The Traco-Olds Rover P6 4.3.
Jean-Marie attended the 1970 Marathon de la Route, held over 84 hours at the awe-inspiring Nurburgring racing circuit, and fortunately had this camera with him. He took some great photographs, including those shown below of the epic British Leyland Competitions Department-entered Rover P6 V8, entry number 21. While it'd be easy enough to assume that it was based on a standard P6 3500 V8 saloon, it was in fact a special competition car built from the ground up using a 2000 as its basis.
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According to Jean-Marie, the Rover's drivers were Roy Pierpoint, Roger Enever and Clive Baker - at the same race a works Mini Cooper, piloted by Handley, Poole, and Vernaeve, was also entered by the factory but - like the P6 - didn't make it to the end of the race, the P6 retiring from a three-lap (57 mile) lead due to propshaft issues. The Rover was painted pale blue, with a white roof. Two such cars were built, JXC 808D, and next JXC 806D, the car shown here. Despite its hugely-promising debut, the Competitions Department at Abingdon was closed down and planned-for development work on the P6 racer never came to fruition. Both cars survive.
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| (Please click the thumbnails to view the full-size Rover images.) |
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The engine chosen for the car was a Traco-modified, 360bhp 4.3 litre Oldsmobile V8 engine, fed by a quartet of Weber carburettors. The development work was undertaken on behalf of British Leyland by Roy Pierpoint and race-car builder Bill Shaw. Installed in the Rover, its bodyshell adorned by purposeful-looking wide arches to house the four extra-wide Minilite wheels, it certainly looked and sounded the part. It also went very well indeed, being able to clock up 176 mph by all accounts.
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Traco-Olds at the Kirkistown racing circuit, 1972.
Thanks to Julian for the following slide scans, he took these images at the Kirkistown circuit in Northern Ireland on a blustery day in 1972. The circuit first saw use in 1953 and, as with so many post-war motor racing venues, is based on a former WW2 RAF airfield, in this case RAF Kirkistown. The three colour photos below show car number 69 in the paddock, the Alec Poole (ex-Bill Shaw/BL Competitions Department) Traco-Olds Rover P6 V8. Whereas Jean-Marie's photos above feature JXC 806D, the second car developed, the red car in Julian's photos is the first - JXC 808D.
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The Rover is in good company here in the Kirkistown paddock, parked alongside an orange Lotus. Various cars can be found in the background, including a brace of competition-prepared Minis, and a MkIV Zephyr 6 which, I assume, was a tow vehicle rather than track-ready warrior. By all accounts the mighty Rover was quite a handful thanks to its 4.3 litre powerplant, and something definitely to respect at all times, especially in the wet.
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In the second of Julian's scans, the superb-looking P6 sits patiently with its driver on board, awaiting the gates to the track to be opened. Is that a modified Wolseley Hornet, converted to a single (centrally-positioned) wiper, in the foreground? The Modsports era of the 1970s resulted in a spectacular assortment of much-modified road cars heading onto circuits across the country, with cars such as the P6 shown here just one example of the type.
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Finally in this trio, another side view of the Rover.
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Return to Page 16 in the vintage car gallery.
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