Who knows this Camaro thundersaloon???!

[thatorangething]

We have just bought a slightly incomplete Race Camaro to rebuild (!), and would love to trace as much of it's history as possible. Two race programmes from the 1989 Thundersaloon series came with the car, which present it as an IROC Camaro, driven by Hibbert/Prior, with photos in each programme. The car is currently marked up Hibbert/Ralph, with Jerry Hibbert on the doors, and Truseal as a sponsor. The car is an american perimeter/space framed stock car, with steel Camaro roof -mid to late 70's shape, fabricated bulkheads, with the rest of the (missing) body panels-presumably glassfibre, held on with Dzus fasteners. There is quite a list of names on the programmes which came with the car, too many to list, so lets see who has a good memory! Any help would be great.

[vaughan jones]

vaughan jones -bury st edmunds vauxhall firenza, did 5or 6 rounds in 1989

[Peter Mallett]

I bet Rod Birley could help you out.

[carrera]

5.7 litre class A car used by Jerry Hibber/Malcolm Prior in Johnson Tiles Thundersaloon Championship.

R1 Brands Q 19 R 13 (8i/c)
R2 Oulton Q 15 DNF
R4 Snett Q 5 R 5 (3i/c)
R5 Brands Q 10 R 11 (6i/c)
R6 MalloryQ 7 DNF
R7 C CombeQ 8 R 9 (5i/c)

[carrera]

R8 Snett Q 6 DNS
R9 Mallory Q 4 DNF
R10 Brands Q 10 DNS
R11 Don P Q 9 R6 (3i/c)

It ran as number 43.

[Rod Birley]

Went into the loft to look at old programmes but Carrera got the results first. Spoke to the guys who have acquired this car at Lydden on Saturday and, as usual, we reminised about Thundersaloon days.

[thatorangething]

Thanks to those that have already replied to my request for information about this monster machine! I would love to have originals or copies of any programmes that show the car, or anyone's memories of what was quite an unusual choice of car, even in thundersaloons. What I would really like to know is what was this thing doing in the UK in the first place?! Who might have imported such a car? It must have arrived in thundersaloons as a secondhand racer - it's never been a road car, so what did it do in the years before some nutter put 14" wide rear rims on it here? Thanks again for the info so far.
Regards
Peter

[carrera]

Is/was the orange thing a Citroen?

[thatorangething]

the thing still is a Citroen, but it's not orange any more! I reshelled it after a fairly firm visit to the conveyer belt at Lavant! My friend Matt smith runs it now, in a more stripped out form, still to be resprayed, it's now mostly silver...

[thatorangething]

Re the Camaro, does anybody know where I might be able to contact it's former drivers Jerry Hibbert, (?) Ralph, & Malcolm Prior? As i said in my earlier post, the car Has Hibbert/Ralph across the windscreen, although Hibbert/Prior are shown in the two 1989 programmes I have. Could the Hibbert & Ralph be the same as of Hibbert Ralph animation?

[thatorangething]

Re the Camaro, does anybody know where I might be able to contact it's former drivers Jerry Hibbert, (?) Ralph, & Malcolm Prior? As i said in my earlier post, the car Has Hibbert/Ralph across the windscreen, although Hibbert/Prior are shown in the two 1989 programmes I have. Could the Hibbert & Ralph be the same as of Hibbert Ralph animation?

[carrera]

Another person to look for is Robin Gray, I believe he prepared the car.

The car was also used in a couple of Thundersaloon races at the end of the 1988 season.

[thatorangething]

I had seen Robin's name in one of the Thundersaloon programmes that came with the car. With the extra prompt (thanks!), I have now spoken to him at his workshop (Autopontiac) and he remembered the car, and was most helpful re it's history. He looked after the car for a couple of years while it raced as a Thundersaloon, and remembered amongst other things, the alterations done to the brakes etc. to make the car a little more suitable for British circuits. he also put me in touch with Tony Wolfe, who, together with Brian Rice, imported the car straight from the end of the 1980 I.R.O.C. series. It then ran here as an Ascar before entering Thundersaloons. Tony Wolfe was brilliant, posted me a colour copy of a Custom Car article from July 1982, when the Camaro was cover car, complete with the usual accoutrements which that magazine was famous for! Just great to bring the car to life...

[carrera]

That's good news. What are you going to run this in?

[Peter Mallett]

Classic Thunder.

[thatorangething]

I could do classic thunder with it, i suppose, but we are in no position to finance a cheque book racer. It's a little ironic that this stock car chassised Camaro, which raced as car 10 in a series of identical cars in IROC, where the cars are all built, prepared,tested and transported together,with the cars and their invited drivers sometimes being shuffled mid meeting as I understand it, should eventually end up not in a series where every effort is made to equalize the cars and therefore endeavour to find the best driver, but in a series where outright budget is likely to determine the winner! Despite the spectacle that thundersaloons of course was, any budget powered victory, especially at club level, to me seems a little hollow, unless it is measured only on engineering ability.
As far as prep is concerned, since the car has in the past been altered to accept a full set of dzus mounted glass panels,(apart from the roof) rather than the part steel,part glass body it had, it would be easier to rebuild it to that spec. But I have to say I would prefer to at least have the option of presenting it as what was originally built, a 1980 IROC car.

[Al Weyman]

thatorangething, now that is a name, I have PM'ed you, it seems I have the sister car to yours car #11, I was told by the guy I bought it off yours had gone back to the States, Oh well people will tell you anything when they are selling.

[Al Weyman]

The trouble with these cars is you would be very limited what you could run it in, you definitely could not run in in Classic Thunder as the rules state the original shell must be used, well the only 'original' body part on these cars is the roof and rear quarters and someone has cut those of on my car. These cars are fabricated from the ground up, even the floor and front and rear bulk heads are not GM. No by not by any stretch of the imagination could these cars be considered for that championship.

[Al Weyman]

Talk to me thatorangething.