UKDRN

Do you own or know the whereabouts of a piece of UK Drag Racing History or just want info on a particular machine.

Moderators: timetravel, ukdrn

 #38918  by German_Motormouth
 
Shiny brit powerplant in front, owner/Driver Lars laughs in the Background.
Shiny brit powerplant in front, owner/Driver Lars laughs in the Background.
20160930_223834 [ForenBilder800x600].jpg (117.22 KiB) Viewed 6452 times
Hello Nostalgians,

Benni here, the german announcer, maybe I annoyed you in Hockenheim since 1993, sorry for that.
At the final Meeting on the old US airbase in Bitburg last Weekend, a slingshot appeared in the pits
that I saw last in Drachten / NL about 10-12 years ago, where it sat on the grass as an ornament.
At that time, it already had the "stars & stripes" paint job but the name was "American Excess".

The slingshot is powered by a 3,5l Rover V8 with an 8-71 blower and runs Methanol,
the new owner from Hamburg told me all he knew was that the car was raced shortly in Drachten this year,
the Driver did some mid 8s but wanted something different. It was built in England in/around 1984.

I think the rollcage might have had an update because Mike Barnett, the legendary tech & chassis man in Germany,
took a look at the Chassis and said it could get a 7.00 tag with minor updates.

The new owner plans to replace the brittle RV8 with an american powerplant, he did mid 9s and ran pretty straight.

When this Slingshot really was built in 1984(ish), it must be one of the last front engine dragsters built as "current car",
because Nostalgia was not really Happening at that time.

Does anyone here know who built it, who raced it, and how quick and fast did it go ?
Attachments
Old Rollcage revamped ?
Old Rollcage revamped ?
20160930_223924 [ForenBilder800x600].jpg (117.33 KiB) Viewed 6452 times
Driver´s view, 9"Ford with some symbolic "safety strips" welded on, sticker is no joke.
Driver´s view, 9"Ford with some symbolic "safety strips" welded on, sticker is no joke.
20160930_223905 [ForenBilder800x600].jpg (81.73 KiB) Viewed 6452 times
Front view
Front view
20160930_223817 [ForenBilder800x600].jpg (81.59 KiB) Viewed 6452 times
 #38924  by timetravel
 
Hi Benni,

That was originally put together by Rick Fielding with blown Triumph Dolomite power in 1983.
SANTA POD SEPT '83 023.jpg
SANTA POD SEPT '83 023.jpg (54.06 KiB) Viewed 6395 times
and this pic is from 1996 when Wendy Baker ran it with blown Rover power.
008-001.jpg
008-001.jpg (186.2 KiB) Viewed 6395 times
It was running 10s maybe 9s when Rick had it but not sure what it ran with Wendy. Someone else on here will probably know...
 #38927  by German_Motormouth
 
Thank you for the quick info, I just knew someone on here might know about this slingshot.

I have to ask Wendy what her times were in the car, is she also in UKDRN ?

If someone from here knows more or has more pics I would like to read about it.
 #38938  by PaulS
 
Ahh it's surfaced again, I'm guessing you recently bought it from Phillip in Holland. Couple of corrections for Benni (hi Benni how are things with you) :-

The engine is a 4.2 litre Rover (not 3.5)
The rear axle is a Chrysler 8 3/4
The blower is a B&M 174 power charger.

We owned the car from 1990 until (about) 2000 and over that time we changed pretty much everything on it, the chassis was found to be below specification so I built a "new" copy of the original from 3mm wall thickness CDS tubing, the head cage it has on it now is not the one I fitted but I assume the rest of the chassis is the one I built.

I'm not sure if you will be able to fit an American V8 into the car as it is very narrow in the engine bay - I had enough trouble getting the Rover engine to fit. The engine that is in the car doesn't have standard parts inside it and was built in about 1999.

If you want any more information just ask.............


Paul