Tag Archives: Rallye

Proving The Car’s Strength – FIAT 124 Abarth Rallye

When FIAT bought out Carlo Abarth in July 1971 it was looking for models to compete in the forth coming World Rally Championship that was inaugurated in 1973 with aim of “proving the car’s strength.”

FIAT 124 Abarth Rallye, Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park

Abarth who’s reputation was primarily built on racing and hill climbing products was introduced to rallying with a Twin Cam FIAT 125 programme in 1970 and in 1972 the company started building and competing with a competition hardtop version 124 Spyder body, a model launched in 1966, for it’s Rally programme.

FIAT 124 Abarth Rallye, Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park

Initially the 124 Abarth Rallye was fitted with 1850cc / 112 cui versions of the FIAT four cylinder twin cam designed originally by former Ferrari man who became Abarth’s first President under FIAT management Aurelio Lampredi, a change in rules in 1974 permitted 16 valve heads to be fitted and engine sizes of 1850cc and 1756 cc / 107 cui were used in competition.

FIAT 124 Abarth Rallye, Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park

Success for the 124 Abarth Rallye included Rafael Pinto’s and Maurizio Verini European Rally Championship wins in 1972 and 1975 respectively, two wins on the Portugese Rally for Rafael in 1974 when he led a Abarth Rallye sweep of the podium positions and for Markku Alen in 1975 who with Ilka Kivimäki in the passenger seat led home 2nd place finishers Hannu Mikkola who was partnered by current president of the FIA Jean Todt.

FIAT 124 Abarth Rallye, Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park

FIAT also finished second to Group stable mate Lancia in the 1974 and 1975 World Rally Championships, in all 1,013 hardtop FIAT 124 Abarth Rallyes were built between 1972 and 1975 when the programme was wound up to make way for the World Rally Championship winning FIAT Abarth 131 programme.

Today’s featured Abarth Rallye, appearing with 1981-’82 UK registration plates at Race Retro a few years ago, was originally supplied to a privateer for use in the Italian National Rally Championship, it is currently fitted with an ultimate works spec fuel injected engine.

Thanks for joining me on this “Proving The Car’s Strength” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a one off Formula Junior Car. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Noisy Terror From Poissy – Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77

SRT the Simca Racing Team was founded in 1972 to “To restore the joy of young people participating in motorsport” for owners and fans of the Simca 1000 chaired by Daniel Cébile the club grew to have 4,000 members with in two years.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Part of the clubs programme was to encourage members to compete in motorsports events with their vehicles in a variety of disciplines, unlike most manufacturer supported programmes of a similar nature it was not designed to manufacture professional drivers more to provide young drivers a framework within which to compete.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The SRT ’77 is the ultimate evolution of the Simca 1000 Rallye 2 which was a non street legal kit made available in 1977, the year before production of the entire Simca 1000 range was brought to a halt.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

It comprised engine modifications which boosted the power output from 84hp of the standard Rallye 2 to 110hp including a noisy exhaust.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Front and rear spoilers were also augmented by plastic wheel arches which enabled the fitting of wider tyres that included slicks for track applications.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2 SRT 77, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The SRT ’77 Kit allowed Rallye 2 owners to move up from the production orientated Group 1 to the more racing orientated Group 2 class, perhaps the greatest exponent of the SRT ’77 was German Ernst Thierfelder who drove his SRT ’77 to victory in the first VLN championship, Langstreckenmeisterschaft, at the Nurbürgring in 1977.

The road registered SRT ’77 in these photographs was seen at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Noisy Terror From Poissy” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when we will be visiting the Niello Concours at Serrano. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Terror Of Poissy – Simca 1000 Rallye 2

Afrer a varied career, that started aged just 14 when his father disappeared, that included running the family transport business, selling war surplus motorcycles, experience in the coal import business and founding a business importing scrap steel from France to be recycled into FIAT’s in Italy Henri Théodore Pigozzi was appointed as FIAT’s man in France responsible for the distribution of, and later assembly of, FIAT’s for the French market aged just 28.

