Group A Toyota Corolla History (merged)

[terryobeirne]

thanks andy_b. that is my corolla at Spa. Its almost back together.

[andy_b]

The CHMS post was published on Speedhunters the other week. No info, that you guys didn't already know, but a larger version of the black and white pic.
http://speedhunters.com/archive/2008...uring-car.aspx

If your interested, I have a larger version of it, but its b&w

[davyboy]

I had that picture on my bedroom wall back in the day as well... great photo. It was either a colour centre spread in Autosport, or one of the pull-out posters.

[chunterer]

Yeah!! I had something similar up on one of my walls too!

BTW, I've still got to dig out that John Nielsen TT pic as well so I can scan and post it on here!! If I recall there's one or two oher cars around it like a Jag and a smart looking Bosch liveried Golf.

OT for a second; I used to divide my 3 bedroom walls into posters for Group A, F1 and F3000/F3!!! I also had a 'centrespread' width section to the right of a book shelf and anything I fancied went on there like Group B/A rally cars, Group C, prodsaloons and anything else!!

[davyboy]

As a teenager I divided my bedroom walls up for posters as well... motor racing on one side and women on the other ! To appreciate the nostalgia, I suggested to my missus that we decorate the walls of our house in a similar manner and having been released from hospital in the last few days, I'm recovering well from my injuries

[chunterer]

Hahahah!!

Yes me and my missus have had a few discussions and then she's picked me up off the floor, agreed who'd pay for what etc.....

[chunterer]

Bit disappointing but the old pic I thought I had of the John Nielsen Castrol car only features it behind the Jag and the Golf!!

Here it is anyway:

parc ferme '84 TT

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Bit disappointing but the old pic I thought I had of the John Nielsen Castrol car only features it behind the Jag and the Golf!!

Here it is anyway:

parc ferme '84 TT

Actually that's quite an interesting pic, as it shows the Corolla loaded up on the trailer- these days, even at the back of the grid it would probably be a 12-metre artic and a big motorhome rather than a Merc van and a trailer...

Going a bit off-topic, the other interesting thing is that Golf.... (another shot, on track: http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-09-09-068.jpg )
The Mk2 Golf was always a rare bird in the ETCC as it was heavier than the Mk1 and the 1.8 engine (still in 8-valve form) put it into Class 2 against the 2.5 litre Alfas etc.
Apart from the RAS cars (The Bosch-backed car in '84, one in 'Monroe' colours in '85, and a 'Drakkar Noir'-backed car appeared at Zolder '85:
http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-09-29-054.jpg -I wonder if these were all the same car?) about the only other I can think of is Alan Minshaw's 'Demon Tweeks' car which appeared at the TT.

It only really came into it's own as a touring car in 16-valve form when the BTCC added the 1.6 to-2-litre class around 1987/8- and then of course Vauxhall turned up soon after with the 2-litre 16v Astra.....

[GBRM]

There were a lot of Golfs in Production Saloons then and I think "Mable" Minshaws might have been a Group N one as he was in Prod Saloons in it in '86.
Funnily enough I don't remember any Corollas in Prod Saloons though, strange, I'm sure there must have been but I can only think of Astras, Novas, Stradas and Golfs in the smaller classes.

[chunterer]

Thanks KA

That Bosch livery was certainly striking and when I was little my 'toy car' Group A racing team featured that same livery although 'I' didn't run Golf's but big class entries!!! Er herm....

Anyway back to topic, nice point you make about the trailers - quite nostalgic seeing an international entry with a trailer as you say. The only chance we get to see International entries like that these days is dummy or spare cars being rushed about to a meeting or a test or something!!!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by GBRM

There were a lot of Golfs in Production Saloons then and I think "Mable" Minshaws might have been a Group N one as he was in Prod Saloons in it in '86.
Funnily enough I don't remember any Corollas in Prod Saloons though, strange, I'm sure there must have been but I can only think of Astras, Novas, Stradas and Golfs in the smaller classes.

