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SH Garage: Gone To The Rallye

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SH Garage: Gone To The Rallye

‘Not Great’ Planning ModeThe best part of an adventure is the planning, right? Yes, and no. The best part of the adventure to me is just saying ‘yes’ to things and doing it. Sometimes it all goes off without a hitch; other times you’re seeing the back of a recovery truck. But hey, it’s all part of it.

While many of the other Speedhunters are incredibly organised people (looking right at Paddy McGrath), I’m just a little… looser.

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Sure, to get to events, and especially a pretty strictly-scheduled rally, does take a degree of planning, but I can quite happily leave a lot of stuff to the very last minute, or even worse, to chance.

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My process is simple: I see an event; I spend about 15 minutes online checking out how feasible it is to get there; I get a hotel booked with free cancellation (and no prepayment for absolute minimum commitment); and then forget all about until it’s pretty much time to go.

Case in point: The 2021 Roger Albert Clark (RAC) Rally.

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It was the start of May when I decided that the RAC was a possibility, a full six months before the event. When did I book vital things like a ferry or even decide what car I’d drive for the week-long odyssey? I can hear Paddy wincing, but a whole three days before. Booked on Sunday afternoon, travel on Wednesday morning.

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Normally I’d have to decide which car to take, but my hand was forced this time after I sold my Hyundai i30N a few days before the event.

The Hyundai was an amazing car and I enjoyed every single one of the 21,000km we spent together, but I was paying a pretty sizeable chunk of cash every month for the privilege. While trying to simultaneously save for a house deposit, something had to give.

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Hyundai gone, attention turned to my somewhat neglected 106 Rallye.

The little Peugeot and I had been pretty distant for a few months. A busy work schedule meant it was nearly three months since I’d sat behind its wheel, but the time had not been wasted. It got a run to Rallye Omologato 2 in the hands of Maurice Malone, and then went in for some mechanical work. Owning an older performance car – with 103bhp I’m clinging to that title – requires continuous preventative maintenance, but little updates also make life easier.

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Jumping back in, it felt like we hadn’t been apart. My feet immediately reset to the incredibly offset pedal locations, the deft throw of gearshift no more than muscle memory, and the familiar urgency of the rev-happy lump upfront had turbo boost instantly expelled from my mind.

There was one issue though – the 106’s NCT (National Car Test) cert had lapsed.

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Being legal was somewhat important given I had a lot of driving ahead of me, but looking into online bookings, the wait time for this annual road worthiness test – similar to the UK’s MOT, Japan’s shaken or Germany’s TUV – was six weeks.

In an amazing twist of fate though, a cancellation appeared for Tuesday morning, a mere 14 hours before I was due to leave on a ferry. This was last minute to the extreme, but I had faith in the little Rallye. After a somewhat tense 40-minute outside the test centre, it emerged with a ‘thumbs up’ from the tester and a new cert sitting on the passenger seat. Happy days.

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Home from work and everything needed packed into the boot, the back seat and footwells of the little Peugeot, I had enough time for about four hours of rest, although that was mostly spent thinking about what I’d forgotten.

My alarm went off at 1:15am and I was on the road 15 minutes later, albeit with the 106’s engine running at a higher-than-normal idle.

From home to the ferry in Belfast took just over four hours, the only talking point being an incredibly thick blanket of fog for the first 90 minutes. Prior to crossing over into Northern Ireland was a chance to fill the Peugeot’s fuel tank and grab some pancakes for breakfast.

Dashboard dining at five in the morning isn’t all that flash, but it sure hit the spot.

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I arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare, which isn’t something I do often. Blanket? Check. Netflix? Check. For a man who forgot to put a spare wheel in the car, I had my priorities in the right place.

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Driving onto a ferry is always a rather fun experience, and while I might not have all the ro-ro facts like Ben and Ryan did with their recent trip to Ireland for 86 Fest, I can tell you that Stena Line to Cairnryan do serve a very fine breakfast and have a very comfy lounge.

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I arrived in Scotland to weather that had turned. Rain and cold – for my first ever time in the country, it felt apt. I don’t think I’d have liked it any other way to be honest.

Thankfully, it was nicer a few days later when border-hopping again to grab that all-important ‘car in front of country sign’ photograph.

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The one thing I wasn’t expecting was the incredible filth spraying off the near constant line of HGVs as I made my two-hour trip east towards the English border and onto Carlisle. By the time I stopped for fuel outside Gretna, the poor 106 was properly blackened, but deep down I thought it just looked proper.

I’ve said it before, but the Rallye is a car that looks equally great whether it’s polished or filthy.

The real MVP on day one was my Sennheiser headphones and a stack of downloaded podcasts. Throughout the week, this pairing was called upon during long drives, although occasionally there was time for some period correct ‘dodgy’ music. Because as great as the diminutive Peugeot is, cruising alone at motorway speed (which equates to almost 5,000rpm) can get a bit wearisome, although the deceptively-comfortable seating position really helps.

I made it to the RAC scrutineering, took and few pictures and collected my media accreditation – so far, so good. After dropping my bags to the hotel, I grabbed a bit of lunch and the headed back to the rally base for some more snaps. Again, no problems.

It felt like nothing could go wrong. Until it did.

