Group B Celica restoration

[itsnotagsr]

http://homepage.virgin.net/shalco.com/tte_ban.htm
Good article on how Toyota cheated. Pretty clever!!

[arcane]

Bloody impressive work on the resto. Very likely they made the car better than when it was original!

It really looks like it should be back out on the stages!

All that work to have it smashed up?

I had a look at the Delta S4 they resto'd too. It's crazy the extent at which they were modified - looks like so little of the original car was retained.

[edo]

Wonder how good early EFI was back then, if they were running factory style ECU’s factory re-tuned or some type of early motorsport ECU.

It was shit, the euro brand aftermarket stuff was just being used...note the inlet manifolds are actually ones for twin webers.

[6000SUX]

I did see a thing on Bates' new super2000 corolla on RPM, its debut will be at ROC....does that count?

Does the ARC still actually exist? Any TV coverage? I think this thing should sound pretty awesome. Sounded like it would be really easy to drive when he said it only really makes power between 7500 & 9000rpm. God, you are going to need to be committed compared to a turbo car. I predict more crashes.

I was talking to Simon Evans about the Corolla, and he said that you do have to be aggresive with it and chuck it around to get the most out of it as you would expect. The test mule car Neal Bates is currrently driving is a converted Group N(P) from last year and needs to go on a bit of a diet. It's pretty competitive time wise with the N(P) already but should get closer again when it gets lighter.

I was at Rally Qld when they made their debut, and they do sound much better than the strangled Group N turbo cars. The crowds loved them.

Currently you the main players in S2000 are Peugoet 207 and Fiat Grand Punto. You can go and buy a turn key car from the respective factories for about $350k AUD!

[edo]

Glen, they had the new toyota not the cobbled up one on RPM...it was its first day out, its 200kg lighter than the old car...I think?.

I'll definately be rushing out to buy one then, I love the prospect of throwing a F430 ferrari into the trees...and having a car with similar maintenance cost to a ferrari too

[The Pupat]

I think we worked out it was pulling 5th by 60km's as it was leaving parc ferme or whatever it's call at Rally Queensland.... and the bastards are so bloody noisy it's rediculous. I don't reckon they could have made it louder if they tried.

[piss98]

Such an ugly model of Celica (IMO) yet what a farking cool car!!!!! Simply awesome!

[Eeyore]

http://www.stormloader.com/groupb/toyota.html

the mr2 would have been interesting though!

Any more info or photos of the MR2 prototype shown at the bottom of that page?

[6000SUX]

Glen, they had the new toyota not the cobbled up one on RPM...it was its first day out, its 200kg lighter than the old car...I think?.

I'll definately be rushing out to buy one then, I love the prospect of throwing a F430 ferrari into the trees...and having a car with similar maintenance cost to a ferrari too

Aaah. The one they showed then was the new Corolla body shape. The weight limit for S2000 is 1200 kg, so if they got it down to the limit then it would be about 200kg lighter than a normal Group N car like a lancer or WRX. The "old" S2000 car that Neal drove in the last few was weighing in at around 1250 kg from memory.

[6000SUX]

Such an ugly model of Celica (IMO) yet what a farking cool car!!!!! Simply awesome!

I'm pretty sure that it the nickname of "The Whistling Pig" back in the day.

[thechuckster]

I'm pretty sure that it the nickname of "The Whistling Pig" back in the day.

correct - that was the name it earned.

It was the only RWD-only turbo the Toyota factory produced for WRC - the follow-up MR2-based car never got beyond prototype stage and then they went to AWD starting out the ST165-derived chassis.


edit: they also had an MA70 (RWD) doing bigger/longer safari-style rallies (Rally of Africa, etc) but i'm not sure if that was a turbo model or an NA.

[Eeyore]

I answered my own question... and now I'm in shock! Beast!

http://www.mr2supercharger.com/GroupBRacing.html

[JabberWocky]

Great links. very cool restorations and such nice cars to do it to.

Can I ask a dumb question tho, is that the drivers' and co drivers' blood type printed next to their names?

[TK]

Fark, I can't even comprehend how much that would've cost - it'd classify as over-restored, there's no way the original was that good.

TK

[edo]

Great links. very cool restorations and such nice cars to do it to.

Can I ask a dumb question tho, is that the drivers' and co drivers' blood type printed next to their names?

Not that Dumb...yes. It will be on the belt of their driving suit too.

TK, I reckon it would have been very similar to that when new (apparently didnt have a stainless exhaust manifold though).

Note that the Lancia is for sale at $430k EU...which is quite a lot.