Doyle/Dickie Fastback Anglia Corvette

[Jac Mac]

You know....you can make a 'safe' brake setup out of old PBR, Girling whatever master cylinders, wheel cylinders & Calipers...as long as you work out the sizes-diameters-pad area-pedal ratio & disc/drum sizes...its just that many folk are too damn lazy & have not got a clue, same goes for your steel wheels, it just takes time to get them set up & running true before you even pick up the welder...choosing your donor wheels with regard to center strength is also important, I got a rev up years ago with my MKII Cortina about doing my own wheels so bowed to the wisdom of MANZ & bought from their reccomended supplier...two meetings later the center broke out of the right front going into the loop @ Teretonga, back in the pits the then VP of MANZ came over for a look...didnt stay long when I told him where he could stick his 'recommended' wheel supplier... and yes, keep them period correct @ 15", thanks to the resurgence of Trans Am & Cobra type cars Goodyear have started making some sizes that might suit your car, plus Hoosier are doing stuff as well, just have to 'blackout' those big hoosier letters..

[fastback55]

I'm sure you are right, I have built a pedal box using Girling master cylinders of the original size, I'm sure they will be fine. The wheels are 13" dia 12" wide at the back and 10" wide on the front. I'm sure I will be able to satisfy the officials and myself with some appropriate steel wheels safely built. Attached is an advertisement from a Motorman or motoring magazine of the period 1972 I think. $6000.00 ono seems a bargain for the package in this day and age

[Steve Holmes]

Hey that advert is cool. It does seem cheap I guess, but at the same time, for the new owner, theres nowhere to actually race the thing! Dickie was only selling it because these types of cars were outlawed in OSCA forcing him to build the Victor. Its interesting, I assumed the engine would have gone into the Victor, but it looks like its being sold with the Anglia.

[fastback55]

Yeah Steve I am sure that's what happened in the end as the Anglia was stripped by them. There must have been a fair bit going on in Ken's workshop in Hawarden. When I met with him years ago he told me they were casting ventilated brake rotors, probably not the easiest of things to do. I found him a lovely chap, I don't know whether he is still alive as he was getting on when I saw him.

[thunder427]

I'm sure you are right, I have built a pedal box using Girling master cylinders of the original size, I'm sure they will be fine. The wheels are 13" dia 12" wide at the back and 10" wide on the front. I'm sure I will be able to satisfy the officials and myself with some appropriate steel wheels safely built. Attached is an advertisement from a Motorman or motoring magazine of the period 1972 I think. $6000.00 ono seems a bargain for the package in this day and age

.......I would be happy in today's world to pay $6000.00 just for the 4Door 'Austin Healey'!!!!!!....regards thunder427/MJ

[fastback55]

I'm sure they're worth a bit of money now if in good nick, they're ugly buggers though in my opinion. I know it's 39 years too late for the advertisement above, but here's a picture of both at Hawarden. The Austin looks quite tidy from what you can see here.

[Steve Holmes]

Awesome! Colour shots of that car are gold. You rarely see them.

[AMCO72]

Ah, the old Westminster.....they were a sharp looking car. My favourite colour scheme was the pale grey with a deep red slash along the side. The one in the picture is pale green/blue body with the darker green/blue flash. When I read the ad I thought it was the later Farina styled Austin, but this one, with it's drilled wheels looked ever so much better. Either way, that big 6 cylinder engine sounded great and modified to A/Healey specs must have been awesome. A good heavy tow-car. Back to the Anglia. Did it ever have flares on it? The reason I ask is because it always looked unfinished in that area, and in fact the wheels/tyres seemed to be protruding beyond the arches, which you can see in the racing shots as well as when parked. One of the earlier pictures of the body show it in dark blue.....sitting on trestles having just been repainted I think. Are you going to return it to the 2 tone scheme as in the photo above?

