G'day,
Thought I'd put up some details of this car that we raced in the BP Malley Desert Rally in the mid '70s.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=8799 

1974 - $50 Beetle, 1600 TP from mates Astrum Buggy, Baja style body mods although no Baja class that year, so ran in Sports and Touring Car Class, so had to abide by the appropriate rules which meant rear gaurds had to be no higher than axle line. We won 1st in Class, $50 first prize. Took 3 weekends to build the car and cost us $300 to build and race for the w/end.

1975 - Baja Class introduced, so trimmed rear guards to suit and there were approx 12 Bajas entered, we were in 2nd place 5 ks from home (108 ks) when the oil cooler line burst and we seized the motor, bummer.

1976 - Major mods this year, slit case (36hp) Kombi transaxle with Barndoor axle tubes and early '60s reduction hubs with Mazda Cappella 1600 motor. Up front was Splitty front end with Barndoor spindles and early '60s brakes. One of the steering box bolts broke as the result of the jump in the pic and we wired it in place with fencing wire and stiil finished in 5th place. In this configuration the car would do 80 mph in 3rd at approx 8500 revs, was wild to drive. It was painted Catterpilla yellow with the mandatory Starsky and Hutch stripe.

I retired it after '76 and stripped it, and put the motor into a '62 Kombi.

Cheers, Ian.

[ Edited on 22-5-2006 by Desert Bug ]

[ Edited on 22-5-2006 by Desert Bug ]

aaah, the good old days. thanks for the memories.

does anyone know of gallery sites showing these old races/cars

Pics! :P

Sorry about the pic, tried to transfer the pic from the other thread but it increased in size from 23 kb to 241 kb so couldn't attach it. Will have to scan the pics in again when I can find them.
Cheers, Ian.

This pic?

Yeah, thanks KOM123, thats the one, taken at the '76 BP Mallee Desert Ralley at Sealake Vic.
Cheers, Ian.