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Spike and samuri new web site
- Thread starter Dave J
- Start date
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
zedhead260
Well-Known Forum User
My copy arrived today.
Mr Ex
Inactive
zedhead260
Well-Known Forum User
I enjoyed reading it - he's had an interesting and varied life.
I had a go a couple of weeks ago and in perfect weather did 57s. Win and Big Sam
Steve Burke in the Abbey Motorsport highly modified 350 did 53.5 last weekend in the Nippon Challenge and finished a creditable 3rd. His car is lightened extensively and puts out exactly 300bhp to get in the GT300 class
. Win Percy with his 39 year old times would have won that race from a very quick Subaru.Nick Howell
Active Forum User
Rob,
Interesting! Also worth bearing in mind that the race at Mallory in August 1974 was in Sam 2, after Win had written off Sam 1 at Brands. Sam 2, like Sam 1, was also a works rally car and when we were rebuilding it I had the shell rejigged at Fran Tuthill's, in between Fran building the works rally Subaru's, and we discovered that the nearside front chassis leg was 1 3/4" out of line! So at that race at Mallory not only did Win get the outright lap record but he did it with a bent car. Amazing driver....
By the way I am taking Sam to Goodwood on May 18th for a belt round with Mark Hales for a potential article in Octane.
Nick
Interesting! Also worth bearing in mind that the race at Mallory in August 1974 was in Sam 2, after Win had written off Sam 1 at Brands. Sam 2, like Sam 1, was also a works rally car and when we were rebuilding it I had the shell rejigged at Fran Tuthill's, in between Fran building the works rally Subaru's, and we discovered that the nearside front chassis leg was 1 3/4" out of line! So at that race at Mallory not only did Win get the outright lap record but he did it with a bent car. Amazing driver....
By the way I am taking Sam to Goodwood on May 18th for a belt round with Mark Hales for a potential article in Octane.
Nick
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Mallory today is quite different to what it was 39 years ago, despite what they might tell you.
Was the 'Bus Stop' chicane in use this time? Edwina's certainly wasn't there in '74, and the Cooper Esses have been reprofiled ( with the express intention of 'slowing down' the action - like Castle Combe ).
I'm afraid it's not really very scientific to compare times then with times now.....
Nick Howell
Active Forum User
After reading through the race reports posted earlier, I see that Mallory was on 28th July (where did 1st Aug come from?) in which case it would have been Sam 1 that Win drove to break the lap record because the car was written off at Brands on 11th August.
Sam 1 was one of the very early works rally cars with a well documented history, as Alan T knows, and it was Sam 2, the replacement, that was a later works rally shell bought from Datsun UK, that was rebuilt and ready to race by 26th August that went on to win the 2 to 3 litre class overall.
There has been a lot of confusion, misreporting and amalgamation of stories about Big Sam, some of which carry on to this day. What is clear now is that though Shekhar Mehta drove both cars at different times neither Sam 1 or 2's shells were in the East African Safari rally so at least that story can be put to bed. The Burmah, Scottish and Monte Carlo rallies as press, practise or recce car appear to be nearer to the truth for Sam 2's shell and Alan T's wonderful research is still ongoing.
And though Win's career has shown him to be highly proficient and adaptable driver in all types of racing, as Alan says, credit must be given to the highly specialised preparation that Datsun carried out on all their works cars, whatever they were going to be used for, Big Sam is a good example of the stiffness that they achieved with the bodyshells alone. Spike was lucky to have such a good base to start from.
As to modern tracks and lap times it will interesting to see how Mark Hales, also an excellent driver, gets on at Goodwood in May. My best time around there in Sam was 1m 31s about ten years ago.
Nick
Sam 1 was one of the very early works rally cars with a well documented history, as Alan T knows, and it was Sam 2, the replacement, that was a later works rally shell bought from Datsun UK, that was rebuilt and ready to race by 26th August that went on to win the 2 to 3 litre class overall.
There has been a lot of confusion, misreporting and amalgamation of stories about Big Sam, some of which carry on to this day. What is clear now is that though Shekhar Mehta drove both cars at different times neither Sam 1 or 2's shells were in the East African Safari rally so at least that story can be put to bed. The Burmah, Scottish and Monte Carlo rallies as press, practise or recce car appear to be nearer to the truth for Sam 2's shell and Alan T's wonderful research is still ongoing.