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Heading home, the Peugeot lost all battery power and ended up stranded in a dark lane. It didn’t take long to diagnose the problem – an empty space where the alternator belt should have been. Clearly it’d had enough and exited somewhere along the road.

It was the first night of my week-long adventure and my 106 was already on the back of a recovery truck. Thankfully, I’d signed up to the AA Breakdown service before leaving, so maybe I was prepared after all.

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The next morning, with a fresh battery from an absolute legend of a roadside tech named Rob – a fellow rally man – we got the 106 to a nearby parts supplier. £5.20 for a new belt, fitted right there outside the door by Rob, and I was good to go.

A little over an hour after the 106 came off the axle stand I was parked in a forest in Kielder.

Rally Mode

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Over the next few days, the routine went like this: Get back to the hotel, throw the rally map out on the bed and figure out where the entrance to any given special stage was. Once pinpointed, I’d throw it into the phone and save it, then memorise the first car due time and work from there. Adding time for travel and a need to get there early to avoid too much of a walk (I know how precious that sounds, but remember I’d be laden down with cameras and gear), I’d end up with a rough estimate of my wake-up time for the next morning. It always seemed to be 6:30am.

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Arriving earlier on a stage allowed me to take a walk around and get an idea of good shooting locations, and just enjoy the peace and quiet of a forest in the early morning sunshine ahead of a frantic day.

It was also a chance to get in and set up things like remote flashes ahead of the first competing cars.

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The Rallye also doubled as a mobile office for the week. Stage shot, I’d grab my laptop and download my images. This is handy to keep memory card space free on the cameras, but also to get a few images quickly edited for social media. Although, the second part was a rather fruitless exercise given I barely had any mobile reception out on the rally route.

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As the days past, I only grew fonder of my 106. Laden with soggy jackets and muddy boots, it climbed hill after gravelly hill through the woods to the stage-side car parks – generally openings on wider off-road tracks that were often icy. Most of the vehicles were vans and SUVs, but a few hardy souls followed the ‘not in its natural environment’ approach.

From that first night blip, the Peugeot never missed a beat. Even the high idle rectified itself quite early on, a sure sign that the 1,300cc 8V just needed driving.

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As you may know from my RAC story, weather-wise, Friday evening was downright terrifying. I tend to sit low and reasonably far from the wheel of a car, but on this occasion I was nearly bolt upright, seat slid forward with two rather white-knuckled hands gripping the steering wheel.

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Storm Arwen had struck, and having left the final stage of the day amidst a snow blizzard, I’ll never forget the drive back to Carlisle. Pitch black, the admittedly poor lights of the 106 were no match for the oncoming deluge of snow. Reduced to dipped beams and at times park lights, the road became an invisible labyrinth of standing water and was only defined by the white lines visible in places. Every few miles there was a tree or debris to swerve around, one hazard in particular appearing quite suddenly on the outside of a crested corner.

It took two gruelling hours to get back to the hotel when Google Maps had advised 53 minutes.

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Stages were cancelled the following day, providing an opportunity to do some unplanned exploring. I’d seen pictures of the Lake District and it looked like perfect 106 Rallye territory, so I grabbed a coffee and headed 90 minutes north.

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Cockermouth to Keswick via the Honister Pass is one of the most spectacular drives I’ve ever done, helped in part by a lack of traffic on this crisp winter afternoon. The fabled allure of the great British B-road was living up to its stature, and mile after mile the 106 sang to its heart’s content. Naturally though, I had to add some spice to the situation.

When I’d seen the Lake District in pictures, it was launch photos of the 2017 Ford Fiesta WRC on the Honister. What I hadn’t done was research, and didn’t know it was both extremely steep, reaching 1,167ft at a 1-in-4 gradient, and extremely prone to ice. So, yes, it was mega, except for the terrifying descent. If I had crashed, at least the scenery was nice.

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As the Roger Albert Clark rally headed south to Wales, so did I. This drive from Carlisle to Snowdonia was the second longest stint of the trip, but the 106 ate it up. Sure, it may be tiny amongst modern traffic and a wee bit unrefined, but it’s fun. There are no modern frills, but that allows a chance to think, to plan and to take in the sights of the road.

Making a quick fuel stop with 106 miles to go was most definitely not planned.

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One thing I’ve come to learn about the Rallye is that it’s a welcoming car. People pass compliment, take pictures and want to chat, in a way perhaps I wouldn’t have got with the Hyundai or something modern. During a stop to take photos on the way to Dyfnant, a group of off-roading Land Rovers pulled in, and within minutes we were all chatting and checking out each other’s vehicles.

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The last few days in Wales were flat out. There were early mornings, late evenings and plenty of miles in between, but ultimately, I knew there was a ferry leaving Fishgaurd at 1:00pm on Monday that I intended to be on. That gave me a pretty firm cut off of 10:00am leaving Walters Arena, yet here I was at 10.15am admiring my little Rallye. Welsh mud, rolling hills and a dirty Peugeot 106 isn’t everyone’s dream view, but it is mine.

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The drive to the ferry was frantic as expected, and I arrived with a whole six minutes to spare. Boarded and settled in the lounge, it felt great that the Rallye and I had made it to the end, even if another three hours lay ahead from Rosslare to home.

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When you ask what some of us are doing with our SH Garage cars, well, I’m mainly just driving mine. The Rallye is outside the window as I speak, and I now feel torn about whether to put it into winter storage or not. Over six days, across five countries and clocking up 2,450km (1,520mi), we both had an adventure of a lifetime.

