Group A Rover SD1/Vitesse Rally History (sep from main thread)

[davyboy]

That 2-door machine is a hideous looking car... the SD1 was never a great looking machine and one wonders had it not had the 3.5 lump in it whether it would ever had been a saloon racer. Such a contrast with the Capri.

[estebes]

And about the portuguese Vitesse, does anybody knows something about this car. The livery still as the letering "iophil" an old portuguese lactic produtcs that was bought by Danone in 1989.





cheers

[estebes]

As I can see the pics in the last post, probably most of you can't see it too, so I post it again in attachment form.

[estebes]

One of the possibilites was a promotion car, but as we can see in this picture tha car really as a place to put a number to the races in is livery.

[chunterer]

That doesn't look like something with much racing history. Can you elaborate estebes?

The faint red stripe down the flanks suggests it may even have been a UK Traffic 'Jam Sandwich' police car at some point?

[banger_racer]

Got to say i agree chunt just looks like any Rover in any scrap yard.
has it got rollcage mounting points?
chassis number?

[estebes]

We can see the Iophil logo here:

http://www.danone.pt/somos/historia.aspx

in "Anos 70"

The two reds stripes, the lower larger than the higher, that we see in this Rover is just the same tipe just like in the transit vans on the Danone site.

On the Bonnet just beetwin the headlights, we can still see the remais of the Danone lettering, that means that this livery was after 1989.

[estebes]

The word can be "iogurte" or Danone" both ewords ends in "e".

[estebes]

Originally Posted by banger_racer

Got to say i agree chunt just looks like any Rover in any scrap yard.
has it got rollcage mounting points?
chassis number?

Till now I don't have access to the car, so I can't confirm that. I already have the owners phone number so I will call them.

[banger_racer]

logo's and graphics don't prove race history. it could be a show car or something a fan build there was many of these sorts of replicas build during st era. from the pics don't looklike its got a cage fitted tho this could have been removed. thats why i said check for mounting points. if it is genuine its a shame its been left to rot away.

[estebes]

Originally Posted by banger_racer

logo's and graphics don't prove race history. it could be a show car or something a fan build there was many of these sorts of replicas build during st era. from the pics don't looklike its got a cage fitted tho this could have been removed. thats why i said check for mounting points. if it is genuine its a shame its been left to rot away.

That's right! And probably that's why it doesn't have any mechanical part.

[estebes]

An zoom give us the word "iogurte" and the number on the right upper corner of the bonnet, probably the number that was given to them on the hipotetcly last race!

[estebes]

Just discover what car is. Dont knew the chassis number, but already find it on a picture at the races. Whill give the news in the next days.

[MG Rover Sport]

I was there at that meeting KA, and have a few photos of the Metro 6R4 that was on display next to the Rover - if I remember right.

I'm pretty sure that the show cars were based on standard road cars. Certainly the car above has standard Vitesse 5-stud cross-spoke alloy wheels, which would imply that the hubs are standard as well.

The Computervision rally show car was advertised on ebay last year sometime. Sure it was registered JAC ???V, and we may even have talked about it already within this thread.

[KA]

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

I was there at that meeting KA, and have a few photos of the Metro 6R4 that was on display next to the Rover - if I remember right.

I'm pretty sure that the show cars were based on standard road cars. Certainly the car above has standard Vitesse 5-stud cross-spoke alloy wheels, which would imply that the hubs are standard as well.

The Computervision rally show car was advertised on ebay last year sometime. Sure it was registered JAC ???V, and we may even have talked about it already within this thread.

That figures- I've got pics of the 6R4 and Computervision Rover showcars as well, and both Rovers look like they're based on production shells. I've got a pic saved on my PC of a Computervision showcar registered 'JAC304V'- not sure where it came from, may have been posted by someone earlier in the thread?
I don't have the pics I took at the TT to hand, but as I recall, the Computervision showcar carried the registration of one of the actual rally cars- one of the 'B5??AOX' series.

As I remember, one of the TWR showcars was displayed in the Gaydon museum collection.

