Group A BMW M3 E30 - General info and history - Page 10

Sir Sid · 4 Mar 2009, 21:55 (Ref:2409164)

Hi, since this thread seems to be all things E30 M3, does anyone know the whereabouts of the Vic Lee / Ray Bellm 91 season car ? Great thread by the way.

ian beckett · 5 Mar 2009, 08:46 (Ref:2409304)

At the end of the '91 season,the team put all the cars up for sale as they were to switch to the 318is Coupes for '92.Ray Bellm however chose to retain his car and still owns it? Harveys car is in the current ownership of Moseley Motorsport although it has been up for sale in original condition with them.The third car,ex Bristow is now in South Africa,running in club events in the same colours as when Bristow last raced it in '92.Unless any one knows differently? Ian.

KA · 5 Mar 2009, 11:33 (Ref:2409459)

If I'm reading you correctly Ian, by a process of elimination, this means Hoy's championship-winning car was sold on and became the black Rimstock car used by Matt Neal for most of the '92 season? As I remember, it was damaged in a shunt late season and Neal did the last round in a 318iS Coupe (the ex-McRae Prodrive car from Knockhill by any chance?)
Any idea where the M3 went after that?

ian beckett · 5 Mar 2009, 12:30 (Ref:2409501)

This car is currently in South Africa also where it was found in a sorry state of neglect.It is currently being rebuilt but sadly as a Warsteiner/Schnitzer replica.

KA · 5 Mar 2009, 13:55 (Ref:2409578)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian beckett

This car is currently in South Africa also where it was found in a sorry state of neglect.It is currently being rebuilt but sadly as a Warsteiner/Schnitzer replica.

Good to hear it's still around, though a pity it's being restored into inappropriate colours...

Sir Sid · 5 Mar 2009, 17:05 (Ref:2409707)

I did hear that Ray Bellm still had his car, was just wondering if anyone could confirm this. Here's some scans that may be of interest re the VLM cars.

The guy that owns the Ex Hoy car claims he didn't know the history of it when it was painted in Warsteiner/Schnitzer colours. There are some new pics of this car at www.s14power.com

ian beckett · 6 Mar 2009, 11:53 (Ref:2410287)

The above Motor Sport article 'Going for Broke' contains a mistake.It states that the first M3 Vic Lee purchased was the ex-Bigazzi/Ravaglia car,it was in fact the ex-Bigazzi Monteshell sponsored car which was driven in the '89 Italian Touring car series by either Lafitte or Tarquini.Ravaglia did not drive for Bigazzi in '89.Reading the article it is a pity that Lee was tempted into the decisions he made because the article shows a level headed guy who in a short period of time was developing a very good team.

KA · 6 Mar 2009, 12:03 (Ref:2410295)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian beckett

The above Motor Sport article 'Going for Broke' contains a mistake.It states that the first M3 Vic Lee purchased was the ex-Bigazzi/Ravaglia car,it was in fact the ex-Bigazzi Monteshell sponsored car which was driven in the '89 Italian Touring car series by either Lafitte or Tarquini.Ravaglia did not drive for Bigazzi in '89.Reading the article it is a pity that Lee was tempted into the decisions he made because the article shows a level headed guy who in a short period of time was developing a very good team.

Thanks for that Ian- you've just added some detail I don't think had come up on the thread before- From memory (I've not seen that Motor Sport article before) we knew the first VLR car (the Jeff Allam car) was an ex-Bigazzi chassis, but I don't remember it being mentioned until now which particular one it was...

Sir Sid · 6 Mar 2009, 17:05 (Ref:2410486)

Bit more period magazine articles for you. It concerns Prodrives early efforts with the M3, and some Steve Soper stuff!

Due to size of info, i've sought advice from the hosts and please follow this link to some magazine articles

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/?start=220

Gloves · 6 Mar 2009, 19:32 (Ref:2410564)

Vic Lee Motorsport team pit garage

Sir Sid · 7 Mar 2009, 12:43 (Ref:2410965)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gloves

Vic Lee Motorsport team pit garage

Fantastic pictures ! You don't have them in a larger format you could send, do you ?
Cheers

Gloves · 7 Mar 2009, 12:53 (Ref:2410971)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Sid

Fantastic pictures ! You don't have them in a larger format you could send, do you ?
Cheers

Yes I can..I will PM them to you...I have other M3 pictures I took at the same time in the pit garages.