Cian Donnellan
Instagram: Ciandon
Facebook: CianDonPhotography

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Finding Balance In A K-Swapped EG Civic

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Finding Balance In A K-Swapped EG Civic – Speedhunters



Finding Balance In A K-Swapped EG Civic

“If a man does not have the sauce, then he is lost. But the same man can be lost in the sauce.” – Gucci Mane.

Well said, Gucci. For those of you unfamiliar with Gucci Mane, AKA ‘The East Atlanta Santa’, he’s a successful rapper with a penchant for face tattoos and red luxury cars on 24-inch ‘rimz’.

As women and men of the car scene, we are on a constant knife edge of scrutiny. No rare or expensive parts on your car? You’re lazy or half-arsed. One too many? You’re suddenly building your car for internet clout. Now, I’m not going to sit here and judge anyone for going all-out with a build; I wouldn’t dream of it. My favourite builds are often those with details that have been executed down to the minutiae. I’m also not going to look down upon those out there who can’t afford or justify spending dumb amounts of money on a pair of mirrors, for example. On a serious note, there are more important things in life than car parts, such as rent and food.

Now that my wise words of wisdom are out of the way, let’s delve into Pippa Brand’s 1993 Honda Civic DX.

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This is Pippa’s second car, but not her first Honda. Before the Civic came a mighty Honda Jazz; even before then, Hondas ran rife in Pip’s family. In fact, she can’t remember a time in her childhood when there wasn’t a Honda Shuttle in her parents’ driveway.

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The Civic had had a fairly typical life up until that point. It was purchased new by the same couple who owned it until their late years, at which point the husband sadly passed away leaving the little silver car in the care of his widow. She kept ahold of it for two more years until she also passed on, and the car was practically given away to one of their neighbours.

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In the custody of its next owner, the EG received its first ever modification. A Subaru Impreza exhaust back box was fitted in place of the OEM pea shooter, although what benefits that may have provided escape me. With 89hp, it was actually down one horsepower on the mighty Jazz that Pip was used to, but she was over the moon and immediately began to save her money to put towards modifying the EG.

Being an older car, there were bound to be wear and tear items due for replacement at which stage Pip would buy an ‘upgraded’ item to take its place. Perished bushes for example meant new neochrome-coated lower control arms, and tired shocks and springs were replaced with an uprated set from an EK4 Civic.

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Although they replaced tired original parts, Pip soon learned that you get what you pay for with some mods when the eBay lower control arms started squeaking unbearably over anything but the smoothest of roads. Genuine items were definitely on the agenda.

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Being young though, there had to be some visual mods before any serious mechanical work could be undertaken; it’s an unwritten of the car scene after all. The original steel wheels were replaced with a set of Honda Prelude fan-blades in black glitter, and a second-hand carbon fibre boot spoiler was also fitted. It even came pre-lacquer peeled for extra patina.

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On the subject of patina though, Pip’s Civic was looking a little worse for wear after a year of daily duties following seven years of sitting in a damp British garage. The paint was faded and flaking in places, and rust had started to make its way through the wheel arches. Even the ’90s-tastic pinstripes were beginning to lift way from the paintwork, so naturally when Pip got an incredible offer for all the bodywork repairs and paint to get sorted she jumped at the chance.

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As is the way though, if an offer seems to good to be true it usually is, and it didn’t take long for the extent of the bodge to reveal itself. The car was three different shades of silver, and the arches were so full of body filler they could probably have stopped a bullet. This was where things started to turn around for Pip, as this setback sparked her desire to level the car up into a serious little fighter.

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Parts acquisition was the next mission – specifically, all the items necessary to turn the Civic from a grocery-getter into the rowdy K-swapped weapon it is today.

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Suspension was first though, as the squeaky arms and old EK parts had to go. A set of BC Racing coilovers were fitted alongside K-Tuned lower control arms for a full squeak-delete. A BWR tie-brace keeps the rear end tight in addition to the centre cross-brace for torsional rigidity. At the front, braking is taken care of by a simple yet effective OEM+ set of 282mm MG ZR discs with Honda Prelude calipers. The rear drums were retained, but as the fronts take car of 70+% of braking, Pip decided they can wait. With the car now able to corner and stop properly, it was time for more power.

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The K20A2 was acquired from a breaker’s yard using Pip’s new boyfriend’s mum’s car, which I’m sure was not stressful in any way at all. At this point the car and the mass of parts were dropped off for the swap.

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The engine itself sits in a partially shaved bay in Jazz Purple, with plenty of bolt-on goodies for extra power and reliability. Inlet and exhaust breathing is enhanced by a Hybrid Racing air intake on an RBC inlet manifold, travelling through the combustion chamber to a K-Tuned tubular exhaust manifold. Follow this down and back and you’ll travel along the Skunk2 MegaFlow exhaust system to that awesome period-correct back box.

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Back in the engine bay, a Hybrid Racing injector rail provides sufficient fuelling, whilst a Tegiwa full-sized radiator keeps things cool under load. It’s a great looking bay, with a turquoise-painted cam cover for a bit of extra colour. Even the dipstick is a K-Tuned item for a little dress up, and the Hasport engine mounts are two great looking pieces of billet.

