Recollections
It was indeed a fortunate occasion when I met Scamp Porter.
He is without doubt, one of the smartest and most astute hands-on guys, one who
stands out amongst my many acquaintances. It has showed me that learning
is not the only important attribute in success. Like with Henry Ford, it
is inventiveness, thinking outside the box and a clear and detailed work ethic
that goes with it. Attentive listening, careful reasoning, combined with knowledge and experience, and a mysterious something extra are the attributes
that brought his successes. That and also an amazing capacity for hard
graft.
He was also an outstanding driver and had that incredible gift of being
able to quickly pinpoint areas in vehicle handling or engine performance that
could improve lap times. Or, if the vehicle needed nursing, to be able to
drive around a problem without losing much time. or exacerbating any threat.
As this is an account of his progress and the history of the times, most
of the following is a more factual presentation focusing on the
events. But one cannot move straight into it without talking about the
personality of our subject.
Scamp was and is a most modest and fun-loving chap. He
always has time for a laugh and a joke, and was great fun either being good-naturedly
teased or him teasing. While motor racing was one of his overpowering
passions, he was always approachable by anyone, and ready to listen or give
advice when asked, even with his competitors. Autograph seekers always got
the kindest treatment. He was great company at all
times, and able to make light of any difficult situation, even the grave
ones. If even a serious competitor in direct competition needed help in
any way, he would be there, whether it was for information, an idea to rectify
some problem, or even muscle power or inventing and fabricating something to help. His staff and
black mechanic-helpers adored him. He always had time for them and made efforts to help them
improve their skills, learn something new, or perhaps even listen and assist with any
domestic problems. And the Renault race and rally team drivers also
adored and respected him highly. The same can be said for his fellow competitors in Renaults. Anything that would be of help to them was offered,
and new ideas he used carefully explained and discussed. He was also a
dedicated family man and father.
But he was a born racer. Countless times he was teased about his
tenseness and worry in the paddock before a race. And especially about his
constant habit on the straights of moving back and forward in the driver seat,
urging the car faster, as if jockeying a race-horse! A habit he
retained, even on every single lap of the endurance races, or when he was way ahead in the sprint
races. Perhaps it would have helped if he had raced bicycles! Or horses, but maybe not cars
Looking back at the results, these accomplishments look less than astonishing today.
However, it must be born in mind that Karl Benz, Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Chevrolet, Peugeot, Louis Renault, Enzo Ferrari, Colin Chapman, even Galileo and the Wright Brothers were all enthusiastic pioneers, using only the crude amateur tools of their day to make the admirable breakthroughs for future engineers to follow up on.
As Carl Sagan expressed so eloquently, all the geniuses of today were only able to see further by standing on their inventors' shoulders.
1960/61.
Scamp and John Conchie met when one of them was buying a motorcycle from
the other – can’t remember who. Scamp was still a young kid, had served a
full motor mechanic apprenticeship, owned an older Fiat 1100, loved speed and
was already racing cars, accompanying his elder brother, Phil.
They had both entered a couple of races and 9 hour events at Grand Central race
track, and somehow managed to get a bit of help and sponsorship from Lucy’s
Motors, the Fiat dealer. Phil and Colin Burford always teamed together. Scamp had
no money, having just qualified, and also married, so usually had to beg a ride
by doing most of the preparation work.
Conchie also loved speed and was in the process of modifying the engine
of his own Fiat 1100. He had also just graduated from an apprenticeship in
armature winding, and learnt from the old racing do it yourself “Pros” that
internal engine parts had to be immaculately polished. So he showed off his
incredibly shiny crankshaft and con-rods he was finishing to Scamp. Having worked with
Fiat, and knowing the engine shortfalls, Scamp was not very impressed.
Fiat crankshafts were so prone to centre main bearing failure, polishing could never
help! Scamp’s own Fiat 1100 had a banged out sets of these very
bearings. Too short of money to do a full repair, he became resigned to
fitting a new pair of bearing shells on it from under the car every few months. Of
course, good new bearings on a worn out crank hardly helped, so one of his innovative solutions was effected. Directly from his father’s
work boots! The long leather tongues were just right. Snip –
snip. The solution of a distort-able leather bearing worked admirably for
a teenager with no money, and reduced down time to once or twice a year!
Who knows Dad’s thoughts.
Valuable crankshaft info for budding racer Conchie, that left
him in a quandary, after all the hours of hard work . So he did careful
research, and discovered that a hard chroming process lengthened the life of
diesel truck engine crank journals indefinitely!
