For the facebook adverse
RRG16 G 01
Darren Balster Hillclimb Peugeot 205
British hillcimbing has created some fantastic specialised equipment built by amazing engineers, this Peugeot 205 is pretty special even within the world of hillclimb specials.
It started out from a new RHD shell in 1988 and was built as a hill climb car from the get go by ACE engineering in Devon. Originally built for Reg Phillips a local Shelsley hero since the 60s. After that it went to Willem Toet. Willem was heavily involved with F1 and was head of aerodynamics at Benetton F1 at that time. The car became a sort of mobile test bed for Benetton F1 and has all sorts of logging equipment all over the car. He changed it to LHD for better weight distribution and tried out different aero packages over the years. It was one of the first to run traction control in 1992 on the hills and use to dominate in wet conditions.
Over a few years they built it into one of the most successful tin top Hill Climb cars of the 90s. The 205 held most class Hill climb records up and down the country. The record at Prescott stood for 13 years and was only recently beaten. Around 2007 the car was stored in a garage. Darren and his father Jeff eventually tracked the car down where it had been put away and not used for years. After some negotiation the car was bought whole (just before it was about to be split for parts). They got the car up and running again and out on the hills.
The spec is massive but in short:
It’s a fully built Mass Race Engine MI16.
280hp Gems ecu- Custom Richard Marshall logging comms ecu.
Has a engine heater to pre warm the engine prior to firing up.
Custom cams from Mass,
Mass Dry sump system,
Mass Ported n polished head,
Small flywheel and AP paddle clutch,
Quick rack with pas.
Brake bias system
Inconel exhaust manifold and centre section.
Titanium engine mount.
Jenvey TBs with variable length trumpets via a pressure cylinder.(currently
set to full torque) Custom rad with wiggle clamps Short ratio gearbox with
short shift system.
One off F1 style dash with shift lights and engine info.
AP front and rear callipers with custom discs.
Turbo Mag split rims and revolution wheels depending on weather conditions.
Cuts or slicks.
Bringing the car to Shelsley to attack the hill at Retro Rides Gathering Darren is sure to delight the crowd. If you get the chance head to paddock and check out the engineering on this car.
RRG16 G 02
Pipey McGraw - VW K70 with W8 engine
If you've been to The Gathering over the past few years you've likely noticed one of Pipey's cars, most likely the Mk1 Golf on a Beetle floor pan, running a Mazda rotary engine. He is no stranger to outrageous builds. This (currently) is probably his most outrageous, shoe horning the VW/Audi W8 engine into the unloved VW K70 shell.
On top of the motor we have a fully stripped out interior, the 4.0 litre W8 is pushing its power to all four wheels. It should make for a lively drive up the hill, it makes hell of a noise.
Pipey put this together along with his colleagues at Coltech Classics and it is testament to their work rate that they put it together so quickly (3 months). Who knows what they will produce next,... or maybe some people do, and maybe that will also make The Gathering. For now rest assured this is going to look and sound great in action on the hill.
Photos : NWVT.co.uk Professional Automotive Photography And Design for Hayburner magazine
RRG16 G 03
Steven Fisher Mk3 Escort, 2ltr Zetec and RWD
Every year we get a drop out or two from our guest car line up, often we have a couple of cars in the back of our mind to fill the gaps. This year though those cars came to use. Sadly the wonderful Bryn Musselwhite has to be away on filming duties on the Sunday of the show (although he will be popping in for a quick bit of podcast recording whilst we're setting up the show). We're replacing Bryn's street freak Volvo with a freak Mk3 Escort.
Why is this car so crazy? Well Steven has home built a 450bhp Zetec powered Rear Wheel Drive Mk3 Escort. That is suitably bonkers for us. If you want to know a bit more detail read on, but frankly that subject line alone was enough for us. Top work.
Spec sheet is as follows: Fully seam welded shell, weld in multi point cage no interior etc. 2050cc Zetec turbo, steel crank, i beam con rods JE forged pistons. WRC head from ford motorsport USA, oversized valves, titanium double valve springs, custom made 8 injector inlet plenum, custom tubular exhaust manifold, precision 6266 ceramic roller bearing turbo, turbosmart external gate, titan dry sump, rs 500 intercooler, methanol injection. paddle clutch borg warner t5 gearbox. Fully rose joined, coil overs, 16x8 wheels, 450bhp. This is one serious bit of kit.
