BSCC/BTCC Ford Fiestas

[stevec427]

Am trying to find out info on the drivers/teams that ran Mk1 Fiestas in the early 1980s BSCC. Would be particularly interested in photos of the cars/liveries.
So far i know of the Longman/Curnow Datapost cars from 1980 and have recently discovered a photo online of David de Costa's Fiesta 1.3 from 1981. (was this the ex-curnow 1.3 from 1980?)

[KA]

As you say, the Longman/Curnow Datapost cars are probably the best known BSCC/BTCC Fiestas, but I think there were quite a few more- you've mentioned David da Costa's car (is this the pic you were talking about?)...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1678887...57624382877618

....and Guenda Eadie (who came from the Faberge Ladies Cup one-make Fiesta series- the same competition that discovered Louise Aitken-Walker) had one in 1980.

The other one that comes to mind is the red & gold Julian May/Pegasus Mouldings car, which appeared between about 1980-83, with a few different drivers, including Terry Nightingale and Jock Robertson.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1451/scan0016lm0.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j285/Co-L-d/lg_1239_1acd.jpg

As I remember, it raced in both 1.3 and 1.6 litre form and is still around- the current owner posted some pics of it on here a few months back
http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/show...5&postcount=98

Think the last Fiesta seen in the BTCC was Alistair Davidson's 'Troy Ambisonics' car which did a few rounds in '86- IIRC it was actually a Fiesta Challenge car, and would have been a Mk2 by then? Don't think I've ever seen a pic of that one!

[chunterer]

I think KA's provided a superb account of Fiesta BSCC/BTCC activity there.

So did the model debut in 1979 or 1980, after the Mini programme had to end?

Longman may still have run the Mini 1275 if it wasn't for it running out of homologation or something like that I'm sure.

[Nick Ellis]

Hi folks,
Stuart McCrudden ran a Mk1 in the up to 1300cc class at various meetings during
1978.
I am sure i saw the car at the Brands GP support round that year,from what i remember the car was a metallic gold or brown colour with backing from a southern
Ford dealers.
The car at that time suffered from a lack of homologated parts to make it a
competitive tool against the Mini 1275 GT,Alfa-Sud,or even Avengers in the same
class.

[Nick Ellis]

After confirmation from programmes and Autosports of the period,the car
described in my last post was a class D (up to 1300cc) runner in 1978.
The car was a 1300S model,metallic Silver(not gold!),possibly owned or
supplied by Gandor Ford Colchester.
Preparation was by McCrudden himself,although lack of homologated goodies at that time left the car in fairly standard form and somewhat outgunned by the class opposition.
From what i recall the car was well turned out and attracted a lot of attention as it may have been the first Fiesta to race in the BSCC.
I used to have a picture of this car from 1978,but it`s been lost ,doh!

[SAMD]

This is an interesting wee thread 'cos we are intending to run a basic class next year at Kirkistown for the MK4 1.25 Zetec Fiestas. Bog standard Engine and gearboxes and very few basic mods to the cars. They will be slow but cheap.

[KA]

I took some time to run through the 80's BTCC results to try and find out exactly who appeared in Fiestas and when- So far, I've got this...

Originally Posted by Nick Ellis

Hi folks,
Stuart McCrudden ran a Mk1 in the up to 1300cc class at various meetings during
1978.
I am sure i saw the car at the Brands GP support round that year,from what i remember the car was a metallic gold or brown colour with backing from a southern
Ford dealers.
The car at that time suffered from a lack of homologated parts to make it a
competitive tool against the Mini 1275 GT,Alfa-Sud,or even Avengers in the same
class.

The Ford dealer backing the car seems to have been Candor Motors, from Colchester, and as you suggest, it only seems to have appeared at a handful of rounds
http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jon...78%20BSCC.html

Was this the first BTCC Fiesta? I can't find any trace of one before McCrudden's handful of appearances (Fiesta was launched in 1976), and the next ones are the Longman/Datapost cars which came on the scene in 1980

Some nice Datapost pics and period ads here
http://www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk/press_re...acing_team.php

http://www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk/magazine...9_1980_pg5.php

Datapost started out with two cars in separate classes- Longman in a 1.6 and Curnow in a 1.3. As mentioned earlier, Guenda Eadie (winner of the 1979 Faberge Ladies Cup Fiesta race/rally series) also appeared in 1980... http://foxcraft.co.uk/biographies/biog2_geunda.html

...and more Fiestas joined in mid-season- Colin Hawker and Terry Nightingale (I think in Julian May's Pegasus car http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2..._1239_1acd.jpg )
. For some reason, Longman dropped down to the 1300 class towards the end of the year.

