Ralt RT 1

[Richard Young]

A Ralt RT1 appeared at the track today, now owned by Dan Daly and BDG powered. However I first saw this car in an Autosport ad 20-ish years ago (could it have been a John Brannigan one ?) when it had some kind of US V6 fitted. It was offered for sale with a Cicale sports car body as an alternative.. Subsequently it appeared here owned - but never run - by Jackie Harris before moving on to Jeremy Bouckley.
But.....Where did it come from. It doesn't appear to have any kind of chassis plate, but the tun looks sufficiently similar to my old - and sadly now departed - ex-Perkins RT1/2/Coogar to render it pretty venerable. As it came from the US, could it have been a Supervee at one time or, more acceptably, an Atlantic ?. Track appears to be narrow but outboard rear radius rod mounting points suggest 75, or 76 at latest......
As one who firmly believes that the RT1 was the friendliest racing car of its time, I'd love to know....

[allenbrown]

Cicale-bodied Ralt RT1? There were several of those in Can-Am between 1979 and 1984. At least one ran in the big class with a V6. If you can give me any more clues, I may be able to narrow it down.

Allen

[Smellybeard]

I've dug out a few photographs of the RT1 that used to be housed in a Cicale CanAm body. I've put them at www.dendra.net/RT1/ . Any Ideas of what car it is? I have more photographs if needed.

Dave.

[allenbrown]

Dave

Mike Freberg drove a Ralt RT1 with a Buick V6 engine in Can-Am in 1983. How do you know it once had a Cicale body? Does it still have the body with it somewhere? Do you know the name of any of its US owners?

Allen

[Bryan Miller]

Dear all, I know we are not into wild guesses but given the car has an FG gearbox , is it possible this is the ex Eddie Cheever RT1 F2 car.

Chris do you have a trail for that car.???
Bryan

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

which Cheever F2 RT1?
RT1-35 used 1976. Owned by Roger Heavens Racing 1977 but not raced.
RT1-64 used 1977 by Cheever. 1978 raced by Romeo Camathias in F2 then sold to Alo Lawler and used in AFX championship 78-79 with a Hart 420R engine.

From what I can see of Ralt records it looks as though ten F2 models were built. RT1-35 in 1976, then three for Project 4 [64;67;68] three for Sc.Passatore/Everest [65;66;69] fitted with the Ferrari engine; then 87 for Ariel Bakst; 92 for Vicic in Japan and 99 for Cassani [raced by Larry Perkins and Manfred Winkelhock]

With an FG and big brakes it could presumably be any of those cars, or an Atlantic that someone modified.

[Bryan Miller]

Chris, I said we were not into wild guesses , and then have a go myself. Oh dear, it was the first one I thought of. Yes certainly could have been modded, I will stay away from mad guesses in future.

Reards Bryan.

[Smellybeard]

As far as I know, the Alo Lawler RT1 went to Tom O Leary in '81 who raced it here in Atlantic. It was a very nice car. I don't know what happened it after.

The ex-V6 RT1 has no deformable structures and show signs of being a '75 or '76 car. At the time it was purchased we were told it was the "first RT1" (this would make it the third "first RT1" I had heard of, excluding the real first RT1...). I think some of it it's probably from the first year of production. The lack of a plate suggests that at some stage it was probably improperly imported into some county with high duties (SA? AUS??).

Dave.

[Chris Townsend]

Smellybeard

Your comments might allow us to narrow the search. Here are my histories of 1975 Ralts, and there are one or two possibilities in there.

Ralt
RT1 /1 Ford t/c 1975: Roberto Marazzi
1976: Oscar Pedersoli [Sc. Brescia Corse]
This car for sale recently as F3

/2 Ford t/c 1975 Works: Larry Perkins (F3)
1976: Mike McDowell (h.c) [Can probably trace history within British hillclimbing after this]

/3 Ford t/c 1975: Works: Terry Perkins
1976-77: Hans-Peter Hess [F3] [only other possibility is 24]

/4 BMW 1975: Bertram Schafer
1976: Bertram Schafer

/5: Hart BDA 1975-1977 John McDonald (Singapore)
1979 Peter Marshall (SEA)

/6 BDA 1975: Pat Walter (SCCA: FAtlantic)

/7 BDX Swindon 1975-76 John Wingfield Wrecked in fatal accident to Wingfield at Thruxton G8 race September 76

/8 BMW M12 1975-77 Lochmann: Freddy Kottulinsky
Missed this off my list of F2 Ralts. This might have had an FG and bigger brakes, and would have had the later deformables.

