Fulvio Bacchelli driving a Fiat Abath 131 won the 1977 Rally of New Zealand, but considerable attention went on the Finnish driver Ari Vatanen who took part in a Ford Escort RS1800. Vatanen finished second after having dropped from first place on day one to 32nd following an off-road excursion. Vatanen, who was to become [...]
Ford Escort RS1800 Mk II, chassis #BBATTJ 69903, was completed at Ford Motorsports, Boreham, UK as a works rally car and registered on February 1, 1977 as STW130R. Built, in effect, to RAC Rally specifications, the Escort’s first works drive would be at the Rally de Portugal in March 1977, with Swedish rally ace Björn [...]
In theory, the Silver Fern Rally is a revival event, but in practice it’s much more, as the winner of this year’s 2,700km, seven-day odyssey from Christchurch to Gore and return, Ford Escort MkII RS 1800-driving Welshman Meirion Evans, confirmed on the final day. “It’s been an adventure, a challenge and overall just absolutely [...]
Along with beach racing, timed trials were a major part of New Zealand’s early motoring scene while rallying, in a form we’d recognise it today, really didn’t appear until the mid-1960s with events such as the Hamilton Car Club-organised Rally of the Pines in 1966. The Auckland Car Club soon got in on the [...]