F1 drivers Rover 620i / racing at 24h of lemons

[wesacosa]

3 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Yes, some great sleuthing there, it is indeed Slim Borgudd’s own Rover 620i. He scored one point for F1 backmarkers ATS in F1, did truck racing and some saloons too. Oh, and he was a session musician who played drums for ABBA. 
 

I worked on both the Accord and 620 (insert plug for my Quality control book here), and love them. I also brought my daughter home from hospital when she was born, in a near-identical car. Strange sensation when I got in and drove this one when loading it.

The plan, if we can finance it, is to build a car in tribute to him, ship it to USA, and race it in 24 hours of Lemons.

 

That's a great plan. Looking forward to following progress and hope it comes off

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I was offered a near immaculate Rover 600 about 7 or 8 years ago now very cheaply, £750 I think? At the time it was on the expensive side

I haven't seen one in the wild for absolutely ages now. Must be at least a couple of years? They rarely come up for sale, so for me to think £750 seemed pricey for an immaculate one less than a decade ago seems crazy

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it

There's a black 2.0 auto in Tamworth that FB keeps shoving under my nose. Been listed for a few weeks and is marked down to £1250 now - on a 'N' plate.
No famous* previous owners mentioned - maybe a deal breaker?

[motorpunk]

43 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

That's a great plan. Looking forward to following progress and hope it comes off

Thanks! First step is an MOT to see how rotten it is. Then it’ll need measuring up for a race seat and cage. Engine and gearbox seem ok. The PAS is fucking fucked mate, big time, due to a leak. The drivers window regulator doesn’t. And there’s ex-F1 driving giffer dents aplenty.

 

[scooobydont]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

it wasn't its first lap of the season, but it was on the first lap after Patrick Watts had miraculously qualified on pole position at Snetterton a few rounds in to the 1993 season

As @Piemansaid Borgudd only raced it in the end of season world cup (although he did both Monza 93 and Donington 94, plus the Nordic series in 1994)

He was supposed to race a brand new Roger Dowson built 323 in the BTCC in 1995 but the sponsorship fell through at the last minute and the car never raced, although its now out and about on the historic circuit. I saw it at Super Touring Power at Brands this summer and it looked and sounded fabulous

the rhubarb and custard Xedos still survives and is on the historic racing circuit in New Zealand along with David Leslie's 94 white Xedos

I saw that orange 323 at the super tourers at Knockhill this year. These cars were doing the BTCC before I really got into it but that 323 made the best noise of any BTTC car I have ever seen/heard, it sounded like nothing else on the track, it was phenomenal! (hence remembering it).

[wesacosa]

16 minutes ago, scooobydont said:

I saw that orange 323 at the super tourers at Knockhill this year. These cars were doing the BTCC before I really got into it but that 323 made the best noise of any BTTC car I have ever seen/heard, it sounded like nothing else on the track, it was phenomenal! (hence remembering it).

It had the 2.0 V6 engine as used in the BTCC Mondeos and the Xedos , and yes it sounds amazing

 

[wesacosa]

25 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Thanks! First step is an MOT to see how rotten it is. Then it’ll need measuring up for a race seat and cage. Engine and gearbox seem ok. The PAS is fucking fucked mate, big time, due to a leak. The drivers window regulator doesn’t. And there’s ex-F1 driving giffer dents aplenty.

 

If its leaking there it could well be the PAS cooler which runs behind the grille. Mine was covered in pin holes so I just binned it off and bypassed it with a length of rubber hose

If you worked on them before I'm sure you know already, but its Hondamatic fluid or equivalent required not dexron

[Timewaster]

My mate from school got got in touch with his estranged father a few years ago. Doing a bit of ancestry, he discovered that his grandfather was a formula 1 driver in the 50s.

Wow, what a claim to fame.

On further investigation, although he raced in several formulas around the world, he was not particularly successful and his F1 career amounted to 2 DNFs.

[Bren]

I remember looking at cavaliers and mondeos but I am glad we plumped for a 620i.

It was povo spec save for leccy sunroof. It even had wheel trims.

