March 722 - 732 - 742 - 752

[Dan Rear]

Allen/Chris, was -28 the one Carlo Giorgio used right up to '79, variously updated ? I presume either -23or -25 is the one Ian Jacobs now has, ie ex-Harper/Purley.

[Chris Townsend]

Dan

Yup 28 was Giorgio's car
Do you know more about the back history of Ian Jacobs's car? I can get 23 as far as 1976 with John Walker, but know nada about 25.

Chris

[Jeremy Jackson]

Don't want to muddy the water here chaps (honest), but Motor Sport this month says (or at least implies) that Jacobs car is chassis 30.

"The March 742 in which David Purley start the 1974 European F2 championship is back in Britain in the hands on Ian Jacobs....Purley only raced chassis 30 a couple of times before switching to a Chevron"

Goes on to say Jacobs got the car from Alain Prat, after it had spent most of it's life in French hillclimbs.

[Dan Rear]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

For information:

March 772P-U2 is currently in the hands of Jonathan Varley and is fitted with a 1.6 BDA. Jonathan continues to sprint and hillclimb the car.
Its previous owner was Alan Newton who had fitted a couple of different engine choices. Initially Alan ran it with the Formula Two 6 cylinder Abarth two litre unit. This was then replaced with a 3.5 litre Cosworth DFR. Before he sold the car as a roller to Jonathan.

772P-U2 was, I'm pretty sure, the 2nd 'real' 772P built. Only used once in 77 by the works, for marc Surer at the October Donny meeting. -U1 was the regular car used by Neve, then Ribeiro, Mass and Bruno.

For 1978 -U1 goes to Norman D for F2/Libre/Aurora, then into the Scottish Libre/Climbing scene. -U2 goes to Patsy McG for Irish FAt, then Kim Mather for Aurora. Kim says he's recently seen it adverted in the UK.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

772P-U2 was, I'm pretty sure, the 2nd 'real' 772P built. Only used once in 77 by the works, for marc Surer at the October Donny meeting. -U1 was the regular car used by Neve, then Ribeiro, Mass and Bruno.
For 1978 -U1 goes to Norman D for F2/Libre/Aurora, then into the Scottish Libre/Climbing scene. -U2 goes to Patsy McG for Irish FAt, then Kim Mather for Aurora. Kim says he's recently seen it adverted in the UK.

I wasn't aware Jonathan Varley was selling -U2, I was chatting to him at the week-end and he never mentioned he was selling. Are you sure it wasn't -U1 that was for sale?

[Dan Rear]

Steve, Kim just said he'd seen 'my old March' advertised, I presume he meant his 772P, which was -U2.

[allenbrown]

Autosport 6 Sep 1979 p54: Tony Westwood was out at Prescott in his ex-Godfrey Crompton March 77P. 772P?

[allenbrown]

And more on 722-29: Autosport 30 Aug 1979 p47 says of the March 722 of Peter Riley (Liverpool) that he "took delivery of the ex-John Calvert Formula Atlantic March from John Kitching and has been very successful in it over the last two seasons".

[Chris Townsend]

Might that be the John Kitchen [sp?] who I have sprinting a 722 in 1974 and which I thought might be the ex Mather/Calvert car because it was in teh NW?

chris

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

I thought I'd rescue these March 742 details from TNF and post them where they belong:

Autosport 13 Sep 1979 p39 says the ex-Franklin/Richards March 742/772 is now being hillclimbed by Norrie Galbraith.

But we have 742/U1 as the Howard Wood ex-Musetti car in NZ in 1977. Even having 742/U1 as a Musetti car disagrees with this. Which identity can we trust? Neither of them?

Allen

[Chris Townsend]

Norrie Galbraith told MN in 1980 that his car was the ex Depaillier car, engine and everything [despite Franklin having bought it as a roller, and not being a BMW and all...] But anyway, think this was main as the real Depaillier car is elsewhere [California]

Don't believe Musetti car was a 742 but a mod'd 732 tub stuck into an Atlantic set up

Chris

[allenbrown]

So should I take "U1" off the Howard Wood car until we know more?

[driftwood]

catching up omn this thread
742u1 is being restored via me and is listed in single seater voiturette book as Val M at a 74 or 5 uk race

772p u2 is allegedely in canada being restored he bought it as a basket case
772p u is in uk with john holmes

742 30 is now owned by mark dwyer from jacobs
this car wa srun by Berndard de dryver
i was with the carand owner talking at BH festival and this man came over and said this is my old car and i said u must be B de Dryver he was a bit stunned !!

[allenbrown]

Hi Drifty

What history do you have on that 742-U1? It looks like there were two cars with that number applied to them at one time or another.

