In the South Island ,late 1960 , Brian Crosbie was racing a R8 Gourdini...only Gourdini raced in NZ..please correct if wrong.
Our family had a R10 in 1970 and it was extremely lively,great in corners
In the South Island ,late 1960 , Brian Crosbie was racing a R8 Gourdini...only Gourdini raced in NZ..please correct if wrong.
Our family had a R10 in 1970 and it was extremely lively,great in corners
The Renault make was much stronger in SA than over here and because of the performance and race wins it became much strongerbecause of the old saying "win on Sunday, sell on Monday".
Scamp Porter was in a perfect position working for Renault on the the Renaults and racing them. I think that meant a store full of spares. Then over and above that was another 2 clever guys, Puddles Adler and John Conchie that started the Alconi developments. This was a conversion kit that was available as a bolt-on kit on the standard non-Gordinis. ie. the non crossflow head engines. (Gordini was cossflow) These Renault Alconi kits were so good that the Renault factory honoured the original warranty. The biggest engines were 1108cc and the Alconi was the only 1100 "production" car at the time to do a genuine clocked 100 mph. The kit consisted as a cam, head, twin downdraught weber carb, extractor and a few extras such as a rev counter, badges etc.
Those days the 1000cc cars were still in abundance and there were a class for them. A very well known racing driver, Gordon Briggs, imported a 1000cc Broadspeed Anglia from England and he was untouchable with that car. The first ever 1000cc car to break the 2 min barrier at Kyalami's 4.1 km track. Soon Alconi caught on to this Broadspeed Anglia and they decided to downscale the 1108 motor to a legal 997cc and then they whipped the Broadspeed time and again.
With these potent cars Renault made a big name for themselves. Photos taken during the endurance races in SA proves a lot against the likes of the very fast Alfa Romeo of the SA Saloon car champion, Toyota Celicas, Mustang. Sprint races were lapped much quicker.
Scamp Porter developed the Gordinis to such an extend that it couldn't be equalled in France and engine builders came over to see what he did. His racing number was 128 most of the time. I will add a few photos for now.
The first photo was taken at the entry to the Esses. The esses is shown on the 4th photo and you'll be able to estimate that it is about 3 km after the start and the Gordinis are still hot on the tail of the GT cars. Amongst them a Celica as well. The other photos just shows these 1108 and 1296 Renaults amongst totally different class cars. All, most, of the photos to follow later will show them in the vicinity of big stuff.
More to follow.
Great stuff Frans - keep them coming or as Ken H would " we enjoy your inputs " .. That from a Kiwi in the USA, to a Protea in New Zealand - ehh Ken..
Meanwhile this Kiwi is back home [ almost 3 years now ] after 8 years in Kangaroo Land ..
Agree 100% with Roger....love your SA saloon cars also.
you had a mix of cars that all we kiwis growing up with cars can relate to....English, Aus and European
I see Jody Scheckter drove an R 8 in South Africa in the late 60s.
I became a fan of his when he drove one of the Trojan T101 F 5000 cars in 1973 and it was a treat to be in the Trojan canteen and listen to the banter between Jody and Sid Taylor and others during lunch.
Jody in the T101 at Laguna Seca . 1973.
Jody went on to become the 1979 Formula One Champion.
But I was saddened to learn of the recent tragic death of one of his daughters at the age of 21.
(Ken H)
Frans, stop hiding and tell us of your exploits.
In NZ there was also an R8 Gordini campaigned out of Rotorua, but I'm unsure if it was Peter Ackroyd or one of the Bakers.
Ken...really clear pic of Jodys R8, the car must have worked hard in his hands.
What results did he get with it?
John,
I'm not sure of the results he got with it but this is what he said about that time in an interview. (2008 Motorsport Magazine.)
" when I was 18 and apprenticed at my dad’s garage in the Eastern Cape I got my hands on a beat-up old Renault R8. I had no money, but I scrounged the bits and pieces I needed to prepare it for racing. The rules said I had to have a rollcage, so I bent one up out of exhaust tubing. I didn’t think about the safety aspect. I locked the diff, which meant I got a reputation for going sideways – got black-flagged for it in my first national race, because they thought I was driving dangerously. We’d take it on a borrowed trailer 1200 miles to Rhodesia and back for a race, do the trip in 20 hours non-stop. I was doing my National Service in the middle of this, so I’d get leave to go racing, and get my cousin, who was a dentist, to give me a doctor’s certificate for the Monday if I needed to mend the car after the weekend. Then I supercharged it, which made it rather a handful, because it still had standard brakes and cut-down road springs. "
This car and driving skills got him noticed and the rest is history.
( "Sideways" Scheckter in his R8 about 1968 at the Hesketh course in SA.)
(Ken H)
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 12-19-2019 at 11:43 PM.
