LCR Forum

In the early 60's my family owned a Ford dealership in Swindon. My father was a speed freak and when the LC was first announced he had to have one, in fact he got 2, one for my mother, The Reg nos were 909 DWV and 955 EMR. They were unreliable and spent a lot of time in the workshop. I drove 955 EMR in some club events at Castle Combe. I later acquired 480 BMW when i was serving in the Army in Germany and drove it round the Nurburgring on a number of occasions. The Germans laughed at the number plate, but soon stopped when they saw how quick it was. Later in 1966 I acquired 397 RDT from Lotus Components. It had been one of their test chassis and had lots of improvements on the street model. I brought it up to race standard, competing at Club and National level. Sadly it caught fire whilst being road tested on the Garage's trade plates, The insurance paid up and the wreck was sold to someone who rebuilt it. I wonder what happened to these cars. If anyone is interested I have photos of all of them. PS I am called Slow Vic because Vic Elford who was a contemporary driver was known as Quick Vic.

Slow Vic

Hello and thanks for the short read ,Pictures would be superb

Well that's interesting about 397 RDT, as it was for sale in 2009 as a shell only, damaged whilst racing.

I'd love to send photos currently in my computer, but can't figure out how to do it

slowvic wrote:I'd love to send photos currently in my computer, but can't figure out how to do it

Email them to me vic & I'll upload them for you. PM'd you my email id.

Hello Slowvic.

Have you owned an LC since then & do you have one now?

Dave B

Nice pics

Great photo's

Dave B,

No, I haven't owned or driven any Lotus Cortinas since the mid 60s. I went on to race an Elan and a Lotus 47 both with twink engines,but stopped altogether in 1970, I always remember them with affection, and now that I am pretty much retired might have another go. I'm in Australia at present and there are several here, so if one becomes available I might be tempted.

Concerning the cars I mentioned, they were all early A frame models with all the problems that entailed. The earliest I think was 909 DWV which was very frail. It had the early motor with pre E125 conrods. I missed a gear shift and over-reved the engine to such a degree that a rod broke and shattered the block. This was in Albert Bridge Road in London opposite Chelsea Barracks where I was stationed at the time. The shank part of the rod exited the block, tore through the wheel arch and hurtled across the parade ground to embed itself in the brick wall of the barrack block some 70 metres away. This was late at night so no one was around fortunately. The car went back to Swindon on a trailer and was repaired with a new engine under warranty. I don't think this was the only instance of a rod breaking, as Ford quickly brought out the stronger one. Other than that episode the engines were pretty reliable and I never had any major problems, just stretched timing chains and oil leaks

Slowvic

Hi
Not sure what every body else thinks but to me this is fascinating history exactly what they created the car for
I hope you have lots more stories.
Cheers
Bruce Miles

Yes.....great to hear from people that owned and raced them when they were not very old. I think that first pic is Vince Woodman in VMW 4 ?

I agree Bruce. A definite breath of fresh exhaust smoke.

Any more memories Vic would be most welcome.

I have the feeling that 'notsoslowvic' might be a more apt nickname!

Dave B

Yes, Anglebox, that is indeed Vince Woodman's car. The pic was taken at Mallory Park in about 1964. He and I lived close to Castle Combe and he was most kind and helpful when I first started racing there in 1963. The other person who helped me a lot was Angelo Farina (some relation, or so he said!) He had a small workshop in Swindon where he worked on old cars. He was a member of the 750 Motor Club and built his own Ford engined specials, so his input was most useful.There wasn't much I could do to tweak the garage-owned Lotus Cortinas, but 480 BMW and 397 RDT were a different matter. 480 got a set of L2 Cams and decent shock absorbers, but could be driven happily on the road, whereas 397 got a 165 bhp motor and steel innards, plus a radically reworked suspension. The front suspension had greater camber and a very hefty antiroll bar, plus a special steering box. The A frame was removed from the rear and a Panard rod substituted, with trailing arms to prevent the axle twisting. I chopped off the banjo pressing behind the diff. and welded a flange onto the diff housing to match the flange on the front side, then it was a simple matter of passing bolts right through the diff and the two flanges with tubular spacers in between to nuts on the banjo side. The banjo itself was welded back onto the new rear flange. This was a very solid job and no chance of any of the dreaded oil leaks recurring. A rear antiroll bar, 6 inch rims and considerable lightening. went to make a pretty quick car, but as previously mentioned, a fire put paid to all this effort and although testing at Castle Combe produced good lap times, the car never raced.
When in May I return to Europe from Australia, I will look through my records of some of the trips I did in 480 BMW. and write a few words on them, so watch this space!
All the best, Slowvic.