Allen

[driftwood]

some how this march thread has had my info deleted from it when it was re posted
car was reskinned tub by Graham thurston and sold with new bodywork to current owner long time back
i cannot tell you wher it came rfrm with out reffering to my mails on other pc
also have 742 u2 car in same stable had 752 body & bmw in it car came in from bmw dealer showroom in Oz 10 years ago

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend 23 Aug 2005, 09:44 on what's now the March 782 thread

Have some more information on the Roger Orgee "772"
An ad for the car in A/S late 1979 says it was built in 1978 on a new tub.
As the car is described by Orgee in 1979 programmes as a "742/772P" I'm
guessing it was a new 742 tub - though we might want to speculate how new
that tub was in view of our knowledge of March's recycling practices - clad in
772P bodywork.

Would it have ever carried a plate? I rather doubt it.

Chris

Originally Posted by Dan Rear at 12:59

Chris, I think we've speculated on this one before, IIRC the Orgee car had Friswell connexions, though it looked like a 77B/772P. In 1980 he described his car, presumably the same one, as a '782', and then a '79B'. I don't recall reading anywhere that he'd got a new car over the 79-80 winter, so I suspect it was the same one he'd had in '79, ie the 742/77B/772P/whatever (!!).

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend at 14:53

Dan
The Friswell connection was the engine, according to a little Autosport piece in June 79. Originally a Geoff Richardson BD series.

Chris

Chris

I think Dan could be right here. An article on Sports Extra 5 Jul 1979 p52 calls the car "ex-Friswell" and "742/772P", adding that the engine that came with it was a 2-litre FVD which has now been replaced with a Richardson BDA.

So does mean this is the ex-Beltoise/ex-Calvert 732 [01] which got a replacement 742 tub late 1976 after Friswell crashed it in practice at Oulton Park? Or is it the 73B that Friswell drove in 1973 and 1974 and I can last see in 1976 as Barton's "73B/75B". I'm guessing it must be the former.

Allen

[driftwood]

Confused? you soon will be !!
a 74 tub is the 772p narrow tub
772 is wide tub and not competitive so bmw spat the dummy out at march to fix the problem hence the narrow tub being brought back into service

however when u look at march tubs the 772P had an angle on the tub towards the front bulkhead which is used on the atlantic tub allegedly

front rear bulheads are different for f1 2 3 5000 cars due to different engine bulkheads/ pick up points and suspension points/ strengths required

[allenbrown]

Right. So - just to show whether I'm paying attention - 742/772P would make sense as a designation but 742/772 wouldn't?

[allenbrown]

Please excuse me dumping this here but I've been searching high and low for this reference and eventually found it on the somewhat-forgotten Shellsport International Championship 1977 thread.

Originally Posted by allenbrown

I found another reference to a Musetti March: Autosport 6 Apr 1978 p58 mentions "Bill Wood (ex Val Musetti F2 March)". In the results (p59) it's called a March 752. Wood appears on other occasions in 1978 and the car is sometimes called a 762 but this is the only mention I've seen of it being ex-Musetti.

I speculated at the time that it would be the car Divi had driven in 1977 but let's not get into all that again!

[driftwood]

allen
yes in essence tr right but the march anorak man would be able to say that tub is not true 742 or 772P if it was viewed but all the parts will fit and to the average man it would look the part
ie 732 is same as 742 apart from bodywork then u want to fit a wishbone an dthe 732 will not fot 742 chassis but looks exactly the same
now you can see why a 732 can run in 74 in 742 body and 74b can run ass77b etc if u had a 3 year old car to do libre or hillclimb event would u enter as 74 model or 77 model?
is i so easy to swap over the bodywork !!


de dryver had 742# 30 car after purley ran B&O sponsorship
its possible the 742 could have been dressed as 782 bodywork wise but i suspect BdeD had the ££ to get newer car

[Chris Townsend]

Correct about the 772 tub - this was the first big difference in March design since they started. I think even a 722 could be fitted to 772P or 77B bodywork.
Interesting the Friswell connection on Orgee's car, and Orgee's remark about a new tub suggests that it might be the remains of 732-1 that he bought and reworked. I've got to email GF about his 73B this week so will also ask on this score.

Chris

[driftwood]

Actually u can fit most bodywork to 712/3 tubs thru to 77B cars the 75 76 77 2 tubs where wider but i beleive you can get most of a later body to fit less the pods and fit the 742 crash structure side pods so this will explain why you find these 732 mongrel 77/82 libre cars

i can even supply u a 782 tub with dfv fitting 792 ish bodywork
go on tell me who had that car
pint on me to the 1st person who can !!

[allenbrown]

Val MUsetti had it last time it raced. The sister car was in a museum in Switzerland last time I saw it.

[Dan Rear]

Originally Posted by driftwood

Actually u can fit most bodywork to 712/3 tubs thru to 77B cars the 75 76 77 2 tubs where wider but i beleive you can get most of a later body to fit less the pods and fit the 742 crash structure side pods so this will explain why you find these 732 mongrel 77/82 libre cars

i can even supply u a 782 tub with dfv fitting 792 ish bodywork
go on tell me who had that car
pint on me to the 1st person who can !!

Is this the Roy Lane '79S' Drifty ??

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

Is this the Roy Lane '79S' Drifty ??

If it is it subsequently went onto Ken Ayers who used it mainly in the British Sprint Championship as well as a few hillclimbs.