Hi,
Jody was quick in that car but the majority races was in East London, some 1300 ks away. I saw him at Kyalami with that Renault when it was supercharged. The sidesways style must have suited him well because at the time the racing tyres was crossply and in the photo you can see how hard they were inflated. There are no distortion of the sidewalls at all. The big diameter wheels were typical because that helped to improve the ratio to a more acceptable one.
My own exploits were a little later when the Gordinis were almost classics and then real classics. The car I raced in SA weren't mine and belonged to a sponsor. Having a sponsor had its ups and downs but when it comes to modifying and someone else is paying the ups are good!! I prepared and raced that car until April 2001. I increased the capacity to 1480cc and because it had a close ratio 5 speed box in, the cam profile could be must better than my NZ car because the power band could be smaller. Much more hp than my NZ car. Weight reduction was a big thing as well with Lexan windows all round, no lights, no hinges. Colin Chapman would have proud of me. This car was ordered from France by Renault Africa, it was ordered as a RH drive and assembled on a LH drive assembly lane. One of the tell tales signs is the sissy handle on the RH side. Then Chris Swanepoel and Gus Crous, big SA names in Rally, went over to collect the car and raced it there in the Monte Carlo. They won their class and brought the car back to SA for continued rallying. Renault realised that the car was too low for the SA roads so they made it a track car. The car eventually changed many hands and we found it all beaten up under a tree for many years. I started the restoration and then racing it with a few get togethers and close calls as the nature of racing is. But who would worry that much when the sponsor pays for the repair of the body damage!!! Unlike now where I have to do everything myself.
My last event before I emmigrated to NZ was April 2001. It was also my best race of all times.
It was easter and there were cars and classics from all over the country, cars never seen before in the National event. The track was Zwartkops, near Pretoria. This was now a full-on Classic class race. The Gordini was 33 years old at the time. One of the cars that brought back the memories was the restored Lucky Strike Ford Mustang of our Saloon Car champion Basil Van Rooyen. Lucky Strike was a Rhodesian cigarette company but I am not a 100% sure. It was residing in Cape Town and was railed up to Pretoria for this event.
A long story short, I out qualified and out raced the Mustang in both the heats. Not handicap racing! It was the first time in my racing career that I was actually noticing the crowd on the Grandstand at the end of the main straight. At the start of the straight I had a quick look at my gauges and then a look in the mirror where I saw the Mustang starting the straight. Then it was like a huge hand that picked it up and plonked it down right next to me at the end of the straight. Then I would out-brake him into the first righthander and then the winding bits started. I could increase the gap enough so that the next lap was identical to the previous one and so on and so on. The crowd was waving jackets and all sort of things, one guy was swinging his chillybin. On that note I finished my SA experience and handed the car over to the owner who still comes out in it every now and again.
Photo 1: Off loading. Note the 10" Michellin Slicks.
Photo 2: At Phakisa Track in the Free State, Gold Mine world.
Photo 3: The Mustang!!! restored version. The real car on a photo a few threads before.
Photo 4: At the Midvaal Track.
Photo 5: Me lying on my side at the back of the engine centering a new pressure plate between heats.
Regards. Frans.
Try again.
I don't know why that one is upside down. Tried again but no luck.
Frans.
Frans,
Wonderful reading and information. Thank you.
I hope you don't mind me doing this to your photos, they are classic.
Ken.
Thanks Frans, I have enjoyed every second of knowing you, I'm so glad you have written this for us all to enjoy. See you in May.
Ken H, you neat me to it, was just rescanning Frans photos when I saw your post, cheersOriginally Posted by khyndart in CA
Frans,
Wonderful reading and information. Thank you.
I hope you don't mind me doing this to your photos, they are classic.
Ken.
Renault - sponsored by Volkspares ZA .. were they a sereis sponsor as severalcars seem tohave the white band on the windscreens..
Last edited by Roger Dowding; 12-22-2019 at 04:42 AM.
Roger, yes that was the series sponsor. The VW was raced as can be seen in the one photo. They were fairly quick because they used the 2000cc barrels from the Combis and bored them out to 4" with Chev V8 pistons. That gave them around 2500cc and sthen some were stroked to increase that even more.
My NZ racecar is road registered and by far not as "hot" as the SA car and then with Dot tyres and not 10" slicks.
Some photos of my NZ cars.
Other photos of racing Renaults in SA in various shapes and forms. These were mostly privateers racing after the R8 Gordinis weren't made and they became the "handbuilt" stuff without agent sponsors.
A few more...........
and more...........
John Mck,
You asked for videos of saloons racing of the Perana era, Couldn't find any.
Here is a saloon car race on the old Kyalami circuit. Unfortunately, it is via FaceBook so I hope the link will work. Commentary in Afrikaans and English, so hold on the English will be there.
https://www.facebook.com/alan.claydo...DE2Njc1Mzg2OA/
Regards, Frans.
Hi Frans,
just seen this message now, have been busy. Love to see the race but Facebook link doesnt work.Looked at his facebook site, Geogf Mortimers V8 Chevair looks so cool.
regards,
John.
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