrats to Hubert for qualifying .28 sec. off the pole at Q5, and acheiving P4 in only his second race with the Garvin Brown entry! That's a good result in a pool of very good racecar drivers. Probably some benefit of all the seat time he had accumulated, and the better equipment then at his disposal. Ziggy was always on top of things back then: presently, he resides atop the pitbox for Marco Andretti's Indy car effort.

No other corrections to the cited reference material to suggest.

This is a partial list of SCCA National events that the #90 Phipps March 80A competed in, 1981 only, from memory only:

West Palm Beach, Florida (later to become Moroso Park)
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte North Carolina
Summit Point Raceway, Virginia (two events that season)
Pocono International Raceway, Pocono Pennsylvania
Nelson Ledges, Ohio (if you say so. I'm drawing a blank)

That's all I can come up with for now, there were likely a couple of others. It was a busy year.

There is one other ancillary piece of information I can add, and it might be a good clue for researching chassis history. One of the first modifications I was instructed to make to the Phipps car was common to most all of the March 80A cars that were prepared at Stimola Race Preparation. Alan Ladyman took me over to Dale Lang's car, and showed me where to relocate the fuel pump: in a trapezoidal shaped opening cut into the tub at the right rear, and obscured when the sidepod was mounted. I then copied his doubler ring and riveted it around the outside of the aperature. The original fuel pump was a Facet, which proved to be insufficient on the high speed banking at Charlotte. Simon Farr rigged up a fuel pressure gauge for me in order for Phipps to pinpoint the problem himself. That night I installed a Holley pump with a pressure regulator, aft of the rear bulkhead.

I think the fuel pump relocation idea was a Shierson mod, but I'm not sure. The point is that the original chassis of Lang, Phipps, and Lerch were all modified with this cutout. None of the 80As I know of had been re-tubbed or reskinned by the time I left Stimola's. I don't know if Fassler's 80A (ex-Grunnah) was modified, I presume it was. If you find an original tub without this modification, it was not owned by any of the first three drivers mentioned for sure. Maybe every 80A received this mod, but it's possible that seldom-used early cars, or those campaigned by privateers, did not. Just a small clue, and one that could have been easily erased over time...or not.

In total, I hope my information has swept away more marbles than it has created. I believe that Hubert Phipps currently resides in Palm Beach Florida, and today found him listed as an entrant in a 2004 SVRA 3 hour enduro race. My last contact with him was a brief conversation in about 1991. Should anyone reading this happen to correspond with Hubert, or any of the other gentlemen I have mentioned, please extend them my warm regards.

This wasn't an exercise in name-dropping, I am fully disclosing what I know so that others can connect the dots I never saw. I am far removed from competetive motorsports now, but the lessons I learned from these racers have served me well to this day.

BRUIN.....the "Stimola Boys" had alot of sayings we tossed around the shop where your March once resided. Now that your beautifully prepared car is ready to resume its history, I have two suggestions...

Print this thread out, have a seat on the sidepod, and read it before you start writing your own chapter. Then climb in your March, and DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT.

Andrew Bernstein

[bruin]

I have set up and lap sheets showing chassis #11 with phipps driving it, also the wheels have phipps on them, the dash is also none standard, so it sounds like its the car,and it has green gell coat under all the paint, (green from factory)

Bruin

[JagtechOhio]

Then it went from green gelcoat to white paint befor September of 1980, 'cause it was white when I first saw it and royal blue as pictured when I last saw it.

Does it have the fuel pump hole cut in the tub like I described, or the doubler skin inside the cockpit sides?

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

Thanks for that extensive commentary on 1981.
A question about Phipps' trip to the Mexico City race.
Did Stimola rent out any of the other cars to Mexican drivers at that meeting?

1981 needs a little update on Oldracingcars. I'd already changed Greenfield over to an RT1 at Mid Ohio after I got the race programme. On Track showed him with a March. [On Track also gave Lerch in the 78B...]
Castellano in an RT4 at Long Beach is right. It was a rental drive in a works car and I corresponded with Joe about it a few years back. His RT1 was an ex John Paul car.
Greenfield later rented the same RT4 for Road Atlanta SCCA finals

One for your SCCA list
Hubert was second to Nastasi at Watkins Glen in June 81

Andrew: Do you have any photos or race documentation from 1981?

