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I found my old vid from Craigvinean forest not far from the Dunkeld downhill track , Colin McRae at his own rally but saw it later broken down, too many revs
When I was 17 and passed my test (Im 56 now) I had my heart set on a Mk1 Mexico. when I realised the insurance (even in 1980) was around £600 I remember crying..... ended up with a Mk1 Escort Van. Hand painted and 1100cc of throbbing horse power.
Always loved the Mk1
ahhh, shivers down my spine hearing that, nice!
When I was 17 and passed my test (Im 56 now) I had my heart set on a Mk1 Mexico. when I realised the insurance (even in 1980) was around £600 I remember crying….. ended up with a Mk1 Escort Van. Hand painted and 1100cc of throbbing horse power.
Always loved the Mk1
And the irony is that now we're in our fifties we could afford the insurance... but now there's no chance we could afford a Mk 1 Mexico! I've just looked at what they're going for now...
Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts, Sunbeams, Chevettes. A 5 day (and night) RAC Rally. The high point of rallying in my (very old man) view.
When I was a student in Leeds I was in the city centre shopping and they had a parade of all the WRC cars, McRae's Imprezza included. They then just drove off to whatever stage was next. Sat on the top deck of the bus I saw McRae pull up to the lights and a boy racer, who I assume thought it was just some cock in a replica works car sat at the lights next to him revving his engine itching for a race.
When the lights went green McRae did the only thing a sensible mature rally driver could do. Never seen a car accelerate from 0-very quick so fast!
ahhh, shivers down my spine hearing that, nice!
Exactly this!!
Hopefully there'll be a few local rallies back on this year.
I had a Mk1 Escort 1100 in 1975 and then a Mk1 Mexico in about '78. It was just a second hand car that I then sold on for something with more space for windsurfing.
A few years back I looked at the price of them, even ones really only worth it for scrap and I cried.
I've done the same with bikes I rode and sold on a whim and seeing what collectors pay now. Never ever do that if you are old. It is horrifying.
Yeah we saw him earlier on in the day on another stage and then he stopped and retired at the junction we were marshaling on, great guy and happy to chat with us
The 1st time I went to the RAC Rally mustv'e been 1975, we trudged across some fields to a stage at the bottom of Sutton Bank & the 1st car we heard then saw was a red Mk1 Escort with 'COSSACK' in black letters on the door, doing a crazy speed round a left hander. The sound was just like that in the OP's vid. It was of course, Roger Clark & I still get shivers when I think back.
This bloke's pretty mad....
^ I wonder if anyone has ever wanted his navigator's voice for their SatNav?
That is mental!
There is no way I could even be in a car at that speed with out spewing every last chunk in my stomach. Never mind looking down. Never mind reading. Never mind reading as if my life depended on it.
I also thought you couldn't give yourself motion sickness driving. Several goes on go-carts with and without motion sickness tablets have shown me I can!
Bhhhhraarrrghhhh!
I have put my brother's car on other rally threads, but this time it is for sale. A real classic B rally car.
if you like old escorts, take a look at MST Cars.
That's an insane speed! Thanks for sharing 👍
I love how Frank's navigator eggs him on. I was normally trying to slow drivers down. Probably explains my lack of success.
Thought the first video the car was never going to come.
Second vid, how on earth does he do that, thought it was sped up it’s so bonkers. I’d not be standing where the fans stand.
A 30 year old Scooby that's been thrashed to hell and back. I'm sure it'll be a bargain for someone.
Whoever buys it probably won't be driving it much, at a guess. A peice of rallying history, to be preserved in a museum/collection for the next 20 years.
Noise of that car coming through the forest from miles away - brilliant and takes me back!!
I remember going to the RAC in the early 80s in Kielder with my old man. Freezing cold, snow and ice, pitch black and wrapped up in loads of layers and 3 pairs of socks to keep warm. I think I was 7 or 8 and loved it. Stig Blomquist, Hannu Mikola etc. So many good memories
Another great memory was from the early 90s in Wauchope (I think). Stage was snowy as hell and with a polished icy surface. The course car struggled to get through and folk were sliding onto their arses just walking into the stage. Malcolm Wilson in an Escort Cosworth (yellow and blue Michellin Pilot colours) came through the stage flat out, beautifully in control and wildly sideways. Goosebumps on my neck just thinking about it!
I took that video with a Nikon compact camera probably only 3MP and in the late '80's used to ride the Rockhopper around the Hermitage annoying the folk out for a Sunday walk. Sometimes along to Birnam hill and down the steps around the back, then the Stakis Hotel for hot shortbread and coffee sometimes caked in mud using their facilities
Back in 1985 due to a drunk driver and motorbike accident I found myself with some cash, being 18 years old I did the right thing and went out and bought a mint 1980 RS2000 Custom - venetian red, brown int inc Recaro's etc. Sold it a few years later due to the £1500 insurance requested.
Roll on 2020's and I knew it was still out there and low and behold it turned up in a Ebay add. £30k and its a bit of a mess. I think it needs a complete restoration.