Voila. And so was born a great tuning and prep
partnership. Conchie’s Fiat 1100 and their first Kyalami 9 hour Endurance
(Conchie/S Porter) race together brought home a clutch of silverware. 1st Saloon
car, class win etc. (5th overall behind real imported and respected sports-car racers) in the 1961 (first) Kyalami 9 hour endurance race. They tuned
with few actual internal component changes, since the performance industry was
in its infancy. But Scamp was a master tuner already, having grasped the
nuances of carbs, and would spend endless hours fiddling with the many
adjustable carb and distributor bits, and, together with Conchie’s fabricated
and laboriously finished parts, they progressed fast together. This car was
so fast and bullet proof because of the meticulous attention to every detail,
and their own innovation. It used high compression and a mirror polished cylinder
head from the Fiat 1200. (slightly larger ports and valves). Adler &
Conchie already had procured a pair of early side draught Weber carbs that had
just been released. (carb numbers #4 and #6!) There was no room to
fit them in a manifold drawing straight into the portsdue to the right hand drive steering if you wanted to
retain the steering box, but this was hardly a deterrent. A
manifold with 165 degree sweeping bends was fabricated with the pair mounted
above the valve cover. So, when you looked at the engine, all you saw
were these newfangled type carbs with huge ram tubes and shiny metallic
manifolds! Also, it had a very creative branch exhaust too! There
was no one to bend exhaust tubing to complicated shapes in South Africa!
Pipe benders were unknown. You would buy 90 bends and fabricate or
do without. These two had different thoughts. A handy forked branch
in a nearby tree. Some straight pipe, fill it with resin or sand,
weld the ends closed, and puff and heave on one end with the other stuck in the
tree, making perfect bends to your exact desire.
Being such a keen apprentice, Scamp utilised his theory lessons on
front wheel camber, caster and toe to advantage. Lowering, and adjustments quickly
brought down the lap times of the street 1100, and the car went
faster and faster at every appearance. And the shoe leather fix to his own daily transport Fiat rumbled on and on.
1961/2
The Big Career Step.
Scamp applied for and started work at Renault Africa as School Instructor. The job
entailed towing a trailer of parts and tools around the Country, teaching theory, discussing
Renault vehicle fixes with the dealer mechanics, demonstrating new factory
tools, and better and quicker repair procedures. (Dauphine and
Fregate vehicles at the time.) An early success due to his nature and personality was to encourage these dealer mechanics to make suggestions from their own experience and and methods, then perhaps utilising and rewarding any innovations or ideas. This approach resulted in Renault Africa encouraging and
offering prizes and rewards for money saving ideas, tools or processes, which
was a first, I think, in the Industry.
The French Regie Renault Factory had established a racing reputation during
the early part of the century. But the post war cars they produced at the
this time were not really competitive, though the Dauphine with Gordini
upgrades did quite well in the early local 9 hour endurance races and won a Total
- Lourenco Marques Rally overall, piloted by the redoubtable Porter
Brothers. The Renault Fregate was a pretty 4 door Renault and
quite large for a European import, with lazy 2200cc front engine. It
was not very popular locally and sold poorly. The Renault
Dauphine was a rear engined small and cramped four door vehicle with 850cc
motor and superseded the post WWll 750CV. Its intention was to
compete with the wildly successful VW Beetle. It offered excellent fuel
mileage, but proved not to be anywhere near as popular, and the water cooled
engine was not as reliable. It also suffered the ill manners of the
VW in crosswinds and had the same reputation for toppling over easily.
However the lowered Dauphines that raced seemed to have far better
handling qualities than the VW, with few such racing incidents.
Lawson Motors (Volvo Importers and Renault Dealers who had a great racing tradition with
their Volvos) were successfully racing their Volvo 444/544 cars, and
even encouraging enthusiasts who were prepared to try racing the
Dauphine. Phil Porter, who loved any type of car racing, was now quite
involved with the Dauphine (1093) Gordini, and somehow got a 9 hour entry out
of it. Brother Scamp was the preparation man, but the prep work had to be
done in their own time. No time off from duties! What one
doesn’t do for brotherly love! Brother Phil and Colin Burford had tried
and enjoyed quite some success with rear engine vehicle handling when competing
in a Fiat 750 Abarth for Lucy Motors at Grand Central Circuit. But
this swing axle rear suspension was something else!
Systematic lowering and tweaking the suspension was a must, but sudden
over-steering situations would still occur! So, an
innovative solution from brother Scamp! “If you can’t beat it learn to live with a better it”. So Scamp searched around for a method of getting a faster steering
response, to allow good driver's reflexes the ability to catch the sudden
steering change. And the birth of all the Renault quick steering came
about. You modified the rack with a larger pinion and offset bushings,
giving just over 1 turn from lock to lock. The drivers loved this new gadget! The 9 Hour results with that vehicle proved the excellent,
painstaking preparation that Scamp was capable of, as the car was reasonably
powerful for an 850cc, ran faultlessly, and gave the two drivers loads of
confidence in piloting the rear engined configuration. (1961: P Porter/Burford
9th overall, 1st in class, 1962: 2nd in
class.) That vehicle continued admirably and successfully on to
the next season’s sprint racing schedule under the very capable stewardship of
Arnold Chatz, and the next year's 9 hour distance event with Chatz/S Porter.
1963.
