Works Ford Escort RS2000 stars at Bicester-based winter rally
Battling lockdowns and bitter weather, Per Ardua Ad Infinitum delivered rally goods
After Covid-19 lockdowns forced the cancellation of HERO’S much-loved RAC Rally of the Tests and LE JOG events, it used its Bicester Heritage base for the new Per Ardua Ad Infinitum rally. Combining fast and tricky stages around Bicester’s environs and challenging navigational loops around the countryside in between, it meant competitors could finally use the cars they’d prepared for this winter’s toughest rallies.
Overland Type 38
‘It’s never done an event like this!’ said owner Harry Fraser as he prepared to drive the oldest car on the rally – a 1910 Overland Type 38 – with both he and co-driver Mark Elder dressed in period-style motoring clothing to protect themselves in an open car with no weather gear.
‘It was imported from the US in the Seventies – prior to that we know nothing of its specific history other than it was built in Overland’s factory in Toledo, Ohio, in 1910 – and has done very little since. But we do know that this is the only example in the UK with its original body.
‘I’ve only owned it a few years, but I recently met the daughter of the chap who imported it nearly 50 years ago and he used to just drive it to the pub. The second UK owner didn’t do much with it either – and I’m the third.
‘It was built in an interesting point in Overland’s history. John Willys had recently bought Overland, in 1908, and turned around the company’s finances. He was a New York motor factor – nowadays we’d call him a dealer – who primarily sold Overlands, and used his money to bail the firm out. But from 1912, he put his name on the company and it became Willys-overland. Which of course ultimately became Jeep.’
Sadly, despite battling through the rain, Fraser and Elder ended their rally prematurely with a gearbox problem, although it was only a short push from the point where they broke down back to Elder’s business premises, The Motor Shed, just a few yards away.
Ford Escort RS2000
Per Ardua Ad Infinitum allowed for a rare UK outing for this unique Ford Escort. ‘It was built in Denmark in 1976, was a rally car from new, and was driven by pretty-much every great Scandinavian rally driver of the late Seventies, including Timo Mäkinen,’ said owner Jon Miles as he leafed through the hefty file that accompanies the car’s FIA passport.
‘It was Ford Denmark’s works car, given to several Ford works drivers to use on championship rallies in Finland, and wore Teboil livery when it was new. It was also used by Ford Finland which supported privateer (and 1977 winner of the 1000 Lakes) Kyosti Hamalainen with it in the early Eighties.
‘It was built to Group 1 specification, so the 2.0-litre Pinto engine was only permitted fairly mild modifications, but elsewhere it features a limitedslip differential and Ford’s Rocket gearbox.
‘I’ve only had it two years, having bought it at auction. I haven’t used it much. Beforehand it tended to do mainland European rallies, so it hasn’t had much exposure in the UK.’
Chrysler Galant
The event marked the first appearance of this Chrysler on a British rally – and it’s the only example of its kind in the country.
Owner Owen Turner explained, ‘It’s an Australian-built Mitsubishi, badged as a Chrysler. It was developed in the late Sixties as the Mitsubishi Lancer, but Japanese cars didn’t sell too well in Australia at the time because of the legacy of World War Two (previously, Mitsubishi was best known for its deadly Zero fighter planes). But the Australian market was important to Mitsubishi, so it did a deal with Mopar to use the Chrysler name, called it the Galant and built it in a factory in Adelaide.
‘It’s in great condition – away from the coast, Australian cars don’t go rusty. I bought it three years ago, when I prepared a Mini for a television celebrity rallying programme. Unfortunately, they rolled the Mini before the rally began, so I bought this sight-unseen on Australian Gumtree as a replacement, did a 10,000-mile tour in it, then brought it back to the UK.
‘All I’ve done to prepare it for rallying is to weld the differential. With 100bhp from its 1.6-litre engine it won’t live with Ford Escorts, but it’s alright. And of course it’s the only one in the UK!
‘There’s not the same ‘scrap culture’ in Australia that there is in the UK. Land is not at a premium, so there are yards everywhere, parts are no problem for pretty-much anything, and the weather means bodywork doesn’t deteriorate either. I bought this car from a rally driver who had a Mitsubishi Lancer and bought this car for its engine, so when I got it there was no engine or gearbox in it. A month before the rally, I took it to a mate’s yard in Sydney and re-engined and painted it on his drive – it used to be a really dull blue colour.’
Alfa Romeo Alfetta
‘This is the only Alfetta 1.6 in the UK – most of the single-figure handful remaining are 1.8s,’ said owner Richard Leggett of his recently restored Alfa Romeo. ‘It was bought new by an RAF officer – its first address was a German airbase before he moved it to the UK. As far as I can work out, it was cherished by a second owner, who sold it to a friend of his, who in turn lent it to his daughter. Unfortunately she put it in a lockup and it wasn’t well looked-after, so it was sold to me as scrap in 2008.
‘I completed my restoration in 2017, handing it to Kevin Aldridge in Aylesworth to finish off, including fitting a larger fuel tank to increase its range, and did a local motor club rally with it in Thetford Forest. Aged 17 and four months I went to the Jim Russell Racing Driver School at Snetterton, and have always had a passion for motor sport. I’ve done at least one rally every year since 1986. But it was taking this car on the 2018 Classic Marathon in Greece that really made me realise what a good rally car it could be. This is its first big UK event since I bought it. My son is navigating me – he was still at school when I first got it!’
Alfa Romeo 1600 GT Junior
Another parent-and-child team gave another Alfa Romeo an early rallying outing at Bicester, as Patrick Walker and his daughter Daisy took to the stages in their 1600 GT Junior.
‘I only bought it four months ago, and it had been poorly-prepared as a track car. I had to undo the work of whoever had meddled with it – it had hard suspension, low-profile tyres, and the engine was running appallingly. Whoever tuned it clearly knew nothing about carburettors!
‘It’s an extremely rare car in the UK. This is a 1971 1600 GT Junior. They were only marketed in the UK from 1973, but this is a South African-built right-hand-drive car, imported in the early Eighties. The restoration was a challenge – my background is in motorcycle racing, so it was interesting to get to grips with something four-wheeled.
‘I also have an Austin-healey, and Daisy wanted to go rallying but I realised it needed too much work, so I decided I’d get something that was ready to go – or so I thought! But it’s been a successful endeavour – in a HERO practice event earlier in the year, we finished third in class, despite never having done this before.’