Geoff Richardson's Ford turbo engine (mid-1970s)

[allenbrown]

Anyone remember this? The engine was tested in a 2-litre sports car (a March 75S??) and entered in a March 752 by Roger Heavens at Mallory Park July 1976 but didn't turn up.

Did it actually exist?

Allen

[fausto]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Anyone remember this? The engine was tested in a 2-litre sports car (a March 75S??) and entered in a March 752 by Roger Heavens at Mallory Park July 1976 but didn't turn up.

Did it actually exist?

Allen

I remember reading (probably on Autosport) about a Richardson turbo engine, used/to be used on a C Junior/C2 car, maybe a Harrier, although I'm not so sure about it...

[fausto]

Made up my mind, the car equipped by the Richardson Turbo engine could be the Harrier "raced" in some rounds of 1984 Thundersports:

http://www.wspr-racing.com/wspr/resu...under1984.html

it's the Duncan Bain/Mike Catlow LR4 Ford Turbo

[Jeremy Hall]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Anyone remember this? The engine was tested in a 2-litre sports car (a March 75S??) and entered in a March 752 by Roger Heavens at Mallory Park July 1976 but didn't turn up.

Did it actually exist?

Allen

You only have to pick up the phone and ask Geoff .

[allenbrown]

I wasn't imagining it! This from Motoring News 4 Sep 1975 p24:

Kimbolton engine builder Geoff Richardson is hoping to run his new turbocharged 1423cc Ford engine in the Roger Heavens Lola T294 at the Ingliston 2-litre race next week. Richardson says he has got over the initial lag problems with the engine and that it is giving somewhere around 285 bhp. The car is expected to be driven by Derek Worthington.

[Clive Brown]

Errr .... the equivalence at the time was 1.4 , so the motor was effectively designed to fall within the 2 litre class limit . However , at 285 bhp , it would have had only about 10 bhp more that Cosworth quoted for an ' off the shelf ' BDG , probably less than a contemporary BMW , less torque than either , less reliable , turbine/compressor unit , intercoolers , all the associated plumbing ... so what on earth was the point ?

[allenbrown]

Fun? The engineering challenge? Why did anyone climb Everest? Because it was there.

[zac510]

Yeah that whole turbo thing died out pretty quickly didn't it?

[Clive Brown]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Fun? The engineering challenge? Why did anyone climb Everest? Because it was there.

You've probably got it in one . Geoff Richardson was a well -respected engine rebuilder who had no need to indulge in flights-of-fancy for commercial reasons , so as the motor didn't exactly threaten to pull tree stumps , pure intellectual curiousity probably has a great deal to do with it .

[allenbrown]

Schnitzer started building a 1.4-litre BMW engine later in 1975 and were claiming 380 bhp IIRC. So Richardson might have thought there was more to come.

[Clive Brown]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Schnitzer started building a 1.4-litre BMW engine later in 1975 and were claiming 380 bhp IIRC.

Raced in their Group 5 BMW 320s , I think !

[Dan Rear]

Wasn't the March the Heavens 762, Allen, which did race that year, with a conventional engine IIRC. And why was Derek Worthington nicknamed 'Billy Whizz' does anyone remember?

[Ted Walker]

Geoff Richardson IS not was a well respected engine builder.