Looks very much like Jack Williams very successful Trials Car http://classicalgas.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9D45C19A8B93429F!2391.entry
Reading thru the Ebay stuff it says it has a Fox back axle. Although this is what was specified with the Tempest I am pretty sure Jack ran with an A series axle. I had the pleasure of driving this car once. Talk about torque, it would pull away from almost zero revs on a hill.
Seller is probably Dave Smith.
Michael
It is Jack's old car Michael and Dave Smith bought it when Jack advertised it for sale last year. Actually both Dave and Jack were at the Southern Auto's PCT at Brickhill a couple of weeks ago. Dave has "put it back into standard road trim", so the Fox back axle with a 4.1:1 ratio is the correct roadgoing fitment for most Tempest's, but the "A" series axle was a "Factory alternative fitting" and I believe Jack used to run it with a GPO Morris Minor Van ratio fitted, (5.3:1), for trialing . Great little car, super history to this one, it was the sister car on the Tempest sales literature to the Yellow one which I owned for a a few years. SimonR
ReplyDeleteThere was a White Tempest on the Northern Trial this year, entered by John Bamber. It looked a really nice motor. Is it a specalist trials car or a general kit car adopted for trials? Dave Cook
ReplyDeleteThe Tempest was never used as a serious Classic Trials car Dave. Apart from questions about the strength of the back axle the power to weight ratio is just not good enough compared to the Marlins etc. A few were successful in PCT's, especially the Jack Williams one that is now for sale.
ReplyDeleteA bloke from Catshill, nr Bromsgrove trialled a Tempest in the mid to late 90s but he told me it didn't have quite enough grunt and was on 13" wheels.
ReplyDeleteMichael. This thread has led me to read your interview with Jack Williams for the first time. As this year marks my 42nd since starting trialling with Stroud Motor Club in an Austin Seven, Jack's personal parade of cars is quite interesting in itself. But just to show how stories get distorted .... 'Sidney Allards J2 was too wide for Fingle Bridge'. Unless he approached it sideways in a power-slide (always possible) I can't quite work out the problem. My Allard is exactly the same 4ft. 8in. track width at the front as a J2 (as is Roger Ugalde's car) and crossing the bridge presented no problem. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteAllard width can be a real headache though - especially if organisers choose to overlook 1.3.6. in the bible. One mystery I never solved was on a Kyrle Trial. For a good few years I ran the Allard with a 4'10" track back axle, so a touch wider than the 4'8" front. Went up one hill at full tilt and through an open gate that felt a bit close for comfort. Cleared the hill and drove slowly back down only to find that as I eased through the gateway BOTH back tyres rubbed gently on BOTH gateposts ! Never did quite work that one out! Subsequently found an engineer to help me narrow rear axle down to Allard two seater standard width of 4'4".
ReplyDeleteSuggest the speed the tyres were revolving in the way up
ReplyDeleteforced them into a larger diameter, through no existent centrifugal force. On
the way down at slow speed they ballooned out more so widened the track?
Mudplugger2
Always possible I'm just happy it was in the days when I ran the Allard on pressed steel wheels. If it had been on the present 16" wire-wheels the K.O. hubnuts would have 'routed' a groove in both posts!
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Richard Milne
ReplyDeleteMy son and I used John Box's demonstrator on the 1991 Lands End to good effect getting a First and just missed winning Class 7 by 0.5 second on the special test two an MGB engined Marlin if I remember correctly. Where is that car now [last heard of in Devon] F-Reg.
The car was a bog standard 850TT with 12" wheels and 4.1:1 diff in the Fox axle and the engine blue-printed. The only test we found near the mark was Station Hill where the gradient required a little clutch tickling.
As the discussion goes Classic Trials and Production Trials are obviously completely different. As devout sporting trials people we have a few tales to tell about suspension, gearing and usable power. Hence Jack using the low diff for production trials and others using 4.1:1 for classics.
My son Mark [2008 BTRDA Silver Star Sporting Trials winner] and I built the car that John Bamber now owns. It had the A Series back axle option on 13" wire wheels. The car was used as a build exercise for Mark to learn about car assembly including building up engine, gearbox, back axle, MOT etc. The Reliant 850 motor we assembled produced some 50 bhp with very usable power.
It is a great pity that the Tempest project was somewhat stalled due to the production equipment being sold to India.
Regards
Richard Milne