Alloy....more "meat" on rear of spokes on later ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by conrod
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Alloy....more "meat" on rear of spokes on later ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by conrod
What happened here, I don't remember this. (yes I know he has crashed, but where, how, who with etc)
I think its a Sierra
Looks pretty messy
Thats when Dick went Nascar racing. Its either the Calder Thunderdome, or when he ran some selected Nascar events in the US. He was a HUGE hit in the US, because he would talk to tv commentators during the races, something the regular Nascar drivers wouldn't do.
Thanks Steve, he was good at publicity alright.
February 1988 inaugral Calder Park Thunderdome NASCAR meeting. There is a photo of this crash on pages 182-183 in the book "Dick Johnson The real story of a folk hero" that was taken after the first impact, but prior to the one that inflicted the damage to the rear. He didn't finish....Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
Incidently, the car is a Thunderbird Rod...totally different to a Sierra!!!!!!
Could not see the badge Mal, cheers
Thats got to be the absolute BEST reply i have ever come across- take a bow Rod.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
re the 88 Silverstone TT, one angry man with "egg" on his face (hint hint) stormed down pit row and had a few angry words with the Johnson team (in English, despite him always pretending to the media he didnt speak it) to which a certain Kiwi who was running the Johnson team replied with "no bad feelings Rudi, we will even sell you one of our diffs" (dicky's team had homoligated the harrop developed diff based on the trusty ford 9", which was a heap cheaper and simpler to run than the hi-tech official Ford unit)
those Moffat cars must still be very strong in the bodies...considering how little they raced.
How many cars did Moffat buy off Eggenberger? Was it 2?
Also, did Moffat ever actually buy the RS500 he shared with Andy Rouse in the Australian rounds of the WTCC?
Pretty sure that the Rouse car returned to the U.K, Moff only leased it. All his future Sierra's were Eggenbergers with the lot. Moff cause quite an eye opener getting an eggenberger car because up until that point Eggenberger had refused to do a "customer car" for anyone, Moff must had has pretty influential connections. Moff must have been jinxed though, Rouse had never had a Getrag break before Bathurst, and the next couple of years his cars were in a position to win Bathurst but each time was struck down with terrible bad luck. Remember the head gasket blowing after the very long period under the safety car when his car was a lap up on everyone including eventual winner Longhurst? I really felt for him that day. And on the 88 race, the result could have been entirely different if only LP had listened to the privateers in practise that the rocker studs were faulty and if only he hadnt given walkinshaw a drive who thrashed it!
Thanks Jim, yes this was my vague recollection of the Moffat/Rouse match up in 1987. The car was supposed to continue on to New Zealand following the two Aussie rounds, but the pin was pulled before this happened.
It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit scratchy so Im not 100% on this but Im reasonably confident the car did not go to NZ for the WTTC round at Wellington after Calder, but it did go to Mt Fuji. I cant recall why Rouse didnt go to Wellington, it was the only round of the WTTC he didnt compete in. At Mt Fuji the car was back to the Andy Rouse team, not A. Moffat Enterprises or whatever the name was for the team at Bathurst and Calder. IIRC Rouse came second at Mt Fuji and was only becuse he was punted into a big spin by a brakeless local car which flat spotted his tyres and he had to have an extra pit stop which effectively handed the race to Ludwig/Niedzwiedz. Moff definately was not there, Rouse's co-driver was a local Japanese driver, I cant remember his name. I think I read in Auto Action that the car was sold to a Japanese team after Mt Fuji, but returned to the U.K some time later, I dont know if the deal fell through or not, I seem to recall it was raced in Japan in 89 though but Im not quite sure
To complete the loop on Moffat and Sierras, fed up with Rouse after 1987, in 1988 he managed to buy an Eggenberger Sierra. Rumoured to have cost AUD 300,000, a heck of a lot of money for the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by jimdigris
He did not take it to Mt Fuji that year, but did in 1989 when teamed with Klaus Niedzwiedz he won the race. This turned out to be his last race as he quietly retired. A great honour to win your last race. The race was 2 days after his fiftieth birthday.
