Ahhh, Bank holidays; 3 days away from the 9-to-5 grind and what better way to relax that to watch an epic battle between internal combustion and gravity! That’s right, RSM has been Hill climbing!  No less spectacular than the racing was the venue; Shelsley Walsh, deep in the gorgeous Worcester countryside provided the back drop for the third round of the Midland Hill Climb Championship as well as a rounds of the Richard Egger Insurance H.S.A Speed Championship and Paul Matty Lotus Championship.

With three championships to take in the diversity of cars was huge; everything from near standard road cars to full on racers, tuned to the brink and with every last gram shaved off them. 

 

 

In true British Bank Holiday style the 1000 yards of pristine tarmac was thoroughly lubricated throughout the day, which certainly kept the drivers on their toes and some of them in the hedges!

The rain didn’t stop local Simon Durling bringing out his amazing Brabham BT18. With 3.5 Litres of V8 loveliness it made braving the inclement conditions worthwhile on its own!

 

Phillip Marshall was out in his D-Type Replica making the most of the damp conditions. This car is fully road legal and has been driven all round Europe and even made it as far as the Nurburgring!  Special mention has to go to Phill and his Son/ Pit Crew David who hooked me up with some free tickets! Thanks guys.

 

Few cars look as good standing still as a step front Alfa Giulia Coupe, but the sight of one blasting through the countryside is sure to stir your soul! 

 

Twin SU’s give the suck to match the blow on this Smith F2.

 

It might be the 80’s rally-hero-wannabe in me or just the sound of 5 cylinders boosted and banging that made me fall in love with this pair of short wheel base Audi Quattro’s.

 

Head over to our Flickr stream for the rest of the pics and check out the Shelsley Walsh site for updates and dates of future events. The results for the weekends racing can be found HERE.

   

 

Posted on: May 7, 2009 06:54

A bike meet you say? Well, yes. Every Tuesday at Bassets Pole in the West Midlands, hundreds of bikers descend on the small local McDonalds to meet up, do wheelies, show off and generally have fun.

This meet always attracts some interesting cars too so I packed up my camera and met up with my friend Jack Topi. Now Jack’s car is worthy of a special mention; An ’86 Toyota Corolla hatch in full-on drift trim. Dripping in burned orange Lexus paint with a splitter dragging stance it certainly turned some heads.

  We got down to the meet about 8-ish and it was already packed.

 

  Unfortunately, it was fairly light on cars this week, but I did spot this K-Series Powered Clubby estate. Judging from the front of it, a little more space was required to cram the Rover lump in.

 

I was caught completely by surprise by a pair of metal flake VW Buggies that came blasting out of nowhere! (Hence the bad pics!!) Hopefully I will catch up with these two next time and get some better shots.

 

 

Clean 205 Leaving

 

  It was a pretty cool night with a laid-back atmosphere. Hopefully next time more cars will be out and a later evening will allow for some more pics.

 

  Check out the few other pics I took on our Flickr stream.

 

 

 

Posted on: April 23, 2009 03:43

It’s all about 2TOTM at the Carrington Arms in Ashby Folville! No, I’m not referring to some sort of satellite navigation device, but the classic car and bike meet that happens on the second Tuesday of the month (geddit?, You’ll remember it now!).

The cricket ground is opened up to a spectrum of cars ranging from the rare to the ridiculous and everything in between. From Kit cars to hot rods it’s all here.

The first car that caught my eye was a rare Moskvitch sporting a roof rack and suitably eastern block accessories. This particular car had celebrity ties having been used in the film “Mrs Ratcliffe’s Revolution” starring Catherine Tate. There were two cars used in the film and the owner of this one bought the pair!

This super clean Manta GTE hatch was un-restored and even still wearing its factory paint! These pics don’t even begin to tell the story of how clean it was; such a nice car.

Sat in the middle of a quartet of fast Fords including a Lotus Cortina, Escort Mexico and Lotus twin cam Anglia was this 60’s street racer look Anglia. It was super clean with all unnecessary trim removed, smoothed or colour coded. Power was provided courtesy of a fruity pre-cross flow.

By around 6.30 the field was packed!