Sadly the rear quarters above the bumper - where they meet the arch - completely rotted through. It was only 11 years old. That there Rover build quality.

I am led to believe certain parts are difficult to get hold of nowadays.

[HillmanImp]

2 hours ago, Timewaster said:

My mate from school got got in touch with his estranged father a few years ago. Doing a bit of ancestry, he discovered that his grandfather was a formula 1 driver in the 50s.

Wow, what a claim to fame.

On further investigation, although he raced in several formulas around the world, he was not particularly successful and his F1 career amounted to 2 DNFs.

To get 2 DNFs, he still started twice which is better than nearly everyone else. 

[quicksilver]

Slim Borgudd sounds like a perfect candidate for the 'My perfect match' round on Richard Osman's House of Games: "My perfect match is someone who has both made music with Abba and scored a point in a Grand Prix".

Now Abba have reunited, maybe they'd be interested in sponsoring their late mate's car at LeMons for old time's sake. Having their name on a valuable classic crusty old Rover in an obscure amateur race is the sort of fantastic publicity money can't buy.

[mintwth]

Sponsoring a crusty old Rover? With a bit of paint and some fettling it'll look "as good as new"! There's "no doubt about it", it's a "super trouper" to have lasted "so long". 

It's definitely worth giving ABBA a "ring ring" in the "happy new year" and asking them for "money, money, money".

Just tell them: "I have a dream" in this "crazy world" of driving it "on and on and on", in the lemons race "it's the name of the game". Ask do they want to "take a chance on me" and Abba are bound to say "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do".

After all "the winner takes it all". 

 

If you just say "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!", the sponsorship may well be "slipping through my fingers". It could be your "Waterloo". 

[Ghosty]

3 hours ago, Bren said:

Sadly the rear quarters above the bumper - where they meet the arch - completely rotted through. It was only 11 years old. That there Rover build quality.

That's not a Rover thing, that's poor design on Honda's part and is a blight on contemporary Civics, Accords, Concerto etc.

[motorpunk]

There’s a very personal story about poor old Slim which I won’t share on a public forum, but I really believe he’d have laughed his Swedish y-fronts off at the prospect of us racing the shit out of his old Rover at a NASCAR circuit on the other side of the Atlantic.

Any tips for a very cheap and easy way of shipping this heap to ‘merica?

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Now Abba have reunited

If we're getting musical, that was Peaches and Herb

[motorpunk]

On 22/12/2023 at 22:45, Bren said:

Looks nice. How old?

I’m 51. Thanks.

Oh, sorry, it’s a ‘98 I think.

[garethj]

22 hours ago, motorpunk said:

Any tips for a very cheap and easy way of shipping this heap to ‘merica?

Road trip 👍

I worked for a company that supplied bits to Rover around this time, although I don’t remember doing much for the 600.  We did the steering wheel switches for the bubble Rover 25 and the electric window switches for the Rover 800 too.  They were moulded in a clear plastic, then sprayed white, then sprayed grey.  The next process was called laser etching, where a laser burned away a shape in the grey paint, leaving the white so when the lamp illuminated them, the remaining arrow would light up white.

I think there was a model refresh so instead of white & grey, they were sprayed white and black.  Our dozey account manager and one of our engineers was in a meeting with the Rover guys one day, talking about quality statistics and what they needed for the next model year.

”I think we’re getting there with the switches” said the Rover chap “but there’s just one grey area.”

Waking up with a start, our account manager quickly loads up his reassuring smile and says “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can spray it black.”

In meeting terms, what happened next is called Losing control of the agenda 🙄

[timolloyd]

10 hours ago, garethj said:

Road trip 👍

I worked for a company that supplied bits to Rover around this time, although I don’t remember doing much for the 600.  We did the steering wheel switches for the bubble Rover 25 and the electric window switches for the Rover 800 too.  They were moulded in a clear plastic, then sprayed white, then sprayed grey.  The next process was called laser etching, where a laser burned away a shape in the grey paint, leaving the white so when the lamp illuminated them, the remaining arrow would light up white.