For further info Google Allan Moffat and open the Wikipedia site.
For a very interesting comment on Andy Rouse I quote from Mick Webb who was Moffat's chief mechanic at the time:
"I was sent to England to do the deal with Rouse. I got a hell of a shock when I arrived at his workshop in Warwickshire. Anyone who has been on a tour of our top V8 teams will know how clinical the workshops are. Even in those days we tried to keep Moffat's workshop as clinical as we could, but Andy's workshop was the complete opposite. I remember walking into the workshop and thinking I have never seen so much garbage in my life. I had been to Heidelberg Motor Wreckers (Melbourne) before and I think Heidelberg Motor Wreckers was tidier. There were so many car parts - engines, gearboxes, you name it - spread all over this little four or five car garage. There was absolute shit everywhere and I thought "What have I done?"
I remember getting on the phone to Moffat that night saying "I think we have made a mistake".
At Bathurst it would have been a successful campaign if the car had been more reliable. We later learnt that the gearbox was an old unit, and there were a few other faulty things so the car wasn't up to the job"
It's very interesting to get an honest alternative view on things.
Hey Terry, thats a great quote from Mick Webb! Very interesting. In hindsight, Rouse did come good in 1988, and beyond, and he enjoyed a very popular victory at the Silverstone TT in 1988 when he finally beat the Eggenberger cars, by being both fast and reliable.
Yes thats right Jim, no Rouse/Moffat for Wellington. Looking back at the end of the season on his 1987 experience with Rouse, you could see why Moffat moved mountains to buy an Eggenberger car in 1988. Of the Asia/Pacific WTCC races, the two Eggenberger cars finished 1st and 2nd at Bathurst (later dq), 1st and 12th at Calder, 1st and 3rd at Wellington, 1st and 5th at Fuji. Meanwhile, the Rouse car failed to reach the finish in either Aussie race, didn't appear at Wellington, and finished 2nd at Fuji. To be fair, the Rouse car was FAST, but unreliable.Quote:
Originally Posted by jimdigris
Looking for something else and came across this shot of the Peanut Slab Sierra at Pukekohe.
Attachment 20744
The real cheats you mean?Quote:
Originally Posted by superford
The Europeans werent very good at playing with a straight bat in the 1987 WTCC were they? Light weight M3's, dodgey fuel and wheel arches on the Cosworths . . .
The general consensus within the various factory camps seemed to be that if everyone was cheating, nobody was gaining an advantage. It was really only the Bathurst WTCC race which really brought it to a head.
It was Frank Gardner who placed the protest against the Eggenberger cars, nobody else would do it (probably because they were all cheating too!) For 1988 Gardner switched from the M3 to the RS500, and found it extraordinarily difficult to buy parts from Ford to built his race cars;)
I once made a trip to the very same wreckers in the early 90s to pick up some pistons for a 351 a friend was rebuilding on the cheap so he could sell it. There was not one square inch anywhere where there was concrete that wasnt swimming in old sump oil and mud. And old bloke led me out to a back corner of the main shed and said take my pick, as he pointed at about 50 44 gallon drums full of old pistons, luckily they had the engine type painted on the side of the drum. the place was like you see in the movies with rednecks cutting up stuff with oxy right next to fuel cans and gas cylinders! I had also been in Mick Webbs engine centre six years early when he was selling rebuilt 351s to the street community and Ive seen grubbier hospitals so I know what Mick meansQuote:
Originally Posted by Terry S
Out of interest, what became of the RS500 raced by Ray Lintott in Valvoline colours? I believe this was a former DJR team car? Has it since been restored back to DJR livery?