[Tubbsy8]

Originally Posted by corliss

I have backtracked through my research and found that this photo was actually of the the young lad, it was taken in the Place De La Concorde, Paris, 1984. The car was incidental, but historically interesting as I can find no further information. studying the registration plate it is in the "french" style but not in a sequence I have seen on french registrations, so maybe not a french entry? Having said that there has been a Rover advertised recently claiming to be an ex factory car built for long distance marathons, it is a 2 door!! but underbonnet shots look remarkedly like the early factory cars, also has the roof air vents used by factory. Also in 1991 I was offered for sale an ex factory rally car I have never heard of since, it was built by BL for the Himalaya rally and carried the names of 3 ladies who`s names I cannot remember, it had a 4.2ltr engine on 4 sidedraught webers, Dry sumped, a ZF box and Jag 4HA axle, 3 fuel tanks, twin rear shocks, still covered in dust and mud, exactly as rallied, and if I remember correctly painted in Daily Mirror colours, Red/White. Definately a genuine "works" car. It was in a dealers shed somewhere near Waltham Abbey, he also had lots of factory 6R4 stuff including a very rare 2.5 rover based v6 engine ( the original cut down V8 ) I was prepping a circuit race car so did not bother with it, I could kick myself!





Obviously this car has changed over the years, but was it really a "factory" car? seller claims it was one of a couple built by BL Motorsport for rally raids, even has roof vents seen on French car.

Skip

I know this car it was and think still is owned by a guy who owned Carings in Upshire (near Waltham Abbey). He used to be a rally driver for the works team (Unipart) and has 6R4's and Lotus Cortina rally cars among other racing cars. he took me out in it once, my god what a beast. It was so loud you can here it 4 miles away. The exhaust was a 4inch straight through with no silencer. The story he told me was that he was supposed to be driving it in the himalayan rally but broke his arm 6 weeks before in an accident. As a result he arranged for someone else to drive it, this may have been the three ladies as a PR stunt. It is without doubt the same car.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Tubbsy8

I know this car it was and think still is owned by a guy who owned Carings in Upshire (near Waltham Abbey). He used to be a rally driver for the works team (Unipart) and has 6R4's and Lotus Cortina rally cars among other racing cars. he took me out in it once, my god what a beast. It was so loud you can here it 4 miles away. The exhaust was a 4inch straight through with no silencer. The story he told me was that he was supposed to be driving it in the himalayan rally but broke his arm 6 weeks before in an accident. As a result he arranged for someone else to drive it, this may have been the three ladies as a PR stunt. It is without doubt the same car.

Which car do you mean?- the one in the pics (I think we established that the shortened car in the pics is what remains of the ex-Ken Wood 'Golden Wonder' Scottish Championship car- an early ex-works car, later sold to Duncan Jaffray who shunted it and re-shelled it into a shortened shell) or the one Corliss talks about having nearly bought some years back?

If it's that one, then two thoughts come to mind- Firstly, Philip Young did the Himalayan event several times in the early 80's in an remarkable variety of (usually BL) cars- everything from a Morris Minor to ex-works Austin Healey 3000 and TR8, and they were usually sponsored by Unipart- I can't swear to it, but I've got a vague recollection that he might have used a Rover at some point?

The Healey and TR are (or used to be at least) in the Gaydon museum:
http://www.austinhealeyclub.co.uk/Na...n%20Healey.jpg

Alternatively (or maybe connected?) Ian 'Del' Lines bought 3 ex-Austin Rover Middle East Rally Team Vitesses in 1985 and used them on a variety of events- We've talked about these before earlier in the thread, as one of them was shunted and reshelled into an ex-TWR Bastos race shell. There's a good piece on the SD1 Owners Club website about Del Lines' cars, and re-reading it I spotted something interesting I'd missed before:

In all Del’s team did around 25 events with “A377” and “A683” with some success. The program came to a temporary halt in early February 1986 when, due to ‘driver error’ Del planted the Pond car A379 VUK into a large, one thousand year old tree in Longleat Park – in full view of his then Bank Manager! “A683” was sold to Mick Moore in Lancs and “A377" was used on a Himalaya rally in 1986 and not seen for some time, it is now being rebuilt by the present owner for another rally in Asia.

http://www.roversd1club.net/features...e-ianlines.asp

The 3 cars were

• A377VUK (ex-recce car)
• A379VUK (ex-Tony Pond)
• and A683NJO, (ex-Abdullah Omar)

[Tubbsy8]

The car that was nearly bought near Waltham Abbey. He was given it by Unipart after the Himalayan rally as he was part of the team.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Tubbsy8

The car that was nearly bought near Waltham Abbey. He was given it by Unipart after the Himalayan rally as he was part of the team.

Cheers- I thought it was that one you meant, but just wanted to be sure I hadn't misread it...That's interesting...The Unipart connection on a Himalayan Rally strongly suggests to me Philip Young was involved- I wonder if it is the same ex-works/Austin Rover Middle East car mentioned in the Del Lines article I linked to....

