The "I can't believe they raced it!" Thread.

  • Thread starter adam46
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Saw this car in the 'rate the vehicle above you thread.' Technically it never raced but it's probably obscure enough for this thread:

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This was the Holden Aventra, Australian racing legend Peter Brock's last racing car. He had planned to race it either in the 2007 or 2008 Dakar but was tragically killed during a rally in 2006. The car remained forgotten until it was revealed in 2011 and remained incomplete with no engine or transmission (and was left-hand drive).

Sadly, the car was destroyed by fire over a week ago :(

https://www.sothebysaustralia.com.au/list/11CCPT2/8
https://www.carsguide.com.au/oversteer/heres-what-the-brock-adventra-used-to-look-like-53594
 
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Saw this car in the 'rate the vehicle above you thread.' Technically it never raced but it's probably obscure enough for ths\is thread:

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This was the Holden Aventra, Australian racing legend Peter Brock's last racing car. He had planned to race it either in the 2007 or 2008 Dakar but was tragically killed during a rally in 2006. The car remained forgotten until it was revealed in 2011 and remained incomplete with no engine or transmission (and was left-hand drive).

Sadly, the car was destroyed by fire over a week ago :(

https://www.sothebysaustralia.com.au/list/11CCPT2/8
https://www.carsguide.com.au/oversteer/heres-what-the-brock-adventra-used-to-look-like-53594

What was planned to be used in it? Same thing Robby Gordon had ran for years at about the same time?
 
What was planned to be used in it? Same thing Robby Gordon had ran for years at about the same time?

Do you mean the engine? I think I read that it was meant to be a Australian V8 in it, as the engineering was meant to be an all-Australian effort
 
Do you mean the engine? I think I read that it was meant to be a Australian V8 in it, as the engineering was meant to be an all-Australian effort

But if it's an official holden vehicle, then it would have been a GM V8, especially since Dakar is suppose to use a production engine only.
 
Considering the Calibra was all wheel drive (unless I'm misremembering) I'm kind of surprised that they didn't develop a group a homologation special for rallying in all honesty. Would've been interesting to see alongside the Celicas and Cossies.
 
An IMSA GTU race car based on the Chevrolet Beretta?

and it supposibly won in the IMSA GTU class in 1988. I just find it neat and also odd to see race cars with the Beretta's face.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cu...988-chevrolet-beretta-imsa-race-car-for-sale/
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IMSA GTO & GTU cars from the middle of the 1980's up until 1994 or so were mainly tubeframed monster that had more in common with the NASA space program than the cars that the bodywork were supposed to convey.

They're still pretty nice though and I think the car in the bottom picture started Tommy Kendall's career in sports cars, but I'm not completely sure.
 
Considering the Calibra was all wheel drive (unless I'm misremembering) I'm kind of surprised that they didn't develop a group a homologation special for rallying in all honesty. Would've been interesting to see alongside the Celicas and Cossies.

Vauxhall/Opel were campaigning the Astra in lower-class rallying, with some success, at that time. The chance of relatively easy class wins was perhaps more tempting (and cheaper) then trying to battle the big boys in the well subscribed top-flight class. The Calibra's 4x4 system was more rudimentary then that found in the Cossies, Intagrales and Legacy's of that time too.
 
That seems to be a lot of what Opel went in for in that period. Judging by how the DTM went for them in the early 2000s it's perhaps understandable.
 
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