Argo

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

Steve, do any of your contacts know who had the car in its 'heyday', ie F3 1981??

I will see if I can get in touch with Mark Lawrence as he was the first person to run the car in Speed Events. It may take some time so be patient!

[Bryan Miller]

I have just been advised of another Argo over here, in Sth. Australia to be precise.

I have asked the current owner to join, his name is Ian Hills.

Car is a JM8 , if my scribbled notes are correct , first to John Booth , now of Manor Motorsport, then as the car was a bit useless rebuilt with assistance from Jo Marquart /John Bradshaw into a JM8/9B and fitted with a 1600cc all steel Ford Pushrod and won the Monoposto Championship 1995?? Car came from/via Dermot Healey.

[Dan Rear]

Bryan, that was a 1981 F3 car. John 'Butcher' Booth ran in it in early races that year, before giving up on it, as did most others. He borrowed I think a previous years JM6 from the factory to replace it, then called the whole year off. Shame, as he looked OK in FF1600 before and after, so you might say the JM8 ruined his career, driving-wise anyway.

[KIEFFER Dom]

Hello
I'm the owner of a Formula 3 Argo JM8 052 1981 with Toyota engine since 6 years
How many JM8 was built ?
Who is the first owner of that car :UK Goodwin car or Irish Tyrrell Arnold car. Who drives that car ? Tassin, Guerrero or another driver ?
Thanks for your search
Dom

[Chris Townsend]

Dom

The JM8s from 1981 with known chassis numbers are those of Rushen Green Racing [David Sears], David Sturdy and Paul Hutson.
Clearly you don't have the John Booth car as that's in Australia
That leaves the cars of Franco Forini [in Italy], Thierry Tassin [maybe more than one] Jon Beekhuis, Derek Butt and Roy Fish

Guerrero didn't drive for Argo in 1981, he'd graduated to F2

Chris

[Dan Rear]

Chris, don't think Sears was in a JM8 in 1981. He'd had a JM6 the year before, but in 81, I think he did a part season in an EJR RT3. Wasn't it Enrique Benamo in the RG JM8. Who were Messrs Butt and Fish, I've never heard of either of those 2?? Victor Rosso also had a JM8 early on in 1981.

[Chris Townsend]

Dan

Derek Butt was entered in a new JM8 early season, not sure if he ever appeared. Roy Fish offers for sale a JM8 'one race one test session' at the end of the season - this could, of course, be someone's else's car [something abandoned by Tassin; Butt's car] as easily as it could be an extra JM8.
I thought Sears did a couple of races in Rushen Green's JM8 after his RT3 money ran out...
and yes Victor Rosso did indeed do a couple of early season races in a JM8 described by Autosport as 'the works' mule'. Never was a racing car more aptly described...

Chris

[Davhut]

This is the Alsup FSV, August 1977 at Mid-Ohio support race for Can-Am

[allenbrown]

Zeitler Racing Imports? Who they?

[driftwood]

Originally Posted by Bryan Miller

I have just been advised of another Argo over here, in Sth. Australia to be precise.

I have asked the current owner to join, his name is Ian Hills.

Car is a JM8 , if my scribbled notes are correct , first to John Booth , now of Manor Motorsport, then as the car was a bit useless rebuilt with assistance from Jo Marquart /John Bradshaw into a JM8/9B and fitted with a 1600cc all steel Ford Pushrod and won the Monoposto Championship 1995?? Car came from/via Dermot Healey.

This is not a true Argo; it's a Raffo; a heavily modifed car; no idea how much of the car is original or whether even a car with plate. It was for sale here but no one wanted it as it was not a historic car; wrong engine etc, etc - I know why Ian bought the car !!

[jleonard]

I have some new sidepods and some suspension parts for the JM9. Could fit the 8 F3 also.

[fast.eddie]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

Alan, JM12 was the '82 FSV car, and JM14 the 83-84 FF2000. They looked v different. My techy knowledge is zero, but I'd have thought a 12 couldn't have been made into a 14. Chassis no. 128 may fir the bill for a 14 tho'.

the number was jm 14822.. no idea what it means.. type year month??