[KA]

We've mentioned the rallycars several times, and the cars used in the Austin Rover Rallysprint events at Donington- a couple of '84 (I think?) rallysprint shots:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/estoril...7603570568648/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/estoril...7603570568648/

[KA]

...and a closer view

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27880036@N07/2611511606/

[KA]

A slight diversion back to the rallycars- a nice shot of Ken Wood's ex-works 'Golden Wonder' car- presumably just after leaving the start of the 1983 Scottish- I know we had some YouTube video of this one, but don't recall if we ever found a pic:

http://flickr.com/photos/18581554@N04/2938027441

[corliss]

Hi again.
I bumped into this pic and it rang a bell, taken in England but i dont know where.
A379VUK, definately looks like a genuine works car, long distance spec, fuel filler for extra tank in rear quarter glass etc, unusual air vents in front wing i have not noticed before, exhaust exiting from rear panel, very much like the Himilaya car i almost bought many many years ago and have never been able to trace. Speedline front wheels but rears i have not seen before.
Grp1 car progressing slowly, i keep having to buy cars to get correct parts, i found a V8S with the original Grp1 rear spoiler, never seen one on a road car before, had to buy another just for the gear lever knob and gaitor, found 2 original race steering wheels in the states. Will post pics when i get some paint on it.
Skip

[MG Rover Sport]

Hi Skip,

Many thanks for bringing that photo to our attention. I know of the car, but haven't seen that photo before I must admit. I wonder if it was taken at one of the Rally Car Days at Castle Combe?

The car A379 VUK belongs to Duncan Holder and is the ex-Del Lines rally car that was crashed into a tree at Longleat in 1988 and detailed in the often quoted Rover SD1 Club articke on Del here - http://www.roversd1club.net/features...e-ianlines.asp

This is the car after it hit the tree...



...and this is the same car after Del Lines reshelled it into an ex-Bastos shell that he acquired from Tom Walkinshaw when he bought the ex-Jeff Allam/Ahmin Hahne Bathurst car and the ex-Tony Pond Computervision car (B565 AOX)...



The Himalayan car that you said you nearly bought was the sister car A377 VUK - both cars (along with A683 NJO) were initially built for the Austin Rover Middle East Rally Team and they contested a handful of rallies 'out there' in the hands of Tony Pond / Rob Arthur (A379 VUK) and Abdullah Omar / John Daniels (A683 NJO). A377 VUK was the team's recce car.

The additional vents are visible on the above photos - necessitated due to the hot dusty conditions in Dubai and Oman.

[KA]

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

Hi Skip,

Many thanks for bringing that photo to our attention. I know of the car, but haven't seen that photo before I must admit. I wonder if it was taken at one of the Rally Car Days at Castle Combe?

The car A379 VUK belongs to Duncan Holder and is the ex-Del Lines rally car that was crashed into a tree at Longleat in 1988 and detailed in the often quoted Rover SD1 Club articke on Del here -

I don't think I've seen that pic before either, but you could be right about it being one of the Combe Rally Days. More pics of the Holder car from 2002/3 here: http://www.adriansslotcarworld.co.uk/DRover.htm

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

The Himalayan car that you said you nearly bought was the sister car A377 VUK - both cars (along with A683 NJO) were initially built for the Austin Rover Middle East Rally Team and they contested a handful of rallies 'out there' in the hands of Tony Pond / Rob Arthur (A379 VUK) and Abdullah Omar / John Daniels (A683 NJO). A377 VUK was the team's recce car.

The additional vents are visible on the above photos - necessitated due to the hot dusty conditions in Dubai and Oman.

Did the A3xxVUK registered cars start off life as cars used at the Donington Rallysprint events- that thought rings a vague bell, possibly from earlier in the thread?

While we're back with the rally cars, a couple more thoughts:
Tom Walkinshaw also did the 1984 National Breakdown Rally, first round of the British Open series in a Herbie Clips-backed Vitesse- found a mention of this in an old Rally Sport mag over Christmas, but no pics. Anyone have an idea of which car it was?

Secondly, and probably already mentioned, one of the ex-Computervision cars (B564AOX I think) went to Gordon Smith in Scotland, who campaigned it for a couple of years at least with backing from Aberdeenshire garage W&R Murray of Alford (think they were a Rover dealer at that time?). The car certainly did the RAC in 1986/7 in his hands- a DNF in 86, (head gasket early on the second day), but finished 36th in 1987. Again, I found a couple of not particularly good shots of the car in Rally Sport mag RAC reports (At that time, Rally Sport's post-RAC issue used to attempt to publish a pic of every single car on the event)