Vintage Thing No.42 - the Tonkin-VW Special

Another vehicle that I liked at the Launceston trial was this neat VW buggy entered by Ryan Tonkin. Its workmanlike appearance caught my eye and it had obviously been recently painted. I noticed a couple of tell-tale scrapes along the sills and, in talking with the crew, I discovered that it had already seen quite a lot of action, despite having only been completed the previous summer.

Ryan Tonkin bought it already converted into a buggy but substantially reworked it to make it more competitive. His passenger (sorry I didn't catch your name) showed me a picture on his mobile phone of what this machine looked like before the rebuild. It was certainly distinctive. Some would say it was cosmetically challenged. To me, it looked like the result of an unnatural act between an agricultural tractor and a submarine. I hope they get to see this blog and maybe they'll send me a picture of it in its original form. As it currently stands, it looks a whole lot better and is also substantially lighter.

Again, this is one of those vehicles that the more you look at the more you see and, through chatting to Ryan before the start of the event, I was able to learn about some of his other mods.

The first thing that caught my eye was the front disc brake conversion. Ryan designs programs for CNC machinery that has to have a well-equipped workshop just to make sure his software controls the hardware properly. Consequently, he made converting Volkswagen front axle to taking a disc brake sound easy but that is often the gift of the gifted. Although it's not a particularly good photograph, if you look closely you can see how close the bolt heads are the disc itself. Ryan had to skim them down to fit. I can't remember what discs and hubs he used but the drop of machining down the stub axle to accept the new bearings for the hub was a relatively easy job in comparison to get on the discs to physically fit into the space available.

The bodywork is all new and made a much lighter frame than the original structure, which, from their description, sounded more like ballast than anything with any strength. Compared to some buggies, the driving position is quite high up but visibility and comfort are major plus points.

I regret that I didn't question him much about the chassis but, to my eyes, it doesn't look as if it has the conventional VW floorpan underneath.

What I did notice, were the fancy looking dampers mounted on the rear bulkhead. These are adjustable air shocks from a high spec Range Rover. They are linked from side to side, not unlike the Hydragas system on an Austin Metro but the whole raison d'être is to keep both rear wheels on the ground much as possible. As the wheel on one side gets pushed up, the one on the opposite side gets pushed down. Combined with the rear engined layout, this makes a traction control system pretty well superfluous.

Then Ryan casually mentioned that he had done a similar disc brake conversion on the back and -- low, and behold -- there were the rear disc brakes. Again, he made that sound easy but then I suppose if you know you're doing then it is easy. I can't remember what these discs originally fitted but he did mention VW Transporter parts in passing.

Despite doing such a neat job on this VW buggy, which for want of a better name I have christened the Tonkin-VW Special, Ryan is no fan of VW engines. The present unit is a 2 litre with a vertical fan but Ryan has a Peugeot 205 GTi engine and gearbox sitting around doing nothing so it's only a matter of time before that gets installed. He reckons that at present there is too much rear overhang and a transverse powertrain will improve his performance even more.

In the meantime, he's made his own fuel injection system -- like you do -- using Rover 400 injectors. I think this might be a proprietary kit, possibly along the lines of a Megasquirt, but I find the idea of making your own tailor-made injection system hugely appealing, although a little daunting at the same time. I suppose the principles are simple enough and if you can do an Excel spreadsheet I don't see why you can't program the system. I can remember fantasising about fitting the fuel injection system of the then brand-new Kawasaki Z1000 to my Morris Minor. Starting from scratch actually sounds easier than trying to get the factory supplied injection and ignition systems to work in your special.

A 1970cc (94mm x 71mm) "suitcase" engine from a VW Transporter (with the fan on the end of the crank) puts out about 70 bhp and nearly 100 lb ft as standard with a 7.4:1 compression ratio and twin Solexes. In the VW-Porsche 914, the same engine put out 100bhp with fuel injection. Many people have disproved the age-old maxim that you can't tune Vee Dub motors but if you're not obliged to use them in your chosen formula of motorsport there are easier (and cheaper) ways of finding power.

Although Ryan didn't win the Launceston trial, I believe he had a good event. Certainly our little section didn't tax the Tonkin special very much. I'll watch out for him in other local trials and see if that Peugeot engine gets fitted soon.