I have a green light to get one one day, a few years ago now, I am not sure my wife has seen what they fetch now. Even if I could raise the cash I dont have the storage space. I think I would rather a Mk2 Mexico tbh or something like a Mk2 Lotus Cortina
That Anglia floats my boat, if I had piles of dosh I’d buy stuff like that.
I once saw a Janglia racing at Croft years ago. It was an Anglia with some Jaguar engine. It was bloody fast!
Wish I still had my 1600E.
Enjoyed them at the time but wouldn't get into one now. 60-year-old reflexes and an absence of recent practice would be a recipe for disaster even on a closed road.
sharkattack
Full MemberA 30 year old Scooby that’s been thrashed to hell and back. I’m sure it’ll be a bargain for someone.
I doubt it’s been neglected, just scraping it’s MOT every year
TheDts, very interesting, I’d love to see that lot!
If you like a bit of noise with your rally cars then Andy Burtons BTCC engined Peugeot Cosworth takes some beating. My brother took this footage back in the day on the Wye Dean Rally. If anyone has ridden the Verderers at Pedalabikeaway you should recognise the last corner 🙂
A 30 year old Scooby that’s been thrashed to hell and back. I’m sure it’ll be a bargain for someone.
You do know what provenance is right?
Is that a BDA in the Irish Escort? Those things just seem to rev for ever!
When you could hear the cars for ages in the forest especially in the dark still night , then there were the almost silent group 1 cars who sneaked up on you as you headed out back to the car
You do know what provenance is right?
Yes. Thanks for checking. I know how these things work. I also read the full advert.
I took that video with a Nikon compact camera probably only 3MP and in the late ’80’s used to ride the Rockhopper around the Hermitage annoying the folk out for a Sunday walk. Sometimes along to Birnam hill and down the steps around the back, then the Stakis Hotel for hot shortbread and coffee sometimes caked in mud using their facilities
Spend most of my summers and weekends doing exactly the same in the mid 90s before there were any trails up there. Pedal up there, biking, swimming, jumping off the hermitage bridge. Great times. Not the Stakis though, packed lunches all the way!
Don't think I saw Colin up there, was his dad the year that I can remember spectating when a fist size rock got kicked up off one of the cars and flew past us a few meters away. Back when watching a rally meant setting up wherever you wanted without the dedicated spectator spots.
without the dedicated spectator spots.
They have dedicated spectator spots?? Wow, I'm out of touch. I remember course marshalls clearing the outside of bends before stages started but otherwise you could just wander through a forest until you found a corner you like the look of!
Is that a BDA in the Irish Escort? Those things just seem to rev for ever!
Pretty sure Frank Kelly uses a 2.5 litre Millington Diamond. Anything up to 355bhp for rallying.
They have dedicated spectator spots?? Wow, I’m out of touch. I remember course marshalls clearing the outside of bends before stages started but otherwise you could just wander through a forest until you found a corner you like the look of!
I must be in further out of touch - back in the day you could just stand where you wanted and marshalls wouldnt give a stuff.
That Escort looked beautiful, a very distinctive sound, you can always tell it was an Escort before you could see it.
The only time I saw Colin McRae was whilst he was testing pre Monte Carlo rally up at Val D'Isere. I'd just finished race training for the day and was waiting to be picked up at the side of the road with at a que of traffic.
Along comes a pimped up Impreza, which looked normalish (in a pimped up Impreza way) until I saw the narrow snow tyres on it. It pulled along side and there was Colin with Co Driver in full gear, headsets etc, small window thing open. So I said any chance of a lift? He just said, yeah sure if you can find a seat and somewhere to put your skis!
Ooh the echo of the BDA through the forest gave me goosebumps. Those were the days. EARS in Macclesfield used to run BDA Escorts on Derbyshire road rallies too. I think that may have been the death knell of pre-plot events.
This guy is just down the road from me (caution, navigator maybe NSFW)
I remember EARS, Mike Harwood as well.
My mate still dabbles in rallying after a few decades - some in-car footage but external footage is better - Escort RS.
Jesussin' 'ell that sounded fantastic. My spleen was oscillating!
Not Mike Harwood, it was Ian Harwood. Still going till 2015 it seems.
Fond memories. That was my dad sat next to him as he ran course car on the McRae stages. Always have a soft spot for the way he drove. Everyone has him pinned as a flat out and balls to the wall sort of driver, however the deftness of touch to perpetually slide a mk2 escort through gravel stages and the reaction times to keep the metro 6r4 on the tarmac through Donegals narrow back roads are such different and equally impressive skills. He was adaptable and able to turn his hand to all forms of racing. When him and Rossi swapped equipment for the day, much like Hamilton did recently, Colin was within a couple tenths of Vale's lap time by the end of the day. When he tried his hand at rallycross and only lost to Pastrana in the x-Games not due to rolling the car on the last jump but because (In Colins words..) he pushed too deep into the braking zone and understeered on the last corner. The noise his 6R4 used to make when sat in it was raucous!!Hope that the Impreza ends up somewhere that it will be driven and enjoyed rather than just stored for value, I would venture to suggest thats what he would have preferred.