David Towe · 8 Mar 2009, 06:23 (Ref:2411377)

Hi guys,
had the BTCC gone 2 litre at this stage?

**chunterer** · 9 Mar 2009, 09:10 (Ref:2411947)

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Towe

Hi guys,
had the BTCC gone 2 litre at this stage?

If you mean regarding the VLM cars shown above then yes. 2-litre regs came in in Britain for the start of 1990, although there was still a Class A for Group A with the RS500's.

Jesper OH · 9 Mar 2009, 11:30 (Ref:2412060)

When the subject of Vic Lee is up, I have another question:

He had two group A spec cars at the 1990 Macau Guia race, Tim Harvey and Julian Bailey driving. Harvey crashed out and Bailey was disqualified from an otherwise fine fifth for an illegal wing I believe. What was the history of these two cars as they seem to have been run in only this race?

Jesper

ian beckett · 9 Mar 2009, 12:26 (Ref:2412093)

The Harvey car was that used during the '90 BTCC season driven by Jeff Allam and the Bailey car was newly built around a Bigazzi supplied shell.The Harvey car was destroyed in his crash.

KA · 9 Mar 2009, 13:25 (Ref:2412162)

You've just answered one question I was going to ask (what happened to the ex-Allam car from 1990) but provoked another.

Where did the car built for Bailey to use at Macau go? Presumably sold on?

ian beckett · 9 Mar 2009, 13:58 (Ref:2412191)

I only have a note that this car was retained during '91 as a spare but what happened to it from then onwards I have no idea.Ian

Gloves · 9 Mar 2009, 16:39 (Ref:2412300)

Another shot from 1991, this time the BMW GB mechanics go to work on Tim Sugdens car.

Sir Sid · 9 Mar 2009, 19:34 (Ref:2412425)

Very nice picture

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gloves

Another shot from 1991, this time the BMW GB mechanics go to work on Tim Sugdens car.

**chunterer** · 9 Mar 2009, 19:48 (Ref:2412431)

Great stuff Gloves.

Apart from seeing cars actually in action, on track, I just love images of them in a pit garage being worked on!!

I think I posted one of the TWR Rovers in a 'tent' at Thruxton back along. These sorts of shots add a different element to threads.

Gloves · 10 Mar 2009, 19:23 (Ref:2413167)

The M3's of Palmer and Sugden 1991

Jesper OH · 11 Mar 2009, 07:21 (Ref:2413416)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gloves

The M3's of Palmer and Sugden 1991

"A Picture tell the tale of a thousand words"

..but not answering what brand of wheels these are or for that matter what size? For some reason never a big fan of the Prodrive/Mobil paint I have to say that I have never seen the cars presentet better than in those picture by Gloves. Which also brought me to the matters of wheels, because I can't remember other M3 on similar rims. With BBS and even Ronals it's possible to tell weather a rim was 16", 17" or even 18" in diameter from their three-piece design, but these Prodrive rims are guess work.

Jesper

Sir Sid · 11 Mar 2009, 12:46 (Ref:2413584)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

"A Picture tell the tale of a thousand words"

..but not answering what brand of wheels these are or for that matter what size? For some reason never a big fan of the Prodrive/Mobil paint I have to say that I have never seen the cars presentet better than in those picture by Gloves. Which also brought me to the matters of wheels, because I can't remember other M3 on similar rims. With BBS and even Ronals it's possible to tell weather a rim was 16", 17" or even 18" in diameter from their three-piece design, but these Prodrive rims are guess work.

Jesper

Prodrive seems to have been a fan of these wheels, in both centre locking and 5 lug on the Touring and Rally cars. Found a set for sale that state they are Tecnomagnesio 8x17

http://www.vinkmotorsport.nl/forsale.php?category=2&item=9

Decal Dynamics · 7 Jul 2009, 13:33 (Ref:2497277)

While doing some research into the history of the #44 Demon Tweeks BMW M3 from 1988 BTCC I was pointed in the direction of this forum. I made a 1/18 scale replica of this car & I needed to find a bit more info on it & I found all the info I need within these pages.

For anyone that is interested here are some pictures of my custom made model (using pictures from Goodwood 2008 to design the decals):

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