Minshaw's was a Group A car, and he originally ran one late season in 1984 in 8v guise, it disappeared and may have been the same car albeit with a 16 valve engine installed when he returned to BTCC full time in 1988?

No there weren't many prodsaloon Corollas but Sean Brown ran one (to class title honours in '85 IIRC?) along with the likes of Terry Stone and Ray Calcutt.

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Minshaw's was a Group A car, and he originally ran one late season in 1984 in 8v guise, it disappeared and may have been the same car albeit with a 16 valve engine installed when he returned to BTCC full time in 1988?

No there weren't many prodsaloon Corollas but Sean Brown ran one (to class title honours in '85 IIRC?) along with the likes of Terry Stone and Ray Calcutt.

I remember the Minshaw Golfs being discussed on one of the Golf GTI enthusiast forums and I think the consensus of opinion might have been 2 Group A cars and a couple of prodsaloons- An ex-Minshaw Group A car was apparently alive and well and still competing in sprints and hillclimbs in Scotland a couple of years back

[KA]

Originally Posted by GBRM

There were a lot of Golfs in Production Saloons then and I think "Mable" Minshaws might have been a Group N one as he was in Prod Saloons in it in '86.
Funnily enough I don't remember any Corollas in Prod Saloons though, strange, I'm sure there must have been but I can only think of Astras, Novas, Stradas and Golfs in the smaller classes.

I'm trying to remember what the class split was in prodsaloons- was it 1.8 or 2-litres? Either way, I think it put the Corolla up against bigger-engined (1.8 litre 8v Astra and Golf, 2-litre Strada) opposition. The Pug 205GTI appeared as well, but I don't think anyone ever had that much success with one apart from Kieth Odor taking the class one year in the Janspeed 205

[chunterer]

Yes, that's right I think? I was trying to think of what Sean Brown was up against myself!

I think that in '85 it was upto 1300; 1301 -2000; 2001 - 2500 and then 2501- 4000 or something like that?

I recall Brown often battling with Karl Jones' Ritmo, but I'm not entirely sure they were in the same class.

If it was in a 1300-2000 class then they would've been?

[GBRM]

I'd forgotten about Sean Brown in the FAI car and I think the Pugs were a bit later (along with the Hondas).
I can't remember the split either, as some of it was age/engine type as well as size related (hence the 3.0 Monza in class B in '86).
Dad ran three Stradas, one for Karl, one for Eric Cook and a spare; great little cars but a bit OT now!!

[terryobeirne]

and the relevance of VW Golfs in a toyota thread is????????????????

[terryobeirne]

I've comnfirmed that pic of the Bob Holden Sprinter at Spa is my car.

I'm still chasing pics of my AE82 front wheel drive Corolla that I believe raced at Spa 88-89. does anyone have any other links I can hunt thru??

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by terryobeirne

and the relevance of VW Golfs in a toyota thread is????????????????

Well you know, it had the misfortune of being a damn fine liveried car in a pic that the Corolla was in!!

[DAVID PATERSON]

I think there's enough posts here about Golfs to warrant splitting them off into their own thread. Mods???

[chunterer]

Well if anyone wants to start one off, I will move the relevant posts, but the thoughts hadn't crossed my mind yet.

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Well if anyone wants to start one off, I will move the relevant posts, but the thoughts hadn't crossed my mind yet.

We could give it a go- the BTCC ones shouldn't be too difficult to make sense of, apart from 'where are they now?' The Euro ones might be more of a challenge- as I recall, there were hordes of them until the Corolla began to dominate the 1600 class- and even then the German ETC rounds seemed to bring them out in force...

If we do, maybe we should include the Sciroccos as well?

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Not a bad engine at all to use as the template I would've thought!!!

Back to the cars themselves, what was the deal with Tony Dolley and Les Liddiard's FXGT's in 1989. They only appeared for that season in plain white and red colours. Were they new or sourced from elsewhere and why were they so off the pace?