RRG16 G 04
Simca 1000 Youngtimer Race Car
Sometimes these things fall into your lap, an email about a club stand turns into a discussion about the car the organiser may be purchasing. Well when Mick from the Simca club said he was selling a couple of his cars to buy a racing Simca that previously competed in the Youngtimer Trophy I knew it wouldn't be in the show field, it would be in the paddock with our guest cars.
Bright orange, screaming motor, unusual car with a great race history that includes running at Spa, this is a brilliant little machine that I'm sure Mick will pedal up the hill with great aplomb. We always like to bring cars that not everyone will have seen before and stick them in front of our visitors, we think this fits the bill perfectly.
RRG16 G 05
Keith Harris Chevron B25 F2/Formula Atlantic
We like to make sure our guest line up contains diversity and represents as much of our retro scene as possible, so here we have a pure bred racing car for our guest line up. This is a 1973 Formula 2/Formula Atlantic car built by legendary British racing car manufacturer Chevron. This particular car competed in period having been owned by John Lepp, it has been used pretty much ever since for racing. It is currently owned and run by Keith Harris who has been competing with it at hill climbs since 2002. He knows Shelsley Walsh well and is incredibly fast up the hill, expect some spectacular speed out of this.
Photos by Alan Raine : www.flickr.com/photos/alansart/
RRG16 G 06
Warner Lewis - Ex-Markku Alén 1992 Group A Toyota Celica
We try not to repeat guest cars too often, we do have some previous guests that come back to the show every year because they liked it so much and this always makes us happy. Sometimes we have people that we always plan to get back because we enjoyed their first attendance so much. Warner Lewis and his Group A Toyota Celica was always going to be coming back after the show he put on last time he was with us.
The car 1st showed it's face in the hands of Markku Alén on the 92 rac rally. It ended its first life on the Acropolis rally with two Toyota's ending up on top of each other. The car was beyond repair and parts were missing when Warner acquired it. He spent 3 years tracking parts and re-creating a shell to original spec then use 90% of the original cars parts to complete the build. He did convert to rhd while re-shelling. The car was used at Juha Kankannun and Nicky Grist in 2012 for Juhas book signing. It is still actively used in demonstrations and runs 0 car on a few rallies.
RRG16 G 07
Team Colorado 1958 VW Beetle Rally Car
Here is a car that has been rallying since 1961. Think about that for a second, before we landed on the moon, before the Beatles had released a single, before many of us were even a glint in our parent’s eye. This car was in the ownership of Bob Beale. 55 years later it will be heading to Shelsley Walsh and up our hill at the Retro Rides Gathering.
Now for a car of its age you'd be given for thinking it may be taking it a bit easy up the hill. Well its 1200cc Oettinger engine is still a serious bit of kit in the relatively light weight shell and you only need to look at the photos to see this car is built to be used and Team Colorado really know what they are doing with it.
Here is what Retro Rides Gathering is about, this piece of historic rally machinery sits alongside Toyotas 90's rally machinery and shares a manufacturers badge with another of the guest cars. They couldn't be more different, but they are all part of what we do. Not long now until we get to see this lot on the hill.
Read more about Bertie here: www.teamcolorado.co.uk/bertie-beetle.html
and here: www.facebook.com/UWP401/
RRG16 G 08
1938 GN Special "Spider 2"
Anyone who braved the weather last year will tell you one of the most impressive sights of the day was this pre-war special tearing up the hill come rain or shine, putting a lot of more modern machinery to shame. We had to get it back again, it is a wonderful connection to the long history of Shelsley Walsh.
A true Shelsley legend Basil Davenport built two famous specials to compete in pre-war and post-war hillclimbs. His first car 'Spider', held the hill record in 1926, 1927 and 1928. The original Spider is well known for having beaten Raymond Mays in the mighty Auto Union, a true underdog story. After the war Basil re-emerged with an updated "Spider 2", this update included a 2 litre V-Twin engine and continued to improve his hill times.
