[ MONTH IN CARS ] Events
Historic rally cars come to the fore at Race Retro
Race Retro continued its return to strength at Stoneleigh Park, with a particularly strong historic rally car presence, both in the show halls and on the gravel stage. Elsewhere, Martini Racing was celebrated with a spectacular array from Lancia LC2 to Porsche 911RSR, as legends of motorsport took to the live interview stage to reminisce.
Geoff Crossley Special
This spectacular sports-racing one-off was being shown for the first time post-restoration. Lancastrian racing driver Geoff Crossley devised it while racing his Lotus XI alongside the likes of Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in the Sixties, beginning work on the car in 1968.
‘It has a Lotus XI-style spaceframe chassis in aircraft-grade steel, and hand-formed aluminium bodywork,’ said Julian Crossley – no relation – of Aldon Performance. ‘The 3.6-litre V8 came from the infamous Mini Buick Special, the owner of which wanted to fit an even more powerful engine, but this unit already gave 310bhp! Crossley gave it a custom sump so it could be mounted very low in the chassis. Incredibly, it drove through a Riley 1.5 differential, which Geoff claimed could handle the power, although it now has a Jaguar item.
‘The car took him 5000 hours to build, so by the time it was finished in 1974 it was outdated alongside modern mid-engined opposition. It debuted at the Barton Manor Hillclimb; it mainly competed in that discipline, and Geoff even considered road-registering it, but in the end he laid it up in his garage. We bought it last year, and it’s been restored by our students as part of our nonprofit educational organisation.’
Vauxhall Nova GSi
This car, the first works drive of three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins, made its post-restoration debut having been rescued by Higgins himself. ‘It was a barn find, tracked down in the depths of rural Scotland via the DVLA,’ said Carl Williamson, general manager of exhibitor ITG and former teammate of Higgins. ‘Mark took it to Harry Hockly, who built it originally, and said “I’ve got a project for you!” – four years later, having tracked down a lot of rare missing parts including trip meters, it’s ready.
‘Higgins’ performance on the 1990 Manx Rally – with his mother navigating – won an offer of a works drive with Vauxhall, provided he could raise sponsorship. An accountant friend helped him get the cash together to rally this car on the 1991 Manx. Although it retired with engine problems, it was a giant-killing drive.’ Higgins ran first or second in class for much of the rally.
‘He then used this car in the 1992 British Rally Championship’ – Higgins won his class on the Pirelli, Perth and Elonex Rallies, winning a frontline Vauxhall works drive for 1993.
‘Novas were a bit throwaway for years,’ said Williamson. ‘Many have disappeared or are still in barns. But I was rallying with Mark in China a few years ago, and having already found his old works Honda Civic, he said, “I’d love to find the Nova.” It became a bit of an obsession.’
Ford Fiesta Cosworth
‘This is in action for the first time in the UK following an eight-year restoration,’ said Hal Ridge of his championship-winning rallycross Fiesta. ‘I’ve been involved in rallycross for a long time, and wanted to restore something with real pedigree for the Lohéac Legend rallycross festival.
‘This car won the 1996 British Rallycross Championship with Steve Mundy. I knew the person who had the bodyshell – he spent seven and a half years restoring it back to original specification, but I had to do the rest.
‘The car has a Cosworth YB engine, a four-wheel drive system including an Atlas rear axle and a Quaife sequential gearbox, and unusually for a rallycross car, front-mounted cooling.
‘Mundy raced it for three more years before upgrading to a Focus. There are a lot of replicas on the historic rallycross scene, so something with genuine history like this is unusual.’
Lancia Delta Integrale
‘This is the first time this car is rallying in the UK and I’ve only had it ten days!’ said a nervous James Owen of his Lancia Delta Integrale. ‘Specialist Auto Integrale has restored it, and is now researching its history.
‘It wasn’t a Jolly Club car – the livery is a replica – but it was built new as a competition car. So far, we’ve found out that it appears it was used in the Italian Hillclimb Championship when new. Auto Integrale has had to unpick a lot ahead of rebuilding it to correct Group A specification, but it’s a curious thing – it’s a 1989 car, but it has 1993 Evo II front wings finished in plastic.’
Subscribe to Classic Cars today. Choose a Print+ Subscription and you'll get instant digital access and so much more. PLUS FREE UK delivery.