14 replies to this topic

[MarkWill]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good rfeernce book for these cars? OR, if anyone has any stories to tell about these cars in racing, I would really like to hear them.

[Ray Bell]

Col Wear, builder of the Welsor cars and at times the dyno operator at Waggott Engineering in Sydney, built one for David Seldon to race at Bathurst.

On dismantling the engine, he took the bits into Merv Waggott (builder of the Waggott TC4V engine etc, generally a bit of an engine guru in Australia...) and asked what he thought.

Merv looked the block over, shook his head: "Typical of the poms," he said, "Three eighths of an inch of cast iron to hold in the water; thirty thou to hold in the horsepower!"

The ones which raced here successfully had an extra bearing on each rear axle... halfway along the shaft, to prevent whip... skinny axles in these things.

[dmj]

I presume we talk about post-war Dolomites here? Weren't pre-war ones rallied quite successfully too?

[Fred Gallagher]

If we're talking post-war there is coverage in "The Works Triumphs" by Robson and in Bill Price's epic BMC/BLMC competition history.

I did the 1976 Manx with Pat Ryan in a factory Dolomite Sprint and then Tony Pond and I used one as a recce car from time to time in 1977.

[jarama]

"The BMC / BL Competitions Department - 25 years in Motor Sport _the cars, the people, the events" is a must as Fred Gallagher has pointed. Written by Bill Price & published by Haynes.

Carles.

[Richard Neale]

How sad ~ I thought this was Triumph Dolomites !

Only to find it was "BL" Dolomites!

[Ray Bell]

Yeah, Donald Healey would be mortified...

[Richard Neale]

I'm suffering from short term memory loss ! I can remember what BMC stood for but not B L

Was it "British Lacklustre" or "Built Lousy" ?

[Fred Gallagher]

OK everyone - I think Mark has the right to ask about whatever he wants. If it's prewar, great - let's get on with the thread - if it's the 70s cars then we get on with that too.....

[MarkWill]

mea culpa - I meant the postwar (70's) cars, but now my curiosity is piqued - I didn't know that there was a pre-war dolomite rallycar. For the 70's car, I appreciate the pointers. Its probably not a popular thing to say, but I really liked the rally cars of the seventies - even the "failures ". Ray's story about the bearings rings true - I seem to recall that they were a bit prone to breaking axles and driveshafts.

[dolomite]

You can find a bit of info and some pictures of rallying Dolomites on this site:
The Triumph Dolomite Homepage

[MarkWill]

Thanks dolomite. Actually, thats where I started my search. I was thinkning of buying a dolomite sprint at one point - they were actually quite fast compared to the other dolimites - but I lacked the optimism it takes to find a decently sorted one (my friends mother went through three of them - all flawed by leaks, premature rust, and bad fits).

How was the '76 Manx in the dolomite? I went looking for extra info, but there wasn't much anecdotal stuff where I looked.

[dmj]

Quote

Originally posted by MarkWill
mea culpa - I meant the postwar (70's) cars, but now my curiosity is piqued - I didn't know that there was a pre-war dolomite rallycar. For the 70's car, I appreciate the pointers. Its probably not a popular thing to say, but I really liked the rally cars of the seventies - even the "failures ". Ray's story about the bearings rings true - I seem to recall that they were a bit prone to breaking axles and driveshafts.

IIRC Donald Healey rallied a Dolomite, finishing in top 10 in Monte Carlo. I believe it was 1938 and he was 8th... but it's not exactly field I know much about. I'm sure there are some TNF members that could add much more about rallying original Dolomites.

[Fred Gallagher]

Quote

Originally posted by MarkWill
How was the '76 Manx in the dolomite? I went looking for extra info, but there wasn't much anecdotal stuff where I looked.

I'm afraid I don't remember too much about it. It was my first professional rally and I got paid £100!
I remember we won Group 1 and finished 9th overall but apart from that not a lot. It did however let me meet Tony Pond properly and we started a succesful partnership the following year. But if some of you are apalled by "modern" Dolomites I hate to think what TR7s do.........

[jarama]

According to my sources, DMH started twice the Monte-Carlo at the wheel of Dolomites: in 1935 he was a DNFr, hitted by a train in a level-crossing, while in 1936 he finished 8th o/a.

Carles.