Article: The Ian Algie Alfetta

[Steve Holmes]

The Alfetta was completed and ready to be tested in early 1980. It featured no front or rear spoilers. Predictably, its first events highlighted numerous areas that needed development, most notably the suspension, and aerodynamics. The car was sprung too softly, it displayed lift in the front, and a lack of downforce in the rear. Ian had used as many original Alfetta parts in the suspension as he could, including standard springs. He also used the factory De-Dion, albeit, greatly strengthened. Still being new to racing, his understanding of suspension systems was relatively limited.

Ian gave the Alfetta its first competition outing on the short Pukekohe club circuit. But when he advanced to the full Pukekohe layout, the lack of aero made the car extremely hard to drive. On the long back straight, the nose was developing so much lift the front wheels were barely touching the ground.

Despite the early troubles, Ian was fortunate just to have somewhere to race the car. As it was being built, so its heavily set-back engine position was causing consternation within the new Sports Sedan Association. The Algie’s were warned that unless this was rectified, the car wouldn’t be welcome. But they pushed ahead regardless. Ian had a close confident in Red Dawson, long-time racer and winner of the 1970 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship. Dawson spoke with Ian on numerous occasions, and told the brothers to continue down the path they were on, as the Sports Sedan Association didn’t have the car numbers to turn them away. Ultimately, he turned out to be correct. Eventually, an agreement was met whereby cars fitted with an engine moved beyond the 12 inch limit from its standard position would have to carry additional weight.

The Alfetta contested its first racing season still wearing its primer coat, off-set by the orange gelcoat of the Autodelta lookalike flares. It was painted red for the 1981 season, and it was during this season front and rear spoilers were added. Ian built and installed a deep front spoiler at first, which finally stopped the lift. However, the lack of rear downforce was worsened as a result. By the early 1980s, aerodynamics on racing sedans were something of an unknown science. Although single seaters and sports cars had been fitted with aero devices for years, few people considered their place in sedan racing. Most sedans during this time were fitted with a front spoiler, and what was essentially a tall Gurney-flap affixed to the boot lid. These were larger on some cars than others, and, for the most part, had a mostly positive effect. But few really understood how placing a single seater-style wing (whereby air passes beneath it to pull the wing towards the ground) up in the clean air at the rear of the car could aid its handling. Not only did these wings produce excellent downforce when shaped and angled correctly, compared to the body mounted flaps many cars used, also produced less drag.

The first time Ian drove the Alfetta at Pukekohe with the front spoiler installed, he was launched into a violent spin when he pressed the brake pedal at the end of the straight. The shape of the Alfetta’s standard rear bodywork was creating massive lift, which increased the faster it travelled. By adding the front spoiler, the rear lift worsened with the lack of rear downforce. Following its spin, Ian returned to the pit, loaded the car, and took it home. There he built a large rear wing which sat at just above roof height, and extending rearward of the bodywork. It was affixed using two large side plates. By now, Ian had been working at Racing Team VDS for some time, and had developed a greater understanding of aerodynamics. Indeed, this wing would generate more controversy, as Sports Sedan regulations stipulated it must be no wider than the vehicles roof. But rather than fit within the roof dimensions, it was as wide as the Alfettas standard bodywork.

Over the next couple of seasons, Ian tested and raced the Alfetta regularly, and continued its development. As with many Sports Sedan and OSCA entrants of the 1980s, Algie’s Alfetta became something of a science project, undergoing constant evolution as new ideas were brought to life and trialled. Ian’s growing understanding of aerodynamics aided the cars progress. Eligibility issues were perhaps overlooked for a time, because he was one of the few to be a regular starter, while Sports Sedans still struggled for car numbers. The grids were boosted with the arrival at some of the larger meetings with cars from the South Island OSCA series, and these hotly contested competitions became a huge drawcard throughout the decade. They also helped Sports Sedans make the step onto the international calendar, as part of the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting, as well as the Bay Park and Manfeild rounds that made up the Formula Pacific series. Dubbed the ‘big-bangers’, the Sports Sedans and OSCA cars quickly became a crowd favourite. They were loud and hugely spectacular. Each car was different, each the result of its inventors wildest imagination. They often broke, and did so spectacularly, and some were to dub them ‘hand-grenades’. But their crowd-pulling antics were unrivalled throughout the decade.