Diversity? A Ford Galaxy and a Mitsubishi Evo parked together!

And the oldest car in attendance award goes to...

This hot rod rattled some windows on entry and was certainly a favourite with the crowds.

Check out the rest of the pics from the meet on our Photostream and see how many time you say “I’ve not seen one of those for a while” out loud!

It’s also worth mentioning that they have a BBQ as well as curry and chilli on the go, so if you are heading over straight after work you can get a good feed too!

Good pub, good food, good crowd, great atmosphere and amazing cars; a perfect way to spend a spring evening! Hope to see you at the next 2TOTM!

Posted on: April 16, 2009 03:24

There are two important thing in this world; going fast and looking cool and more often than not one has to take priority over the other. That is unless you happen to be Eddie M. from Old series garage. This is Eddies ’73 Toyota Mark II wagon: 

Mixing rat look paint, Boso styling and a massive drop over a set of meshies it certainly has the “looking cool” part of the equation nailed 

I’d be pretty pleased with myself at this point. Window down and crusin’ in the Lynnwood (Washington) sunshine, enjoying the unstressed burble of the original 2.3l six-pot 2M block. The problem is Toyota six cylinder engines have come on a little bit since 1973 so the old boat anchor had to go…

 

To fill the new gap between the towers Toyota’s finest 2.5l, 24 valve 1JZGTE engine was employed. For those unfamiliar with this engine, not only do you get lots of valves and just under a hat-trick of liters, you also get a pair of turbochargers!

 

I’m not sure of the exact specs of the engine, but in stock trim it was a little shy of the big 300 (bhp) so, with the addition of a filter, exhaust and intercooler...I’m not even going to guess, let’s just say it will have more than enough!

So there you go, speed and style all in one; got the cake and eaten it? Well, not quite. I won’t spoil it for those that don’t want to know, but nature can be a cruel mistress. I just hope Eddie and Old Series Garage can bring it back faster and cooler; now there’s a challenge!

Check out the Old Series Garage MySpace Page for more pics and other projects!

That’s it for Transplant week on RSM. I hope we have given you some inspiration to get out there with the tape measure and start weighing up those engine bays! Don’t forget the clocks go forward this weekend so light nights in the workshop are back on the cards!

Posted on: March 27, 2009 02:55

This weekend the RSM team will be in full effect, bringing you all the coolest retro and historic race metal from Race Retro 2009! I was lucky enough to have my car on display so, on Thursday evening, I had an access all areas opportunity to take in the show without the crowds. Enjoy the pics on our Flickr stream and keep your browser pointed at RSM for a full show report!

Posted on: March 13, 2009 12:32

I’m not a Volkswagen guy. OK, so I have a few Vee-dub mags under my bed, a load of photos on my hard drive and last weekend, I took the rainy drive down to Telford International Centre to check out, what was for many, the 2009 show season kick off.

As soon as I hit the M54 I was surrounded by slammed VAG metal and people hanging out of windows with HD cams and SLRs shooting their friends and fellow forum members; it’s all about the road trip, the convoys and the anticipation people!

As I rolled into the car park it was already rammed with some seriously nice vehicles and as much wheel porn as you could shake a lowering stick at! Car abandoned, I ventured inside (I say ventured, I actually stood outside in a queue for half an hour, but let’s not kill the romance and build up!).

Once through the door I was greeted by thumping base from the DJ set and so much of Germany’s finest I whipped out my camera and got stuck in straight away!

Check out the Flickr gallery for the full set of pics but here are a couple of my favourite cars there:

Textbook MK2 was flawless on Schmidts

Cream Dream; classic euro looker mk1 packing 1.8T power.



The show was packed all day. Check out the Lupo on D90s and the ‘bagged Passat wagon on Bentley rims.



MK3, Chevy rims, killer stance no more words required!



“That Porsche”



Pea Soup



I know this is Retro Scene, but anyone can appreciate how hot this MK5 is! The paint, the wheels, the stance and those arches! Amazing! I know, it’s a lame picture, but I seriously could not get a shot of it without a crowd round it all day!



Honourable mention should go to this rather restrained looking MK2 Syncro. This is why: 3-5-0 wheel horse power, 350, three hundred and fifty horse power at the wheels. No, really, and it’s not even fully mapped yet! I have been promised a drive out in it too so expect to see more of this car over the summer!