I think there was a model refresh so instead of white & grey, they were sprayed white and black.  Our dozey account manager and one of our engineers was in a meeting with the Rover guys one day, talking about quality statistics and what they needed for the next model year.

”I think we’re getting there with the switches” said the Rover chap “but there’s just one grey area.”

Waking up with a start, our account manager quickly loads up his reassuring smile and says “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can spray it black.”

In meeting terms, what happened next is called Losing control of the agenda 🙄

Sorry for the thread drift, but I have a similar story. 
A colleague was daydreaming while in a meeting with two client reps, one called Roger.

Colleague wakes up to hear the other client saying ‘I couldn’t agree with Roger more’.

At which point colleague is frantically rummaging through the agenda trying to work out Roger Moore has come into the equation.

[garethj]

On 24/12/2023 at 09:17, motorpunk said:

I worked on both the Accord and 620 (insert plug for my Quality control book here)

I got this book for Christmas and it’s excellent!

[motorpunk]

2 hours ago, garethj said:

I got this book for Christmas and it’s excellent!

Ah that’s fantastic! Thank you. I’ve written about ten books now, that one was my first.

[motorpunk]

Rover repair kit ✔️ 

[motorpunk]

In a farm unit near Milton Keynes, sits Slim’s old 620i and the clock is quietly ticking on the race. There’s sort of a plan. But…

Who can design and weld us a very good quality roll cage, from scratch, please? Happy to pay, just need a proper job doing promptly. Finding someone who can help is proving incredibly difficult. The rest of the safety shite can follow, but we need to get started with a cage so we can ship the car to americaland soon. 
 

Slim Borgudd drove this Rover 620i, and we’re gonna ship it and race it for 24 hours in the US. This is surely the most shite of autoshite activities. We need your help!

[Skizzer]

Safety Devices are the kings of roll cages. They don’t list the 600 (or its Accord sister) for an off the shelf kit, but they do bespoke as well so may be worth a call?

I dare say there are cheaper options, mind.

Might also be worth DMing Richard Brunning on Twitter, he’s bound to know someone who does cages well.

[Pieman]

1 hour ago, motorpunk said:

In a farm unit near Milton Keynes, sits Slim’s old 620i and the clock is quietly ticking on the race. There’s sort of a plan. But…

Who can design and weld us a very good quality roll cage, from scratch, please? Happy to pay, just need a proper job doing promptly. Finding someone who can help is proving incredibly difficult. The rest of the safety shite can follow, but we need to get started with a cage so we can ship the car to americaland soon. 
 

Slim Borgudd drove this Rover 620i, and we’re gonna ship it and race it for 24 hours in the US. This is surely the most shite of autoshite activities. We need your help!

DM'd you.

[loserone]

What a brilliant thing!  Do you offer sponsorship?

[SEATMad]

Uuuff this thing gives me the fizz

[Dave_Q]

@Mally either fabricates cages or will know someone who does.

[Mally]

4 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

@Mally either fabricates cages or will know someone who does.

I do, but I'm up to my eyes in our stuff and season starts in March.

I get my steel from Rob Mitchell at TMR. He could do it and will have insurance to back up his construction, but is some distance, and could be busy. I'll pm you his number.

Pieman will suggest similar, maybe closer people, but timescale could be your problem.

[motorpunk]

9 hours ago, loserone said:

What a brilliant thing!  Do you offer sponsorship?

Yes. Absolutely 100% yes. It’ll appear on the Lemons YouTube channel and at least a couple of car mags and elsewhere online. Talk to me!

[Verysleepyboy]

For cages, try Hanger 30 in Ely: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054572193819

or RNJ Motorsport near Towcester:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057203629208

[garethj]

15 hours ago, Skizzer said:

Safety Devices are the kings of roll cages. They don’t list the 600 (or its Accord sister) for an off the shelf kit, but they do bespoke as well so may be worth a call?

I dare say there are cheaper options, mind.

Might also be worth DMing Richard Brunning on Twitter, he’s bound to know someone who does cages well.

Agreed.  I used to work with a bloke who was there years ago and they 3D scan the interior to make sure it fits.