The new
Era
A new Renault R8 956cc vehicle was introduced to the public early in the year. It
offered a dream 5 main bearing engine, and all the internal parts were kept
unbelievably small and tidy, making it a high revving delight that cried out for tuning. This vehicle was a small and tight 4 door saloon, slightly
larger than the Dauphine. It was very comfortable and still incredibly fuel
efficient, but definitely would not have accommodated four rugger players. Sales proved it to be not as popular as the VW it competed
with, had similar rear engine road manners in certain situations, as well as the water
cooled engine which dogged sales. However, in Saloon Car racing it quickly
established itself as a driver's choice, on its way to becoming THE low budget entry In S.A. it (The R8/10, Alconi, Alconi upgrades and Gordinis with Alconi upgrades) enjoyed
better sales penetration than elsewhere in the world. It also became most
Renault competitive drivers’ (both rally and racing) personal choice for
their own personal transport/second car, as well as the preferred
personal vehicle for a multitude of other motor-sport fans.
The name Scamp Porter and Renault R8/Alconi/Gordini racing became
synonymous.
The previous two 9 hour endurance results in Dauphines drove enthusiasm at
Renault Africa. A decision was made to compete in the upcoming 1963 event with a modified hi-powered version of the new car, even though it had not
yet proved itself, and no such performance components were yet available from France or anywhere.... But don’t misunderstand, Mr Porter, if the car ebreaks,
you’ll still be hung!... Your future is still on the line! There was no R8 Gordini or Alconi. They came later, with the 1100cc
engine. A bigger budget was needed, too. (A budget that would make
to-days racers lie down and die laughing; - no mechanics, no pit crew, no pit supplies.
(Probably less than the monthly wage of one mechanic!) Preparation would
be a totally spare time effort, so drivers P Porter and Burford also chipped in
extensively. But Renault Africa would also have to sweat a
bit. Building hi-performance parts was not cheap, and many Saturday
practise sessions were necessary!
Thus began the South African era of R8 racing history. The very
first year the first R8 (956cc engine) was released! A local performance
cam grind was developed. Friends Conchie and Adler had some ideas on
cylinder head flow improvements. Scamp’s arm was twisted, too. If you’re
going to be hung for a poor finish, what can you lose? You need to fit
twin side draft Weber carbs and tuned length exhaust, everything one could think
of at the time. Plus the suspension and quick ratio steering lessons learned
from the Dauphine racing days. Adler and Conchie also made up
the manifolds, though by now help was at hand, as one could get pipes bent to follow templates you fabricated
with smaller diameter copper tubing! The works all lovingly put together by Scamp and
ready for testing. In those years Kyalami allowed practice/testing for
about 3 hours on Saturdays, afternoons only. And this had to be
shared 50/50 in alternating half hours with the motorcycle racers!
A
photograph taken at Renault Africa Head Office to celebrate the
1963 fourth-place Nine-Hour result of Phil Porter and Colin Burford and the
seventh of Scamp and Arnold Chatz. Scamp is second from left with Chatz
beside him on his left followed by Phil and Burford. (Courtesy Arnold
Chatz)
The engine relished the modifications, and the rev limit that Scamp had
based his homework on for endurance racing longevity had to be extended well
into the 7000 bracket. Not a healthy sign for job retention! This
was stratospheric! How would the new mechanicals cope? Well, there
was little time to change or refine anything, because one major problem to bug
this Renault and many future Renault R8 racers suddenly
materialised. Fabulous lap times for one or two laps,
then a steady loss of power! All efforts to change jets,
ignition, fuel supply, fuel, spark plugs were futile. Nothing improved. It was known that Weber S/D carbs were always highly susceptible to vibration, and needed
sensitive vertical damping. The Renault engine, because it was
mounted to a transmission that had to be reasonably solid, did have
considerable vertical vibrations. So, make up softer dampers, make up harder
dampers, support the carbs from the engine bay! Nothing worked! Until
on one lucky practice run, a carb jet change was performed in such a
rush to get a reading before the practise session closed. No time
to refit the engine (bonnet) lid. The car took off with the rear
open to the atmosphere. Problem discovered! Better lap times, and
no pace slack off! This caused a few pub rounds of beer and hours of painful,
thoughtful analysis! It was exhaust manifold heat and coolant heat (the R8 fan sucked the heat through the radiator to the intake and carbs) combining
to throttle the engine and overheat the fuel.
Side draughts carbs were the worst offenders, sitting just
atop the exhaust! What to do? Regulations don’t allow bodywork like
engine bonnets to be left off during races! Lots and lots of experimenting followed,
and, with time to the event getting short, it was necessary to use the help of Randburg’s main roads, sprinting down the
country lanes, with pieces of wool trailing off the rear bodywork, and spotters
and passengers watching to see where they pointed at high speed! Each
genius idee on rectifying the hot air problem failed, and the 9 hour event was
eventually completed with makeshift ducting screwed and taped on, and heavy asbestos
sheeting between the carbs and the exhaust. Conchie, being the armature
winder, was especially useful, in painstakingly winding many layers of
armature insulating asbestos tape around each exhaust runner to prevent as much
heat transfer as possible.
Well, that 9 hour race results spoke volumes. A clean sweep!
4th overall, 1st saloon car to finish, behind pukka
racing sports cars, (drivers P. Porter/Burford) and wet weather road
holding that embarrassed the sports cars! All on simple Michelin radials.
