Tag Archives: 6R4

Don’t Try This At Home – MG Metro 6R4

In 1980 and 1981 the Leyland Commercial Vehicles sponsored Williams Grand Prix team won the World Drivers Championship (1980) with Alan Jones and two consecutive World Constructors championships with their Patrick Head designed FW07’s. During 1981 one of Austin Rover who were part of the British Leyland Group approached Patrick to help them design a new rally car to conform to the forthcoming Group B regulations that mandated 200 identical cars to be built and a further 20 evolutionary competition versions.

MG Metro 6R4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The car Austin Rover wanted to promote was the recently launched Metro and because this was a competition vehicle the MG brand was the natural version to promote. Patrick head and his team built a space frame chassis that housed the motor behind the driver and equipped the car with four wheel drive. Apart from the roof panel, windscreen, doors, front grill and lights which were MG Metro sourced every other part of the car was competition spec.

MG Metro 6R4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The first prototypes were seen in 1984 powered by an interim V6 version of the aluminium Rover V8 engine which produced around 250 hp. The car was subsequently tested in numerous national rally events and proved to be quick while it last.

MG Metro 6R4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

In March 1985 Tony Pond and Rod Arthur won for the first time in a 6R4 on the Gwynedd Rally in Wales.

MG Metro 6R4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

By now the car had grown wings at the front and rear and had a lengthened wheel base. The car was also now fitted with what is probably the only motor designed specifically from scratch for a rallying application namely the V64V a 3 litre / 183 cui normally aspirated V6 with four valves per cylinder and double overhead cam shafts that could be tuned to give over 400 hp.

MG Metro 6R4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

When fitted to the Metro the car could accelerate from rest to 60 mph in just 3.0 seconds an achievement compatible with contemporaneous Formula One cars. The V64V would later achieve success in Group C2 racing where it was used by Ecurie Ecosse to win the 1986 Group C2 championship and later still the V64V was fitted twin turbo chargers and fitted to the Jaguar XJ220.

MG Metro 6R4, RAC Rally

The Metro 6R4’s debut in the World Championship Rally was in the 1985 RAC Rally, which happened to start about two miles from where I was living in Nottingham that year. The #10 of Tony Pond and Rob Arthur, which is seen blasting through a forest on the opening day above, would record an excellent third place behind two Lancia Delta S4, which were also on their debut appearance.

MG Metro 6R4, RAC Rally

Malcom Wilson and Nigel Harris seen on the same stage above retired with engine failure after completing 23 of the 63 stages. I took these photographs in a non approved area and was pelted with stones from the gravel track as the cars passed by. With the benefit of hindsight this is not recommended at home, the following year 1985 RAC winner Henri Toivonen and co driver Sergio Cresto were killed when their Lancia Delta S4 plunged into a Corsican ravine and caught fire on impact earlier in the season a Group B car slid into a crowd on a special stage injuring 30 spectators and killing 3 more.

These two fatal events led the sports governing body the FIA to ban Group B from the end of 1986 with several teams withdrawing from the sport immediately.

My thanks to Sterling49 and Tim Murray at the Nostalgia Forum for helping to identify the drivers and co-drivers of the two cars seen on the RAC Rally.

Thanks for for joining me on the “Don’t Try This At Home” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Saturday Club – Jaguar XJ220

What better way to show your passion for your work than by attending informal after hours meetings with like minded fellow employees to work on unofficial pet projects ? Such was the enthusiasm of Cheif Engineer Jim Randle and select fellow employees at Jaguar in the 1980’s that their ‘Saturday Club’ generated Jaguars XJ220 super car designed to take on Ferrari, Lambourghini and Porsche in the super car market head on.

Jaguar XJ220

The XJ220 as originally proposed and shown to the public featured a mid mounted quad cam 6.2 litre / 378 cui V12 all wheel drive scissor doors and a projected top speed of 220 mph.

Jaguar XJ220

The XJ220 was further developed into a production model by Jaguar Sport and Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) who ran factory backed racing programmes for Jaguar with the XJS and later XJR models.

Jaguar XJ220

In production guise the XJ220 appeared rear wheel drive and with a smaller but more powerful 3.5 litre / 213 cui twin turbo V6 taken from the MG Metro 6R4 rally programme.

Many customers and above all speculators were not best pleased with the change in specs of the production model and tried unsuccessfully to sue Jaguar for the return of thier deposits. The last XJ220’s were sold for a third of their asking price in 1997, and still fetch a similar price today.

In 1992 works Jaguar racer Martin Brundle recorded a top speed of 212 mph road spec XJ220 which with the catalytic converters removed managed 217 mph at the Nardó Ring in Italy.

Thanks for joining me on this Saturday Club edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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