How long did you race this sports sedan Greg before it got retired??
Was it still IRS Mac struts?
Do tell us roundy round racers some more things about this beast
Yeehaa
Chris, I built that Sports Sedan in 1979, with one aim in mind.....to beat the quickest Minis at that time, and did just that.
The front struts went [sorry Steve], along with the rear trailing arms. I grafted the VW front hubs and discs onto fabricated uprights, and double wishbones. Rear trailing arms - cut down, and turned 90 degrees made good rear uprights. Double wishbones for the rear as well, with Spax coil-overs all round. Gearbox was Hewland 5 speed, with VW diveshafts, and Fiat dics. Engine was 1968cc, built by Adrian Corvisy of Powertune. It was a handful to drive....but bloody quick.
I sold the car to Adrian Corvisy in 1981. As far as I know, he still has it.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
How competitive?
We have 2 sets of records, 1 for championships and one for club days. The club record is now 26.51 set in 2003 with a fiat. The championship record is 25.92 set in 1997 by an escort. So yeah car would be a front runner even today in under 2litre sports sedans.
A quick street wrx or evo lancer will do those times.
amazeer wrote:How competitive?
We have 2 sets of records, 1 for championships and one for club days. The club record is now 26.51 set in 2003 with a fiat. The championship record is 25.92 set in 1997 by an escort. So yeah car would be a front runner even today in under 2litre sports sedans.
A quick street wrx or evo lancer will do those times.
Jeez that's amazing...I'd be stoked too!!!
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
In improved production 1601-2000cc I have 26.67 for Grant Cook in 1998. But then I also have the current class record as 26.95 by a Craig Torrens in 2006. (???). Heath Campbell has a 27.08 in 2010, Col Mayman 27.03 in 2011
In sport sedan 2001-3000 Wayne Penrose has held that record 24.45 since 2001.
Jeff Unwin would also have some quick times up there but they are outside the range of the results that I have. The notchback has done 27's.
My fastback 28's. My kombi best 29.05. My big block Polo tsi did 34.44 a few months ago. Could have went a bit faster probably a high 33 but I was wearing my beige cardigan instead of the red one.
And Ruth Pobjoy to this day holds fastest lady record 25.65 in 1998 driving the open wheeler.
All recent results and a few older ones (including full results from the event these pictures are from) are available on our website. http://wscc.org.au/results.shtml. I've probably got a few other results that can be uploaded too, one day.
One other day I'll get them into a database so there will be online searchable results on names/dates/classes etc. One day.
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
They changed the classifications of the Imp Production class a few times (2E Road Reg, 3J Imp Prod etc), that's why you have a few records listed for that class.
In 1998 my fastest run was a 26.8 something, but cookie put together a fantastic last run to set the record at 26.67.
16years have past and that record is still the quickest VW Improved prod time ever set 👍
amazeer wrote:In improved production 1601-2000cc I have 26.67 for Grant Cook in 1998. But then I also have the current class record as 26.95 by a Craig Torrens in 2006. (???). Heath Campbell has a 27.08 in 2010, Col Mayman 27.03 in 2011
Not that it really means that much but I also did a 27.1(2?) in 2007 and I have not run at Huntley since..😠 Hopefully that may change.
I think it goes to show that despite the years, our cars (vw beetles) are still as competitive now as they were over 2 decades ago. It only has been recently that another brand of car as began to get any where near the times of the Beetles over this time. Its a credit to all the drivers past and present who have achieved some fantastic results in a car which was never really designed to go that quick.
White Knuckle Racing Team [/i] "Drive it like dirt"
Not a bad idea, Craig. I'll ask Chris about doing just that. 👍
Maybe I'm not as 'sharp' as back then [I'm 73, not 37 🙄], and getting all 4 wheels off the deck at 'The Fork' seems a bit daunting now....but hey, why not ? You're only young once.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
I dont think there any extra speed in the track. The surface looks pretty good in those 80's pics.
Today there is a join right on the start line (we had to patch it) that cant help with launching the car, the surface is quite bad from the start to the fork (we've asked council to keep it in mind when they do their yearly throw money away resurfacing any road possible to exhaust the annual budget)
The first turn to the fork is quite bumpy in a faster stiff car. I never noticed it in my street cars when delivering officials lunches, or even on my blistering 34 second polo run. But when I drove a vtec/mini sports sedan (sorry Greg) up there I was scared. This year we cut 2 patches on the left just before you turn into the fork. 2 bumps appeared out of nowhere and were dangerous. The patches are as smooth as you could probably expect but they are there none the less.
Early 90's the track was resurfaced from the fork to the finish but there is a hump before the esses and the right hander going in is off camber slightly. Dont know if those features always existed.
But most definitely cars are quicker. Tyres, fuel and engine technology have definitely come a long way.
If you didnt have make/model loyalty and all you wanted was to do a 26 you wouldnt bother with building a beetle sports sedan these days. So much easier with 4wd. A near standard golf R does 26s all day. If thats too much money a wrx or Evo will do that without much effort. Even a cheap import 2wd silvias will do it without going too crazy. Old datsuns with FJ20s dropped in them go too fast. If you're easy on the clutch they will go for years and when you finish racing just put the spare back in the boot and drive home. Even dead standard v8 commodores do 28s and 29s all day long with 3 year warranty.
My wet dream fantasy is a twin engine Mk1 golf that screams like those german quad throttle euro hillclimbers. I'd be happy to do 28s if I could make that music. 😊
Unfortunately there are no available spectator areas up there anymore. You can only take photos from the start line or the fork. Back then you had a barbed wire fence to protect you so you were OK. Now you have all those armco barriers and tyre wall protections you cant stand there. And the farmers wont let people in their property anyway because if you fall over a cow patty you might sue them.
Just read the thread, what a good one.
Greg you were truly a pioneer racing a Beetle in those glory days, chasing and beating the mini,s and all others. 👍
Huntley is the only (IMHO) old fashioned Hillclimb course left in the State Series, it,s fast a little rough in places, and has consiquences if you have an off.
It scares the sh#t out of me everytime I race there. Craig Torrens time of 26.95 is a stand out effort considering what he had to play with.
Below is some footage of the 2011 State event, I am at the 2min 40sec mark. To give you an idea of speed you,ll hear me change up into 4th gear before the fork.
He still has the clubbie outright record 19.99 set in September 2000. He held the championship record from early 90s and over the years had lowered it down to 19.47 in May 2000. In Sept 2012 Tim Edmondson took it in a Gould with 18.54, it is the only time ever in the 18s though several times under the 19.47.
The Wortmeyer SCV was built and developed in backyards of Wollongong powered by a supercharged kombi engine. The Gould with its Indy Car derived V8 was imported from the UK where it holds pretty much every hillclimb record.
Another car we forgot is John/David Spinks. It was a good looking black car that did 27s and maybe a high 26. But they rolled it one day and that was the end of it. They then built a mid engined sports sedan, not sure what times it did. Will try and find it. And Ruth Pobjoy and Mark Primmer had beetles also. Baah back in the 80s/90s every car was either a mini, torana, escort or a beetle. There's probably quite a few we've missed.
Foot to the floor through the first corner, foot to the floor through the fork on 2 wheels, lift off close your eyes through the esses so you dont get scared, foot to the floor to the finish. You only have to hold your breath for 28 seconds. Easy.