Kudos and accolades for Scamp and drivers, but no wage
increase! (Scamp also raced and the Chatz/S Porter Renault
Dauphine finished with 7th place overall, 1st in
class)
1964.
Scamp always wanted to race the fastest cars himself, not just prepare
vehicles every night. Immediately after the 9 hour race, he managed to
get a deal on an R8 . He wanted to do
Sprint racing, and was permitted use of the modified parts from the 9 hour
car. He spent hours and hours on the under bonnet heating
problem, with all sorts of novel approaches. Reversing the flow of the
whole cooling system, using engine driven fans to blow the heat out, ducts
everywhere.
Renault introduced a new R8 1100cc (956cc bored out to 1108cc)
engine for 1964, which upped power nicely, and good race results started
accumulating, but preventing the drop off in power on side-draught carbs cars
was always a concern. This problem was to a large extent solved later in the
following year with the arrival of the 1108cc R8 Gordini. This used a crossflow hemi cylinder head, so the carbs were stuck on the side of
the engine opposite the exhaust. Interesting to note, the Alconi, with downdraft
twinchoke carb and original carburetter cold air ductwork, never suffered this malady.
Another area that Scamp felt needed some improvement was the still
slightly tail happy handling. He felt there was lap time there still.
How he managed all these experiments is a complete mystery.
Because he was totally busy, morning noon and night, repairing private customer
cars, helping Fiat owners with performance mods, and even doing bodywork and
spray painting, because he sometimes procured a wreck that he repaired and
resold for a little extra money to spend on his racing! And he was working a full day, still doing his instruction tours
about the Country, and preparing his racing car and the Factory Rally entries. And pulling his weight as a husband and father. Talk about living on lack of sleep!
A rather amusing story to come from this. He was
developing another genius idee about swing axle suspension. His race cars were
always pre-set with good negative rear wheel camber. To prevent the rear end
jacking on corners, why not shorten the check straps to limit travel and retain some of
the negative camber. Came Saturday afternoon Kyalami practice. Lets compare lap times. This experiment ended with the car skidding
sideways entering the corner, then flopping onto its driver’s side at Clubhouse bend! We all
rushed down. Scamp, are you OK? What happened? That was
the scariest thing we’ve ever seen! As the car went over, you seemed to
fall out of your seat belt. All we saw were arms and legs sticking out
the window! You could easily have lost a leg or arm! ……
Nah, that was me, says Scamp. When it flopped onto its side,
it slowly started lifting up to go onto its roof, and I thought: “I already have to straighten the driver’s side, and I really don’t want
to do the roof too, so I stuck my feet out the driver’s window and pushed and strained
until it flopped back…….And by the way, the check straps are no great idea
either”!
Remember, understanding road holding was in its infancy.
The next two upgrades during the year really made the R8 a road holding
champion. There was now enough power in that engine for the rear
wheels to lose cornering traction through wheel spin. Changing front or
rear or both end spring rates did not help. To adapt or fabricate a limited
slip differential was the next immediate challenge? You could not buy one
- probably still can’t. This was not Ford or Volvo or Alfa with Factory Competition Development, and racing
parts available! An R8 has a dinky little gearbox, and nothing already
available could be adapted. So Scamp’s next genius idee was to lock the
diff completely. Wouldn’t work, said the boffins! You’ll never
get the vehicle off a straight line, and the initial understeer is
unmanageable. And wet weather driving would be no cake-walk either! He
pondered this for a while. Understeer could be a good thing at times with
rear engines. A Renault diff is not an easy thing to get at. And
there are many expensive parts. Why weld it solid, as the dragsters did?
Welding causes all sorts of fatigue and cracking problems. So he
solved this by adding two extra spider pinions that jammed the diff, and could
be removed without damage or cost if it did not work. His now newly
straightened R8 lapped it up. Handling ease, corner entry speeds, hard acceleration
with steering on correction was fabulous. And so was born the
“Porter-Posi! (traction)” All the higher powered sprint R8s from then on were
so equipped, including his Renault competitors, who were informed of this new aid, and not one single component failure was recorded. The
second alteration, on advice from his two Alconi (not yet formed) friends, was
a stronger front anti roll bar, to limit vehicle roll and improve front/rear
balance. They built him a triple strength bar, about twice the diameter
of the car’s road springs!...Better. So they built an even
bigger one, 8 times the strength of the original bar! Better
still. In fact, the bar was so strong that, should any R8 have an accident and get completely demolished, the bar would keep the two front corners together! All racing R8/Alconi/Gordini’s from this day forth raced with an anti roll bar the equivalent of 8 Renault front anti-roll bars attached to the
suspension. (In fact it might have been a great idea for the Renault Factory
to have equipped production Alconis and Gordinis with a hefty standard anti-roll bar as well, in hindsight.) These two factors turned the car into an
awesome track car, easily coping with the wide wheels and the best tires of the
day. And it made the R8 equal in handling to the best of its imported British and Italian saloon car competitors, and an absolute joy to drive. Sprint and Endurance race results
continued to be hauled in, and any wet weather occasions were embraced with
open arms.