This is engineering at its rawest and a driving experience from a different age, the 'Spider' moniker apparently comes from how it makes its way up the hill sideways for the majority of the time.
The history of this car is as long as your arm, a phenomenal survivor from an era of great ingenuity and genuine home built cars taking on and beating the top Grand Prix monsters.
Here is a 1957 interview with Basil Davenport from the brilliant Motorsport Magazine archives : www.motorsportmagazine.com/…/interview-basil-davenpo…
Or check out a video of it in action :
RRG16 G 09
Lotus Europa Le Mans replica with Zetec power
This one came as a bonus with one of our other guest cars. When someone who already has a great car coming to the show says my brothers got this and it is accompanied by a picture of a Lotus Europa Le Mans, then they say it has a ridiculous power to weight ratio. It is difficult to say no. So we didn't we said yes!
What you have here is a replica of a 68 Lotus Europa Le Mans. Underneath that meaty and pretty body is a space frame, a tuned Zetec engine and a sequential box. The car weighs in at just 550Kg. There are only three of these cars built to this spec.
That power to weight that made us say yes? 600bhp per ton.
RRG16 G 10
David West - Audi Sports Quattro
A few year's ago we had a crazy awesome guy from the Netherlands come over with his fire breathing grey Audi Sports Quattro and run it up the hill at our event. Turns out we didn't need to go as far afield for such a ludicrous Audi because at the same time Retropower were putting the finishing touches to this beast. The matching colour was pure coincidence and the cars seem to get mistaken for each other occasionally. So let us be clear, this is a different Audi to the one we had before, but it is equally crazy and awesome.
You can see the full build of this car here :
www.facebook.com/Audi-Sport-Quattro-by-Retropower-…/
In short though, it is a Dialynx SWB Audi, running over 500 bhp, built by those guys at Retropower. It is spectacular and it will be hitting the hill at Retro Rides Gathering 2016 on Sunday 28th August at Shelsley Walsh.
RRG16 G 01
Darren Balster Hillclimb Peugeot 205
British hillcimbing has created some fantastic specialised equipment built by amazing engineers, this Peugeot 205 is pretty special even within the world of hillclimb specials.
It started out from a new RHD shell in 1988 and was built as a hill climb car from the get go by ACE engineering in Devon. Originally built for Reg Phillips a local Shelsley hero since the 60s. After that it went to Willem Toet. Willem was heavily involved with F1 and was head of aerodynamics at Benetton F1 at that time. The car became a sort of mobile test bed for Benetton F1 and has all sorts of logging equipment all over the car. He changed it to LHD for better weight distribution and tried out different aero packages over the years. It was one of the first to run traction control in 1992 on the hills and use to dominate in wet conditions.
Over a few years they built it into one of the most successful tin top Hill Climb cars of the 90s. The 205 held most class Hill climb records up and down the country. The record at Prescott stood for 13 years and was only recently beaten. Around 2007 the car was stored in a garage. Darren and his father Jeff eventually tracked the car down where it had been put away and not used for years. After some negotiation the car was bought whole (just before it was about to be split for parts). They got the car up and running again and out on the hills.
The spec is massive but in short:
It’s a fully built Mass Race Engine MI16.
280hp Gems ecu- Custom Richard Marshall logging comms ecu.
Has a engine heater to pre warm the engine prior to firing up.
Custom cams from Mass,
Mass Dry sump system,
Mass Ported n polished head,
Small flywheel and AP paddle clutch,
Quick rack with pas.
Brake bias system
Inconel exhaust manifold and centre section.
Titanium engine mount.
Jenvey TBs with variable length trumpets via a pressure cylinder.(currently
set to full torque) Custom rad with wiggle clamps Short ratio gearbox with
short shift system.
One off F1 style dash with shift lights and engine info.
AP front and rear callipers with custom discs.
Turbo Mag split rims and revolution wheels depending on weather conditions.
Cuts or slicks.