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by Davhut

This is the Alsup FSV, August 1977 at Mid-Ohio support race for Can-Am

And here, it would seem, is the same car today - in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum near Cleveland Ohio. The Museum lists it as a "1977 Argo JM-2 Super Vee Race Car".



They also have a #19 Red Roof Inns Indy March 82C and a Hogan Racing F5000 McLaren M10B.

[Joe Griffin]

Allen,

I believe this is Alsup's 1977 JM-2 Chassis #7 which he raced in air-cooled configuration. He traded this car in at the beginning of 1978 for JM-2 chassis #20. Zietler, the US importer of Argo cars, later converted #7 to water cooled.

Joe

[jleonard]

Looks like # 7 had the later front suspension and nose installed also.

[Jstreet]

Tom Pomeroy has asked me to correct the following statement Chris Townsend made in an earlier posting regarding his car (Argo JM2) and his physical condition when he was racing it. Please read his email to me below and his corrections in Chris statement highlighted in red.

Best regards,

John Street

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

To confirm John's 004 history.
I've been doing a bit of digging into SV Argos courtesy of Formula and Sports Car and two were imported by Zeitler in early 77. 007 is Alsup's 77 car, and 004 therefore that of Joe Hill. (Zeitler had been the Modus importer and when Jo Marquart started up Argo they continued the relationship.)
In 1978 Pomeroy gets 004 and 007 goes to Bill Cruse
Alsup gets 020 as a new car. Can't work out who gets 014, 016 and 018 yet though 018 could be Ciccone from new.

In 1979 the water-cooled engine is introduced. A number of drivers who've run in SV switch to the SCCA FC and run old air cooled motors or the watercooled engine on carbs rather than SV spec injection. Pomeroy is one of these - the SCCA finals wins for John's car were in FC both years. (Pomeroy also notable for being a driver with only one hand as result of a birth defect.)

1979: 004 Pomeroy [FC]
007: Cruse spare car [SV]
014: Unknown, perhaps Bill Vermeer [SV]
016: Mark Abel [SV]
018?: Bob Ciccone [SV]
020: James Havell [SV and FC on carbs]
023: Peter Moodie [SV]
025: Unknown, perhaps Cruse's new car [SV]
033: Werner Erhard [SV]
034: Unknown, perhaps Erhard's spare.
In addition to the above the following appear in JM2s in 1979 suggesting either extra cars or some renting out [Ciccone - Vogler as a pair of sprint drivers looks a good option]
Rich Vogler
Brian Johnson

John,
I was not born without a right hand. I was burned by high voltage electricity at age 13 and lost my right arm 4" from the shoulder and the front 1/2 of both feet as well. I was right handed at that time.

I would rather be noted for being the mechanic and engineer on JM2-004 as I did all the set up, repair, and engine building as well as the later conversion from AC to Water Cooled as well as the driving.

004 was equiped with Modus rear uprights when I got it. I believe it was converted to AC by Zeitler as a new unit and he may have used left over parts from his Modus parts stores. This gave the 004 car a wider rear track and better corner exit grip despite the required open differential. The AC also gave it a shorter wheelbase. The combination was very light and maneuverable but had greater aero drag than the narrow track cars. I retained this set up after conversion to WC primarily due to cost issues and the impending obsoletion by the "Tunnel Cars"!

Perhaps you could correct Chris Townsend vbmenu_register("postmenu_1595211", true); for me as I cannot post to this forum.

Thanks and "good grip"
Tom Pomeroy

[driftwood]

Just goes to show you cannot beat hearing info direct from the " horses mouth"
some interesting technical info here on AC and WC vee dub motors and wide track suspension etc
how did Tom change gear?

we have a few guys in Uk racing with hand defects and they do very well
notably Geoff Farmer with only 2 "fingers" on his right hand yet he races various cars from S2000 to F1 and Can am extremely hard and succesfully
Then you have Archie Scott-Brown with 1 arm racing those large vintage cars and huge steering wheels
is this the start of another thread?
i was skiing last month in austria and my friend said there goes the blind skier again- he was going very quickly with his "guide" putting many people to shame
you cannot beat sheer determination

[Chris Townsend]

I'm more than happy for the correction to be made and apologies to Tom for any ill-feeling the original description may have caused.
[John T. please could you effect this?]