An advert
placed by Renault Africa after the November 1964 Nine-Hour. The Renault
Gordini mentioned in the inset driven by Angela Pera and John Myers, was the
Dauphine Gordini 1093 driven by Scamp and Arnold Chatz in the 1963 Nine-Hour.
In the advert Basil van Rooyen follows the fourth-place Chatz/Porter
R8 in the Zephyr, while David Piper is seen coming through in his
Ferrari GTO shared with Tony Maggs. (Courtesy Arnold Chatz)
The Kyalami 9 hour brought another good result, with another 4th place
overall, 1st saloon car home and class win (Scamp Porter/Chatz). These were not simply 9 hour endurance competitions
against other somewhat similar cars! These R8s were beating a slew of
high powered and imported sports cars, and many overseas sports car entries as well.
Often, the traditional Kyalami 9 hour rain storm helped them catch up with the Ferraris, Cobras, Porsches, Jaguars, etc., but
reliability and preparation also played a big part. Endurance driving was an absolute pleasure, as the seats were so comfortable, and the steering with rear engine, so light.
And so, a rising tide of Renault R8 entries grew throughout the
Country. This vehicle was becoming a popular choice for would-be racers.
Only a few further steps in handling materialised after this, but more
of it later.
These Competitors at the time who were starting to race Renault R8s were
offered every bit of this hard earned information and advice, supplied many of the special trick parts, and told how and where to get the rest. Never were any
sneaky tricks held back from and fellow competitor, so his own entry/ies could
win.
He was at last given his first Factory help! Wait for it!
The “Big” sponsorship came in the form of….wait for it….free use of any and all the
Renault parts that were returned to the factory under warranty! …. And so it
happened that his Randburg home became all R8 racers' after hours congregating place and dream parts
supplier. The “Renault Randburg Division.” Open 24/7. Free advice,
a few laughs and always, cup after cup of tea. He had the largest personal tea cup
ever produced, with the name “Daddy” on its sides. His little home repair
and race preparation industry and parts supply was becoming so big now, that an
extra double garage and storeroom was needed. For this, he in-spanned his
Dad (a builder and carpenter) to help, and their work was completed shortly
thereafter. Where he ever found the time to do all this extra building
work as well, no one could fathom.
Brother Phil Porter, always active and wanting to race/rally, was a
senior accountant at Renault Africa, and did much to influence their racing spirit and attitude. Of course, Renault Africa had enjoyed a fairy tale
introduction to racing, and so it was not too difficult to encourage them. The
staff soon became gung-ho. But they now expected these types of
results. Engine failures and accidents only happened to other
inferior makes. No credit was given to the meticulous and careful
preparation and foresight that was the gift of their “competition department's” sole overworked employee. Eventually, they did
relieve him of his day job, budgeting for Scamp to become the Renault
Competition Department (one man).
Phil also procured an R8 entry in the year’s premier Total LM Rally, which
was not surprising, after their previous success.
At the time Adler and Conchie and the go ahead Renault Africa management
had begun discussions in capitalising on the racing success with a factory performance
model. The bosses thought it a worthwhile idea, and a car was offered
to this pair of interpid builders. Work commenced. A few different
arrangements were envisioned, and some ideas were tried. Within a few
weeks this new road car, a modified performance model now called the Alconi,
was delivered to Scamp for evaluation before being returned to Renault Africa
for testing. The factory had the intention of letting all their sales
reps hammer it as they drove about the Country, as only sales reps can, evaluate it, and get impressions from their
various dealers. Scamp knew a lot more about what the vehicle was going
to be subjected to than the two innocent fabricators, so he used it for a few
weeks himself, came back with suggestions and contributions that smoothed
it out amazingly, and made the car very easy to drive, as well as quick and
desirable. All this in addition to his already mammoth work load.
You could not faze this guy with hard work
Phil’s designated Rally entry for the Total LM hwas being prepared at the
same time. However, after driving the new Alconi, both Phil and Scamp
opined that a similar performance engine would be ideal for their rally entry,
with a few tactical alterations like a single carb to best take advantage of the regulations. So, an Alconi
was involved in its first motor sporting event before the vehicles were even
manufactured! For the rally, Phil had Scamp as his navigator (P.Porter/S
Porter), which was fortunate indeed. In addition to his imaginative forethought and
mechanical skills, Scamp was an excellent navigator, completely at ease with all
the furious math work necessary to clock in the exact times rally competitors
needed. And he was very successful at this, though prone to terrible car
sickness, and one can only imagine what a murderous experience a long rally was.
Before the Rally had reached a third of the distance, a weak point was
discovered. The Alconi intake manifold had cracked badly!