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The K20A is electronically plumbed in by a quick release loom made by the very man who fitted the engine himself: Josh Slater at JB Slater garage. The engine map was taken care of by Jesse Halford at TDI South, meaning this pocket rocket is running 247hp now. That’s nearly three times the car’s factory output.

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Driver feel and aesthetics were taken care of together, so starting from the inside the most prominent feature is the billet K-Tuned tower shifter for a more precise and positive gear throw. By this point the original shift action must have felt like stirring a ladle through a pot of soup. A Personal suede steering wheel with an NRG boss give Pip proper steering feel and control when driving the car hard, while Recaro Confetti seats and TAKATA Racing harnesses keep her pinned through fast corners.

The harnesses mount securely to the chrome Tegiwa harness bar, whilst the rear seats have made way for the Tegiwa cross brace between the rear suspension towers. Pip’s currently doing a full strip-down of the rear end to tidy it up. Just to keep an eye on the bigger cars this Civic keeps behind it, Pip has a full-width NASCAR mirror in the cabin.

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Externally, the EG is a mix of trusty and unique parts for a simple yet effective visual package. The white Kosei K1 wheels were a straight swap for the glittery black Honda wheels, and they’re shod in UniRoyal Rainsport tyres.

Some of you may have just recoiled in horror at the prospect of a hot hatch not on semi-slicks, but bear with me. The weather in the UK is so dismal and wet that a set of Rainsports in the right hands will out-corner a much faster car on a set of race tyres, so these make perfect sense.

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The paintwork itself was one of the last things to be done to the Civic. It’s in a shade of “I think it’s Daewoo Matiz lilac,” says Pip, but I cannot find anything online to confirm that. Denji headlights add a touch of aggression to the nose of the car, alongside the front lip which had unfortunately become a casualty of some full sends the week prior to our shoot. At the rear, the carbon fibre ducktail spoiler is a stand-out feature, whilst the clear taillights add to the overall playfulness of the little car.

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The windshield scuttle panel is the most interesting though. Pip bought a carbon fibre item from Eastern Europe which the manufacturer assured was for RHD cars. The manufacturer was wrong. What they did offer though was for Pip to send them her OEM scuttle as a test-bed for a right-hand drive item, and sure enough, a few weeks later she received a shiny, new, one-off RHD carbon fibre item.

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It’s the mix of touches like this alongside more reasonable items like the carbon-look NRG door mirror that appeals to me. Yes, you can go broke on a set of rims or a crazy big brake kit all round the car – and many people do – but by sticking to her guns and slowly yet surely upgrading the EG where it counts, Pip has built a devastatingly effective little fighter of a car. Taking neither herself nor the car too seriously has meant that this Civic is fun and full of character, and I would take this over a chequebook or heavily financed build any day of the week.

Long live the little lilac lightweight, and the vibe this car represents.

Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn

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Commercial Director: Ben Chandler
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Contributing Editor:
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Technical Editor: Ryan Stewart
Contributors: Will Beaumont, Keiron Berndt, Jordan Butters, Ron Celestine, Mario Christou, Cian Donnellan, Matthew Everingham, Chaydon Ford, Blake Jones, Stefan Kotze, Vladimir Ljadov, Paddy McGrath, Brandon Miller, Rick Muda, Yaheem Murph, Sara Ryan, Trevor Yale Ryan, Dave Thomas, Toby Thyer, Simon Woolley, Naveed Yousufzai


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5 Days On The RAC Rally

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5 Days On The RAC Rally – Speedhunters



5 Days On The RAC Rally

Intro

As the snow blizzard grew even more intense, I stood nestled against a sodden bank. Shivering, the flash of light along the treeline and rasp of an exhaust signalled another rally car passing by, but I didn’t look.

I was cold, miserable and tired, and a turn of the head only meant an absolute onslaught of hail to the face.

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Rallying in Storm Arwen, an extratropical cyclone that lashed the United Kingdom with gale-force winds, driving rain and snow, teetered on dangerous.

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But this was the Roger Albert Clark (RAC) Rally – one of true great rallying adventures left anywhere in the world, so everyone just got on with it (for as long as they possibly could) in an old school motorsport kind of way. And snow in late November was always inevitable, right?

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In an age of compact itineraries, the 2021 RAC Rally route bucked the trend by stretching over five days, the competitive special stages alone amounting to 313 miles (504km). That made it 50% longer than Rally Portugal, the longest event on the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar.

All in, this was the longest single UK rally event since 1991, and the Lombard RAC of old.

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While the ‘original’ RAC has morphed into Rally GB and is a Welsh-based (and hopefully soon to be Northern Irish) round of the WRC, the Roger Albert Clark is a celebration of rallying’s bygone era. Limited in one part to ‘Historic’ cars, those over 35 years old, and 2WD vehicles in the ‘Open’ section, the marathon event is as big a throwback as it is an incredible test of team and machine.

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Based in the city of Carlisle, the 2021 RAC would see action in Scotland, England and Wales, with some of the most legendary gravel stages – Kielder, Kershope, Ae, Dyfant and Walters Arena – amongst a 31-stage route plan.

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Running since 2004, and a bi-annual affair since 2017, the Roger Albert Clark (itself a celebration of the legendary driver who claimed RAC success in 1972 and 1976) has grown into a monster event, with an oversubscribed entry filling within days of registration. Come the rally start, 139 cars lined up.