Bringing the car to Shelsley to attack the hill at Retro Rides Gathering Darren is sure to delight the crowd. If you get the chance head to paddock and check out the engineering on this car.
RRG16 G 02
Pipey McGraw - VW K70 with W8 engine
If you've been to The Gathering over the past few years you've likely noticed one of Pipey's cars, most likely the Mk1 Golf on a Beetle floor pan, running a Mazda rotary engine. He is no stranger to outrageous builds. This (currently) is probably his most outrageous, shoe horning the VW/Audi W8 engine into the unloved VW K70 shell.
On top of the motor we have a fully stripped out interior, the 4.0 litre W8 is pushing its power to all four wheels. It should make for a lively drive up the hill, it makes hell of a noise.
Pipey put this together along with his colleagues at Coltech Classics and it is testament to their work rate that they put it together so quickly (3 months). Who knows what they will produce next,... or maybe some people do, and maybe that will also make The Gathering. For now rest assured this is going to look and sound great in action on the hill.
Photos : NWVT.co.uk Professional Automotive Photography And Design for Hayburner magazine
RRG16 G 03
Steven Fisher Mk3 Escort, 2ltr Zetec and RWD
Every year we get a drop out or two from our guest car line up, often we have a couple of cars in the back of our mind to fill the gaps. This year though those cars came to use. Sadly the wonderful Bryn Musselwhite has to be away on filming duties on the Sunday of the show (although he will be popping in for a quick bit of podcast recording whilst we're setting up the show). We're replacing Bryn's street freak Volvo with a freak Mk3 Escort.
Why is this car so crazy? Well Steven has home built a 450bhp Zetec powered Rear Wheel Drive Mk3 Escort. That is suitably bonkers for us. If you want to know a bit more detail read on, but frankly that subject line alone was enough for us. Top work.
Spec sheet is as follows: Fully seam welded shell, weld in multi point cage no interior etc. 2050cc Zetec turbo, steel crank, i beam con rods JE forged pistons. WRC head from ford motorsport USA, oversized valves, titanium double valve springs, custom made 8 injector inlet plenum, custom tubular exhaust manifold, precision 6266 ceramic roller bearing turbo, turbosmart external gate, titan dry sump, rs 500 intercooler, methanol injection. paddle clutch borg warner t5 gearbox. Fully rose joined, coil overs, 16x8 wheels, 450bhp. This is one serious bit of kit.
RRG16 G 04
Simca 1000 Youngtimer Race Car
Sometimes these things fall into your lap, an email about a club stand turns into a discussion about the car the organiser may be purchasing. Well when Mick from the Simca club said he was selling a couple of his cars to buy a racing Simca that previously competed in the Youngtimer Trophy I knew it wouldn't be in the show field, it would be in the paddock with our guest cars.
Bright orange, screaming motor, unusual car with a great race history that includes running at Spa, this is a brilliant little machine that I'm sure Mick will pedal up the hill with great aplomb. We always like to bring cars that not everyone will have seen before and stick them in front of our visitors, we think this fits the bill perfectly.
RRG16 G 05
Keith Harris Chevron B25 F2/Formula Atlantic
We like to make sure our guest line up contains diversity and represents as much of our retro scene as possible, so here we have a pure bred racing car for our guest line up. This is a 1973 Formula 2/Formula Atlantic car built by legendary British racing car manufacturer Chevron. This particular car competed in period having been owned by John Lepp, it has been used pretty much ever since for racing. It is currently owned and run by Keith Harris who has been competing with it at hill climbs since 2002. He knows Shelsley Walsh well and is incredibly fast up the hill, expect some spectacular speed out of this.
Photos by Alan Raine : www.flickr.com/photos/alansart/
RRG16 G 06
Warner Lewis - Ex-Markku Alén 1992 Group A Toyota Celica
We try not to repeat guest cars too often, we do have some previous guests that come back to the show every year because they liked it so much and this always makes us happy. Sometimes we have people that we always plan to get back because we enjoyed their first attendance so much. Warner Lewis and his Group A Toyota Celica was always going to be coming back after the show he put on last time he was with us.
