85 replies to this topic

[Artful Dodger]

Here is the car which replaced the Mini on the British rallying scene. This one is Colin Walker with me navigating on the Devil's Own Mexico Championship round in 1973 (I think). From memory we were 4th. Colin was a very smooth and quick driver, especially on tarmac where he was most at home. On another event I did with him we won with Prince Michael of Kent in another Mexico a couple of minutes behind us. Nice bloke, congratulated us on beating him and had breakfast together. His navigator was a very old friend of mine too.

My dad nearly killed himself in his escort, it was only a 1600 but was half competitive at clubby level, on the way to anglesey circuit (not sure if that's spelt correctly) when a track rod end failed due to his KPI set up he had made. The long and short of it is, he finished up, upside-down with the offside front wheel between his knees! I'll look for pictures. If your in any doubt over how dangerous rallying CAN be, look at late class B footage, they were like dirty F1 cars!

There was a programme on TV a couple of weeks ago about Gp. B rally cars. It was truly madness, although I did make a lot of money from doing the chassis design definition on the RS200.
There were even rumours that one team even ran with empty fire extinguishers to save weight! I can't vouch for that, but wouldn't be surprised.

i watched that. was really amazing the lengths people went to to win. also the spectator side of things is what got me. completely unfair to the drivers!!!! imagine the guilt if someone hit one! ( which they did, obviously!) and the man at the end blaming and suing the driver becuase he got hit!! who on earth would stand on the same road as a group B on the OUTSIDE of a corner? idiot.

[Lee_bash]

Cooperman, I've seen loads of pictures of porsches doing rallies- how competitive were they though? i appreciate how quick they are, but also that in they're a handful to drive on the road so couldn't imagine they'd be much easier on dirt

Love this thread anyway, Motorsport isn't the same these days

[Remylebleu]

my dad always used to tell me about this when i was kid......and complain there was no way he could ever watch watch again.......then youtube popped up

[Lee_bash]

that's mad how he's not even wearing a racing suit!

[Remylebleu]

people......they dont make them like they used too.....lol

[Cooperman]

Cooperman, I've seen loads of pictures of porsches doing rallies- how competitive were they though? i appreciate how quick they are, but also that in they're a handful to drive on the road so couldn't imagine they'd be much easier on dirt

Love this thread anyway, Motorsport isn't the same these days

I was fortunate to have been asked by the late Jock Russell to do a Welsh Championship rally with him in August 1968. That was really the first 911 to have done any UK Regional Club rallying. I didn't think we were going particularly quickly, but we finished 2nd overall behind the current Welsh Chjampion in a Lotus-Cortina. That was a standard 911 with about 130 bhp. We did some more events and were 2nd on the Bournemouth National Rally in Sept that year, then (I think) 7th on the TAP Portuguese. In 1969 we got some excellent results on the Motoring News Championship series with 2nds & 3rds and were 25th on the RAC.
Later I co-drove for Jan Churchill in his 911 2.8 Carrers RS and got a 5th on the Tour of Ypres ans best UK crew.
The 911 could be a bit tricky under certain conditions, but we always had the correct suspension with a thick rear anti-roll bar to prevent understeer on the loose.
I owned a 1973 2.7 Carrera for 16 years as a classic car and it was very, very quick giving 0 - 60 in about 5 seconds back in 1979 when I bought it from a German enthusiast. I never found it hard to drive quickly, even in the wet, but it might have been tricky for a new driver I guess.
They were all so beautifully built as well.

Here as the 911 with Jock & me on the 1969 Tour of Dean Rally. I think we finished 3rd.

[rally1380]

Here's a pic of the famous ex Roy Mapple 'Orange Box' rally car Cooperman mentioned earlier.

Now run by Steve Entwistle. This pic was taken in September on the Vale of Clwyd Classic....loads of mini's and other really nice cars.....check out Historic Road Rally Championship if anyone is interested.