Hi Steve
This is the last listing I read of DJR car owners:
DJR1 Andy Lloyd - UK
DJR2 Ian Goff - UK (Under restoration)
DJR3 Holmes Family
DJR4 Bowden collection
DJR5 Bowden collection
DJR6 Chris Stillwell
Promo car? in Tasmania Motoring Museum
I read (a couple of years ago) that DJR3, the ex Lintott car was being restored. Never seen any recent photos of it. I think it was still in QLD?
Re: the Promo? car in Tassie Museum, here is a pic of it.
It seems to have "knockoff" wheels and a cage but the rest of car looks standard (standard Sierra bonnet, mirrors, wipers, no fuel dump fittings etc). My guess it is a promo car?
Maybe Ellis has some info as it is in his neck of the woods...
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...t/081-2005.jpg
Its still in museum
When next in I'll get a bit more info
I see that on V8 supercars.com.au their Saturday sleuthing bit is looking for ex Moffat Sierras.
They say may be Bruce Miles in NZ. So should be someone here who can respond
I'm sure one of those cars is in the UK now Terry?
Interesting car. Its been fitted with a rollcage. I wonder why they went to this much trouble for a promo car?Quote:
Originally Posted by Haga
Thanks, this is great info. The two cars in the UK, are they presented as DJR Shell cars, or were they raced by someone in the UK in the era? Didn't Rob Gravett have a couple of DJR cars?Quote:
Originally Posted by Haga
DJR1 and 2 went to Rob Gravett
DJR1 (now-ish)
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...5Donington.jpg
DJR 2 (early this year)
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...R2Resto006.jpg
Brilliant photos. Where is the first photo taken? Also, why is DJR 2 white?
The note on my DJR1 photo says Donington 2005.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
DJR2's history is a bit of a mystery. It last racecar use was as a tarmac rally car. The owner must have been extremely happy to find out it was a DJR car. It appears to have lost all/a lot of its GroupA parts along the way.
Also as a DJR car it was originally LHD.....it is now RHD.
Pic of it as tarmac rally car:
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...gt/DJR2003.jpg
am I the only one here who thinks a crime has been committed? :(
Thanks again for this. I'm really scratching my head over why the car was changed around so much. Its the paint that I find the most surprising. Race cars were/are just tools, built to perform a job. While many get repainted on the outside as new owners and sponsors come along, the interiors and engines bays usually remain in their original colour. The Bryan Sala Sierra is a good example of this, being an ex-B&H car. Sala painted the outside white and red, but the interior and engine bay remained in B&H yellow, as stripped every last nut and bolt to repaint the interior/engine bay etc is not something most teams worry about. As long as it looks good on the outside. So its interesting DJR 2 was fully stripped back and repainted white, including interior and engine bay. Its amazing, without guys like you who keep a check on all the different chassis', I'd never have guessed that this was once a DJR Group A car racing in Aus!Quote:
Originally Posted by Haga
you can lose a lot of weight by stripping all the paint off (depending on how many repaints the car has had) and you also get to repair all the cracks and remove all the bog. updates to the chassis are easy and covered by new paint.
something for all you overweight race ca owners to think about next winter.
Yep, that is a very good point! ^ ^
Here is the RS500 Chris Bowden was racing at the 2013 Australian Muscle Car Masters.
Attachment 21556
Some of the RS500s running (and expiring) at the 2013 Silverstone Classic. The Labatt's colour scheme is still my favourite on a Sierra.
Attachment 21557
Attachment 21558
Attachment 21559
Attachment 21560
When these guys were racing at the Wellington street race I was lucky enough to get a press pass (dad worked for tvnz and put race cams in). As well as meeting Dick Johnson, and some others I walked around bits of the track that only the press were allowed in, and got some good shots with my cheapo camera. I will dig them out and scan them over the weekend.
I just saw this on the Bowdens facebook page:
From a photoshoot yesterday with Dick Johnson and John Bowe at Lakeside. Look out for the upcoming article in unique cars magazine.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...22899324_n.jpg
Heres another pic of their growing collection of DJR sierras
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...91165326_n.jpg