Ever improvising, Scamp managed somehow to strengthen and re-rig it
in place during the stages and at the stops, which was incredible, for the car won
the event overall on its first outing. (Cheers for racers-tape!) It gave both Renault and Alconi a feather in their cap, and
stress tested parts of the conversion. Scamp’s innate ability to read,
repair and solve a problem was further put to the test in this, the first R8
rally entry. Awful roads and the many yumps the car was subjected
to, caused parts in the front suspension to bend, and affected the vehicle’s
front steering and toe so badly it slowly became impossible to aim. So, while
navigating the route map, spinning the calculator, adjusting the Halda and
maintaining the mechanicals, he also had to think up tools he would need, and a method to straighten and realign these steering parts at each stop, so
the vehicle could continue. Results prove he did it. Scamp
deserved the kudos, but Renault and Alconi reaped the benefits. The fact that they had two Total LM rally wins in four years allowed them to compete two times in the Monte-Carlo Rally, and these two experiences were Scamp's only ever trips out of Africa. Of course, he could not prepare his own entries, and the unusual French regulations got them into trouble too.
With this big win and the general enthusiasm of the staff and dealers
for the prototype Alconi, it was not long before the enterprising young Boss of
Renault Africa gave a green light for production, and stuck his neck out by
retaining the warranty on the rest of the car. But the Alconi
Production run that would allow new specifications for racing standard R8's turned out to be short lived.
1965 and 1966
Because soon after, Renault released the 1108cc R8 Gordini, with
crossflow cylinder head and 4 carburetter throats, and this configuration
offered far more performance potential to all-out racers. The production
Gordini was considerably more expensive, yet hardly faster than the Alconi,
but the new engine had incredibly far sighted basics, and, especially in 1300cc
form and 5 speed gearbox, had distinct power advantages. Scamp in his capacity as
the whole Renault Racing Department plus their preparation person, driver, transporter
and pit crew, with help from Alconi, developed this motor to
produce scads of power, especially in the higher rpms.
Alconi found him an excellent camshaft to start with. But the
high-lift profile, together with the huge breathing improvements (giant 39mm
and 35mm valves and valve springs able to cope with the higher engine speeds
had to be researched and resourced) made many of the Gordini components very
delicate and prone to failure, so reliability required a genius in ideas and engineering,
a touch of finesse and a lot of testing to improve durability. This all had to
be done locally, from scratch.
]
[ Other competitors, aside from being able to import ready built spring engines and suspension parts, had special gear ratios available to take
advantage of the peaky modified engines. Not Renault, though the Gordini 1300cc did have closer ratio 5 speed box. Scamp was not quite
satisfied with this, so it wasn’t long before he had worked out better gearing,
and replaced the five gears with pairs made to his new specs. He
was even toying with the idea of extending the Gordini box to 6 speeds, and
with just a few more facilities available, would doubtless have done it!
This kind of power output had never been envisioned by the R8 designers, so
some drive train, axles and wheel parts had to be strengthened too, or
redesigned. You only learned a weak point from a failure. So you were
kind of the test pilot! When a rear axle broke due to cornering loads, you could redesign and strengthen it, but only if you survived! No deep infrastructure
of other racers to keep you posted, because it was he alone on the cutting
edge! In fact the only imported Renault competition part utilised
were the 1296cc H/C pistons, available from Alpine. The 1300cc Gordini
was really a bored version of the 1108, with the 5 speed and a number of extra
refinements and mechanical changes and 4 head lights.
Double clutches and thicker axles had to be designed and
fabricated. (And, of course, made available to other R8 racers.)
But, as teething troubles were overcome, competitive makes to Renault in
the 1300cc bracket soon fell away. Even the imported British racing
saloons that were so dominant overseas could not keep up. Those interested in the R8 Gordini modifications, see:
The only threat to class victories came from drivers of a similar type
car. Always more than fair, these drivers, like Geoff Mortimer and
Jody Scheckter, were offered all the advice plus the reinforced or redesigned
components to make their chariots identical and as safe as his own. The
only disadvantage a fellow competitor had was the fact that acquiring Gordini
parts was shockingly expensive, while Scamp’s budget, though meagre, was in
better shape. And he still had the warranty returns!
This budget would have made the Ford and Alfa teams cringe. They
would have called it petrol money with no change left over for beer!
Scamp was still essentially a “one man show” in a different world.
He did his own towing, all the preparation on his own car and the
factory rally cars. (Rally car preparation was labour intensive, as the
chassis needed oodles of reinforcing, and the addition of so many brackets,
switches, extra lights, tires and spares. This work required a very
experienced hand, especially in the electrics, to prevent all the possible
short circuits or failures, the major bugbear of rally cars in that era.)
Booking of away race and rally accommodation also fell on him, and still he
would find the time to entertain and help and make suggestions to other race and rally
competitors. He was constantly on the phone, patiently answer calls from
would be racers and rally drivers, and all the while in high demand by the Renault staff too, for
an opinion on the general run of the mill standard Renault warranty breakage or
repair work discussions! Quite a job requirement! And quite the
role for a simple race driver!
Their rally entries and frequent Rally successes increased the size of
the Rally component of the Renault Africa budget, and also upped his
workload. Remember, in those days a new plan to garner Rally wins was just coming on stream. The requirement for the successful Rally cars to be “chased” by Factory maintenance and parts
vans. The drivers of these “chasers” had to help with the repairs, maintenance
and frequent body straightening in situ, during the special rally stages, or
wherever a competitor stopped! He and the Renault factory reps were these
van drivers.