And though Win's career has shown him to be highly proficient and adaptable driver in all types of racing, as Alan says, credit must be given to the highly specialised preparation that Datsun carried out on all their works cars, whatever they were going to be used for, Big Sam is a good example of the stiffness that they achieved with the bodyshells alone. Spike was lucky to have such a good base to start from.
As to modern tracks and lap times it will interesting to see how Mark Hales, also an excellent driver, gets on at Goodwood in May. My best time around there in Sam was 1m 31s about ten years ago.
Nick
The Bus Stop and Edwina's are as far as I know only used by bikes - we certaianly didn't use them (but it would have made it more interesting!). The Cooper Esses I can't really comment as it was my first time. Tbh I doubt if times would be a lot different Alan, close enough for the purposes of this Thread anyway.
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Hmmm,
Last time I drove at Mallory the Bus Stop was 'in' ( good job too, as the car felt like a Routemaster ), but Edwina's admittedly was not.
Absolutely no doubt that the circuit has been changed quite considerably since 1974, though. In particular the reprofiling of the bits out the back ( after Edwina's, and leading into the Esses ) will have made direct comparison between 'old' and 'new' times impossible. I recall a thread on another forum that brought up this very topic, and - as far as I remember - the conclusion was that Mallory is quite a lot 'slower' these days than it was in the early Seventies. Much of the paddock area is roughly the same as I remember it from when I was a wide-eyed kid wearing Lederhosen though ( ie - loose gravel and cracked concrete! ).
I'm not trying to detract from Win Percy's quoted time ( he was one of the best pedallers in the business ), just trying to put it into perspective. It will have been fast for sure, but the whole subject is, er, subjective.....
Last time I drove at Mallory the Bus Stop was 'in' ( good job too, as the car felt like a Routemaster ), but Edwina's admittedly was not.
Absolutely no doubt that the circuit has been changed quite considerably since 1974, though. In particular the reprofiling of the bits out the back ( after Edwina's, and leading into the Esses ) will have made direct comparison between 'old' and 'new' times impossible. I recall a thread on another forum that brought up this very topic, and - as far as I remember - the conclusion was that Mallory is quite a lot 'slower' these days than it was in the early Seventies. Much of the paddock area is roughly the same as I remember it from when I was a wide-eyed kid wearing Lederhosen though ( ie - loose gravel and cracked concrete! ).
I'm not trying to detract from Win Percy's quoted time ( he was one of the best pedallers in the business ), just trying to put it into perspective. It will have been fast for sure, but the whole subject is, er, subjective.....
rallymanDP
Well-Known Forum User
Oooohh... just had an awful vision of a young pre-pubescent Albrecht wearing Lederhosen !
Hope there weren't any photos taken for the Family Album....
Hope there weren't any photos taken for the Family Album....
Mr Ex
Inactive
I had a go a couple of weeks ago and in perfect weather did 57s. Win and Big Sam
Things need putting into pespective here , Rob you are just......... a quick driver
, but Win was a star in the making.Back in 1972 Jarno Saarinen set an absolute lap record on his 350 Yamaha of (can't find any evidence) but think it could be 59 secs & now bikes are down in the 40's? useing the Bus stop & Edwinas which just shows how much progress has been made.
My lad Lee got married last week and as a thankyou present for my help and financial contribution he bought me amongst other things the Samuri Book.
Well as expected once I picked it up I had to keep going. It was very interesting to me and reflected a lot of my memories of motorsport in the 70s and the more relaxed approach to everything including law enforcement on the road. Some of the stories might have been 'elaborated' but perhaps not.
Spike had a different outlook and approach to life than me - there is no way I could live in a 'muddle' like that with no security and I was a bureaucrat at work in my later years which he would have hated. I also can't play a musical instrument, however like Spike I don't do anything to my car unless it makes it go faster. The 240 responds well to very basic modifications which suits me fine. As he says it has a strong engine and very 'forgiving' handling, a true masterpiece.
He must have been a genius with cylinder heads but as he admits he wasn't a brilliant engineer he just tried things and his mates were able to but his ideas into reality.
To be honest I have changed my opinion a bit about Samuri. I may be very wrong here but I think the car was a revelation at the time (like the Mini and Escort) and was very responsive to modifications (I've found that from the basic things I've done). Also Win Percy was a class act and 'made it sing', especially in the wet. I don't think Samuris are anything special apart from the cylinder head (if that's genuine) and their association with the team that ran Big Sam. I think the name and colour scheme help with what people now call 'brand image'.
