Its possible that it would have had the "Lancia based 2 litre engine in it ,I took one similar out of the Wilmac and put it in Rhubarb 3 for Ross Monk when he brought Rhubarb 3 off me,Glen McIntyre had also owned the Wilmac previously,now theres another Lost race car,the Wilmac it disappeared, after I traded it off Ross on my car and what was left of it after the engine swap,the chassis ,body etc was brought by a chap in Otahuhu
Andy, Dad bought the Rorstan in 1978 from Danie Lupp. He's the second owner of the Lotus and got that in 1967 (I think). I can remember Mum taking it to the MOT place in Green Island a couple of times in the early 80's but you were probably too little to rememberOriginally Posted by Andy G
Hi there. I'm Ted Giles' daughter / Andy's sister. The info on oldracecars.com isn't entirely correct about the Rorstan. Ted bought it in 1978 directly from Danie Lupp. I'm in the UK and stumbled upon that post on oldracecars.com earlier today and have contacted the website owner to see if it can be corrected. None of us know where the Bob Moore/Kerry Pennell connection came from orginially but this information appeared in the 'Historic Racing Cars of NZ book in the early 1990's and keeps popping up on the internet in regard to the Cooper F2-5-60 / Cooper T53 F2-8-60 cars. Ted raced the car throughout the South Island as the Rorstan Sports in club events and the Dunedin and Queenstown Road Races throughout the 80's/90's alongside a variety of Escorts (Often Mum's road cars!), Anglias etc. I have some photos which I will post when I can. If anyone has any info about the car in it's Cooper form or when it was being built, we would love to have that. regards, Kirsty Giles
Sorry to corect you folks but Bob Moore Whakatane had the car after Dannie as Markec stated .he had the v8 in it then the rules changed to 2 ltr.Bob did a season in it then Charlie Conway onsold it{it sat in Charleys yard for a short time}
That would be right Jim I used to talk regularly to Bob Moore when he owned it
Thanks Bob ,we see each other every now and then he is still a very keen motorsport man
Bob Moore raced it with Olds V8 then 2-litre Vauxhall, for the last time in 1977, IIRC. He could have sold it back to Danie Lupp in time for Ted Giles to buy it in 1978
Rubish there is no other word bob was and is still a good friend and David you way out
changing up a gear to the 1980's, does anyone know what became of this car?
A Ford Sierra/Merkur XR4Ti, it was first raced in NZ at the 1986 Wellington street race by Andy Rouse and David Oxton ( DNF - crash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA6VqI1-MVg
and then bought by Mark Petch and raced by Dave Oxton, Francevic (Bathurst) etc. It seems to have disappeared, and MP does not remember where it went after his ownership. It was not the car that was converted into a Thundersaloon (the BP one) driven by Francevic, that car was an Eggenberger and LHD. The car above is a RHD. It may well have been converted into an RS500, or another Sports Sedan/Thundersaloon, but that is only speculation on my part.
I would really like to know its whereabouts if anyone can shed any light on it.
Conrad Timms
Last edited by conrod; 05-15-2012 at 04:00 AM.
Yes I'd be interested to know what happened to that car too conrod. That was a Ford UK works car, built and raced by Rouse, and it won the 1985 BTCC before being bought (I think) by Ford NZ. Whats slightly mystifying is the massive difference in performance/reliability between its UK and NZ showings. In Britain, it missed the opening round, but then won 9 of the 11 remaining races in the 1985 BTCC, backed by one second place, and a single dnf. In NZ it really struggled. It took pole at the 1986 Wellington street race, but retired early. It never seemed to live up to its potential.
I wondered too if it became a Sports Sedan of some kind.
Hi Steve,
I think it had very little competition in the 1985 BTCC, and walked it easily. There are some youtube clips of the 1985 BTCC. IIRC Dave Brodie was the only other car that gave him a run for his money in a Mitsi Starion. In the 1986 Nissan Mobil it was up against the best of the best, and the rest of the NZ series there were some good cars too. This car is usually overlooked in favour of its big brother, the RS500, but was still a front runner in its day (albeit having a very short career once big brother came along and won everything!)
I reckon it might be lurking in a barn somewhere in NZ, although what state it might be in is anyones guess!
Conrad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMuwiR3-EtY
Last edited by conrod; 05-15-2012 at 04:31 AM.
Actually, thats a really good point conrod, the competition in the BTCC that season was not strong. There were a few BMW 635s, and a few Rover Vittese's also. The only time I can find where the car went up against the best European cars was during the TT at Silverstone, where it qualified 3rd but retired on lap 8.
I am sure I've seen a photo somewhere of a NZ Sports Sedan that looked like it had been built from a Sierra XR4i. It had wide flared guards etc. From memory it was white at the front then multi-coloured at the rear. But I could just be hallucinating!
yes I also vaguely remember another Sports Sedan that was built from a Sierra, but my memory is in black and white! I think it was in Taupo or somewhere in the central NI.
OK, just did multiple Google searches using various phrases, and finally found a pic of the car I'd been looking for:
But the description of this car now makes me think it possibly wasn't built from a real XR4i, as its listed as being a tube-frame and fibreglass body.........unless they're talking about just the flares and front end being fibreglass. Would be interesting to know though, as not many XR4i Sierras made it to NZ as road cars, so seems an unlikely model to create a mold for and build a fibreglass body from.
Sorry, link with info on the above car can be found here: http://www.freewebs.com/nzsupersedan...erprofiles.htm
Pretty sure that was home made in rotoruaOK, just did multiple Google searches using various phrases, and finally found a pic of the car I'd been looking for:
But the description of this car now makes me think it possibly wasn't built from a real XR4i, as its listed as being a tube-frame and fibreglass body.........unless they're talking about just the flares and front end being fibreglass. Would be interesting to know though, as not many XR4i Sierras made it to NZ as road cars, so seems an unlikely model to create a mold for and build a fibreglass body from.
yep thats the one. None of the parts look Gp.A to me. Would have expected centrelock wheels at the very least, these look bolted on. The look continues!
Yeah, there really isn't much there that looks even remotely related to the Rouse car. Thanks Roger for the background on the above posted Sports Sedan.
How about this one then. Glyn Whittaker at Taupo, Easter 2000.
Another couple of Sierra Cosworths were raced in the 1990's/early 2000's by Tony Stewart & Brett Stratton (with gold DJR rims). I'm not sure of the history of these cars. I can post photos if required.
Malcolm
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
