BMW County Championship

[Mark-e21]

I am trying to research the circa 1979/80 BMW County Championship. The cars were identical E21 323i's that wore individual county/dealer liveries. The cars were all prepared and maintained by TWR and driven by the likes of Brundle, Needell and Mansell.

I am keen to find photographs but also wondered if any video footage exists?

If you can help in any way It would be much appreciated.



In fact, anything that's interesting and E21 / TWR related would be great.

[Alan Raine]

One of Simon Arron's photos from the other place.

This is the link to what happened next!

[Mark-e21]

Are there any more photos or info please?

[GBRM]

My late Dad drove an ex-County Car to second place in the 1982 Willhire (car was owned by John Clark - I wonder what happened to him...) but I don't think he actually drove in the championship.

[Paul D]

Kind of makes you wonder what happens to all these cars from series such as this. I guess they would have built maybe 20 or 30 cars for something like this, so where are they all now?

I race an E21, and I can only think of a couple of others out there racing to my knowledge - and I doubt that mine started out as one of these County Challenge racers, so what happened to them when the series ended? Returned to BMW dealers and stripped perhaps? Converted to road cars? Broken up for spares? Or sold off as complete cars? And if the latter, then where are the survivors? Surely they can't all have been totalled in big shunts. Someone out there must be able to remember this - it's only 30 years ago, so there's gotta be a few still around who were involved then.

[GBRM]

The impression I got (and people can watch the vid) is that the cars went back into dealer stock and were sold on - very few continued as racers.

[Paul D]

So Gregor, are you saying they were put back to road trim and sold on by the dealers?

Do you know if we're talking about relatively standard cars with safety equipment added, or were they heavily modified? The dealers would have been left with some tasty parts if the latter!

[GBRM]

Well Dad was supposed to do the '82 Willhire in another car (Capri) and it fell through, so he went to a paid team (John Clark BMW) who had an ex-County race car in stock and they decided to race it - you have to remember that Group N literally was a rollcage and extinguisher in theory really.

[Paul D]

Yes, of course - sorry, I didn't realise they were Group N cars. Would it have been Group N back then, or would it still have been Group 1?

[GBRM]

Good question - the Willhire was a bit of an open pot if a Morgan or a 911 could win!! I think it was always Group N but what cars I'm not sure - there is a thread about the Willhire(s).

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by GBRM

Good question - the Willhire was a bit of an open pot if a Morgan or a 911 could win!! I think it was always Group N but what cars I'm not sure - there is a thread about the Willhire(s).

Group N wasn't used as a basis for a series in the UK until about 1988. Prior to that it was 'production saloon' regs that was the basis for Uniroyal and Monroe series and the Willhire.

I'm not sure of the exact difference other than Group N allowed slicks, but we may have looked into it in the prodsaloon threads if anyone fancies a check?

The BMW series also ran to standard spec IIRC. They ran on road tyres didn't they?

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Group N wasn't used as a basis for a series in the UK until about 1988. Prior to that it was 'production saloon' regs that was the basis for Uniroyal and Monroe series and the Willhire.

I'm not sure of the exact difference other than Group N allowed slicks, but we may have looked into it in the prodsaloon threads if anyone fancies a check?

The BMW series also ran to standard spec IIRC. They ran on road tyres didn't they?

And I think that production saloons was called Group N was it not? There was some suspension, brake and head mods allowed too.

The BMWs weren't standard from what I remember hearing but then back then I don't think two BMWs the same came out of the factory into the UK market!!

[big andy]

i have seen over the years a good number of these cars for sale ! wasnt there one in modsaloons in the mid 80s as well

[Mark-e21]

Sad to see Tom Walkinshaw lost his battle with Cancer today. He'll be missed by many I am sure. RIP.

[Mark-e21]

I just thought I would mention that I am still seeking to get as much information on TWR and their connection with BMW and the County Race series. I am also restoring one of a pair of 335's that were built and sold by TWR back in 1982. In fact, someone else on here owns the sister car as was tested by Tiff Needell for Autosport back in the day.

There are more details on the car here.

http://thealpinaregister.com/forums/...874&highlight=

It seems the spec of the race cars was as follows:

The BMW 323i's which are representing their respective counties in this year's BMW County Championship initially started life as standard road cars. They were transported straight from BMW Munich where they were taken to Tom Walkinshaw Racing at Kidlington, Oxford. Tom, together with Hugo Tippet, the team manager and 6 racing technicians then modified the cars to racing specifications which were as follows :-

BMW 323i - County Car Specification

* 2.3 litre engine balanced throughout
* Gas flowed cylinder head polished and raised compression to 9.8:1
* Brake tested to deliver 170bhp
* Heavy duty clutch
* Front struts specially rebuilt to TWR Racing settings, with stiffer springs and adjustable abutments.
* Competition rear dampers have adjustable bump and rebound settings with stiffer springs.
* Adjustable front anti roll bar of 24mm fitted in addition to standard one.
* Rear one of 19mm also fitted.
* Limited Slip Differential fitted with reinforced rear crossmember mountings.
* Racing brake pads front and rear have been specially made with additional ventilation to the discs.
* Mahle wheels 6Jx13 are fitted with Dunlop racing tyres.
* Body stripped of all interior trim, fitted with FIA roll cage front and rear, competition high back driving seat, BMW Motorsport steering wheel, four point racing harness, 2.5 kilo FE1301 plubed in extinguishing system, battery cut off switch and reinforced fuel tank.
* Specially made fibreglass bonnet and boot lids fitted. The boot lid carries a rear wing and there is a special racing air dam at the front.
* A special free flow exhaust system is fitted complying with the 1980 RAC noise regulations.



Some of the drivers race suit patches.



Never mind the cars even the badge is rusting!





Some BMW press releases with race results, championship standings, prize money etc.





They were the days...



I have also started using an e21 in some sprint events and as I couldn't find a genuine county car, I thought I'd build my own!



If anyone has any more information I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

[Mark-e21]

Apologies for the poor quality but I thought this might be of interest to the posters on this thread. The whole film is about 35 minutes and is a 1980 season review called The Quest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVtwtos5vc

[chunterer]

Good one, wouldn't mind a watch of the whole thing?

Reckon it's by the same production company that did ETC/Magnificent 7 about the 1984 TWR ETC programme promo. BHP maybe?

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Good one, wouldn't mind a watch of the whole thing?

Reckon it's by the same production company that did ETC/Magnificent 7 about the 1984 TWR ETC programme promo. BHP maybe?

I'd say it certainly has the Barry Hinchcliffe touch to it. Interesting to see Frank Sytner (Radio Trent) from 30+ years ago, plus that looked like Jeff Allam in the other in-car shots, I don't remember him competing in this series...

[juliann]

Don't suppose anyone knows who was the winner of the Championship in the final year - or the whereabouts of the Championship trophy (not individual race trophies). Got a project ongoing and could do with sight / info about the trophy itself. TIA