The good ole days....................you should have been there

[KL]

I've still got my Rallyesport jacket I bought it on the RAC in 1978, and yes it still fits me!

The only RAC gear that still fits me is the hats...

[driverace]

Hats

Talking of hats!
Does anyone have a "Scottish Rally " hat from 1979 ?
I have the hat from the 1979 Scottish Rally,worn by and given to me by Henri Toivonen,
At the end of the event it was left in the car HHJ 703N I,said your hats in the car,Henri said you have it Barry Still have it,AND its quite a nice thing,thick material and ear flaps that fold up inside Whats its value ? Priceless to me !

[Skids]

RAC Rally 1978 I think Dalby Forest 2 o'clock in the morning pitch black when Munari came through in the Stratos you could hear it for about 10 mins before it camre into view then it was like daylight because of the flash bulbs goinf off .Then the even greater sound of a 2.0 ltr BDA on full chat for about 15mins Mikkola then Vattenan,Brookes etc, etc. the Forest was alive with cars and speccies a spectacle that can never be repeated.
The ony thing that came close was Olivers Mount in the early 80's with Vatenan in the T16 with Henri Toivenan 2' from his bumper in the Delta S4 in thick fog past the monument at full throttle and only being stood 2' from where they past us amazing feeling ,never will be re created .
**** me I fell old now

[RS2000CUSTOM]

Then the even greater sound of a 2.0 ltr BDA on full chat for about 15mins Mikkola then Vattenan,Brookes etc, etc. the Forest was alive with cars and speccies a spectacle that can never be repeated.

Sounds to me like you need to get yourself up to Perth on the 27th September

http://bbs.rallyesportescorts.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=77

[grum]

think a big chunk of the spectacle of wrc got lost when night stages were scrapped on many of the events

so much atmosphere in the Kielders and Grizedales stages in the very early 90's that i speccied on on the Lombard -

one of the 1995 Grizedales when Mcrae came through will live with me forever thought there were about 150 - 200 peeps around on a corner before the cars started the stage ................. more like a football crowd was there the whole track just lit up with flashes for about 400 yards

[steve p]

I also have Brian Culcheths RAC stick on badge from 1979, the ones the competitors wore on their rally suits I also have a service crew badge from 1980 aswell as several RAC marshall arm bands some say RAC Rally and the date some are just Castrol but all are from the RAC Iwould post some photos if I knew how!

Steve

[steve p]

Oh I forgot I also have asilver coaster from the 1979 Rac from Lancia I had never seen one before then Chris Derbyshire the model maker (builds fantastic model cars) showed me a bronze one from the 79 Rac he didn't know who gave them out do you know K.L.?

Steve

[paul spence]

Going to Sutton Park to watch the RAC rally for the first time in 1984

Watching the first outing on the RAC of the Brand New Metro 6R4

Also hear commentator saying next car through is Phil Collins in a Capri

lol how naive we were and thought he was gonna stop and start singing or play his drums

we where that day custom never seen ya
one thing that still sticks in my mind was was the brake discs glowing in the dark and how fast the group B cars went in the forest at night

[TimGR]

My comments of seeing Ian Appleyard on the RAC would have been 1956/57
when I was 16 y.o.NOT 1951 like you suggested Keith.
My first car at 17 was a 1937 Ford 8 with the front doors opening out from the front...My first driving school car was a 1961 Triumph Herald 1200
then Morris1100,s then Vauxhall Viva,s THen I found the magic of the Ford Escort,and still run Fords even today for instruction.Even had a Ford D 800 artic for HGV tuition .those were the days !!!

Wow,

I thought I was old (I remember watching the RAC in the 60s) you must be nearly 70!

[driverace]

!956/57 Rac

Cheers I look 48 so they tell me,BUT I am 68 ,but I have had the good fortune of doing nearly every thing I want to do AND knowing good people involved with motor sport.My involvment with rally,s and circuit racing has all (nearly )been paid for by the competitors I have worked with,indirectly by their sponsors
I think NUB 120 The Jaguar XK 120 is in some car collection ,tell me where Keith !

[KL]

Oh I forgot I also have asilver coaster from the 1979 Rac from Lancia I had never seen one before then Chris Derbyshire the model maker (builds fantastic model cars) showed me a bronze one from the 79 Rac he didn't know who gave them out do you know K.L.?
Steve

Maybe class awards? If finishers wards, they would all have been the same for each year. The "real" finisher's award was a blue bar to the badge (white for non-finishers, red for officials/marshalls/service crew)but they gave token finishers' awards too - a car badge, a cheap vacuum flask with a sticker on it(!), a paper weight, are three I recall.

[KL]

I think NUB 120 The Jaguar XK 120 is in some car collection ,tell me where Keith !

Well it appears regularly (in Coupe des Alpes trim). Is it at Heritage Museum Gaydon? - although so many cars in museums are actually on loan.
One of our French colleagues suggested there's a ringer about (although the genuine one most definitely is too).

I see Fiskens currently have "65 RAC winning Cooper S" DJB93B for sale (so soon after a previous sale?), wrongly described as driven by Timo Makinen to that win.
Not that I'm associating that car with "ringers".............

[Keando]

Great Thread

My interest started when i started work in 1979. Two colleagues were into rallying one owned a modified Cortina 1600E which was replaced later by a black MK1 Mex which he started preparing. This was eventually changed for a Venetian Red MK2 RS2000. The other colleague (my boss) had a yellow Mk2 Escort which was replaced by a Signal Orange MK2 RS 2000 (FTM 788T).

Spent time listening to them discussing watching the RAC in Greystokes. So went along to the Sutton Park Speccie Stage in 1981 and was totally blown away by the experience.

Toivonen...


Vatanen...


Arikkala...


Wilson...


Clark...


Just had to get myself an RS after that - but that came a little while later

http://bbs.rallyesportescorts.co.uk/showpost.php?p=309401&postcount=148

Revisited Sutton Park in 82 then from 83 onwards went into the forests... The sounds and sights were fantastic. As mentioned before about the night stages - Remember sitting in Grizedale in '83 waiting for the cars to arrive, frost forming on my legs. Then the sound of an engine in the distance, fading in and out as it slowly came nearer and then camera flashes announcing its arrival, bursting into sight in a blaze of light, discs glowing and camera flashes all around. Then it dissappeared out of sight and all the chatter started up again.

Stopped going in the 90's when it became the Rally of South Wales, no night stages etc. Not the same any more

[TimGR]

Maybe class awards? If finishers wards, they would all have been the same for each year. The "real" finisher's award was a blue bar to the badge (white for non-finishers, red for officials/marshalls/service crew)

I remember those badges and bars - they used to give them out on a number of rallies. Some people used to wear them on their rally jackets, lined up like medals as if they had been in the war

[RS2000CUSTOM]

we where that day custom never seen ya

I was behind the speccie railings immediatley in front of the water splash had a perfect view as we got there hours before any cars came through

All the crowd cheered when the 6R4 came through as most were brummies and obviously the Longbridge connection etc