Group A Rover 3500 SD1/Vitesse - History & Whereabouts - Page 41

KA · 19 Apr 2010, 15:47 (Ref:2675926)

Haven't found any new Rover pics in ages, but these two have turned up on Flickr- Silverstone paddock shots from 1983 showing the Steve Soper Hepolite and Jeff Allam Sanyo cars

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

**chunterer** · 20 Apr 2010, 10:42 (Ref:2676450)

Great find!

Rare to actually unearth shots that have the drivers next to the cars as well.

corliss · 2 May 2010, 21:03 (Ref:2683431)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA

Haven't found any new Rover pics in ages, but these two have turned up on Flickr- Silverstone paddock shots from 1983 showing the Steve Soper Hepolite and Jeff Allam Sanyo cars

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

Facinating race to watch from Donnington 1983, not just for the Sanyo Vitesses, but just see how well Tony Pond does in the 1.3ltr Metro Turbo.
http://www.motorsportmad.com/search_...h_id=1983+BTCC
Comments made at beginning that Frank Sytner had protested the Rovers for being too wide at rear, well, yes the rear wheel arches were massaged somewhat but still retained original profile, My shell is at least an inch wider than my road car across arches, Sytner must have had eyes like a micrometer ( or inside information)
Skip

corliss · 2 May 2010, 21:17 (Ref:2683441)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA

Haven't found any new Rover pics in ages, but these two have turned up on Flickr- Silverstone paddock shots from 1983 showing the Steve Soper Hepolite and Jeff Allam Sanyo cars

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1207847...7623657474894/

Another incredible set of videos from the 1980 Tricentrol BTCC series,
http://www.motorsportmad.com/search_...rch_id=vitesse
covers the whole year and the first year Rover competed.
What really grabbed my attention and took me back to the mid 60`s when i dammed near seemed to live at Brands working away on Mod Sports and Special Saloons every weekend, is the incredible crowds, watch part 3, after sitting all afternoon watching todays BTCC i can only say i saw bigger crowds at a test day in the 60`s/70`s!!!!!!!!!!!!
About an hour or two but worth watching ( especially if you like Capri`s)
Skip

corliss · 3 May 2010, 00:01 (Ref:2683505)

Was this one of the Rovers last convincing GrpA wins?
Brands Hatch 1987
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/77...s-hatch-part-1

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/77...s-hatch-part-2

Supposed to have been past their sell by date

Skip

**chunterer** · 3 May 2010, 11:13 (Ref:2683703)

Quote:

Originally Posted by corliss

Hi, dont think its our friend from the IOM, the ex race car has a twin turbo 4.2 fitted at moment...

Anyone watched the video`s yet?
Skip

Hi Skip, will be interesting to learn more about the Computervision liveried race car. That must be something else with a rally shell on it for some reason as there was never any TWR/works cars raced with that livery that i'm aware of?

Yes thanks for the vids link, the 83 race has been linked a couple of times on this thread already. Excellent rare footage.

Ditto for the 1980 one, that was a point of dicsussion in the Capri thread s. Some time ago - very valuable and rare screen shots of many cars including the SD1's.

WOCCOWAYCER · 4 May 2010, 12:54 (Ref:2684245)

Also I'm wondering if anyone's got any snaps of Mike O' Brien's 1986 BTCC white Linden Racing Vitesse; a car suspected to have been ex TWR but not confirmed. I'm also thinking that a close up shot of the car might help, or any with it damaged, as we might be able to see paint underneath that could give clues![/QUOTE]
**********************************************************

I have got these photo's of the Linden Racing/Mike O'Brien Vitesse soon after it was bought by Richard Potter for my brother Dave Carvell to drive in the '87 BTCC,this being TWR chassis #004 that won its class at Bathurst in '84 and previously in Sanyo colours when driven by Jeff Allam.

They were taken during the winter of '86 at a garageless Silverstone when Dave had his first run in the car prior to it being stripped for it's rebuild for the forthcoming season.

Clive Faine who owned the car previously told us that it was still in its Mobil Bathurst livery when he bought it.

The other Linden car pictured is the second Vitesse Clive Faine owned driven by Neil McGrath in '86,this one was a Rouse built car that Skid Scarborough drove in '87.

Hope they are of interest.

Have also added a photo of the TWR car in Sanyo colours with 'The bear' in attendance,who gets a mention in this thread.

KA · 4 May 2010, 13:50 (Ref:2684282)

Thanks for posting those!

Re: what Clive Faine said about the car still being in the Baturst Mobil paintjob when he bought it, I've got a very vague memory that when the Mike O'Brien/Linden Racing deal for '86 was first reported in either Autosport or Motoring News, the reports might have been illustrated with a pic of the car as delivered in Mobil colours?

