My Car

So far we have looked at cars developed for competition but the Darrian was designed for competition. This one was bought as a rolling shell and is a T9, the first evolution of the car by Tim Duffee who took over the building of these cars from Darrian in Northern Ireland. This is D21, which is a combination of space frame (of which the cage is a part) and monocoque (which is mainly fibre glass). It's a two seater, mid-engined with the gearbox at the back and at 850kg weighs less than most hatchbacks.

As an ex-forest car, that Colin had actually seen competing on the ATS Corracle Stages, it wasn't immaculate but the intention never was to strip it and rebuild. But one thing leads to another and that's what Colins Early and Torkington did.

We'll start at the front, that's the white end, then work through to the red end, that's the back. Front suspension is essentially Imp-based, though the hubs all round are Group 4 Escort and the steering column is from an Allegro. There are coil over struts and for tarmac the springs have been changed and the platforms dropped. According to Colin, it's still about 2" too high. Brakes are the same all round: 4 pot AP calipers acting on 10½" discs with proportioning from an adjustable pedal box. The bonnet has plenty of room for the battery, fire extinguisher bottle and.. er.. not much else. The radiator comes from a Princess.

The KitCar theme continues as we move past the swoopy windscreen (from an Alfa). The cockpit favours the smaller crew with Sparco seats and Willans belts.

Now, on to the hard bit. The car was bought as a rolling shell, and as it now has a Vauxhall 2-litre engine, much time was spent fabricating engine, gear box and exhaust mounts. The rear suspension has been re-rose jointed. Tim Duffy does not come out of this story well; Gartrac get good reviews from Colin, delivering on time and to budget.

There are twin fuel tanks behind the doors with a Mitsuba pump each feeding a swirl pot from where a high-pressure pump feeds the fuel injection rail. This has a return to one tank and this then has a balance pipe through to the other.

Where is this fuel going? What'll she do, mister? The engine is stock Vauxhall 16v with Cosworth conrod bolts. The important bits are SBD tapered throttle bodies and an MBE chip to give 210bhp and 175lb ft of torque. It was the sale of the Nova that enabled Colin to buy the Hewland FT200 gearbox. "They are expensive, but they aren't supposed to break." A Tilton twin-plate 7" clutch feeds the power out to 15" Compomotive MO wheels in 6, 7 and 8" widths depending on conditions.