FSJs in 1970s Rally Racing

[AM Woody]

Interesting recent article:

https://dirtfish.com/rally/how-a-jee...amous-4wd-ban/

I've seen a few of the photos here on ifsja before, but didn't know a lot of the historical details and connections in the story.

[sierrablue]

That's awesome!!!! I've been looking for info on these forever!

[letank]

very good, here is a link to the Dakar


https://www.dakardantan.com/paris-da...oneer,203.html


weight loss with fabric doors in 1980




and the 1979 version



London Sydney in 1977


http://londonsydney77.com/lspics/dis...album=19&pos=0

[tgreese]

That was an interesting article. I have not read the follow-ups yet, but the first article matches what I was hearing at the time (I was really young, and was working as a sometimes-full sometimes-part-time flunky at a major Jeep dealership).

The Borg-Warner Quadratrac gets dissed a lot today, but it was revolutionary in its day. Not only on the rally scene, but in the nascent SUV market as well. Jeep owes much of its market position today due to the way AMC popularized 4WD utility vehicles, both of the CJ/Wrangler class and as SUVs. No wonder Jeep emphasizes capability in its advertising; most other manufacturer's SUVs are no more than all-weather station wagons.

In 1974, I had the opportunity to buy one of the "Moby Dick" cars ("II" IIRC). It was sitting in the back lot of the dealership, and I got a good close look at it. The offer was made, but I was both too poor and the race-ready condition would make it hard to build it into a daily driver.

[nograin]

That's a great write up. Maybe the best, certainly most involved, story I've ever seen.

In the USA, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) was the major sanctioning body for time, speed, distance (TSD) and similar rallies. Under the SCCA umbrella are clubs and 'regions' that put together and run the majority of SCCA events - which are non-profesional. Some SCCA events are also professional and directly put on by the national office with help from the local region or club(s). So the various series can get confusing.

Rallies with sections closed to public traffic are more like what is seen on TV with teams going for the quickest time to the finish. SCCA called them 'special stages' and 'Pro-rallies' before they got out of doing them.

Press On Regardless rally AFAIK is still held annually, but not neccessarily with the special stages. You can enter a typical SCCA rally with any reasonably decent street vehicle. You need two people with sharp eyes and an ability to read and do some calculations on the fly. driver needs to be steady and cool.

AMC was generally pretty good about supporting its motorsport competition. They were pretty well represented most years in the cross Canada Rally (Shell 4000) as well as Trans-Am (an SCCA pro-level series)

[rang-a-stang]

What a great read! Both the original article and many of the things you guys contributed!