superformance gta

[gtaj]

a somewhat interesting article given to me by nino epifani of epifani restorations in berkeley (shown in the photo) on gta tuned to run at kyalami. from car 1968

[Rubel]

Very cool article. As a South African currently racing a GTA replica in Historics I found it very interesting. Thanks

[mvcoller]

There is also the GTA replica (dark Blue) of Lynton Lomas. A real beaut!!

[mvcoller]

gtaj, see my comments on the other thread. I based my comments on the same article you posted, only I read it years ago. Thanks for posting it again. I will refresh my memory!

[Rubel]

Hi Malcolm

No our car is red and has recently acquired a white nose. My brother Brian and I race the car. I remember you from when we were kids. You know our dad, Eric Esterhuysen.

Cheers

Carl

[mvcoller]

Hi Carl,

Yes, I remember you two, and I saw your dad at Kyalami in May. Your car is also a looker. Nice to have your dad being able to help you with all the detail, him being a factory engineer at the time of these cars.

I also remember the cars he built himself. Does he still own them?

Your dad and three others of us were toying with the idea to each build a 159 replica, some time early in the 1980s, but the big wire wheels were a problem. Smaller wheels would have looked wrong. We were also talking about using 2600 6c motors (from the 1960s). We eventually gave up on the idea.

Many years later, Fluffy built his 159 replica that we see from time to time at Zwartkops.

[Rubel]

He does still own them and is in the process of building another one.

He's also just bought himself a concours condition 1971 2000 GTV for his 60th birthday present.......he's always wanted one

I remember the story of the 159 replica. Hey its never too late to start!

[turbolarespider]

That is an awesome article. It's always interesting to read how much more advanced some countries are than others, even though they don't generally host the "auto industry".

I'm sure it helped that the organizing body was smart enough to allow the locals to be creative to be competitive, as opposed to slow down the fast ones to be competitive. Smart.

Eric

[andre stemmet]

Does anyone know where this car is today. I recall that it raced under racenumber Y152 for a number of years, also in the hands of Arnold Chatz, taking part in several nine hour endurances and other races in the Springbok series.By about 1973 or 74 it was retired as a race car, and it was planned to run it in a rally in Portugal in the hands of the late Gene Bosman and navigated by Alan Van Niekerk. Did it take part in Portugal and did it ever return to South Africa? Regards Andre Stemmet, Pretoria South Africa

[Alex]

There's an article from Car South Africa (February 1967) reprinted in the Brooklands Gold Portfolio (pp. 42-43) about a Basil van Rooyen / Superformance conversion of a Sprint GT, called the 'Savage Sprint GT'. Performance is quoted at 135 bhp (SAE) at 6500 rpm, and 0-60 was down to just over 8 seconds, reaching 100mph in 31 seconds as opposed to the standard car's 38 seconds. Changes included ported and polished valves and combustion chambers, colder plugs, 'Savage 97 R-R' camshafts (what are these?!), branch exhaust manifold, 9.5:1 C/R pistons. Fuel economy was better at speeds above 40 mph too. The article is in black and white so I cannot tell what is the colour of the test car, but it's registered TBJ 595 and carries two extra high beam lamps on the front bumper. I wonder if this was the only car to be converted in this way, and does it still exist?

I don't possess a scanner but maybe someone else with this book could do this and post it here.

Alex.