I wonder whether Clive Faine bought the mobil car directly from TWR, or from a third party?

What makes me wonder that is that a website piece about Del Lines' Rover rally activities has been mentioned several times in the thread- according to this, he acquired an ex-Bastos race shell from TWR to rebuild his crashed SD1 rallycar A379VUK- this shell came as part of a package deal with an ex-Pond Computervision rally car and the ex-Allam Bathurst race car- a pic shows a Mobil car with race number #61 standing in what appears from comparison with the other pics to be the same yard where the pic of his three rally cars earlier in the article was taken (the same red van seems to be in the background)

http://www.roversd1club.net/features...e-ianlines.asp
The article says the rally shunt was Feb '86, so the timescale might fit with the Mobil car then being sold on to Linden Racing...?

Nice to have a pic of the other Linden car in 1986 Connells colours as well- we've previously only seen it in the 1984/5 green/white livery.
Interesting that you mention that one having Rouse origins...

I think in the past we've heard that the Linden/Connells/McGrath and Letchworth Roofing/Scarborough car was originally the car Martin Thomas ran for Gordon Spice in '83?.

On the other hand, it's very clearly described as a 'Rouse' car in a couple of Autosport adverts when Clive Faine was trying to sell it at the end of the 1985 season, and again when both Linden cars are advertised in late '86.

So did Martin Thomas' crew originally build the car from a Rouse-supplied shell and parts?

Originally, I'd always thought the only Rouse Group A Rovers were the ICS (used by Rouse and Pete Hall 1984-6, then becomes the Tim Harvey Istel car for '87) and Charles Sawyer-Hoare (went to Tim Slako in Australia in '85) cars?

WOCCOWAYCER · 4 May 2010, 15:24 (Ref:2684322)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA

Thanks for posting those!

Re: what Clive Faine said about the car still being in the Baturst Mobil paintjob when he bought it, I've got a very vague memory that when the Mike O'Brien/Linden Racing deal for '86 was first reported in either Autosport or Motoring News, the reports might have been illustrated with a pic of the car as delivered in Mobil colours?

I wonder whether Clive Faine bought the mobil car directly from TWR, or from a third party?

What makes me wonder that is that a website piece about Del Lines' Rover rally activities has been mentioned several times in the thread- according to this, he acquired an ex-Bastos race shell from TWR to rebuild his crashed SD1 rallycar A379VUK- this shell came as part of a package deal with an ex-Pond Computervision rally car and the ex-Allam Bathurst race car- a pic shows a Mobil car with race number #61 standing in what appears from comparison with the other pics to be the same yard where the pic of his three rally cars earlier in the article was taken (the same red van seems to be in the background)

http://www.roversd1club.net/features...e-ianlines.asp
The article says the rally shunt was Feb '86, so the timescale might fit with the Mobil car then being sold on to Linden Racing...?

Nice to have a pic of the other Linden car in 1986 Connells colours as well- we've previously only seen it in the 1984/5 green/white livery.
Interesting that you mention that one having Rouse origins...

I think in the past we've heard that the Linden/Connells/McGrath and Letchworth Roofing/Scarborough car was originally the car Martin Thomas ran for Gordon Spice in '83?.

On the other hand, it's very clearly described as a 'Rouse' car in a couple of Autosport adverts when Clive Faine was trying to sell it at the end of the 1985 season, and again when both Linden cars are advertised in late '86.

So did Martin Thomas' crew originally build the car from a Rouse-supplied shell and parts?

Originally, I'd always thought the only Rouse Group A Rovers were the ICS (used by Rouse and Pete Hall 1984-6, then becomes the Tim Harvey Istel car for '87) and Charles Sawyer-Hoare (went to Tim Slako in Australia in '85) cars?

********************************************************
I'm not sure where Clive Faine bought the TWR car from, I had always assumed it came from Del Lines.
I wonder if the boys at Seacott in Luton, (who used to do the Linden Racing preparation) remember the story ?

Regarding the other Vitesse, maybe my memory is playing tricks, but I can always remember it being referred to as 'the Rouse' car, and I don't think it was just because it had a Rouse engine because the TWR car also had a Rouse engine when Richard bought it.

Nice to see that picture of the old girl in its Mobil livery in your attachment.

**chunterer** · 4 May 2010, 21:46 (Ref:2684506)

Great stuff so another piece in our TWR history jigsaw is confirmed, thanks Woccowaycer and KA for these posts.