The Datapost Fiestas turned out to be a one-season wonder, with Longman turning to the Metro for 1981, however Nightingale returned in the Pegasus car,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...in/photostream
joined by da Costa's white Haynes car
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...in/photostream

...and Colin Hawker- all in 1.3s initially.
Julian May (a DNS at Donington), Alex Moss, David Grimshaw and Stuart Fowler also turn up in the BTCC results in Fiestas- Terry Nightingale apparently split with the May/Pegasus team mid-season, so apart from team owner May, were Moss, Grimshaw and Fowler the other drivers who appeared in the car that year, or did they drive some other Fiesta(s)?

The Metro seems to have become the weapon of choice in the 1300 class for 1982 (although there were Alfasuds from ARDT, and David da Costa tried an Astra), but Stuart Fowler's Fiesta appeared a few times. The May/Pegasus car came back, but now in 1.6 form for Jock Robertson,
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1451/scan0016lm0.jpg
and Tony Crudgington appeared occasionally with another 1.6.

Robertson and the Pegasus Fiesta returned for 1983, until the team's new RS1600i was ready.
Incidentally there's a fair bit on the post-BTCC history of the Julian May car in the '1984 BTCC' thread- it's still around, and still in the original red/gold colours.
http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/atta...5&d=1313793161
(Start here http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/show...=120490&page=6 and it continues over the next page or two)

The Crudgington car appeared at least once as well, but that was it for Fiestas in the BTCC, until 1986, when Alastair Davidson appeared a few times in a 'Troy Ambisonics'-backed car. I think this was basically a Fiesta Challenge car, but there might have been some suggestion of it being upgraded into something more like a 'proper' Group A car?

Anybody got any more, or even better, some pics of those cars we don't have pics for?

[historic racer]

I looked after Stuart Fowlers car it being ex Colin Hawker , came to us with blown engine and soon found out why. They suffered from chronic oil surge in right hand bends and no matter what baffles we welded in the sump could not cure it. Really needed a deeper sump but under the GP1 rules couldn't do that, so the inevitable happened, so broke the car up and sold it off.

[Malcolm Smith]

A re-creation of the Curnow 1300cc car is due to appear in next season's Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons Champioship - picture is from static display at Sept. 2011 Bo'ness Hill Climb.

[KA]

That's really nice- Comparing it with a period pic of the Curnow car, it definitely looks the part!

http://www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk/press_re...curnow_001.php
http://www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk/press_re...curnow_003.php

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by historic racer

I looked after Stuart Fowlers car it being ex Colin Hawker , came to us with blown engine and soon found out why. They suffered from chronic oil surge in right hand bends and no matter what baffles we welded in the sump could not cure it. Really needed a deeper sump but under the GP1 rules couldn't do that, so the inevitable happened, so broke the car up and sold it off.

Brilliant post! Many thanks for the contribution. That car, or at least its engine must've been a severe headache?

[KA]

Certainly explains why only a fairly small number of Fiestas were seen in the BTCC, and maybe why the Longman/Datapost team returned to Austin Rover and the Metro pretty quickly after a single season with the Fiesta...

[stevec427]

This is filling in lots of gaps in my basic Fiesta BTCC plot - thanks guys! My passion is the mk1 Fiesta and kinda stumbled onto the BTCC element almost by accident! Would love to see more pics still; any othe rinfo on the da Costa car? It looks very similar to Curnow's car from the previous year - is this coincidence?

[stevec427]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Smith

A re-creation of the Curnow 1300cc car is due to appear in next season's Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons Champioship - picture is from static display at Sept. 2011 Bo'ness Hill Climb.

I heard about this car from a chap at Corgi. The owner used the decals from Corgi's forthcoming Vanguards Curnow Fiesta but scaled up to 1:1. Looks good! Thanks for posting this!

[JH1800]

Would i be out of order by posting the Alan Curnow Fiesta 1300 replica's build description here with pics? Straight from Mk1 Fiesta Forum ..but only the builders postings, and pics ...It's interesting. The owner /builder is agreeable to having it here , ok with the mods?