Henri founded Société Anonyme Français des Automobiles FIAT (SAFAF) to handle the work and purchased premises formerly used by Donnet to establish manufacturing operations in 1934 for a new entity the Société Industrielle de Mécanique et de Carrosserie Automobile (SIMCA) of which FIAT was the major share holder.

The “Simca Mille” was primarily designed by a team headed by Dante Giacosa and was chosen with FIAT’s blessing by Henri from a variety of four door concepts FIAT were exploring to expand the FIAT 500 and 600 series range into the up to 1 litre / 61.5 cui market segment.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Former GM employee Mario Revelli de Beaumont and Felice Mario Boano were responsible for developing the Simca 1000 to production readiness in time for it’s launch in 1961, by which time FIAT had given up on the idea of launching it’s own four door model electing instead to go with another two door vehicle the FIAT 850 which was launched in 1964.

The Simca Mille remained in production until 1978 by which times variants had been built in France, Spain, Colombia and Morroco with 4 cylinder engines in the boot / trunk varying from 777cc / 47 cui to 1294 cui / 79 cui which were sold at a rate of over 100,000 a year up until 1974 with over 2 million examples built by 1978.

FIAT tuner Abarth started producing modified versions of the Simca Mille but they never went into regular production after SIMCA first bought Ford’s French interests and then itself came under the control of Chrysler’s European arm, however Simca started offering the 53hp, red only, Simca 1000 Rallye in 1970, which became known as the The terror from Poissy, where it was built, to fill the rear engine rear wheel drive gap left by the popular Renault 8 Gordini that was replaced by the front engine front wheel drive Renault 12 Gordini.

Simca 1000 Rallye 2, Frank Breidenstein, Oulton Park,

The next evolution of the Mille was the 60hp Rallye 1 which had a top speed of 96mph that was launched in 1972, today’s featured model the twin carburetor 82 hp Rallye 2 was built alongside the Rallye 1 and had a top speed of 100 mph and was the first Rallye to be fitted with 4 discs brakes as standard.

The Rallye 2 was used in touring car racing from 1973 to 1981 particularly in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain and Germany during which time it recorded at least 11 class (1.3 litre / 79.3 cui) victories.

The #31 Rallye 2 seen in these photographs is driven by Daniel Burrows while I believe President of ”Simca Heckmotor (rear engine) Deutschland, Frank Breidenstein is seen at the wheel of the #131 during a track day at Oulton Park a few years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Terror Of Poissy” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a Concours d’Elegance edition of Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. Don’t for get to come back now !

Fewer Frills More Thrills – Peugeot 106 Rallye S1

Launched in 1991 to replace the entry level Peugeot 104 the Peugeot 106 was available with either 3 or 5 door bodies and remained in production until 2003 with 2.7 million units built.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

In 1993 Peugeot introduced the 106 Rallye version with the strap line “Less Frills, More Spills” in order that the model could compete in the international Group N and Group A classes.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

The Rallye is powered by a 100 hp 1294 cc / 78.9 cui 4 cylinder fuel injected engine which drives the front wheels through a five speed manual gearbox.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

Uprated suspension with thicker anti roll bars, were factory fitted on the Rallye as were the strengthened front suspension mounting points, for the competitor the sound insulation materials were easily removable.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

Rallye 106 S1’s manufactured between 1993 and 1996 were available with a choice of only three colours Bianco White, Cherry Red or Black with the wheel arch extensions and bumpers all colour coded.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

Peugeot Sport strips, shared with the 1992/93 Le Mans winning Peugeot 905’s, red piping and white lightweight steel wheels completed the sporty look and kept the weight down to 825 kgs / 1818 lbs.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

Inside the 106 Rallye was fitted with lightweight red carpets and matching red seat belts.

Peugeot 106 Rallye, Bristol

Initially Peugeot imported 1,000 right hand drive 106 Rallye’s but it is believed more were ordered due to unexpected demand, today’s featured Rallye seen in Bristol some years ago was registered in the UK on the 21st of January 1994.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fewer Frills More Thrills” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Queen Square. Don’t forget to come back now !