Hi Steve,

Good question. It really had me scratching my head, and I'm embarrassed to say I can't remember the body style with absolute certainty. However the picture that comes into my mind is actually the six-light body of the XR4Ti, sold as the Merkur in the States ( so that another thing the PR guy lied about!). I have a vague recollection that the rules required the body to be based on a four-door 'shell. The bodyshell was a reasonably accurate facsimile, albeit looking rather odd due to the very different stance: skinny little front wheels tucked way up into the front arches, and monster rear tyres on a narrowed Ford 9-inch axle so the tyres appeared to be almost meeting in the middle, the combination giving the car a pronounced rake.

The car also had the giant air box perched on the bonnet which is typical of the breed. Again from (dodgy) memory, the engine was a modern (at the time) interpretation of a Chrysler Hemi based on a Milodon block; the rules obviously were pretty liberal, as the V8 swap was perfectly legit. I could probably check most of these details, as I kept sample copies of most issues of CCC, albeit with a few gaps, and we brought them with us when we returned to NZ in 2004, but they have never been unpacked. Maybe one day...

Wracking my brains to remember all this stuff made me realize that hey… it was about 25 year ago. The prodigious feats of memory and recall of many of the Roaring Season's contributors blows me away. My respects, guys. Love reading everyones' stories.

Art Markus