From the BLS archive......

[TomS]

Hi, Thought I'd contribute here by posting photos of some of the cars (mainly Suds, Sprints and 33's) we've prepared for race, rally and road over the years - so here goes! I'll try and post a different photo (s) each week, with a few words to accompany. Bryan will post some photos and put some words together about the 33 we currently compete with (in the race cars and drivers section). The photos below are of the first Sud we prepared whilst we were still at FK Sharpe - the then Alfa dealer in Lincoln. The year is 1977 and this was a 1.3 Ti that we had much success with in road and stage rallies throughout the East Midlands. We were frequent class winners and when conditions favoured us, top 5 runners. The opposition was usually BDA engined Escorts, Sunbeams, Opel Kadetts, etc. The car was driven by Charles Hill who was later an AutoItalia Championship winner and a AROC front runner in another Sud we prepared (that will feature later!). It was co-driven by John Vincent who still competes in events all over Europe in his Alfa Guilia.

Here's the photos:-

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[TomS]

Not sure why the first three images aren't shown?

[KevJTD]

some pics i've not seen before tom, looking forward to following the thread

the photobucket links are clickable but direct uploads should work also if you have the pics on your computer/camera/cd etc?

thanks for taking the time to share, sure this will be a popular thread

[Johnboy]

Yep I'm looking forward to this thread and the mighty 33 one too

[AlfaCorseChris]

Tom ! How very nice to see you here

Lovely pictures you've got there, will be following this thread as well

[Alfasixnut]

Watching this thread with interest!

[PETROLHEAD]

Marvellous!

[markalfa83]

Hi Tom. Good to see you here! Looking forward to seeing more pics

[BS25]

I have great memories (initially as a 6 year old!) of flying round the dark lanes of Lincolnshire at silly o'clock in the morning in the back of a chase car in these events! I recall going to bed at approximately 7.00pm and being woken up at 10.00pm to head out into the dark (these events usually happened through the winter nights). They were frequently well supported with 70-80 cars. There would be service halts every 2-3 hours and we would head out to watch the cars through stages (often road junctions in the middle of nowhere) - all too often we would find ourselves on the stage itself faced with rally cars with lights ablaze - many excursions onto the grass ensued! Quite an adventure for a car mad kid!

The events would often finish at a big services or a car dealership - afterwards I would always try and get a lift in the rally car back to Sharpes - often rattling around in the back holding onto the roll cage!

Thinking back its hardly a wonder these events were banned - public roads, full house BDA Escorts blitzing past houses in the dead of the night - health and safety would have a field day!!

[PETROLHEAD]

True,

but a golden era eh?

[TomS]

With the original rally car having been written off on a very icy night rally, we built up a new shell with a 1.5 engine - we also competed on the Manx Rally in 1982 coming 3rd in Class. The car was subsequently sold to Mark Riddle and we (as BLS) continued to prepare and develop the car. The picture below shows it prepared for the 1985 rally season (single venue events now) - complete with brand new Alfastyl bodykit.

We subsequently (1986) built up a 1.7 engine (before Alfa introduced it) - and added a Sprintex supercharger - this was ideal for the low down torque that rallying demanded. The following photos shows the installation and a few action shots from single venue events!

[KevJTD]

nice pics tom, bet you've got a stack of crackers like that awaiting our eyes

notice the renault header bottle being used as a oil catch tank for the breather?

had fond memories of watching mark at cadwell, never did see it on stage though

[PETROLHEAD]

GRRRREaaat Pictures, and stories too.


Ive always been a bit undecided about the bodykits , but that does look right up my street.

Funny what colour and scheme can do i suppose.


Sprintex charger looks snug too, and i bet that wiring and fuse distribution gave you a headache or two!