My source for the nature of Tom's incapacity was a contemporary issue of the SCCA magazine Sports Car, so it was not just an injudicious assumption on my part. I take it, from his description of a horrible injury, that Tom must have used a prosthetic arm. And certainly, a very fine engineer and racer regardless...

Chris

[John Turner]

I haven't changed your statement on your post #74, Chris, because otherwise the last couple of posts above might prove a bit baffling to readers. However, I have added a note which points to the correction made by Tom and conveyed to us by John Street.

[fast.eddie]

Can anyone help me? I am trying to find anyone who has knowledge of the Argo JM14 chassis numbers. Do you have a JM14. I have a JM14 which may or may not have the correct chassis plate;my number is jm 12822. Does anyone know how to read it? I asume it is 12th month 1982 chassis 2; anybody no any more than that? The reason is that I may need to prove the year of manufacture due to the fact I won the championship with it! No one cares if you're not winning!

regards eddie,

[John Turner]

I'm sorry, I seem to have missed this one; I'm moving it to the main history forum bit will merge it later with the Argo archive, if we get any info.

[John Elwin]

I think your best bet would be to try & track down Nick Jordan, formerly of Argo. He is, or at least was recently, working for Lola. They should be able to put you in contact.

[mwphoto]

Picture taken at Mid-Ohio regional June 28-29, 1980

ARGO JM2-004 ???

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

Curently undergoing a much needed refurbish is Argo JM8-053-F3. This car was run by Mark Lawrence in sprints and hillclimbs with a Toyota engine fitted. The Toyota was then replaced with a Rover V8 and John Fellows joined Mark behind the wheel. The car passed through several hands (including Mike Morgan) before Keith Harris acquired it. As Harris is having difficulties squeezing into the cockpit once the work is completed the car will be back up for sale.

Car now in the very capable hands of Barrie Lines.

[Neptune]

Seeing the photo of Tom Pomeroy in the Argo and seeing his message earlier through John Streets hand brought a couple of points to mind. One is that it's good to see Tom in active discussions about his racing. I've talked with Tom a couple of times at the prompting of a mutual friend, Charlie Smith, since Charlie knows of the relationship between Toms Argo and my Modus, M1, both being on the front row of the 1980 SCCA runoffs at Road Atlanta. I might also mention that I autocrossed(slalom) against Tom back in the late 60s and early 70s and he was a strong competitor then too. But I was still an engineering student at Ohio State and not able to devote the hours into my Sprite that Tom was to his FV.

I must also mention that SCCA continued Formula Junior in 1964, a year later than the FIA recognized it. In 1965, SCCA established new classes for formula cars: Formula A for formula 1 cars and also cars using stock block engines of up to 5 liters, also called formula 5000.

The number of cars being imported and converted to what had been formula Libre were covered with a new class of Formula B for up to 1600cc production car engines. This class continued for many years until it essentially became Formula Atlantic in the late 70s.

At the start of these new classes, the most common car was the previous year's Formula Juniors. There was also a source for new cars coming into this class for under 1100cc engines as the FIA 1000cc F2 and F3 cars were allowed. This new class was called formula C. FC continued through 1978 and was even experiencing a resurgence due to the Cosworth BDJ motor and appropriate FIA F3 cars to fit them into.

But, for the 1979 season, SCCA combined FC and FSV into a new class called Formula Continental, but also abbreviated FC. I believe there were more liberal rules for FSV cars running in the pro SV races, but for club racers, there was NO decision required as to run in Formula Continental or FSV. Soon the class was dominated by FSV cars and ex-FC cars pretty much disappeared. The last strong performance by an ex-FC car that I am aware was the 1980 runoffs when Mike Rand put my Modus on the pole for the combined race of Formula Continental cars. The outside front row car was Tom's Argo, but driven by another. A few years later, SCCA played w/ the rule book again and added the Formula Ford 2000 cars to the Continental class. Buried in the rules though were allowances for running an under 1100cc engined car or an air-cooled SV. Still abbreviated FC, most have no idea that the class was initially for left over Formula Juniors.

My point here though was to explain there was no choice for FC and FSV competitors in the USA in 1979. Everyone had to be in Formula Continental.

Roger