Oppo Racing Experts, I Need Your Help!

"Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast" (danimalk) 12/14/2018 at 11:50 • Filed to: Vintage race, open wheel, history

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I need to know everything about the car in this picture.

All I know is that it was taken somewhere between 1968 and 1976. I’m kind of guessing it’s a Formula Ford, hence the “FF” on the side. It was   definitely taken in the USA.

But any idea what year was this would be specifically ?

What kind of engine/spec would this car have in that era?

Can I find old vintage racing results from this era in the lower series somewhere?

There is a story that this driver crashed at Road America, spinning into a wall and hitting his head bad enough to be airlifted to the hospital for emergency surgery .

The driver is my Uncle and Godfather who passed away a month ago. He was a car guy through and through, regularly tracking his 454   ‘73 Vette. It’s still in his garage, bitchin side pipes and all. 

Any info would be helpful!

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 11:56

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Might be a Lotus 59 .

Chariotoflove > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:00

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That’s some cool family history.  Wish I could help.

Goggles Pizzano > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:09

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I too came up with Lotus, but a different one than winterlegacy posted. I can’t seem to identify it though. Hope this helps. It might send you down a wrong rabbit hole though...

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:12

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My source thinks the car might be an early LeGrand, but that picture isn’t the greatest angle to identify the chassis. He was a Formula Ford racer in the 70's and early 80's. With those tall, skinny tires, that picture is certainly very early Formula Ford racing. Think very late 60's to early 70's.

http://www.race-cars.com/carsold/other/lgff72/lgff72ss.htm

You might contact the SCCA archives and see what they might have. It is possible that results were published in Sportcar (the SCCA magazine), which the SCCA archives would certainly have. They may have also regional race results . If you know where he raced, that SCCA region would’ve almost certainly had a newsletter at the time which published results.

https://www.racingarchives.org/the-collections/sports-car-club-of-america-archives/

While we don’t normally do racecars (we’re primarily a regional cultural heritage institution), but I’m going to count this in my stats at work as a reference inquiry.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 12/14/2018 at 12:19

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Good tips! I’ll keep digging! I’m pretty sure a lot of his racing was through SCCA, so great idea to look deeper there.

Did n’ t know they had archives!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:21

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Edited my original reply with the link to the folks that have the SCCA archive.

RallyWrench > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:34

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Very cool history, sorry for your loss. A lot of FF’s look similar and there’s lots of little tweaks to individual cars (mirror placement, air cleaner shape, etc) so it’s hard to tell, but maybe a Crossle 16F. Can’t really discern the windscreen shape from the above picture, but the rest looks awfully similar.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > RallyWrench 12/14/2018 at 12:38

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Thanks for the kind words!

The bodywork over the engine does look pretty close, but seems lower around the shoulder area. Great tips to keep researching though. I don’t really know anything about these cars.

It’s hard to see in the picture but it had these odd mirrors. They almost look like water bottles with a straw in the top (probably aren’ t,) but can’t really tell.

I’m trying to track down that symbol on the lower right side. Almost looks like the logo for the US Marines

RallyWrench > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 12:50

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Yeah it’s hard to tell from the original photo how much is bodywork around the cockpit. Assuming it’s a period FF it’d be a 1600cc Ford “Kent” 1600, like they put in British Escorts and Cortinas.

Edit: Oh and that logo:

Edit 2 : Maybe Lotus 51? The exhaust on yours is different than any 51 I’ve yet seen a pic of but it looks close on the bodywork.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 16:35

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The long tube headers with no muffler is a starting point and a good key.

I think this is a Lola T202 or T204.

The T202/20 4 was an FF spec chassis with a 1600 Crossflow Kent. The original headers and body are very distinctive.

T204 up front, Lotus 69 in back.

The exposed arm up front is why I think it’s a T202 though. Here’s a T202:

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 12/14/2018 at 16:41

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Dude, this is awesome! I think you may be right on the T202!

Good call, I’ll keep researching, Thanks so much !

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 12/14/2018 at 16:46

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I did some additional digging into the photo archives and the Interwebs here. This is definitely a Lola T202 or T204 . It’s  the ONLY approved chassis for the years in question with that cutout forward of the wheels and the exposed arm.

No other approved chassis has that distinctive cutout and arm or matches that body. The closest body match is the Merlyn Mk 11 which does not have the arm cutout.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 16:54

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My pleasure! That big notch up front makes me think there is a VERY strong chance it’s a T202 . Production breakdown is 64 T200's, 17 T202's, and 35 T204's.

They remain very popular and sought after cars, so there’s a chance the specialty shops may even know more about that specific chassis.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 12/14/2018 at 17:29

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That is the SCCA logo on the side of the car. That’s why if you know the rough time period and the geographical region, you’ll be able track down race race results that’ll have the drivers name and the chassis information (among other things. T here may well be an existing notation of the logbook number also , from which you would have a good chance at tracking down the later history of the car after your relative owned it ). This picture strongly indicated a regional race (as opposed to someone running national races and gunning for runoffs), which is where I would have the SCCA archives folks start looking.  They should be able turn up some regional race results from the open wheel run group with an entrant running FF number 14 and your relatives name.  I think the Chicago region are the folks the run Road America the most.

. The mirrors are mounted with aluminium flat bar stock.

Racing Archivist > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 02/01/2019 at 10:26

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This just crossed my desk this morning and we will be sending it out shortly.  I work at the International Motor Racing Research Center.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > Racing Archivist 02/01/2019 at 13:21

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A wesome! So cool, thank you so much for helping!

I reached out to Jenny in December a nd was going to follow-up, thanks for the update!

As I told Jenny, not sure how much is out there about him, but anything would be cool, really. :)

Let me know if I can help with anything!

Thanks again!

Racing Archivist > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 02/01/2019 at 13:49

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My pleasure, my coworkers that work with the archives were able to find some things for you