[Teapot]

If you like your rally cars in the air, click here

http://www.forum-aut...t378983-175.htm

plenty of vintage minis halfway down

[Cooperman]

Steve Entwistle did the Tour of Cheshire when Roy Mapple and I marshalled together. It was great for him to be clocking-in his old 'Orange Box'.
At about 11-30 pm the night before when Barrie Williams and I arrived back at our hotel we found Steve in the car park with the Mini being fixed. We offered loads of encouragement and advice and he got it going for the start the next morning.
Steve is writing a new book about rallying in the late 50's and early 60's. There will be lots of 850's and early Coopers in it one might guess.

[valve bounce]

ive encountered the orange box a couple of times this years at the solway classic and the lake district classic. always driven very neatly and quickly

[62S]

The guy who now owns this car says you,Cooperman, navigated in it once many years ago and would never get in it again? I'm sure he said it was owned by a really fast and completely fearless Welshman in the 1960's but I can't recall his name but I guess you were in it in the 1960's?

Edited by 62S, 27 December 2012 - 01:52 PM.

[62S]

Just found what looks like an older picture of it

[Cooperman]

That 776VDE was owned by Alun Rees. He was simply blisteringly fast but rarely finished an event. He asked me to navigate him on the 1968 Tour of Epynt, a daylight all special stage event on the army ranges at Sennybridge near Brecon. I travelled down on the morning of the event and Alun was there with the 776VDE. Now what I'm going to tell you is absolutely true. The roll hoop (not roll cage!) was made from gas pipe and the seat belts looked very old. The seats were not bolted down as they are now required to be and were just standard Mini seats. There were 3 different types of tyre including an assymetric Michelin on one side at the front and Dunlop on the other side.
Then we started the rally and Alun absolutely flew - literally. We caught and passed my friend Rob Lawrence in his ex-works Cooper 'S' then after a huge 'yump' the car just stopped. I could smell burning and when the boot was opened a steel tow-cable had come loose from the bungee straps and was 'arcing' across the unprotected battery terminals. So we fixed that and carried on, only to have a drive shaft snap after another big 'yump' when one side of the car landed on the grass and the shaft smapped as we re-gained rhe tarmac rod. I thought that was it, but I had lent my car, A Mk.1 Cortina GT, to a friend (a young lady) who was spectating right where the shaft smapped, so we took my car, drove out of the stage, found our service crew and then drove back in after the stage had finished, changed the shaft and continued. We were, of course, out of time, but Alun insisted on doing the afternoon nstages and we got 4 fastest times out of 6 long stages!
I said that I would never, ever get back into that car and I never did.
Safety issues were not so paramount back in the 60's.
Ah, happy days!

[rally515]

Anybody else wish they had cooperman's knowledge,memory & lifestyle ?

Always great to hear what you have to say cooperman 10/10

[Cooperman]

I was on holiday with my then-wife in Wales in 1969 and we were in Carmarthen. We found an hotel called the Golden Lion and booked a room. In the bar that evening the subject of why we were in Wales came up and I mentioned that I was doing a bit of recceing of the local roads before the Cilwendeg rally which I was doing with Jock Russell in the 911. The landlady said that a local rally driver came into the hotel most evenings and, yes, it was good old Alun!. Alun was phoned and we had a great evening and he suggested that we stay a few days with him at his bungalow which was quite local. So we did that and the next evening all 3 of us went to a local pub out in the country. Both Alun and I had a 'bit to drink, so my wife agreed to drive us back to Aluns. We were in my car which was then a SAAB 96V4. Alun sat in the front and said that he would 'read the road' to her the way I read it from the maps. There was a long straight narrow lane with high banks with the road going to the right at the end. Alun said it was 'Flat out to Flat Right'. Luckily my wife lifted off and dabbed the brakes, but we still only just, and I really do mean only just, got around. It was absolutely on the limit.
She said "Did you say 'flat out' around that corner, Alun?" "Oh", he said, "I should have said 'nearly flat out', sorry!"
Alun is a wonderful character, although I've lost touch with him now. He did the famous 1970 World Cup Rally in a Hillman Hunter and finished the event in quite a good position.