The car 1st showed it's face in the hands of Markku Alén on the 92 rac rally. It ended its first life on the Acropolis rally with two Toyota's ending up on top of each other. The car was beyond repair and parts were missing when Warner acquired it. He spent 3 years tracking parts and re-creating a shell to original spec then use 90% of the original cars parts to complete the build. He did convert to rhd while re-shelling. The car was used at Juha Kankannun and Nicky Grist in 2012 for Juhas book signing. It is still actively used in demonstrations and runs 0 car on a few rallies.
RRG16 G 07
Team Colorado 1958 VW Beetle Rally Car
Here is a car that has been rallying since 1961. Think about that for a second, before we landed on the moon, before the Beatles had released a single, before many of us were even a glint in our parent’s eye. This car was in the ownership of Bob Beale. 55 years later it will be heading to Shelsley Walsh and up our hill at the Retro Rides Gathering.
Now for a car of its age you'd be given for thinking it may be taking it a bit easy up the hill. Well its 1200cc Oettinger engine is still a serious bit of kit in the relatively light weight shell and you only need to look at the photos to see this car is built to be used and Team Colorado really know what they are doing with it.
Here is what Retro Rides Gathering is about, this piece of historic rally machinery sits alongside Toyotas 90's rally machinery and shares a manufacturers badge with another of the guest cars. They couldn't be more different, but they are all part of what we do. Not long now until we get to see this lot on the hill.
Read more about Bertie here: www.teamcolorado.co.uk/bertie-beetle.html
and here: www.facebook.com/UWP401/
RRG16 G 08
1938 GN Special "Spider 2"
Anyone who braved the weather last year will tell you one of the most impressive sights of the day was this pre-war special tearing up the hill come rain or shine, putting a lot of more modern machinery to shame. We had to get it back again, it is a wonderful connection to the long history of Shelsley Walsh.
A true Shelsley legend Basil Davenport built two famous specials to compete in pre-war and post-war hillclimbs. His first car 'Spider', held the hill record in 1926, 1927 and 1928. The original Spider is well known for having beaten Raymond Mays in the mighty Auto Union, a true underdog story. After the war Basil re-emerged with an updated "Spider 2", this update included a 2 litre V-Twin engine and continued to improve his hill times.
This is engineering at its rawest and a driving experience from a different age, the 'Spider' moniker apparently comes from how it makes its way up the hill sideways for the majority of the time.
The history of this car is as long as your arm, a phenomenal survivor from an era of great ingenuity and genuine home built cars taking on and beating the top Grand Prix monsters.
Here is a 1957 interview with Basil Davenport from the brilliant Motorsport Magazine archives : www.motorsportmagazine.com/…/interview-basil-davenpo…
Or check out a video of it in action :
RRG16 G 09
Lotus Europa Le Mans replica with Zetec power
This one came as a bonus with one of our other guest cars. When someone who already has a great car coming to the show says my brothers got this and it is accompanied by a picture of a Lotus Europa Le Mans, then they say it has a ridiculous power to weight ratio. It is difficult to say no. So we didn't we said yes!
What you have here is a replica of a 68 Lotus Europa Le Mans. Underneath that meaty and pretty body is a space frame, a tuned Zetec engine and a sequential box. The car weighs in at just 550Kg. There are only three of these cars built to this spec.
That power to weight that made us say yes? 600bhp per ton.
RRG16 G 10
David West - Audi Sports Quattro
A few year's ago we had a crazy awesome guy from the Netherlands come over with his fire breathing grey Audi Sports Quattro and run it up the hill at our event. Turns out we didn't need to go as far afield for such a ludicrous Audi because at the same time Retropower were putting the finishing touches to this beast. The matching colour was pure coincidence and the cars seem to get mistaken for each other occasionally. So let us be clear, this is a different Audi to the one we had before, but it is equally crazy and awesome.
You can see the full build of this car here :
www.facebook.com/Audi-Sport-Quattro-by-Retropower-…/
In short though, it is a Dialynx SWB Audi, running over 500 bhp, built by those guys at Retropower. It is spectacular and it will be hitting the hill at Retro Rides Gathering 2016 on Sunday 28th August at Shelsley Walsh.