These enthusiastic rally car “chasers” deserve special mention. With all
their duties, not only did they get less sleep and rest than an actual
competitor, but they had to follow them at first with Renault R4s, later R16s
service vehicles. (The Renault R4 was a front engine small van with a bit
more room than an R8 for spare tires an service parts, but had a tiny 850cc engine
that could not even keep up with a standard R8, never mind rally car.
And, being bogged down with all the extra weight, they needed a star driver to
complete the route behind the competitors, without killing himself. The
Renault R16, when it became available, was a larger 1500cc and later 1600cc front-engined vehicle with
more interior room, but was also no star performer.)
At the time a number of privateers also began to rally Renault
R8’s, due to its success and relatively low cost and upkeep. So,
being Scamp, not only were these competitors also kept up to date with all
developments in performance, reliability and strengthening needs, as well as advice from the experience and knowledge he had gleaned from his successful factory
rallying, but, in addition, he now had to add and equip the “chaser” vans with
more parts, tires and bits, as all this help was extended to privateers as
well. The policy proved very popular and also brought good appreciation
and publicity, as privateers often also started featuring well in results.
One cannot continue without relating a rather embarrassing story
now. Generally, Scamp’s racing car was housed at the local city Renault dealer
during the few days before an away from the Reef sprint event. At a
sojourn at the Cape Town dealer, the sales staff approached and wanted to know how
in the world these rally drivers managed to effect the 180 degree car
rotation on its own axis to reverse direction! ….. Oh, you mean the hand brake
turn! ….. Let me show you….So, in they climbed, into the brand new showroom
Renault R4 demonstrator. Two salesmen, Scamp and the dealer big Boss. Hi-tailing it
down the main Cape Town drag. In a small space in the traffic, Scamp cried "hold on" duly jerked up the hand brake, and spun the steering around. But the
heavily occupied little car responded badly, tipping onto its passenger
side. Right in the centre of town! So, there was poor Scamp, helping the three other occupants out of
the two doors that were now facing up in the air, apologising profusely to
the Boss… sooo sorry……It was the badly adjusted handbrake!..... Caused a lot of good natured ribbing. Amazingly no injuries or
blood or scrapes or knocked out teeth in the days of no seat belts!
Final Performance gains that made the 1300 R8 Gordini a giant killer.
Regulation changes allowing for after market 13” diameter wheels and the recently factory homologated 2” and 4" factory fender
spats. This almost eliminated rear end jacking and made R8s the finest
handling saloons on the circuit. Sprint race class wins were a formality.
Moving the radiator system to the front also allowed better and cooler
engine air, with another slight up in performance. The engine and running gear
was bulletproof now, so reliability was affected only by preparation and the
odd electric glitch. And the most enviable endurance race results
continued to roll in. Renault Africa offered the fastest racing Gordinis in the world, and the Regie Renault factory asked for parts like camshafts and exhaust systems.
In fact so well did the cars handle that (unlike their competition) a
sports car tyre like Michelin was considered adequate for endurance races, and
if it occasioned to rain, contesting an overall position was on the cards as well
as 1st saloon home, class wins, index wins and team wins! (No
diving into the pits for a quick tire change!) 1965 occasioned a
slight slip in the Renault’s unbelievable 9 hour runs, as this year an R8
finished 2nd saloon car home and two mere class wins!
(Mortimer/Hooper 9th overall & class win, P Porter/Burford
12th overall, class win) They were beaten by a Volvo, but by less than one lap this year!
For the 1966 9 hour endurance event Scamp’s Renaults were back on
top, with a 5th and 6th finish overall,
1st saloon car home, class win and 2nd saloon car home plus index wins (S Porter/Adler 5th, P
Porter/Burford 6th). This with the usual R8 Gordini and a new
Renault R10 (Alconi entered) hardly 2 laps behind it. The R10
(essentially an R8 with slightly altered bodywork and longer front and rear
overhang) was specially equipped for an index win, and utilised the same
Gordini 1300cc engine of the 5th placed car, but had an intake
manifold specially fabricated by Alconi to use only one twin choke Alconi type
carburetter.
During practise, for this type of event, a car goes through a lot
of assembling and dismantling, and at one stage the new R10's boot lid (front) had been
re attached but not perfectly aligned. This produced an incredible
whining sound speeding down the straight, and the pit attendants decided to leave it
misaligned, for easy identification at night. It upset the competitors
who wanted to know what was blowing air into the engine for the boost. It
also didn't really please the Renault factory, who were having issues with this
exact customer complaint, but it served its purpose well all night and
especially through the heavy evening rain session.
One does not hesitate to complement the engine design and strength for
much of the performance, but remember that most enhancements and nearly all the handling superiority was all developed and perfected locally. Overcoming the deficiency of the hot air in the engine compartment
and getting the big horsepower numbers and reliability from the engine was
painstakingly Scamp and his few helpers. There was the wonderful Alconi lobe repositioned camshaft, and improving and gas-flowing the crossflow to an amazingly efficient cylinder head.