The 24th Launceston Trial for the Fulford Cup

I haven't competed in motorsport for a while and haven't marshalled for even longer. When I heard about this trial, I volunteered to marshal. It's always good to help out and it was a chance to look at some interesting machinery and see how some very successful drivers approach some tricky sections. I soon discovered that a lot of those involved were people I knew so it was a highly social event,too. Clerk of the Course was none other than Adrian Booth and I found myself marshalling with his other half, Caroline Wills.

The 24th Launceston Trial was held in Lew Wood, an extensive and - in parts - extremely steep pine plantation between Lydford Gorge and Lew Down and was run by the Launceston & North Cornwall Motor Club. Some of the sections feature in the Tamar Trial so it was a good opportunity to practice

The format was slightly different from the classic trials that I was used to, in that sections were marked out by numbered poles. If an entrant cleaned the section that was an obvious "clean" but if they didn't their progress would be marked against the numbered poles.

As well as Caroline Wills and her son, Warin Kelly was also marshalling on my section. I'd marshalled with Warin years before on the Land's End Trial at Crackington and he'd brought along his highly developed Austin 7 special. More about that some other time.

He told me about the amount of regulations that would be sent out to get the entry we had on the day, which included some bikes. It's not quite an annual event but I hope they hold it again next year. As a competitor, I was always felt that the road miles between sections on the classic trials were a big disadvantage. Here it was all on one site albeit quite a spread out one. The organisers had worked hard at laying out a circuit of sections spread throughout the woods and competitors had the chance to make three circuits. There was talk of a fourth round being possible but the competitors were in no hurry. They seemed to go around in groups with big gaps of oppressive silence in between batches of cars. I gather they like to watch their mates have a go and swap advice.

Either that or they found the forest intimidating and found safety in numbers.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and there was an interesting cross section of machinery, ranging from trials specials to Beetles and Escorts. I think the furthest travelled was James Shallcross in his white Peugeot 205 who came down from Reading. This car was developed by Adrian and Warin tells me that, compared with a Golf, the 205 is at something of a disadvantage as the suspension can't be raised as much without the driveshafts falling out. Power didn't seem to be a problem, though....

More than one person remarked to me on the strange atmosphere of these woods. There was something primeval about them and if I strayed off the paths time stood still and I began speculating about piskies, trolls and dragons. It was like being on the set of The Hobbitt.

Even on the beaten track, there was a sense of desolation. This caravan was a crib hut at a logging camp and will probably never make it out of the forest again. Note the novel design of parking brake.

We could hear the sounds of competitors on the preceding sections, especially when they were giving it-some-beans on really sticky sections. This added considerably to the sense of anticipation as they approached our section. One or two engine notes were quite blood curdling in a good way. I can't be certain but I think Dick Bolt's 2-litre Escort was the best. From the depths of the forest, this came to us as if it were a roaring mechanical monster - a kind of FoMoCosaurus if indeed it was his Escort. It must have been right up against the rev limiter - a deep throated sound that echoed despite the density of the trees, guaranteed to make the likes of me grin and the elements of earth and water tremble.

Our section was on a west facing hillside and we didn't get much sunlight among the tall trees. It was too dark for many photos. Maybe I should have experimented with the night time setting on my digital camera. Here's Paul Cox on his KTM 300. In truth, our bit of the trial didn't really tax anyone but elsewhere some of the most innocuous sections proved really difficult.

The only improvement for me would have been even more entrants. If it hadn't been for the good company on our little section, it could've been a bit boring during the gaps in groups of competitors but in the end we had plenty to talk about. Adrian circulated in his Land Rover to round up the stragglers. There were a few mechanical retirements. Michael Collins had some fuel starvation problems with his VW Golf and one of the Escorts blew a piston. After hearing the engines roaring somewhere far off through the trees I'm surprised this didn't happen more often. Some of the cars stoved in their near side doors with a tree on a particularly slippery section.

I felt especially sorry, though, for Colin Bird in his beautiful Tamar Trio MG J2. After having problems with the tyres creeping round the rims, he broke a valve. Nice to see his car being used for what it was designed, though. Def'ly a Vintage Thing.

Rumour has it that, as a result of the self-less act of marshalling, I shall now enjoy certain membership privileges of the Launceston & North Cornwall Motor Club, as if I were a paid up member, such as receiving a copy of their newsletter.

It's enough to make me want to have another go at entering again. They only question is - what in?