 

Bags, coilies, Nu Wave and old skool; Ultimate Dubs had it all and enough atmosphere to plug the whole in the o-zone layer.

OK, if I wasn’t Volks person before I am now; my Ebay watch list looks like a VW dealer stock list!

Can’t wait to check to the rest of the show season this year; ’09 baby, it’s ON!

Posted on: March 12, 2009 08:00

When it comes to OEM tuners, links can be formed through businesses deals, acquaintances or the need to support a Motorsport program; Mugen on the other hand, was born through family ties. Hirotoshi Honda, son of Soichiro Honda, founder of the Honda Motor Company, formed the tuning company Mugen in 1973. His aim was to design and develop racing engines as well as to develop engines and tuning parts for Honda road cars. It’s always handy to have a partner to work with when starting out on a venture and Hirotoshi found his in Masao Kimura. With a CV stacked with experience in Honda R&D and Honda Racing Service as well as having 50 race wins for Honda under his belt he was well placed to help Hirotoshi establish the company.

Mugen launched straight into racing, developing the Honda 1200cc engine for use in the FJ1300 series. The engine won its debut race and the ball was well and truly rolling! The company was also heavily involved with both dirt and road bikes but, for now, I want to keep the focus on their four-wheeled story.
While Mugen achieved great success on the track it was still not really well known outside of the racing fraternity. Wanting to make a name for himself and Mugen, both off the track and within Honda, Hirotoshi chose Honda’s least likely performance vehicle and set about making it into a street racer! I am of course referring to the 1981 Honda City.

By modifying the internals to reduce compression, the addition an IHI RHB51 turbocharger and multipoint fuel injection the all alloy 1237cc engine was force fed boost at 12psi (which is fairly high when you compare it to something like the Metro Turbo’s 7psi!). All this aspiration gave the light weight little city car 100bhp which was more than enough when combined with very little lag. Honda was so impressed they put it into production!

The Turbo 1 ran from ‘82 to ‘84 and the Turbo 2 was built until ’86. Nick named the “Bulldog”, for obvious reasons, the “2” features wide arches, big spoilers and a full on 80’s graphic package that left you in no doubt that this little boost box meant business. Engine wise the “2” received an intercooler, revised inlet system and a bigger compressor. All this added up to another 10bhp

For more information on the City Turbo check out the Honda City 2 Fact book.

In 1986 Formula 3000 was introduced to Japan and by the following year Mugen had designed and built its own F3000 engine.

This engine was leased to 14 teams and by 1988 four of the top 5 drivers in the series were powered by Mugen. This success led Mugen into Europe and Formula one; by 1989 they developed their own 3.5 litre V8 F1 engines.

In parallel, Mugen developed and sold tuning parts, body kits and even wheels for Honda Road cars. With racing pedigree designed in, every aspiring Honda tuner wanted some of the action.

 

Check out more of these great magazine scans.

Today Mugen is still a must have brand for JDM Honda tuners and they are still working with Honda releasing tuning parts and after market specials. At this years Tokyo Auto Salon they displayed their latest NSX concept (another car they had a hand in designing from day one) proving the Mugen magic is still very much alive.

Throughout its 36 years Mugen has remained independent from Honda despite a messy Tax evasion case and Hirotoshi Honda inheriting a major share in Honda itself. From the vehicles and race victories I have only really touched on above you can see the company has really lived up to it name “Limitless”.

For more information on the History of Mugen check out this site:

http://scumotor.com.tw:8080/gemmore/Corner_Speed&F101JJTT&16

We couldn’t do a feature on Mugen and not link you to the official site could we! Check it out here:

http://www.mugen-power.com/

Posted on: February 11, 2009 03:29

Here at RSM we love nothing more than the sounds and smells produced when you combine nature’s finest ingredients and apply the Otto Cycle. To celebrate this we will be documenting some really special engines, engines that have been born out of engineering ingenuity and the will to win both on the track and in the show rooms.

The first engine I wanted to showcase can be firmly filed under “motorsport rarity” in terms of its production numbers and intended use.