Chris

[bruin]

i will check, but here is the dash

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

I will send you in a couple of days, by private email, my spreadsheets for Atlantic results - including SCCA - from 1980-81

Any improvements you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Chris

[JagtechOhio]

And here I thought I was closing the floodgates...thanks to both of you for your responses.

First, to Bruin: That's the dash I made to Hubert's requirements. Also the brake bias control I installed. If you look just aft of the gear selector, you can see the cutout of the doubler skin, with two vertically spaced rivets at that point. Look at the gap along the top interior edge of the cockpit in the photo, on the left side: that's where the doubler ends.

That's Hubert Phipps' 80A, far beyond a shadow of a doubt. When you look inside any other similar car, these unique items will be apparent. You also have a set of one-off water elbows connected to your engine...I hope you got the spare ones I made too, in case you ever need one. And the undertray for the engine bay, if it survives.

The other thought that springs to mind when studying your three photos is that the car looks to be in remarkably good original condition. The cockpit doesn't show much wear and tear, and I'm nearly certain that the original steering wheel is pictured. So I would theorize that your car did not see a vast amount of action in the many years since 1981.

The "Nelkin Racing Green" is a detail I have no memory of, and no explanation for. If you found it on the cockpit cowling, it could have been swapped from another car in later years. All bets are off on noses, we had a full mold and were constantly repairing noses which sometimes were repainted and ended up on another Stimola car. If you found green paint on the tub anywhere, then you have seen evidence I never saw, or can't recall.

The sidepod fences I mentioned earlier are not fitted, and I can't make them out in the Phipps Mid Ohio photo that was posted by "mwphoto". MW, THANK YOU for that contribution, it is the only photo of Hubert's car that I have. The fences were something I added mid season, which I did not accurately state before. Wayne Menaker and I discussed the idea after seeing pics of the Laffite Ligier, and decided it was a sound enhancement. They caught the attention of somebody at Shierson when we showed up: I believe that at least one of their 81A's were sporting this addition by the end of the season. Someone with all the pictures I never saw can answer this.

Point about the fences it that you might be able to tell if those are the original sidepods, if you look inside and see evidence of their old mounting holes. I can't remeber exactly how the sidepods are constructed as I sit here now, but I think I had to add some holes for the fitment of the fences.

Again to Mr. Nelkin, my apology if I incorrectly challenged your statement of ownership.

Chris, here's what else I have for you. First, my thanks in advance for any records you can send to refresh my memory. As you have found, I am very careful to sort what I know as fact from what I vaguely recall, or what I never knew. My sole preoccupation at that time was Phipp's March, so alot of tunnel vision resulted in me knowing relatively little about what was going on around me. When you look at the number of events, and the travel involved between them, you get the idea. Programs, photos, grid sheets and the like did not fit in my toolbox...Nancy Stimola is the person who could help you most, I should think.

As for the Mexico City trip, I'm trying really hard to remember how it began. We went straight to Mexico City from Long Beach: Danny Mendosa driving the rig, Chris Deiken, Simon Farr and myself. Only Hubert's car competed in Mexico City as I recall. What bothers me is that I think someone else accompanied us to Long Beach: you've told me it wasn't Castellano's RT-1, and I don't see that either of the Shelton 78's made the trip. Was there a Fomula Ford support race at the CASC event at Long Beach in 1981? If so, maybe Chip Ganassi was with us. We may have left straight from the SCCA National at Charlotte, and gone to Long Beach, then to Mexico city. The short answer is no, I don't believe there were other Stimola Cars run at CASC round #2.

The fact to keep in mind if you continue to reconstruct these hisories is that Stimola Race Preparation was just that, a prep shop. Joe didn't own any of the cars, all of the FA, FF, and S2000 cars were owned by his customers. The owner/drivers were a varied group of aspiring racers, serious hobbyists, and a few dabblers. Joe Stimola was the owner of SRP (my boss, and that of the other Stimola boys) and SRE, which was staffed by Peter Marcovicci, Eric Kerman, Danny Mendosa, Paul (insert name here), et al. They built customer engines for the three formulas I mentioned. Think of it as a big repair shop, as opposed to the format of a racing team like Shierson or Haas. At some events, we showed up with six competitors and ten crew, that sort of idea.

