Wednesday, August 28, 2019

About to begin assembly.

This should be all I need.
In true Bolwell tradition.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Not your ordinary Mini No.8.

HD vee-twin plus tailshaft and RWD.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

B9/001

Almost looks like a car with engine and wheels. Wheels borrowed from B9/002 to push it around the floor.



EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - Ken's Ragno sports

Expressions of Interest
1973 Ragno Sports Car – A unique piece of South Australian Motoring History
(Ragno – an Italian word for ‘spider’, pronounced ‘Runyo’)

Nick Davies completed building the Ragno sports car in his Seacliff garage in 1973 after a 2
year ‘ground-up’ project, taking influences from a previous European trip travelling to
various race tracks and also from long time friend Garrie Cooper of Elfin fame. Nick later
also built the Ragno Hillclimb special that the late Dean Richards campaigned.
I am essentially the 3rd owner/carer of this wonderful car, having bought it after my own
European experience in1982. It is a delightful car to drive with little or no vices, minimal
body roll and a style that turns heads, even today. It was always built as a road car yet it is
also no slouch. I recorded 40.0 sec at Collingrove and 1.30 at Mallala in the mid-80’s.
It has a space-frame chassis, fibreglass body, fabricated suspension with coil-overs, 4 wheel
discs, mid-mounted Ford 1600 Kent engine, slightly worked with 2 X 40mm Webers,
modified camshaft, larger valves and balanced. Heavy duty clutch and VW transaxle (4
speed), Enkei mag wheels and Yokohama tyres. The Ragno has always been registered in
S.A. and has been on Historic reg. with the Sporting Car Club of S.A. for some years now.
The Ragno will also come with body moulds, some construction drawings (by Nick Davies)
and an Audi 5-speed transaxle (some adaption would be needed if required)
I have recently spoken with Nick as we have kept in touch over the years and we both would
like to see the Ragno go to a good caring home. We both would like to see it remain in S.A.
but also to remain in its current configuration (ie, no shoehorning a V8 into it) There is
always room for improvement and adding a personal touch.
But the time has come for someone else to enjoy the Ragno experience. My recent focus
over the past few years has been racing the Tiga-Mazda Sports car in Historic Racing and the
Ragno has taken the back seat under covers and securely locked away.

Expressions of Interest 2
1973 Ragno Sports Car – A unique piece of South Australian Motoring History
(Ragno – an Italian word for ‘spider’, pronounced ‘Runyo’)
Price:-
Of this I am unsure but 10 years ago a QANTAS pilot fell in love with the Ragno
and wanted to write me a cheque there and then for $50,000.00, I turned him
down , several times.
If you love the Ragno and can fit my criteria, please phone me, Ken Stratton,
on 0419861852 (needless to say – No Tyre-Kickers!)


Friday, August 23, 2019

Another 4B surfaces.

No price, Paul is asking for expressions of interest.

I recall this as Russell Tipping's project. Russell succumbed to the big C at a young age which happens to our dear friends all too often. Here's a couple of photos I took in Russell's shed in the 70s. That's Russell standing behind the car.
The square tube space frame is clearly visible and the extra length is plain to see.

In those days Russell and Heather drove around in a Mk.7. Their daughter, Larissa, earlier this year, at the Phillip Island Classic, bought a Mk.7 of her own.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Believe it or not.

This is a third series MR2 (4 cyl. 1800cc)
It doesn't look anything like mine............that is until you look inside.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The ME5.

ELFIN - ME5
920 views
GALLERY
PRICE
$280000.00 (AUD)
DESCRIPTION
Constructed by Elfin Sports Cars in Adelaide, S.A. as the first Monocoque structure built of aluminium. Significant race history in Australia, Europe, USA. Has CAMS & FIA logbooks. This offering includes an extensive spares package. For more details contact owner.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make:ELFIN
Model:ME5
Year:1969
Vehicle Location:Tailem Bend
VIN/Engine Number:6901
ADVERTISER DETAILS
Name:Trevor Lambert
Day Time Phone:0412567440
Night Time Phone:0412567440
State:South Australia
PostCode:5260
Country:Australia

Monday, August 19, 2019

Still at it.

