Viktör, a long-distance Volvo
Rally veteran is probably the world’s best-travelled PV544
NICHOLAS PRYOR and Lesley Stockwell’s PV544 endurance rally car was inspired by the late, great Philip Young, even though the godfather of Historic rallying hated Volvos. ‘He made an exception because he wanted us on the 2010 Peking-Paris Motor Challenge,’ says Pryor. ‘We bought it in 2008 and used it on the Poppy Rally and Classic Marathon before it spent 12 months being rebuilt for the Peking-Paris. We broke everything. You haven’t experienced difficulty until you break your rear axle for the second time in the pitch dark and bitter cold of a Mongolian night. We were repeatedly rescued by the sweep crews and by acts of generosity from total strangers with whom we had no language in common.’
It’s a far cry from their rally debut: ‘It was the inaugural LeJog in 1993 in an MG ZA Magnette. The following year we joined an all-MG team and won the marque prize. Its most demanding event was the 1996 Monte, which was beset with blizzards!
‘Then we bought what turned out to be a prototype MGA coupé, LBL 398, and used it on LeJog, Classic Marathon, Scottish Malts, Irish Trial, Rally of the Tests, Iceland Trial and the Emerald Isle Classic. It won the 2005 Three Castles. We also have a Jaguar 3.4 Mk2 that won the Kiwi Trial in New Zealand in 2006 – possibly the first Mk2 to win any sort of rally – and a Mercedes R107 350SL, which went to Japan for the Samurai Challenge.’
But the Volvo is the real workhorse: ‘It’s completed five long events with the ERA – Peking-Paris, Transamerica Trial, Classic Safari, Road to Mandalay and Inca Trail – plus the Great South American Challenge.
‘The engine has been bored out to 2.0 litres and we run a Ford Type 9 five-speed gearbox with Transit ratios – the low first gear and the homologated LSD will crawl out of anything.
‘It’s our tribute to Philip’s ethos on how a car should be prepared. The body was done by the guy who did Joginder Singh’s 544 and we went to Rally Preparation Services for all the detail work. The exhaust is skidded, there are hawsers around the engine mounts and chains on all the filler caps. The suspension has massive restraints to prevent rebound, particularly at the rear.
‘We’ve two fuel tanks and all the pipework, pumps and filters are doubled-up. We use van tyres, a very ‘PY’ touch – Toyos with six-ply walls and eight-ply tread. These have 30,000 miles on them and still have plenty of tread. The previous Avons gave us 35,000 miles. Inside we’ve got Corbeau’s first rally seats to tilt both ways so you can get in the back. We got back from Peking very tired so had them made and fitted after the event.’
What’s next? ‘We’ve been pulling in our horns a bit because we did five huge events in 2016 and 2017.’ Even a Volvo PV needs a rest sometimes.