/9 Hart 420R 1975-77 Teddy Yip: Vern Schuppan and others in S.East Asia

/10 BDA Swindon 1975-76 Roy Klomfass (FAt: ZA)
Wrecked in huge accident in 76.

Your comment on the lack of plate and the high duties, together with the age hints at the Klomfass car but that's total hunch/speculation

Chris

[Bryan Miller]

Chris.
You can remove RT1-5 from list of supects, as it ended up over here, I have the full trail .
About 3 years ago Peter Mohr took it to the U.S.A. and raced it there , when he returned he had done a chinese deal and returned with RT4-354.

In the shower this morning I was contemplating the use of the words , WRITTEN OFF , DESTROYED , WRECKED ETC. both by period reports and currently.

Your comments re. Klomfass car as an example , Wrecked ,
but what did that mean to the reporter , knocked a couple of corners off , or the whole catastrophy .
In most cases unless the car was burnt to a crisp , we are really flying blind unless we know car poss. broken up and components then used in another car .
Old racing cars have a habit of lurking around as a collection of bits seemingly forever.

Bryan.

[Richard Young]

Chris,
I can bring you up to date on RT1/2, as I drove it in a hill climb last month ! After Coombs of Guidford director Mike McDowell got hold of it he ran one year on UK hills with Hart power before turning it into the Coogar with DFV conversion by Derek Gardner (COO for Coombs, GAR for Gardner).
It then passed to Alan Payne who fitted a Rover V8 and thence to David Keer from whom I acquired it in 1986.
It lived with me for 12 years, during which it won 3 Irish Hill Climb Championships before going on to John Leinster in Londonderry and thence to its current home with John McNamara in Co Clare.
The tub has been re-bonded and riveted a couple of times, but it is essentially original. When I got it it had the 'narrow cockpit' bodywork - and a March nose and Brabham wing (!) but we treated it to a set of later Ralt fibreglass a few years back. It remains my favourite racing car andm thanks to the generosity of its current owner, I get to drive it occasionally !

[Smellybeard]

I think RT1/9 is also an Irish resident. It has the long roll-over supports and the later (common) style of deformable structures. The Kottulinsky car had an earlier style of deformables which were not quite the same.

At what stage were deformables required on Atlantics? Were RT1 tubs retofitted with them? Is there any other way of identifiyng the class an RT1 tub was intended for?

Dave.

[David McKinney]

I know these cars have been discussed under anotherr heading, but I can't remember which one. And it makes sense to have a separate RT1 one anyway

Examples that raced in New Zealand:

36...Dave McMillan 1976-80 (also in Canada 1976/77). Sold USA 1980. Adsvertised UK 1990

39...Bruce Allison 1977

73...Hugh Owen 1978-80, McMillan 1981-82, latterly with Datsun engine. McMillan still owned 1984

88...Steve Millen 1980-81, Eric Morgan 1982-84

91...Larry Perkins 1977. Later John Smith, Ron Barnacle, Brett Fisher Australia

??...Charlie O’Brien 1981. My report in Motor Action at the time said "bought in England, where it had been raced by a Scotsman". Ken Smith for sale late 1988

??...an unraced car was advertised for sale June 1988

??...Bob Creasy for Dennis Dunbar - described as ex-McMillan - 73?

[Chris Townsend]

David

If the Charlie O'Brien car was an Atlantic [and not an F3 rebuild] then it might well have been chassis 145, raced by Bernard Hunter in 1979 and David Duffield in 1980. Both Scots and the car painted dark blue and white.

Chris

[David McKinney]

Yes, I wondered about Bernard Hunter too
Oddly enough, the number 145 rings a bell, though I can't believe I would simply remember it from that long ago! I can't find any note I might have made of the number.
Can't remember exactly what colour it was in NZ - but certainly not dark blue. Maybe predominanlty yellow. Or white.

[Bryan Miller]

Chris and David .

Ralt RT.1
See my post on Chevron tread p6.
RT1-91 ,Neither Ron Barnacle nor Brett Fisher connected with this chassis no.