Bruin, it looks as though you have a beautiful workshop as well. You have my admiration for that, and for its latest finished product. Two questions: do you have to run mirrors that large for your series? They look huge in the cockpit photo. And what's with all the freaking ride height????
Just kidding, you obviously know your craft. Best of luck with the March.

Andrew Bernstein.

[JagtechOhio]

I just found this photo on an incredible March site, dated 1999.

Looks like the sidepod fence idea caught on...but I have no idea who's car this is.

See the "Truechoice" sticker on the nose? That's a small shop which I believe is an offshoot of Jim Trueman's original Truesports Racing. It's five minutes drive from my shop in Powell, Ohio.

Looks like I'll be a newbie there soon too, and maybe have some history to add for someone.

[JagtechOhio]

Well if nothing else, I'm going to keep tidying up loose ends that I created, so as not to leave more open questions for others.

The yellow March 80A photo in the preceding post was taken from the site marchives, another that I'm sure you have already found. The same car was later listed for sale in New York in a Race Cars advert, no sale date given. I found a Truechoice van and trailer parked next to PAP parts in Powell Ohio today, but the store was closed...perhaps for Good Friday, or great racing somewhere else. The actual location of Truechoice has apparently been moved to nearby Hilliard Ohio. I plan to visit for my own entertainment, as there has been no yelp of enthusiasm from anyone for my coincidental discovery. Those guys wouldn't even answer my call.

Here's one that may be of interest to Chris. Among a set of decent photos I found, comprising individual shots of at least half the field at the 1982 SCCA Runoffs, was this unrecognizable red racer. Perhaps you can identify it as the 80X of James Michelet you had asked about in post # 30 of this thread. It's certainly no secret who was driving this car, whatever its designation.

Also pictured from the 1982 SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta are Nancy Stimola, Joe Stimola and baby Mac. Perhaps nobody cares, I'm posting it 'cause I liked the guy, That's a good enough reason for me.

Photo credits to Clark W. Nicholls

Andrew Bernstein

[JagtechOhio]

Hmmm, I seem to have just now figured out that Capone is driving a Tiga.

In which case, Baby Mac may actually be "Mini Me" from the movie "Austin Powers".

[bruin]

Thanks Andrew, if you look at the photo i have a block of wood holding up the nose, that is why its high, (some bits were at the plater) we have to run 50mm ride height in Oz, the mirrors were on the car when i got it so i kept them.
The green gel coat was on the cock pit body, head rest,etc and one pod.
thanks for the information its good to know its past.

Bruin

[bruin]

this is the car as run at Phillip Island historics in march, we had UK driver Paul Campfelid driving it

[JagtechOhio]

Thanks for the photo Bruin, the old girl look brilliant!

It's a pretty cool thing, to come to a site like this and see a car that you prepared 28 years ago show up in action half way around the world.

Just another one of those events in life that probably means nothing to anybody else. Means alot to me, thanks and GREAT JOB !

Andrew Bernstein
British Auto Care

[Chris Townsend]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Well if nothing else, I'm going to keep tidying up loose ends that I created, so as not to leave more open questions for others.

Here's one that may be of interest to Chris. Among a set of decent photos I found, comprising individual shots of at least half the field at the 1982 SCCA Runoffs, was this unrecognizable red racer. Perhaps you can identify it as the 80X of James Michelet you had asked about in post # 30 of this thread. It's certainly no secret who was driving this car, whatever its designation.

Also pictured from the 1982 SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta are Nancy Stimola, Joe Stimola and baby Mac. Perhaps nobody cares, I'm posting it 'cause I liked the guy, That's a good enough reason for me.

Photo credits to Clark W. Nicholls

Andrew Bernstein

Andrew

Would you be able to post the rest of those images here? Point me to a website? Post them to a private email?

Does anyone have an entry list, or full results for the 1982 SCCA run-offs?

Chris

[JagtechOhio]

So where's all the stuff I was supposed to be getting from you?

[Chris Townsend]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

So where's all the stuff I was supposed to be getting from you?

On its way later today, I've been cleaning it up...

Michelet is the number 1 car in the third picture.
Where on earth did the sidepods come from on that #5 RT4? They look huge and are certainly not Ralt made

Chris