In 1965 Toyota launched its new K-Series engine; a compact 4-cylinder unit with a cast iron block and aluminium eight valve head. Opening and closing those valves was a single cam nestled firmly in the block and chain driven by the crank. This first instalment of K-Joy, the 1k, was the first of a long line of K Series engines available in capacities of up to 1812cc and was built right up to 1988.

OK, enough history, let’s get to the good stuff and start talking racing! While the K-Series engine is fairly special in its own right (though I am bias!) it’s the Tom’s 3K-R that is the real star of the line-up. Based on the 3K, 1166cc, the Tom’s engine was bored out to 1293cc and featured a unique DOHC 16 valve cylinder head. The engine also featured a Nippon Denso mechanical fuel injection system and dry sump lubrication.

A factory 3K engine was good for 45bhp @ 5600rpm. The 3K-R produced 180bhp at a frenzied 9000rpm. Just think about that for a second...180bhp from less than 1.3 litres! Did somebody say “volumetric efficiency”!?

During the early 1970’s Toyota was heavily involved with touring car racing in Japan, but could not penetrate the strangle hold of Datsun and their Sunnys. With the introduction of the 3K-R in ‘73 the 717kg (around 100kg heavier than the Datsun) Toyota Starlet went on to claim the 2 hottest spots on the podium at the Grand Champion fifth race at Fuji Speedway.

 

It’s this turning point in Toyota’s racing career that shot the engine to stardom. However, if you’re looking to fill the gap between the strut towers of your own Toyota project I wouldn’t get to excited; only around 20 of the engines were built and while one did turn up on Yahoo auctions a few years back (it was largely incomplete), it changed hands for a considerable amount or money!

 

Still we can dream, and to help with that you should check out this link:

KP30 Hiro – A great Toyota KP30 enthusiast site from Japan with some great pictures (as seen above) of the 3K-R, as well as a great build up section of the owners KP30!

Posted on: February 3, 2009 23:52

As rear engine week draws to a close there is, for me, one car that we could not miss out of the line-up especially when it earned itself the nick-name "Heckschleuder" or "Tail Spinner". I’m talking German, air cooled-cool and not of the Peoples Wagon variety.

OK, so it may not be a pretty as a Contessa or as well known as a Beetle but it really is a brilliant car. I am of course talking about the NSU TTS!

’64 saw the introduction of the new NSU platform; a larger car than the out going Prinz 4, the new model came in 1000 and later 1200 flavours with the option of TT and TTS spec in ‘65. Offering four seats and plenty of luggage space in front, it was a great means of affordable family transport. Practicalities aside, the underpinnings had everything going for them too; independent suspension front and rear combined with light weight (700KGs dripping wet!) made for sports car embarrassing cornering ability.

Being of an engineering persuasion, it’s the NSU’s power plant that really does it for me. In a world of push rods and cast iron the NSU was bringing a chain driven OHC, all aluminium 4 cylinder to the party. Despite NSU having their routes in knitting machines, no such comparison can be made to the lively little 4 pots. Essentially two motorbike engines sharing a common crank (you can make out the gap in the in the middle of the head) these engines can be tuned to give over 120bhp from just 1 litre! The larger 1300cc unit fitted to the TT even featured twin spark plugs!

The top spec TTS was fitted with a 997cc engine fuelled by twin 40 Solex carburettors. To make the most of this spectacular breathing capacity an optimised inlet manifold and bigger valves were employed. As the fuel made its way into the barrels of little 997cc it was greeted by forged pistons and duly crushed to the tune of 10.5:1! To meet the additional cooling needed an oil cooler was located on the under the front bumper for maximum air flow.

This combination of great suspension, tunable engines and light weight did not go unnoticed by the racing fraternity. The NSU TT and TTS enjoyed great success in hill climbs and circuit racing. The NSU even went on to launch the well known Spiess Tuning Company (now famous for their success in Formula 3 and Touring cars). Don’t take my word for it, this video from the NSU TT Cup will tell you everything you need to know about how good these little cars are on the black stuff...

RSM has the scoop on a very special NSU; keep your eyes peeled for coverage later on in the year!

Posted on: January 29, 2009 03:08