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andyb
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Mar 2013 : 13:34:00
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i have recently been sent this photo of gordon jarvis in a H120 on the 1975 lombard rac international rally heaton park stage
does anybody have any information on fastbacks in rallying ?
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2013 : 18:10:34
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Gordon is still an active club member and still owns an H120, see if he can help you. There was also another H120 rallied but I forget the drivers name, Ralph something i think.
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
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andyb
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
Posted - 28 Mar 2013 : 11:16:34
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jpsh120
This one ?
H120 NMP444L Driven by Robin Shackleton and Navigated by Ralph Lodge competing in the East Anglian Classic Rally 2003
These guys campaigned this car for quite a few years i have not seen it in any entry lists/results lately
arrocuda
its more in period rallying info that i am looking for rather than circuit racing
probably a tall order as the car in the top photo is probably the only fastback to compete in an international rally
incidentally gordon used an avenger in the 1974 rac rally
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 28 Mar 2013 : 18:20:05
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Yes that's the one. I know the car was sold on a little while ago. I also remember another red one being bought for rallying, reg began JNO I think.
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bigt80
United Kingdom
1052 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2013 : 20:33:22
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| Yes, SCA 292H was a Tangerine Metallic H120 that he converted to LHD & used two steering boxes on to sharpen up the steering. The deflectors on the front were odd: can't recall their purpose off-hand. |
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andyb
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2013 : 22:37:24
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I did wonder what colour it was
The deflectors stop mud & water splashing up and covering the lights
I also found out that Gordon used a rapier on the 1977 rac, most likely the same car
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand |
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2013 : 08:00:46
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quote:
Originally posted by bigt80
Yes, SCA 292H was a Tangerine Metallic H120 that he converted to LHD & used two steering boxes on to sharpen up the steering.
How does this work?
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
Edited by - arrocuda on 30 Mar 2013 08:02:13 |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2013 : 14:33:07
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You replace the steering idler with a second steering box, Gordon has a LHD steering box fitted to his road going H120.
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2013 : 08:20:08
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quote:
Originally posted by JPSH120
You replace the steering idler with a second steering box, Gordon has a LHD steering box fitted to his road going H120
I heard you the first time Jason. 
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
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andyb
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2013 : 08:23:37
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found this whilst digging around
its an excerpt from motorsport magazine Paul Fearnley now a freelance motoring journalist this is his recollection of the 1975 RAC rally from when he was just 8 years old
and then later on chatting to Gordon Jarvis
we stayed to the bitter end at Harewood, accessing new vantage points when the crowd thinned. Traipsing to the car park as the tail of the field filtered through, my flagging attention was caught by a very fast Sunbeam Rapier hurled sideways through the left-hand kink before Orchard. That this unusual car, the rally’s only such entry, was metallic tangerine is perhaps another reason why this fleeting moment has lasted 36 years.
An internet trawl narrowed its driver down to Craven Motor Club’s Gordon Jarvis. With a start number of 183, and co-driven by Wayne Goble, his Group 2 machine finished this five-day thrash in 71st.
“That car cost me £275,” says Gordon, still happily entwined with the sport at just-turned 65. (He provided the engine and gearbox for Richard Burns’s first rally car, a Sunbeam Ti. He helped install them too.) “I spent another £150 on the cage and sump guard. It had twin steering boxes for improved feel, and standard Estate springs at the rear.
“You drove it like a 911: it had a lot of weight at the rear because of that long overhang, plenty of glass and 15-gallon tank. It was great to throw around. You could hold it in long slides on a light throttle. And that weight helped the rears to bulldoze through the ruts when we entered the forests.
“We used the car to haul our six-berth caravan up to York too. We removed the tow bar, did the event, hitched up again, and towed the caravan back to Reading.”
Sunbeam, of course, is another famous marque rich in rallying heritage that has dipped below the horizon. Despite the best efforts of Gordon and a certain Henri Toivonen, its hard-won identity – like Saab’s – was too easily fumbled, dropped and discarded by an amorphous blob of an industrial combine.
Only memories, it seems, are sacred.
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand |
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2013 : 10:08:26
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quote:
Originally posted by andyb
Had this pic for wallpaper on one of my desktops a few years back. Is best Rapier pic ever, (as I have seen). So I've reinstated it on this laptop. Love it!
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
Edited by - arrocuda on 09 Apr 2013 10:09:36 |
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andyb
United Kingdom
367 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2013 : 12:32:40
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Managed to find this footage of the 1975 RAC rally with
Gordon Jarvis in the H120 only cine footage but great to see
H120 @ 04;52
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7dKq942J_Y
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2013 : 13:52:31
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Excellent stuff, he's definitely going quicker than the Mk1 escort that goes by before Gordon!!
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rallying fastbacks