For me, the 2021 RAC began at 1.30am on Wednesday.

This event was on my radar for a long time, and with the nature of the current world and the constant swing from restriction to restriction, it was time to just say ‘yes’ when the opportunity arose. I’d sold my Hyundai i30N the previous week, so had some surplus funds to pay for the week-long rally adventure, but that now also meant doing it from behind the wheel of my Peugeot 106 Rallye. I’ll fill you in on that experience in another post.

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It was a quiet drive from home to Belfast in the middle of the night. A ferry across to the UK, followed by a wet and wild blast south through Scotland had me arriving during the rally’s frantic scrutineering.

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All around, crews were busy completing final checks. Door placards and windscreen banners were being applied and one by one each car was rolled through for inspection.

Behind barriers, the crowds built. Each bonnet popped grabbed attention, a sea of the finest BDAs, Pintos and more on display for the admiring public.

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Under the fluorescent lights, everything seemed to look immaculate. Fresh rally car builds, yet to feel the trauma of gravel rash across their underbodies, sat gleaming.

Navigators ran around, some looking more frantic than others, with the required paperwork. There would be a lot of paperwork over the next few days.

Thursday

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When Thursday rolled around, all eyes were focused on Kershope and the opening special stages. I arrived 90 minutes before the first car was due, and watched the final strains of daylight drain away over the rolling Cumbrian hills. By 4:00pm, it was near pitch black.

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With the sky clear and an array of stars visible in a way not overly familiar to a city dweller like myself, the first exhaust note reverberated through the trees. Game time.

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Into a slippy square left with standing water on the inside, drivers desperately needed to scrub off speed from the fast 200m uphill straight before turn in. Mid-corner, an assault of flashlights went off all round. This felt electric on the bank, never mind in the car.

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Venturing deeper into the woods as the evening passed, it felt refreshing to be so far from home, making small talk to pass the time before another exhaust note pierced the silence. This was raw, gritty and ever-so-captivating for a rally nerd like myself.

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It was 10:00pm in the middle of Kielder when a screaming BDA and the searching beams of four PIAA spots cast out above the trees. Does it really get any better than this?

Friday

After a late Thursday night – the special stages finishing up near 11:00pm – it was an early start on Friday morning. Today, the rally ventured into Scotland, with the crews heading northeast to Kielder, the legendary forests on the Anglo-Scots border.

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Known as Killer Kielder, the thick banks and unforgiving lanes have claimed many rallying victims over the years. An onslaught of mud, ditches, ruts, trees and all manner of weather, the area holds almost mythical status in the rally world. In the mid-morning sunshine it seemed tame, although that wouldn’t last.

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First on the road each day was the sub-1,600cc class, a real oddball mix of classics. Think everything from Peugeot 205s to Lancia Fulvias, an Opel Corsa S1600 to a Rover 400 BRM and pretty much everything in between.

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Cutting a swift path uphill through two tree-lined banks, it felt serene from a distance, but Friday was a test in the truest sense of the word. Eight special stages covering 170.1km (105.7mi) – that’s almost the equivalent of three Irish forestry events, but in one single day.

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Keeping cars running for such a long and challenging event is a huge logistical task. Like the old days, pop-up remote service parks were a daily occurrence, while the end of every stage was lined for miles by chase and management crews. Some opted for full service-like ground sheets, while others made do with grassy roadside banks.

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As the daylight began to fade, I shot across to another stage. It was here, as I made the slow climb down a bumpy forest track to the parking area, that the first wistful snowflakes began to appear. The forecast did say snow at 4:00pm; they arrived at 3.57pm. Oh joy.

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I’d only ever experienced a whiteout once before on a rally, but this was different. A cutting wind whipped the damp drifts of precipitation into a frenzy, falling more erratically than the picture-postcard style winter wonderland. It didn’t settle, and drivers became extra cautious, especially through the sections requiring more commitment.

It would be but a warning. Here, on the Chirdonhead special stage, I don’t think anyone knew what lay ahead.

SS12: Bewshaugh 2 is a special stage I will never forget. It was the same location as earlier, but with just a slight change in conditions.

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As I mentioned at the beginning of this story, Storm Arwen absolutely battered the area. Amazingly though, the banks remained lined with spectators.

In a forest, at night, in blizzard conditions, we stood. Masochists maybe, but this felt authentic. This was proper RAC weather, like ’73, ’93 or ’96.

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I must admit though, it was not a pleasant experience. The gloves I wore lost badly to the damp quite early on, and my camera began to act up after 25 minutes. I lasted about an hour, which was enough time to see the leading 10 cars. I still had to make it back to my hotel though, and the 65-minute B-road blast in the morning ended up being a near 2.5-hour nerve-racking return ordeal.

Gale-force winds whipped across the road from all directions and the lashing snow and rain reduced visibility almost down to zero. After negotiating mile after mile of standing water and avoiding fallen trees on the road, I was relieved to arrive back in Carlisle. Others weren’t so lucky.

In the woods, mobile phone signal is nonexistent, so most of the time I lived a life disconnected from the rest of the world (again in keeping with the original RAC fantasy). It wasn’t until the next morning that I began to learn of the ongoing situation. The special stage I had been on, Bewshaugh 2, was eventually cancelled. Safety was the priority and it was getting pretty clear things weren’t great. The teams still waiting on the start line – roughly 20 of them – thought the cancellation would be the end of their night, but it turned out to be the beginning of another challenge.