Again as KA and Woccowaycer allude to regarding the McGrath Connells car - I can only go upon what i've been told, read or seen at the circuits but I think we all but nailed that the McGrath car was originally built and prepared by Thomas for Gordon Spice in 1983 (Not to be confuses with the ex Grp 1 Thomas built Rovers that ended up in Leech and Sawyer-Hoare's hands.) It was then entered by Linden to be raced in Neil's hands in 1984 when it was entrusted to Rouse for prep (I.E engined, but wasn't built by him as far as we have discovered) through to 1986 when it was sold to Graham Scarborough.

I'm not sure if we've covered this but were Martin Thomas and Clive Faine in some kind of partnership during these years as this car seems to have started off in Thomas hands and ended up again in Thomas' hands in in it's last year of BTCC action?

Wocco you mention a firm called 'Seacott' in Luton, I wonder if another 'Tenths' poster Terry Bower knows anything about them, as he also worked on various Rovers in restoration projects and the like more recently.

Incidentally, the Sanyo pic looks more like that of a 1982 Group 1 car rather than a Group A car that Dave Carvell is sat in?

WOCCOWAYCER · 7 May 2010, 15:47 (Ref:2686056)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Great stuff so another piece in our TWR history jigsaw is confirmed, thanks Woccowaycer and KA for these posts.

Again as KA and Woccowaycer allude to regarding the McGrath Connells car - I can only go upon what i've been told, read or seen at the circuits but I think we all but nailed that the McGrath car was originally built and prepared by Thomas for Gordon Spice in 1983 (Not to be confuses with the ex Grp 1 Thomas built Rovers that ended up in Leech and Sawyer-Hoare's hands.) It was then entered by Linden to be raced in Neil's hands in 1984 when it was entrusted to Rouse for prep (I.E engined, but wasn't built by him as far as we have discovered) through to 1986 when it was sold to Graham Scarborough.

I'm not sure if we've covered this but were Martin Thomas and Clive Faine in some kind of partnership during these years as this car seems to have started off in Thomas hands and ended up again in Thomas' hands in in it's last year of BTCC action?

Wocco you mention a firm called 'Seacott' in Luton, I wonder if another 'Tenths' poster Terry Bower knows anything about them, as he also worked on various Rovers in restoration projects and the like more recently.

Incidentally, the Sanyo pic looks more like that of a 1982 Group 1 car rather than a Group A car that Dave Carvell is sat in?

********************************************************
Quite right, the Sanyo Rover photo was taken at the end of '82 when Dave drove it at a photo shoot for a magazine (as covered in one of my earlier posts).
According to my research that Sanyo car and the Mobil/Bathurst car are the same car, chassis #004.

The boys at 'Seacott' were into power boats as well as cars,a good bunch of lads, we got to know them the year we ran the Rover because a customer of theirs called Chris Taylor bought the two Potter Metro's that we had been running the year before, to add to the two he had already got ! We went to Luton a couple of times to help set them up. 'Seacott' then running all of them, one for Chris himself, one for Barbara Cowell, (later to become Mrs Kimber-Smith), one for Michael Cullen and one for Barry McGuigan. Busy boys !!!
I went and helped out at a couple of meetings to ease the load.

Sorry slipped off thread then, carried away with the memories.

**chunterer** · 7 May 2010, 22:06 (Ref:2686282)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WOCCOWAYCER

********************************************************
According to my research that Sanyo car and the Mobil/Bathurst car are the same car, chassis #004.

The boys at 'Seacott' were into power boats as well as cars,a good bunch of lads, we got to know them the year we ran the Rover because a customer of theirs called Chris Taylor bought the two Potter Metro's that we had been running the year before, to add to the two he had already got...... Busy boys !!!

Yes bit of confusion about that 004 here I think. Dave metioned quite early in this thread that 004 was indeed ex Sanyo ex Bathurst etc when he raced it. He also said it was Jeff Allam's BTCC Sanyo car at some point which must've been 1983 as Allam didn't do BTCC in '84 and prior to '83 the BTCC was still run to Group 1 regs. Therefore the car Dave tested late in 1982 must've been a Group 1 car as the Group A's wouldn't have been built by then?

Ken Clarke, ex TWR engineer and now classic race car expert confirmed that 004 was one of the cars built for the 1983 season, rather than using converted Group 1 cars. There was some suspicion (based on some press images of the cars with 1982 style wheels discussed way back on this long thread) that for the opening 2 rounds of 1983, the Sanyo cars could well have been not quite full spec with only Soper's Hepolite ar being 'pukka' but we've never got to the bottom of that!! It's highly unlikely though!

Interesting background to the Seacott Metro team by the way. That workshop must've indeed been busy with 4 challenge cars and a great big Rover or two crammed in there with boats!!!

