1964/65 Alternatitive rides

Driver : A.B. ( TONY ) STRACEY

Car : VOLVO 122s 'AMAZON'
Engine : B18 1778cc 4 cylinder OHV
Class : 1200cc+
Production : 1956-1970
Shared the same platform with the stylish P1800 coupe and the 122 versions also shared the coupe's engine which also appeared in the Marcos 1800.
115 BHP could be achieved with a twin carb set-up. Extremely reliable engines these cars were raced mostly in endurance events including the Daytona 24 hours ( 1967-70 ) and Stracey raced his version in the 1964 Nurburgring 6 hours ( DNF ) ,Brands 6-hours ( 2nd in class ) and 1 round of the British saloon car championship entered by the Sussex Racing Partnership. The 122 also featured strongly in Australian touring cars.

Driver : ANDREW MYLIUS

Car : SAAB 96 Sport
Engine : 841cc 2-stroke 3 cylinders
competition versions rated 95 bhp up from the standard 40-odd.
Class : 1000cc
Production :
The first of the 96s did particulary well in International rallies with Erik Carlsson. At only 850kgs the cars were nimble and tuned up with tripple down draught carbs. Mylius competed his in the European Touring Cars ( 850cc class ) including the Nurburgring 6 hours like Stracey .Back home despite giving away some cc's took on the hoards of Minis in a few club races in the 1000cc. Mylius went on to race Nathan GT ,Chevron B8 and Gropa sports cars.

Andrew Mylius in his Saab at Zandvoort

Driver : P. GARRATT

Car : VAUXHALL VX4/90 'VICTOR'
Engine : 1548cc/1594cc 4 cylinders
( twin carb alloy-headed versions rated 72 bhp )
Class : 1200cc+
Production : 328,000 ( 1961-64 FB-series )
By 1964 the Vauxhall Victors had gone from the British Saloons in the face of the new Lotus-Cortinas in the 2-litre class. Bill Blydenstein and Chris Lawrence had enjoyed success in the Lawrencetune cars and Team Tourist Trophy ran one for Dizzy Addicott. Garratt campaigned one such into 1965 in club events.

The Rapiers were still competiting in Brit saloons in their last season of 1963 with 2 works cars and 2 Alan Fraser cars until the Rootes racing department turned to other projects. Suprisingly ive found only 1 entry in club racing ,P.Batten
( Keltic Racing ) at Mallory 1964 ( rolled ) given the high profile of these cars.
A Patrick Batten rallied a series 3 in Historics in 2005 ( same guy ? ).

Driver : P.S. BATTEN

Car : SUNBEAM RAPIER Series 3
Engine : ROOTES 1592cc
Class : 1200+
Production : ( Series 3 ) 27,054
( 1959-63 )

Driver : PETER WARDLE

Car : RENAULT 8
Engine : ( non-standard ) FORD-LOTUS twin-cam 1600cc
Class : 1200+
Production : 1962-73

Wardle seems to be the first man to put a bigger engine in a rear-engined saloon in UK club racing ,10 years before the Daf and Skodas appeared. He used a Ford 1600cc unit in the rear of his R8. First appearing in 1964 Wardle was a regular during 1965 particulary in the BARC Spring Grove Championship.
Wardle went on to be a prime mover in 1970s Formula Atlantic.

Wardle at Oulton 1965 - Eddie Whitham photo

Wardle at Brands July 1965 - David Clarke photo

Driver : H.R.MOORE

Car : FORD ZEPHYR 6
Engine : FORD 2553cc
Class : 1200+
Production : 1962-66

The Zephyr ( and its luxury variant the Zodiac ) had been in saloon racing almost since its launch back in 1950 into the sharper-styled series 3 of 1962.
Ford ran a few Zodiacs in 1963 in Brit Saloons.
Moore raced his in a few BARC Handicap races at Goodwood in 1964-65 ,best finish found 11th.

Amongst the many sporty Triumphs of the era was the Michelotti-designed Vitesse saloon or convertable ,a 6-cylinder version of the Hearald.
A.G.Brown and JBL Jacobs raced in BARC events in 1964 but most interesting is the version of B.G.Hawkins in 1965 described as a Vitesse-Jaguar.

Driver : 3 Entrants

Car : TRIUMPH VITESSE
Engine : BMC 1596cc
Class : 1200+
Production : over 51,212 (1962-71)

Driver : A.M.H. WYNDHAM

Car : AUSTIN/MORRIS 1100
Engine : BMC 1098cc
Class : 1200
Production : 2,365,420
(1962-74 all variants)

Huge selling car ( even my Grandad had one ) but few raced, with its predecessor the A40 and the Mini more popular from the BMC stable.
Wyndham racing in a few BARC races in 1965 without threatening the Mini domination.