Completely blocked roads meant many teams, rally officials and spectators had resigned themselves to sleeping in their vehicles. A small reprieve came when a local pub opened its doors to provide shelter for some.

Saturday & Sunday

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It was near midday on Saturday when some crews returned to Carlisle, but by then a call had been made to abandon the day’s rallying.

Disappointed to now be heading north to Ae, crews got to work fixing the Kielder damage before loading up for an earlier-than-expected trip down the M6 towards Wales. I went off on a day trip to the Lake District, before eventually packing up and heading south as well.

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Next morning, with the sun shining, Welsh rally fans came out in numbers. Well-known terrain for many, the roadside car park at Dyfnant stretched for nearly 2.5 miles.

Bobble hats teetered happily in a breeze tinged with log-fire smoke and the rich aroma of fried sausages. Anyone who’s been to Wales Rally GB in recent years knows the scene, but there were no WRC monsters to be seen on this day.

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The RAC is, to be truthful, an absolute festival of Ford Escorts. Of the 139 starters, 95 were either Mk1s or Mk2s. The leaderboard heading to Wales was chock-full of BDA-powered Fords, with Jason Pritchard and Phil Clark holding the start in their newly-built Scott Williams car.

Behind, the chasing pack was led by the hard-charging Osian Pryce and Noel O’Sullivan, themselves bouncing back from BRC heartbreak in their VW Polo R5 the week before, and the more experienced combination of Paul Barrett and Gordon Noble.

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The crowds stretched two, sometimes three-deep for hundreds of metres out of the big junctions. The ground, frozen solid in places, proved to be a real challenge for some drivers.

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Over time, the ideal driving line became clear: Scandinavian flick, run the rear end wide and put the power down in an attempt to get back into a straight line as quickly as possible. It’s just the most timeless and pure driving style on gravel, and save for the odd interloper, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was 1978. Oh, and the noise. Dear god, the noise.

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Such is the layout in Dyfant, the roars of screaming BDA engines lingered for three, maybe even four minutes before the Escorts they powered emerged into sight, sideways of course.

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With the massive crowds, it became clear that grabbing a second stage would be a challenge, so instead I took the chance to dive into Dolgellau to catch the ‘midday service’. That name was misleading given how dark it was by the time the lead cars arrived.

Quickly, the quiet, organised awnings became hives of activity. Fresh tyres, more fuel and a cleaning rag was standard, while other team mechanics wheeled out welders and big hammers to keep their machines going.

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In the air, the mood was of disbelief – event leader Jason Pritchard had gone off, thrusting Paul Barrett into the lead. Osian Pryce was pulling time with every passing stage, but the real talk was the Porsche-shaped imposter now on the podium.

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Ryan Champion and Craig Thorley had led a quiet life on the event, keeping out of the Escort battle at the front in their Tuthill-built Porsche 911. No mechanical issues, just all under control – it would prove a wise strategy later on.

Someone not having such an easy ride of things was Chris Harris. A true ‘one of us’ journalist (any man with a taste for French tat and German performance metal is proper hero status) and Top Gear presenter, his RAC had been eventful. Harris slid off the road and got stuck in a ditch on the opening night, and ended up as one of the Storm Arwen-stricken crews the next. By the time the event hit Wales, Chris had had quite a ride, but credit where it’s due because he got to the end. Not even a dashboard fire could stop him.

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As the night dragged on and the leading cars headed off into the forests once more, I headed south. Four long days was starting to wear me down, but at least I had a warm room to look forward to. Many bedded down for the night in cars and vans parked up in woods and lay-bys, so it almost felt like I was cheating.

Monday

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The bitterly cold final morning began in South Wales. Just outside Neath, Walters Arena is another name carved into rally lore, and I made it stage-side for sunrise. The arena has become a go-to location for rally car testing and off-road pursuits, so it was a perfect place to finish off my RAC experience. While the event would stretch into the dying light of the fifth day, I had to make do with a single stage before a brisk drive to the port.

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Watching nature put on its stunning morning show gave me time to stop and think about the mammoth effort that goes into organising and running a rally like this. Any event is a huge task, but to do it on this scale is crazy. The team at DeLacy MC usually have two years to organise the RAC, but Covid gave them less than six months. It explains the frantic running needed at times.

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Against the wide expanses of the rolling Welsh Hills, the forest tracks criss-crossed in and out of sight below my viewing spot. I had to be tactical; there were likely better spots to seek out, but I knew I had a ferry  to catch at 1:00pm, so discipline and sticking to the plan were the order of the day. That still allowed a bit of moving around and shot variety, and the three images above were all captured within 100m of each other. The ice-hardened hairpin would prove deceptively tricky for some.

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In rallying, you always have to expect the unexpected, and within a few miles, on the last day of the marathon, both the first and second-placed teams bowed out of contention. Paul Barrett sent his Escort into a ditch breaking the suspension, while further back in the stage, Osian Pryce suffered a stub axle failure.

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That left Ryan Champion and Craig Thorley to cruise home to victory in their Porsche 911 and claim British rallying’s ultimate crown, in doing so breaking a 15-year Ford Escort stranglehold on the Roger Albert Clark Rally title. Not bad for a ‘steady, middle of the road’ drive, but such is the epic nature of the RAC that it proved fruitful.