RT1-145 is Charlie O'Brien car as noted report of Aust. G.P. 1981 at Calder Pk. Victoria 8-11-1981, where car is described as ex. O'Brien and driven by Ron Barnacle with ch.no. 145 listed . ref. Aust. Motor Racing Yearbook 1981/2
Brett Fisher may well have been in this car,but I have no record of being assoc. with -91.

RT1-88 , built oct.1977 for Brian Robertson U.S. Ralt agent , 1977 owned by Schollum Brothers Racing , Hong Kong, presume driver Steve Millen,, certainly at 1979 Macau G.P. 2nd. Steve Millen, also 1980 N.Z. G.P. 1st Steve Millen via 2 x heats.Aurora A.F.X. series , at Pukekohe 12-1-1980 .
1981 used in movie Smash Palace .
1981 to 1984 Eric Morgan N.Z.
1984-1988 Gary Devon N.Z.
1988-1992 Ken Smith [who else ] .
1992- Ziggy Schuler Aust.
sold sometime shortly after to I believe U.S.A.

Bryan.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by Bryan Miller
RT1-88 , built oct.1977 for Brian Robertson U.S. Ralt agent , 1977 owned by Schollum Brothers Racing , Hong Kong, presume driver Steve Millen,, certainly at 1979 Macau G.P

The Schollum brothers sure as hell didn't own their RT1 in 1977. Did you mean 1979?

[Chris Townsend]

Re RT1-73, the Hugh Owen car. Does anyone know where this car came from? Would Portland and Pierre Phillips ring any bells?

There were several RT1 Atlantics in circulation in 1977 in N.America and apart from Craig Hill's and Chip Mead's I don't know any of them - apart from the fact that the build numbers for '77 cars are most likely between 72 and 87.
There were also two second hand cars floating about. [30 ex Bertil Roos, and 34 ex Cogan]

Chris

[David McKinney]

Only know that the Owen brothers' car came from the US - I'd guess through Dave McMillan, who was associated with Brian Robertson. On the other hand, Pierre Phillips had raced in NZ before, so that would make sense too.

Bryan:
My own "NZ Motoring News" report of the 1981 AGP says Barnacle's car was the ex-O'Brien.
Sorry about that

[allenbrown]

I have a vague recollection that an ex-Cogan RT1 became a Can-Am car in 1977 or 1978. I'll check to see if I wrote it down.

Allen

[Bryan Miller]

David, you are absolutely correct , apologies, I accepted at face value info in front of me .
Millen was certainly 2nd. at Macau in 1977 , only problem was he is listed as in a B39 Chevron.
ALL, the Macau G.P. is coming more into play in what we are doing and there is a lot of cars running over there , especially by 1977/8/9 that travel to N.Z.
In 1979 there are 6 x RT1's for the following.
K.Cogan.
B.Earl.
T.Gloy.
S.McKitterick.
G.Lees.
P.Marshall.
Only Marshall's car can I put a number to , RT1-5.
The first 4 I believe are all U.S.A based.
Re Millen , David , do you agree RT1-88 in N.Z.for him.
I have just checked 2nd. at Macau in 1979 was Riccardo Patrese in a March-Hart 792.

Memo to me , do not ever accept at face value again.

Apologies again.
Bryan.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by Bryan Miller

Re Millen , David , do you agree RT1-88 in N.Z.for him.

Yes, as in my opening post
The Schollum brothers were Millen's backers throughout his early years, providing (IIRC) Elden FF, various Chevrons and the RT1. Although New Zealanders, they were based in SE Asia, hence Millen's frequent races in that region

BTW, I have promised Chris access to my NZ publications covering the early FP era (1977-84). They also cover Australian and Asian races. Only a matter of days now before I can pass the buck to Chris to do all the hard work!

[Chris Townsend]

One for Smellybeard. The Klomfass RT1 - the first Atlantic - had deformable structures from the start. Also, it was meant to go to the USA at the end of '76 according to a Motoring News footnote. Also, my comment on the car's accident may be overstating it. Klomfass bends it quite badly in the season, but is back racing it, and finishes the last race of 76 in 2nd place with it. Come 1977 he's racing a March so maybe it did go intact to the US.

[Smellybeard]

Phoenix Park time.

We had a few nice cars out yesterday. RT1/9, a former winner in the hands of David Kennedy was one of them.

[Smellybeard]

I've stuck a few pictures from the Park up on my website -
www.dendra.net/PPK2003/

Dave.