The desire for speed in an Imp was there from day one,they really do go very well,even with the normal 875cc engine and only 38bhp output.
An Eric Wells photo.
When you fit 998cc pistons and liners,an R20 race camshaft,plus a Janspeed full race inlet and exhaust manifold,with two Weber 40 dcoe carbs,things start to happen.With Windsor Motors in Parrow,seeing 86 bhp from the engine,thats at the wheels,the stripped out car became a really fast drive.
When lying forth overall in the Argus Championships,the car was banned due to its carbs being in effect four chokes.The rules stated you could only have as many chokes as the car was sold with in South Africa.That was in effect the end of my racing!
The car was owned,built and driven by Roy McBride,who used what was his own road car and a mark 1 standard Hillman Imp,helpers were his friends David Hassall and Ian Shaw,later Clive Cohen became involved too.He later took the car over around 1976 when Roy sailed off to Salvador,Bahia,Brasil in a 38ft yacht.
The concept in building the car was simple enough,buy the parts from the Rootes Competitions Dept,in England,have them posted out and build a 998cc race engine.Postal orders in Pounds could be purchased at your local Post Office back in 1971! The engine was built in Roys bedroom in a flat in Kort Street,Three Anchor Bay,it stayed on a table at the bottom of Roys bed untill it was ready to be fitted.
Enter one Dennis Joubert,then President of the WPMC (king of Killarney?) Dennis was the first person to be asked would the cars engine be allowed? this was due to the fact that to make an Imps 875cc all alloy engine powerfull enough to make any difference,it needed a set of steel liners and 998cc pistons,larger valves and two Weber 40 dcoe carburetors.The expected output was then over 80bhp and as much as 107bhp,this was from a base line of 38bhp with the standard motor.( Windsor Motors saw 87 bhp at the wheels on their rolling road)
Roy put the idea of such a car to Dennis,probably in his office in Cape Town,he was an architect? Dennis sought and gave approval,Roy prepared his car and arrived at Killarney,home of the WPMC.The car and Roy were well accepted,it made scrutiny and Roy started driving his races being in the lower class F in the then Argus Series.
The car was good for a first timer,as mentioned before,it failed just once and points were adding up quite well,the main competition in class F was a Ford Anglia,there was a Mini too? It may have been after about five races that Dennis drops a bomb shell,your car is illegal and its banned,only later (many years) Roy was to fully understand the implications?
The Argus Class stated only as many carburetors as the car came out with can be used,we are talking the number of chokes here,not the make or type.The Imps single tiny Solex was never going to work on the new engine,even a larger carb of another make was not either,as ever cash was the problem and Roy stopped racing in the Argus Series. Roy should of course had the original agreement in writing,maybe he did? he could then have fought the decision,Roy walked the pits and asked all he found did they mind if he competed,even for no points,not a single complaint was to be heard,that's across the various classes by the wy.
Why did this happen? Well Class F was not exactly over subscribed and a new make would fill some gaps? Hillman Imp 75F ran like clockwork,soon the points saw the car to be 4th overall in the Argus Series,its most probably this that had the car thrown out,there were many with vested interests and much more money at stake, who could not have a new car and driver,doing better than they points wise.This was also a car that was not on the market in South Africa anymore, sponsors of some of the other classes may have complained had the Imp continued?
That's what Roy thinks anyway,even the race handicappers would not allow Roy to win,check the link below.
http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2011/06/winning-at-killarney-race-track.html
An Eric Wells photo.When lying forth overall in the Argus Championships,the car was banned due to its carbs being in effect four chokes.The rules stated you could only have as many chokes as the car was sold with in South Africa.That was in effect the end of my racing!
The car was owned,built and driven by Roy McBride,who used what was his own road car and a mark 1 standard Hillman Imp,helpers were his friends David Hassall and Ian Shaw,later Clive Cohen became involved too.He later took the car over around 1976 when Roy sailed off to Salvador,Bahia,Brasil in a 38ft yacht.
The concept in building the car was simple enough,buy the parts from the Rootes Competitions Dept,in England,have them posted out and build a 998cc race engine.Postal orders in Pounds could be purchased at your local Post Office back in 1971! The engine was built in Roys bedroom in a flat in Kort Street,Three Anchor Bay,it stayed on a table at the bottom of Roys bed untill it was ready to be fitted.
Enter one Dennis Joubert,then President of the WPMC (king of Killarney?) Dennis was the first person to be asked would the cars engine be allowed? this was due to the fact that to make an Imps 875cc all alloy engine powerfull enough to make any difference,it needed a set of steel liners and 998cc pistons,larger valves and two Weber 40 dcoe carburetors.The expected output was then over 80bhp and as much as 107bhp,this was from a base line of 38bhp with the standard motor.( Windsor Motors saw 87 bhp at the wheels on their rolling road)
Roy put the idea of such a car to Dennis,probably in his office in Cape Town,he was an architect? Dennis sought and gave approval,Roy prepared his car and arrived at Killarney,home of the WPMC.The car and Roy were well accepted,it made scrutiny and Roy started driving his races being in the lower class F in the then Argus Series.
The car was good for a first timer,as mentioned before,it failed just once and points were adding up quite well,the main competition in class F was a Ford Anglia,there was a Mini too? It may have been after about five races that Dennis drops a bomb shell,your car is illegal and its banned,only later (many years) Roy was to fully understand the implications?
The Argus Class stated only as many carburetors as the car came out with can be used,we are talking the number of chokes here,not the make or type.The Imps single tiny Solex was never going to work on the new engine,even a larger carb of another make was not either,as ever cash was the problem and Roy stopped racing in the Argus Series. Roy should of course had the original agreement in writing,maybe he did? he could then have fought the decision,Roy walked the pits and asked all he found did they mind if he competed,even for no points,not a single complaint was to be heard,that's across the various classes by the wy.
Why did this happen? Well Class F was not exactly over subscribed and a new make would fill some gaps? Hillman Imp 75F ran like clockwork,soon the points saw the car to be 4th overall in the Argus Series,its most probably this that had the car thrown out,there were many with vested interests and much more money at stake, who could not have a new car and driver,doing better than they points wise.This was also a car that was not on the market in South Africa anymore, sponsors of some of the other classes may have complained had the Imp continued?
That's what Roy thinks anyway,even the race handicappers would not allow Roy to win,check the link below.
http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2011/06/winning-at-killarney-race-track.html
No comments:
Post a Comment