There are many cars in this club that are far more developed than Super Samuris e.g Steve Kiddell's, Sean's, Rob Hughes and to be honest even mine, but not in the 70s when Samuri started it all.
It's a great story and interesting to read comments about people we know like Kevin Irons, Dave Jarman, Paul Stafford, Kevin Bristow, Pete Gregory, Nico etc. I also found out that Whizzo Williams raced a Samuri - he is now a 240 owner and member of this club.
Finally a question - was ANY genuine Samuri fitted with big SUs? I think not however I know Kevin Irons is of the same opinion as me - unless you have a racing engine they are good enough. Spike of course was a gas-flow expert and perhaps wanted 6 chokes but he also mentioned a few times that gas speed was very important and some heads were too 'big'. I wish the book went into more technical detail.
he bought me amongst other things the Samuri Book.Well as expected once I picked it up I had to keep going. It was very interesting to me and reflected a lot of my memories of motorsport in the 70s and the more relaxed approach to everything including law enforcement on the road. Some of the stories might have been 'elaborated' but perhaps not.
Spike had a different outlook and approach to life than me - there is no way I could live in a 'muddle' like that with no security and I was a bureaucrat at work in my later years which he would have hated. I also can't play a musical instrument, however like Spike I don't do anything to my car unless it makes it go faster. The 240 responds well to very basic modifications which suits me fine. As he says it has a strong engine and very 'forgiving' handling, a true masterpiece.
He must have been a genius with cylinder heads but as he admits he wasn't a brilliant engineer he just tried things and his mates were able to but his ideas into reality.
To be honest I have changed my opinion a bit about Samuri. I may be very wrong here but I think the car was a revelation at the time (like the Mini and Escort) and was very responsive to modifications (I've found that from the basic things I've done). Also Win Percy was a class act and 'made it sing', especially in the wet. I don't think Samuris are anything special apart from the cylinder head (if that's genuine) and their association with the team that ran Big Sam. I think the name and colour scheme help with what people now call 'brand image'.
There are many cars in this club that are far more developed than Super Samuris e.g Steve Kiddell's, Sean's, Rob Hughes and to be honest even mine, but not in the 70s when Samuri started it all.
It's a great story and interesting to read comments about people we know like Kevin Irons, Dave Jarman, Paul Stafford, Kevin Bristow, Pete Gregory, Nico etc. I also found out that Whizzo Williams raced a Samuri - he is now a 240 owner and member of this club.
Finally a question - was ANY genuine Samuri fitted with big SUs? I think not however I know Kevin Irons is of the same opinion as me - unless you have a racing engine they are good enough. Spike of course was a gas-flow expert and perhaps wanted 6 chokes but he also mentioned a few times that gas speed was very important and some heads were too 'big'. I wish the book went into more technical detail
.
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I forgot to mention that Spike was well aware of the limited development of his cars and the potential they had but they were built on a shoestring budget and raced most weekends.
It's much easier for us now to spend years building a car and keep it in the garage for most of it's life. He was out there trying things and racing - over quite a short period actually.
It's much easier for us now to spend years building a car and keep it in the garage for most of it's life. He was out there trying things and racing - over quite a short period actually.
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Ian Patmore
Well-Known Forum User
Might have something to exhaust valves, just going bigger valves does not always correlate to bigger gas speeds.
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
I reckon the book opens more questions than it gives answers and I said as much to Spike.
That said, it it wasn't for him, the UK Z scene and that in historic racing wouldn't be what it is today.
And that said, the racing scene could be better and bigger but it needs money clients with vision.
That said, it it wasn't for him, the UK Z scene and that in historic racing wouldn't be what it is today.
And that said, the racing scene could be better and bigger but it needs money clients with vision.
JK240
Club Member
I read the book too, and saw the picture of the little Sunny Sukati.
Well being interested/nosy and having access to Experian I looked the reg number up and I think it is still in existance, although it has not been re licenced since 2005, its been with its current keeper since 2002.
Does anyone know any more about it, where abouts in the country it lives and if it ever comes out for shows etc?
Well being interested/nosy and having access to Experian I looked the reg number up and I think it is still in existance, although it has not been re licenced since 2005, its been with its current keeper since 2002.
Does anyone know any more about it, where abouts in the country it lives and if it ever comes out for shows etc?
Jonathan, I've seen one in the flesh at Billing I think, and a few years later it was on ebay. It was a bit rough and ready and half the engine is under the screen/dash.
I've got some pictures somewhere, I'll try to find them.
I've got some pictures somewhere, I'll try to find them.