Ranald is still getting his jollies from motorsport currently in conjunction with his 2 sons. Here's an account of last weekend's activities, the "old man" being Ranald.



So, this is how our day ended...
Saturday the car ran really well, Ran qualified the car 6th, then old man Maclurkin raced to a 5th and a 4th. Sunday, the car popped a hose and we found oil in the intercooler lines, we debated do we run the enduro or call it a day? We cleaned up the oil, wound down the boost and the old man did the top ten shoot out, the car was way down on power, but we decided to have a go. It was clear from the start the car was slow, but old man Maclurkinpumped out 12 laps. Ran then got into the car, and his first flying lap was faster than the oldman, we looked good. But the oil issues got worse with hot oil, unknown to Ran at the time, making its way into the cabin, along with exhaust fumes, and he was struggling to see or breath. He used a trick told to him by Gaz, from his honda racing days where you swap which eye you use to see, giving one a rest from the toxic fumes. Being the scribble head he is, he decided to pit, and get the old man to rip out the passenger window for more air flow. This helped and Ran was able to finish the race, not a great result, but points for the old mans championship. When we got to the pits a small fire broke out under the bonnet, obviously due to the oil and heat and melting and what not. Ran copping a face full of extinguisher powder just for good measure...
Then the ambulance rocked up. It had been noticed that Ran had been suffering from in cabin fumes, so after a check over, it was decided he need to go to medical as had headache, tingling in fingers and just felt a bit crap. 30 minutes on oxygen, a thorough washing out of his eyes (no they are still black) and a good check over, it was decided he could leave. So ended our weekend. It was a great one really, alot of fun, Father and son racing, just enjoying being at the race track. A huge thank you to the medical stuff at Winton Motor Raceway for being so quick on the scene and professional and concerned. Great to know they are there if it does go wrong. Also a big thanks to our sponsors
Raceworks Penrite Oil Turbosmart Moorabbin Auto Spares Haltech BMC AIR FILTERS gktech.com Chasers Motorworks Motorsport Engineering Services Riverside Racing Sharp Exhausts and class sponsor Cowley Security Racing



Favourite 3-wheelers No.53.


Sunday, August 18, 2019

Sprint Edwardstown closing.

Hi, I’m writing to advise your members that Sprint Auto Parts Edwardstown will be closing for business on Friday 11th October & we are in the process of trying to sell down our stock. We currently have 20% off all floor stock but are offering even bigger discounts for older stock. If we have held a stock item for over 2 years then we will be selling those at our cost price. So if your members are looking for some hard to find parts or for older vehicles, then please give us a ring to ask if we have a specific item & is it older than 2 years. Just let the staff know what club they are a member of.

Thanks in anticipation of your support.

Kind Regards.

Dan Prentice
Franchisee
Sprint Auto Parts Edwardstown
935 South Rd Edwardstown SA 5039
m    0405 521 033
ph   08 8371 4944
fax  08 8371 4485

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Not your ordinary Mini No.7, favourite 3-wheelers No.52.

Then there's this.

Battle of the 4Bs.

State of Origin. SA vs WA.
In this corner we have Steve and his little Mk.4.
And in the opposite corner we have Stacey and his equally cute Mk.4.
Which one will make it to the road first?

Moving.

Last Friday's celebration and send off for Kath and support for Barry at the Hackney Hotel was a great day but moving nevertheless. There was a bit of R 'n' R from Bob and an excellent keyboard player, lots of food and drink, lots of reminiscing and lots of people.
At the end of the day we took our little urns across the street to the banks of the River Torrens to cast Kath's ashes "to the four winds". Memorable.

Another early Go-Pro.


Monday, August 12, 2019

As you can see......

......B9/002 used to be blue.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Where are they now?

Long time no see.
The Chrysler Hemi 6 powered 7. Is it still tucked away? My last recollection of it was in a shipping container on Hindmarsh Island. That would be 10 years ago.

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Paint and Mark 7s.

Pete has just painted his engine bay and it looks pretty snazzy too.
Meanwhile, with a little bit of help from his friends, Eddie has just returned his newly painted body to the "monster" Mk.7 over in Westside.