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After six days on the road and nearly 2,000km racked up, I made it to the ferry port with six minutes to spare. The few hours more on the far side felt the longest all week, but that was the post-rally comedown.

Following the RAC was a dream list item ticked off, and it most definitely did not disappoint. Now, about the 106…

Cian Donnellan
Instagram: Ciandon
Facebook: CianDonPhotography

Cutting Room Floor

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Two Decades Chasing Perfection: Neil Dawson’s E36 M3

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Two Decades Chasing Perfection: Neil Dawson’s E36 M3 – Speedhunters



Two Decades Chasing Perfection: Neil Dawson’s E36 M3

“Everyone started putting M3 mirrors on Corsas, so I figured I’d put AC Schnitzer mirrors on my M3.”

When Neil Dawson, the owner of this E36 M3, first said that, I couldn’t help but crack a huge smile. Partly because it’s the level of pettiness I aspire to, but mostly because I could tell his obsession for all things M3 stemmed from a single pair of mirrors. An obsession that’s lasted some 17-years now, and shows no signs of slowing down.

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Back in the 1990s, the E36 M3 was the BMW to have. That and brightly-coloured Tacchini tracksuits along with funky Mitsubishi-logo’d sweets. Its launch made the E30 BMW look and feel dated, and being a BMW fan already Neil quickly decided this was the next car for him.

These were the days before readily-available finance, however. You had to buy things the old fashioned way; cash was king, and good cars were expensive. So while Neil wanted an E36 M3 in the ’90s, his bank account wouldn’t allow it. That’d come later in 2002.

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This wasn’t Neil’s first foray into the world of Bavarian brutes. His weapon of choice was a black-on-black E30 325i Motorsport, the kind of thing you’d look at now as a ‘future investment opportunity’. A Dakar Yellow M3 coupe caught his eye, and if he could part-exchange the 325i, it could be his.

That wasn’t going to happen though, because back in 2002, the E30 wasn’t as desirable as it is today. So much so that when he offered it towards the M3, the dealer flat-out refused.

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The E36 M3 was by no means a rare car, but it wasn’t the mass-produced behemoth of M3s today. They were pretty exclusive things back then. Being just out of his grasp, Neil settled on a 328i M-Sport to fill the void until the right example came up. And lo and behold, six months later, an Estoril Blue M3 Cabriolet with Silver Grey interior did.

Fortunately, the dealer was happy to take the 328i as a part-exchange, meaning Neil finally had the M3 he always wanted. He was over the moon, and BMW’s approved used cars at the time came with a generous warranty. It would’ve been foolish to rush into any modifications at the time and void it, especially before getting used to the new car. So instead, Neil spent the next four years living with and enjoying the M3, and definitely utilising the warranty.

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The roof, gearbox, VANOS and various other components all deteriorated over time, and everything was covered. It was a great game right up until 2007, when BMW decided to start charging customers for their approved used warranties. Given the premium being put forward, Neil decided enough was enough – it was time to get modifying!

We say modifying, but it was more of an OEM upgrade. The M3 Cabriolet never came with the option of Vader bucket seats – something Neil preferred over the stock seats – so that became the first change. He even Connollised the leather himself to get it as close to a match as perfect. For me, I’d have been pretty happy, but Neil had other ideas.

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The interior quickly became his main focus, and bit by bit every panel you could see and feel was re-trimmed in Silver Grey leather. That includes the whole dash, tonneau, console and even the foot wells and seat bases. And for the panels not covered in leather? They gained carbon fibre to provide a dark, detailed contrast against the cow hide.

As the owner of a ’90s BMW myself, I can relate with Neil on just how pants the sound systems in these cars were. So with the interior being re-trimmed, it gave him the perfect excuse to begin the boot build. A pair of 12-inch subwoofers with a Directed amplifier were installed in their own dedicated enclosure, also trimmed in Silver Grey leather to match the interior. These were joined by a set of AudioEscape speaker pods in the footwells.

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By this point, there wasn’t really anything left to touch in the interior so Neil shifted his focus over to the engine bay. Much like the interior, what started off as a few dress-up parts soon became overwhelmed with both OEM and carbon accessories. Each one was chosen for a particular reason, including the GruppeM intake (which Neil is particularly proud of) and one of the rarest E36 parts available – an AC Schnitzer carbon fibre fan shroud cover. These were usually found on the ‘factory’ ACS3 CLS cars, and very few were ever sold separately.

I’m too young to remember the Max Power days of the UK car scene, but like all types of fashion it inevitably comes full circle a good few years later. There’s no denying that the ’90s/’00s era of styling set the tone for a generation; you could literally go to your local Halfords and (if you had the cash) give your car a complete makeover there and then. A fresh set of rims, spoilers, stick-on chrome detailing and plenty of audio.

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It was also the era which made the humble M3 mirror an essential item for every car that wasn’t an M3. Even more so than Lexus tail lights. Whether you were creating an M3 replica from a 318is or simply trying to make your Cavalier stand out from the crowd, M3 ‘style’ mirrors became a necessity.

So if everyone was trying to make their cars look more like the M3, Neil decided he was going to make his look less like one. Cue the AC Schnitzer route. It started with small bits first; the rear was de-badged along with the side trims, and the moulding badges replaced with ACS items. Then came the mirrors, side skirts, more badges and a diffuser.

