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Top Secret Rescue Mission
dangerous - April 29th, 2007 at 06:45 PM

A Queensland Private investment Consortium has contracted me
to do a clandestine rescue mission of sorts.
This is like the Holy Grail to some.

Here are some photos.
Secret agent Pepe Watkins was there to help.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Spy1.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/peponcrate.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Clue.jpg

[ Edited on 29-4-2007 by dangerous ]


bond - April 29th, 2007 at 06:53 PM

camel drag bug?

nick


Stanley - April 29th, 2007 at 07:18 PM

NFI


Robo - April 29th, 2007 at 07:47 PM

WTF
Rob...


BeetleJuice - April 29th, 2007 at 08:02 PM

Yo Yo,Keegan,Thorton,Houndog,ThunderBug,Flying Flea?

Spill the beans!

[ Edited on 29-4-2007 by BeetleJuice ]


Dasdubber - April 29th, 2007 at 08:11 PM

Dave, won't your dog be upset that she missed the chance as your special "secret agent"??

Looking forward to details! :tu:

[ Edited on 29-4-2007 by Dasdubber ]


RAZ34 - April 29th, 2007 at 08:18 PM

Al,
That is Jess, cleverly disguised as a rat.


Dasdubber - April 29th, 2007 at 08:20 PM

Great disguise Rod - she certainly fooled me!


LIFE IN THE LOW LANE - April 29th, 2007 at 08:24 PM

Chopped and dumped Country buggy drag car??? MMM me likes the thought of that one!!

It not dodging up a perfectly good Kombi by putting a Subaru motor in it??

I know it's not the last one cause that to purists is just plain wrong....

VW's for VW's till the day I die...........


Takhoal - April 29th, 2007 at 08:49 PM

its chopped at least, not a kombi and is a horrible colour LOL

Should be a cool project to resurrect

[ Edited on 29-4-2007 by Takhoal ]


pete wood - April 29th, 2007 at 10:19 PM

[pete assumes bad italian accent]
tell us, or da mutt gets it! :cussing


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 05:47 AM

This car has an interesting history.
It was raced from 1970 until it was sold in 1982.

Then it was raced again from 1982 in another guise,

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Volksmod1982.jpg

in which it also set track and national records as a normally aspirated 2180cc combo.
until about 1986 when Surfers drag strip closed. 11.90@109mph was its best at the 1984 Nationals at Surfers International Raceway.

When I helped organise the first Jamboree in 1991, I had approached a number of current and past VW racers and THIS owner agreed that it was time to run his car again.

So a full rebuild was undertaken.
Not sure when it was LAST raced, but prob 1996 or 1997
with a best of 11.29@119 with a 2332cc engine with autocraft heads and 51mm IDA's.

It was sold in pieces about 5 years ago, and this is where I picked it up yesterday.


vw54 - April 30th, 2007 at 06:53 AM

you will have to get the blower back

hows the body look ???


jakjones - April 30th, 2007 at 07:38 AM

Hounddog ??


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:04 AM

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend1.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend2.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend3.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend4.jpg

This car is formerly Peter Keegan's "Camel Filter" Bug from the '70s.
It ran a best of 10.26@135mph,
and ran as fast as 140mph when Peter was experimenting with fuel injection.

As you can see it was originally a 'factory sun roof' car
and is around a '59 or '60 model as far as I can tell.
(Peteoriginally raced with a split-cased tranny!)

Peter bought the car in the late 60's as a crash victim
and fixed it up for its first race in 1970.

The top was chopped in 1972 and it immediately went into the 10's
with the new 2180cc engine, that by then had four 1.75" SU carbs.

This was the first VW bug in the world to run in the 10 sec zone
(as far as my research can confirm)

[ Edited on 17-6-2007 by dangerous ]


bugboymatt - April 30th, 2007 at 11:11 AM

Nice. Will interesting to watch the comeback..............


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:16 AM

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend5.jpg

Slots in the fire wall to clear the linkage arms that were on the back of the blower :
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend6.jpg

Fuel tank under the rear guard:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend7.jpg
This is the sunroof.
The teaser photos at the beginning were of the outside corner of the factory steel deflector lip,
and the piece inside showing where the opening was extended as a part of the roof chop that was performed way back.
When a roof chop is performed,
the roof needs to be extended unless you want to lay back the windscreen angle.
Back in the days of "Gassers" the windscreen angle had to remain standard, and maximum roof chop was 4"...this one is around 3.75" I think.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend9.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend10.jpg


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:24 AM

The car is in great shape being that it has been garaged and off the road since the 1960's when it was less than 10 years old.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend11.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend12.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend13.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend14.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend15.jpg


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:32 AM

It is interesting that some of the body features are unique.
The front of the bonnet is at equal height as the front apron.
Most Volksies have this area lower than the bonnet.