[fastback55]

The pictures of it sitting on the trestles and the back of the international truck on page 1 of the thread are as it is now, painted dark green, a standard ford colour but a british racing green colour. The colour has probably not scanned so well as it looks blue on the trestle photo. I got it painted that colour only because that is the colour it was painted when Neil Doyle owned it and I liked it that colour better than the two tone blue/white when Alec Dickie owned it. I particularly like the shot above though as it looks mean. It has small wheel spats not disimilar to the ones seen on minis on the back, these are formed from metal with bodyfiller finishing the contoured shape. The front is formed from aluminium and flared slightly but as you say the wheels are barely covered and on several shots seem to stick out a bit. The wheels were 13" diameter, 12" wide on the rear and 10" wide on the front. I also like the strengthening gussets on the wheels in the photo above that give a mag wheel effect. I will fit these on the rims when I get some, I'm looking for one piece steel rims if I can find them, that will give the authorities less to moan about. I know the gussets will make them heavy as hell but that doesn't worry me, and seeing that I've already hand made them and it took ages they will be fitted.

[AMCO72]

Being a British racing Green man myself, I heartily endorse your colour choice! The Amco Mini was painted BRG the first season it raced, and black the second. I have combined the first years colour with the second years sponsorship so was/is a tribute to both seasons. I'm sure the Anglia will look just as mean in BRG, certainly with the paint choices available today. I'm sure also that you will weld your strengthening spokes up somewhat more professionally than on the wheels of the HWM.....see post 141 in Yards and Yarns. Am looking forward to seeing this car.

[fastback55]

I'm sure I have some slides of your car, I'm buying a cheap slide scanner so I can put some photos on here, I only hope the quality is reasonable. I'll let you know when I've got them ready, sort of thing that's in the shoe box at the back of the spare wardrobe. The car will be a fair way off yet but at least I'm doing something to get it finished. Life is full of other things and the wife seems to have a long list every weekend.

[fastback55]

The picture that we looked at when deciding to see whether the car existed. As you can see by the well fingered picture the magazine was a regular reader in the toilet.

[AMCO72]

That sure is a mysterious picture. Looks as though the car has been driven INTO a bog, not looked at On the bog!!!!!!!

[fastback55]

Ha ha you're right, it sure is a crap picture!!!!. Actually looked better before the scan took a harder look at the folds in the paper instead of the picture of the car.

[Oldfart]

I thought this might be of interest

[fastback55]

Thanks for that, I'd like to see as many photos of the car as possible and each one helps a lot.

[fastback55]

Bay Park 1968? Mini men is one of these mini's Brian Foley? I particularly like the look of the car at this stage of it's racing life. I have a colour slide of the car taken at the same meeting that I will put on the thread when I get a slide scanner

[105angria]

this is looking like the period you have picked as the one for the car fastback,you have given us a bit of a glue about replica, how would you feel about a replica of the car as it was in post 75 if it was done in consultation with you as you are the keeper of its history and probebly have the best resource will send you a pm of the rollcage positioning in my Anglia over the weekend when i can get some room around the car

[bry3500]

this is looking like the period you have picked as the one for the car fastback,you have given us a bit of a glue about replica, how would you feel about a replica of the car as it was in post 75 if it was done in consultation with you as you are the keeper of its history and probebly have the best resource will send you a pm of the rollcage positioning in my Anglia over the weekend when i can get some room around the car

It would be interesting to see 3 cars side by side showing the evolution

[AMCO72]

Yes BUT, only one of them would be genuine, or mostly genuine......certainly as far as the body was concerned. I can see where 'angria' is coming from though. As an Anglia man, he would like to create the 1st version of the car as being the easiest to replicate, but when all said and done it is one-in-the-same car, with modifications to the roof, front and exhaust on the last version. All race cars 'evolve', some more dramatically than others. And WHAT are you going to call them...Doyle/Dickie fastback I, II, III etc. Starting to get into muddy waters here. I think if I was fastback, I would scotch any attempt at reproducing, replicating, or otherwise 'copying' the original versions of HIS car, but I'm not him, so I had better shut-up!!!!!