COMING: The Rally Beast

[Solitude]

whoa.. Merkur's.. don't see many of those around..

[Joe_Black]

Yeah, I'm a bit of an XR4Ti/Sierra RS geek too. :bgwg: Two of those run great, but need all new suspension. One is an engineless shell destined for the rotisserie then rally, and the final two are in great shape but need serious engine work. Only one more to get a half dozen! Actually I'm just a real sucker for these and keep finding 'em on the cheap.

LOL, maybe we should have an informal competition to see who can identify everything in the picture?

[Solitude]

LOL, maybe we should have an informal competition to see who can identify everything in the picture?

VX
Jetta
5 xr4ti's
rx7?
MB300D
military chevy p/u with a 6.2 diesal
85 chevy silverado..
not sure about the jeep behind the vx.. maybe an old rover or a toyota fj

[johnnyapollo]

Try a champie...
Also that's a CUCV next to the silverado.

-- John

[Joe_Black]

Whoa, blasphemy! That is not a Jeep. I was thinking maybe a Mighty Mite?

Mighty Mite?!?! LOL, that's worse!

[Joe_Black]

Never been much of a fan of the Mite, then again I've been around a few and a friend had one once. Best use he found for it was to stick on the roof as an advertisement. Structurally weak and poor metal quality prone to quick and excessive corrosion. They had a short service history for a reason.

The Austin Champ was basically the British post-war answer to everything that was wrong with the Jeep, and it was done up pretty well.


I'm just not much a fan of British cars per se, but got this in a cheap trade. It's complete and needs basic restoration with only some rot in the floors which is typical and easily repaired since it's all flat sheet. Neat vehicle though in that the body lifts up from the front giving access to almost the complete chassis. Drivetrain is interesting with a reverser off the rear of the engine driving the combined transfer/transaxle meaning you get all 5 gears in reverse as well as forward. Guess the idea there was to get out of trouble as fast as you got into it! If and when I work on it the LRDG version is an interesting one to think about...

[ZEUS]

Hey Joe, any progress with this beast?

[Joe_Black]

Not as such, decided to go diesel with it so I could figure out what I needed to do a diesel Trooper or VX for my wife afterwrd. Plus the smug satisfaction to be had when beating out the gassers in the stages. Missed a great deal recently on a nearby Trooper front clip with the 4JG2 due to lack of funds but hope to find another as I've got a little squirreled away for the right deal. Still unemployed and about to be a very full-time student for the next two years so it's kinda low on the priority list, like most of my "toy" projects. Have to admit though that the $3900 Ebony near Miami sure made my wallet tingle! I really, REALLY miss rally!

[ZEUS]

Do you still have ambitions of a fiberglass front clip for it then?

[Joe_Black]

Do you still have ambitions of a fiberglass front clip for it then?

Definitely. Especially so since I can pull a mold from our IronMan, plus it'll save a bunch of weight up front and allow for easier service access. That's a very nice thing about having body-on-frame construction which allows for such mods.