Also the original front guards(now on Rod Richardson's Black&Red 'chop',
are curved where the running board would have met with it.
Most have a flat section at that point. Perhaps a non genuine pair of guards were on the car at repair time.

I will ring Peter later in the week to quiz him about some of these interesting idiosyncrasies.

[ Edited on 17-6-2007 by dangerous ]


vw54 - April 30th, 2007 at 11:33 AM

Dave

what happened to the floor pan

me n Boris had talked about buying the car from Darryl a few years back but he wanted to many dollars for it

i think it raced at one of the Jamborees a few yearsago after 97 as i spoke to Darryl while he was in the staging lanes at Willowbank might of even been at a winter nats event but only a few years ago for sure

Have you told the old grey fox yet that the car is in safe hands once again ???


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:34 AM

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend19.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend18.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/Legend17.jpg


vw54 - April 30th, 2007 at 11:35 AM

Dave is the drivers side pushed in or is the reflectio in the pic ???


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:37 AM

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n216/dangerous_05/PeterKeeganColour.jpg

Legendary Car!


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 11:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vw54
Dave is the drivers side pushed in or is the reflectio in the pic ???


I think it is a reflection you can see.
There are a couple of bumps and dents about but no biggies.
You can see some of the original repairs here and there
from when Peter rescued the car in the 60's.

It is amazing to see a car that is so free of rust in the normal areas.


vw54 - April 30th, 2007 at 11:43 AM

So did you tell the Old Grey Fox ????


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 12:45 PM

No have not spoken to Pete yet.
Would be nice to see him run down the strip again.
I am sure I can come up with an engine for the car, and will sus out Darrell to see if he still has the pan.

[ Edited on 17-6-2007 by dangerous ]


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 01:21 PM

from this link :

http://www.orange.nsw.gov.au/go/our-city/virtual-museums/sporting-hall-of-fam...

Fame » Motor Sports » Peter Keegan
Peter Michael Keegan
1943 -
Drag Racing Champion
A

Image Descriptions:
A - 1978 Summernationals

Peter Michael Keegan was born in Orange on 22 December 1943, and as a young lad displayed a keen interest in all forms of motor racing. After competing for some years at local level, Peter decided to step up to higher competition and in early 1970 he began racing at Castlereagh International Dragway.



By May 1970 he had set a new National Best Gas time and speed record at 12.69 seconds and 118mph for the quarter mile distance. In June 1970 he had reached 124.65 mph and became the first driver to attain a speed of over 120mph in Australia.



In May 1971 Peter set a new gas class Australian record of 11.35 seconds at 123.45mph that made his VW the fastest sedan of any size in Australia and the fastest four-cylinder car in the world.



In October 1972, with a new motor fitted to the VW, Peter turned in a time of 10.82 seconds at 126.8mph to be the first four-cylinder car under 11 seconds anywhere in the world. In December of the same year he recorded 10.8 seconds and reduced this to 10.69 seconds in May 1973. He further reduced this in 1974 to 10.5 seconds.



His success continued in November 1975 when he won the Australian Drag Racing Final with a new record of 10.41 seconds. In May 1976 he lowered his own record to 10.29 seconds at a speed of 132mph.



From 1977 to 1981 Peter continued to set track records in various Australian states and in New Zealand, before retiring to concentrate on his business in Orange.

Any Queries?
Contact Sporting Hall of Fame


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[ Edited on 30-4-2007 by dangerous ]


squizy - April 30th, 2007 at 01:26 PM

Great find, great project, and a great read. Are you going bring back the Camel colours?


dangerous - April 30th, 2007 at 01:31 PM

2000 Jamboree was the last time Darrell raced the car.


HotRodMatt - April 30th, 2007 at 01:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by squizy
Great find, great project, and a great read. Are you going bring back the Camel colours?


You could do the colours but if you did the name/logo, beside TM issues, the car couldn't be featured in the electronic or print press due to cigarette advertsing laws (there are only a few big $ exceptions).