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“I got the badges, skirts and diffuser pieces from BMW Rossiters in the UK, but got the mirrors directly from AC Schnitzer Germany. They were the last of their existing stock if I remember,” Neil says.

Although not pictured, Neil initially went for AC Schnitzer Type 2 Monoblock wheels for a stopgap until the correct set of splits came up for sale. Paired with Eibach coilovers, the car looked well-rounded and (almost) complete, with an aggressive stance and distinctive look. But before Neil could get too accustomed to the style, the perfect splits inevitably turned up – a unicorn set of ACS Type 1 Rennsports. Bear with me a moment whilst I nerd out on wheels, because the 18-inch Type 1 Racing is a very special item.

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The 18-inch Type 1 was only available as a face-mounted wheel, and was manufactured by OZ Racing. As such they use a 40-hole design, which was used by OZ for all of their 18- and 19-inch wheels of the era. They are rarer than their successor, the Type 2, and arguably more desirable in 18-inch spec.

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Those wheels hold a fairly special place in Neil’s collection, and not just because of their rarity. Back then, PayPal wasn’t really an option for sending large sums of money to people – not unless they were princes from Nigeria. A physical trip to your bank was the main option, and while withdrawing the money Neil was asked what he was buying with it. That cashier turned out to be Ricky Sadasivan – AKA Big Rick – who at the time had a well-known Techno Violet E36 Cab of his own. Neil may have left Barclays with a lighter pocket, but he managed to make a friend in the process.

Fast-forward a few more years, and it was getting to the point where Neil felt the E36 should be ‘retired’ from daily duties to really allow it to progress. So in 2012, he opted to buy an E46 M3 instead. Finished in Estoril Blue to match the E36, the newer M3 boasted a Champagne interior (rather than Silver Grey) which Neil fell in love with immediately. I don’t blame him; the light cream contrasts incredibly well against the blue paint.

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The BMW stayed this way for a few more years until 2015, when a new suspension setup that could really bump it up a notch caught Neil’s eye – Air Lift Performance. Switching over to air would allow Neil to keep his E36 usable on rough and bumpy roads, while being able to give it a killer stance at the push of a button. Drive low, park even lower.

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More impressively, Neil did all the work himself – from dismantling the previous audio build to constructing the new air setup. It took him a few weekends to run the air lines and switch over to Air Lift Performance struts, but it genuinely was a do-it-yourself purchase.

With the car now sitting perfectly, Neil’s mind was being clouded in a haze of Champagne interior. Just as he was getting close to being finished – again – he decided Silver Grey was no longer the colour for him. Fire up another re-trim…

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Never one to do things by halves, Neil did more than simply swap out the leather. The Vaders had gone and been replaced by a pair of super-rare Recaro A8s. Personally, I’m a huge sucker for A8s; they are without a doubt one of my top three bucket seats, fixed back or not.

One of my favourite details about the car are the seat backs. In dark light they appear black, but they are in fact BMW Carbon Black Metallic, so in the light you get an incredible blue pearl which matches the paintwork, yet it’s not evident when first seeing the interior. It’s funny how one of the most frustrating BMW exterior colours works so well inside the car.

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Neil’s next change was the wheels, the set of BBS RSs currently fitted. He’d bought them from Budapest earlier on in the car’s life, but never had a reason to build them with the AC Schnitzer wheels being on the M3. Keen for a change given the other work happening, Neil refinished them with brushed faces along with gold hardware and hex nuts. Every detail really does matter to Neil.

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Back in 2005, a couple of years after purchase, Neil decided the M3 could do with a little freshen up and as a result had the front end painted. At the time this wasn’t an issue, but it always stood out as being slightly better than the rest of the Estoril Blue paintwork. Not willing to shell out more money on paint, Neil decided to embark on a full detail of the E36 to get it back up to scratch. What’s the worst that could happen?

“I bought a rotary polisher and decided to have a go myself, but I wanted to wet-sand the paint too…”

Inevitably, within about 30-seconds of starting, Neil managed to burn straight through the paint on the top of the rear three-quarter panel. Brilliant.

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No one he contacted was willing to do a smart repair on that section, so he took the car back to the painter he’d used previously. The M3 was painted from the doors back to match the nose. Except that it didn’t match the nose. So the car went back in to be resprayed again to match the rear. Thankfully for his bank account, the paint finally matched all around the car.

However, Neil wasn’t really that happy with the paint finish after all this work. Which resulted in a further decade spent (slowly) repainting sections all around the car as he found flaws along the way. No sooner had he fixed one issue, another popped up.

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By 2019, things had peaked. Having been accepted for an indoor show called FittedUK, Neil was concerned about the paint under fluorescent lights. He decided that the only way to have the car looking acceptable would be a complete respray, so that’s exactly what he did.

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I asked him why he put so much effort into the car over nearly two decades. Especially into details such as paint matching and trimming under the dash – things that the majority of people would never notice. “The more you look, the more you’ll see. You’ve got to keep looking,” he replied.

I can’t think of a better phrase that sums up Neil’s approach to his M3 over the years. If you ensure the details are looked after, the rest of the build will follow.

Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn

Photos by Saj Selva
Instagram: sajselva

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