KA · 16 May 2010, 11:31 (Ref:2691429)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WOCCOWAYCER

********************************************************
I'm not sure where Clive Faine bought the TWR car from, I had always assumed it came from Del Lines.
I wonder if the boys at Seacott in Luton, (who used to do the Linden Racing preparation) remember the story ?

Regarding the other Vitesse, maybe my memory is playing tricks, but I can always remember it being referred to as 'the Rouse' car, and I don't think it was just because it had a Rouse engine because the TWR car also had a Rouse engine when Richard bought it.

Nice to see that picture of the old girl in its Mobil livery in your attachment.

Clive Faine certainly had the Bathurst/Mobil car by the time of the Silverstone BTCC round on 8 June- Mike O'Brien was absent with truck racing commitments, and Neil McGrath substituted in the older Linden Rover, but the new ex-TWR car was on display in the paddock, and was photographed by Autosport- the pic appeared in 'Pit & Paddock' with the caption 'New Rover for Linden'.

The car was still in Mobil colours, complete with Bathurst race number #61- the caption comments that Clive Faine had spoken to Mobil and was hoping to do a deal for sponsorship for the rest of the season- the car expected to appear in McGrath's hands from the GP meeting onwards.

Interesting that the car had obviously not been raced by TWR in the period between Bathurst '84 and apparently being sold to Del Lines as part of a package deal with a spare Bastos shell and a Computervision rallycar, presumably in the spring/early summer of '86...

alfa166 · 16 May 2010, 17:34 (Ref:2691761)

here are some pics of my completed car.
we will be testing it next week at Zandvoort, and 2 weeks later racing at Spa.

SAMD · 16 May 2010, 17:45 (Ref:2691783)

Stunning!

MG Rover Sport · 16 May 2010, 18:18 (Ref:2691821)

Dogs danglies!

**chunterer** · 12 Jun 2010, 12:05 (Ref:2709710)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA

Great pics David- Adam really has done a great job on '480'

Not sure if this has been seen on here before- some film from YouTube, with an interview with Walkinshaw and a look around the TWR workshops. Haven't really watched it yet (was on the phone when I found it), but from around 5:15, it shows the TWR Rover workshops, with at least half-a-dozen cars on view I think- 1985-season Bastos cars, Computervision rallycar, and a plain white B564AOX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QifFNc2j31E

Good find. The Channel 9 guy (can't recall his name) even says 'are you sure you've got enough Rovers in here Tom?'

Looks like one of the Marlboro cars at the back as well, but no sign of any 'strange' race cars in there, thought there might be a glimpse of an older spare car, but I guess they all got reliveried?

lemansfan · 25 Jun 2010, 14:30 (Ref:2717848)

Found last Weekend the DTM Rover from Kurt Thim .

http://s10.directupload.net/file/d/2201/2669dewq_jpg

Red Throbber · 2 Jul 2010, 11:44 (Ref:2721088)

Sorry if this image is copyrighted, but found this taken inside the Patrick Motorsport museum recently.

lemansfan · 2 Jul 2010, 15:37 (Ref:2721183)

Fantastic V8 in the Rover Vitesse ( ex Kurt Thim Car )

http://s3.directupload.net/file/d/2208/25ic9kb5_jpg

Jesper OH · 2 Jul 2010, 18:06 (Ref:2721231)

Don't know about the ATN engine situation during 1984-1985, but by 1986 they were running TWR engines. Recently there was a link to a picture of the full car, but strangely wearing #23 as Kurt Thiim ran #22 during 1986.

Jesper

MG Rover Sport · 5 Jul 2010, 10:32 (Ref:2722088)

I've just found a couple of photos of Rex Greenslade's No 6 DPR Triplex / Motor / Esso sponsored Rover 3500 from the 1980 Oulton Park Easter race meeting - complete with TWR transporter parked alongside the race cars!...

**chunterer** · 5 Jul 2010, 19:24 (Ref:2722317)

Thanks David, the snapper himself (billycooper) linked to those already in the Capri thread, and Jesper and KA also drew reference in the 1982 Tricentrol thread - good aren't they!

http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....&postcount=335

KA · 6 Jul 2010, 08:56 (Ref:2722489)

David has spotted something very interesting though- I thought Dave Price ran the 1980 Triplex cars, so why does it look in the pics as if they were being run from a TWR truck?

GBRM · 6 Jul 2010, 09:29 (Ref:2722498)

On the subject of TWR I met up with Jeff Allam the other day - his ex-TWR Rover is currently for sale, £75,000 if anyone has saved their pennies up!!

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