I also recall the Ray Armes driven PG Tips Honda Civic V-Tec coming out late in the season and setting a new benchmark for cars in that class; then MSA adopted Class 2/SuperTouring and a very well sponsored and expensive motor car was instantly obsolete......

Just found a nice clip on YouTube- a bit under 10 minutes of BTCC action from Silverstone in '89. Mainly features a win by Rouse and a couple of entertaining scraps between the RS500s of Jerry Mahony, Karl Jones, and Mike Smith, but also a fair number of 1600 class cars, including the Honda, Crudgington's Corolla and all three of the fwd FX GTs- Dowsett, Dolley and Liddiard.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=esuNEx...eature=related

[MG Rover Sport]

I'm having a bit of a BTCC / ETCC programme clearout, some of which are actually relevant to the topic of this thread.

If anyone is interested, here is the thread in question - http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...80#post2342080

[KA]

Spent some time looking at old Autosports over Christmas, and found some interesting Corolla bits, particularly a Tiff Needell track test at the end of '87 comparing the rwd CHMS and fwd TOM'S cars.

It also describes the Oulton BTCC 1 hour race where Tiff and Chris shared both Hodgetts Corollas in the race, as mentioned earlier in the thread. Apparently, Win Percy (otherwise sharing Graham Goode's Sierra) also qualified in the Corollas as a back-up in case the demon pitstop plan (basically, circulate in close company up to the pit stop, pit together and swap cars) went pear-shaped...

[Eircamae86]

Hi Guys, Very new to the forum,
Very interesting Post, hope to be active on the site esspecially this particular thread.
This is my car, hopefully some of you kind folks might be able to spread some light on the Team,

Built from a brand new never registered 1983 Corolla GTV Levin.
The car was built by TOMs for Team Chowini in Hong Kong, the car was one of many AE86 in the Chowini Team.
The previous owner fitted the car with an up to date 8 point roll cage which is fully gusseted throughout.
All the original steel panels are in place, and the shell is fitted with lightweight glass.
The car is still in its original works colours, inside is painted metallic graphite grey.
It was intended to be used in the 1986 Macu GP, but the driver didn’t have the funds. So the car was tested and setup but then never used. Mileage on the clock is 17 miles.
Interior
• OMP bucket seat
• Schroth 6 point harness, 3 in belts (Brand new)
• Electric plumbed in fire extinguisher
• Alcantera covered dash board
• Modified steering column
• Quick release steering wheel
• Chowinis leather steering wheel
Engine
• Lightened and balanced throughout
• 40mm Crank
• TRD rods
• Arias forged slipper pistons 11:1cr
• Modified big port head
• TRD big valves & springs
• Underbucket shims
• Camshafts 320 in & 304 ex both 11mm lift
• Standard plenum (re-worked)
• Standard cast ex manifold (re-worked)
• Silicone Samco hoses
• New swirl pot
• New shorter height uprated radiator
• TRD ecu with removable eprom
• Toda chrome alloy lightened flywheel with integral ring gear.
• Reduction gear starter
• Paddle clutch
• Remote oil filter
• Large oil cooler
Suspension
Front
• Rose jointed TRD bottom arms and lateral rod
• TRD 2 ¾ coilover 8 way adjustable struts
• Adjustable top mounts
• Roll center adjusters
• Cusco quick rack
• K-Max uprated anti roll bar
Rear
• TRD rear springs (Light weight stressed versions)
• TRD blue 8 way adjustable dampers
• Std anti roll bar
• Rose jointed trailing arms and panhard rod
Brakes
• AP vented disks on aluminium bells
• AP 4 potcalipers
• Adjustable bias pedal box
• AP short cylinders with remote reservoirs
• Standard disks & calipers on the rear

Transmission
• TRD close ratio gearbox
• TRD quick shift
• 2 – piece propshaft
• TRD 2 way LSD (shimmed to 80%)
• 4.8 cwp
• Small halfshafts
Ive only had this car round the track for a few laps, due to noise restrictions, its an animal!!







A few pics from the Team, the only pics I had of my car died with my last pc