(Iffy reliability from the hard stressed Gordini cylinder head components and a
totally inadequate clutch also had to be overcome.)
1967
An R8 Alconi had already totally dominated Kyalami’s Onyx series races, taking the 1966 trophy with an overall win in the final event.
(The Onyx series of races were Kyalami Race Track only events for locally
produced cars, with classes based on their retail price. Only limited
modifications were allowed. Volvo 122, Alfa Romeo Giulia and Giulia
Sprint, Cortina GT, Mini Cooper S, Sunbeam Tiger were the usual entrants.)
Such was the 1300cc Gordini dominance in modified Saloons, that R8
contenders decided not to ruin each other’s chances by fighting for victory
amongs themselves! (They were really only 1-1.5 seconds a laps slower than the
overall race winners – usually a Ford 7000cc Galaxy or 2000cc BDA Escort.)
Scamp won the South African Saloon Car championship in 1968, and Geoff won the same championship in 1970. He would have won in 1069 too, had he not been pipped at the finish line by Jody Scheckter (who had really agreed not to pass, because he was receiving factory support and parts to keep his car a top competor).
As Renault had sold 946cc R8’s, Jeff Mortimer decided to compete in the
1000cc class. He was immediately competitive with the fast 1000cc imported overseas engined
Anglias and Cooper Minis. In 1969 he lost his lead in the Modified saloon championmship in the final race. In 1970 he won the championship, using a special new crankshaft he made, de-stroking the Gordini 1300 engine to 1000cc, which made him dominant.
Here are some interesting comments from Geoff Mortimer during an interview with Run Ride Drive. Mortimer competed in racing and rallying for more than 30 years, and drove specialised race-bred cars like Chev Canams (5 liter V8 engines) and factory built Audi Quattro turbos for a number of years.
http://www.runridedive.com/geoff-mortimer/
"Group N racing brought you success in the Renault Gordini in particular. Tell us more about the Gordini?
The Renault 8 Gordini of the 60s and 70s was truly a remarkable car. In South Africa in the hands of Phil Porter, Chris Swanepoel and Louis Cloete it was a very successful rally car. In the National SA Saloon car racing category the car was very successful with myself, Scamp Porter and Jody Schecktar as main drivers. In long distance races we teamed up with the rally drivers to take numerous index wins in the famous Nine Hour race and Springbok Series.
The car was probably the best handling rear engine production car in the world at that time and needed very little in the way of suspension changes to make it a fantastic handling race or rally car. The engine was a brilliant development by Amedee Gordini of the current 1100cc (and later 1255cc) Renault R8 engine and lent itself to race and rally tuning. The 1000cc version was developed by myself and Scamp Porter in the late 60s to compete against the very quick Minis it developed 123bhp and revved to 9000rpm.
What was your favourite car that you raced?
Favourite Race Car: Renault Gordini – Vice free, easy to setup, always competitive even against supposedly faster cars in larger capacity classes.
Favourite Rally Car: Ford Escort MK11 – Did not have to prepare it myself, bit you if you treated it badly – fantastic to drive.
Who were your favourite rivals?
Were those you could race wheel to wheel without actually making contact and not have to have recriminations or bad feelings with after the race. To name a few, Garth McGill, Gordon Briggs, Scamp Porter, Dave Charlton, Willie Hepburn, Tony Viana, Collin Burford and Koos Swanepoel."
And Puddles Adler, (who
was only really available to compete at Kyalami on the Reef) would try his hand
at supercharging, which multiplied the engine capacity by 1.4, putting the car
in the 2000cc class to perhaps contest an overall win.
(These escapades are a story for another time.
Mortimer legendary dices against the imported works Ford Anglias and Mini
Coopers. In Adler’s case, things were not as easy. Blowing
was a totally new field. Unlike today, where boost is more or less the
performance car norm, previous engines were carburetted. So, if you
sucked the mix into the blower, you had a very hot and potentially extremely
explosive intake manifold. Going through any type of intercooler doubled or
trebled this volume. If you blew plain air into the carburetter, you had
a pressurised float bowl and potential blower pressure going all the way
through the fuel lines to the tank! Work demands made it a spare time
after hours job, too, and overcoming the pressurised overheating intake air mixture,
as well as coping with the further stresses to the drive train took time to
overcome. But race lap records were frequently set, and the car often led the race. (1968 saw it lead the race and the newly imported Auto Delta Alfa Romeo Sprint 2000 for some laps at the South African Grand Prix and make famous French F1 driver J-P Beltoise want to buy it then and there.) In hindsight, a few simple modern tricks would have
unleashed enormous potential and made the car unbeatable. But it is
really modern fuel injection that matured the supercharging and turbocharging concept, and made it so viable today.\
Scamp,
like Jody, could get it sideways too, locked diff et al.
At
Roy Hesketh, Scamp’s favourite circuit, in the 1970 season. (Colin Camp/motorprint)
So 1967 was a good year for the Renaults in the 1000cc and a totally
dominant year in the 1300cc class. In fact he won the 1968 Modified Saloon Car Championship, taking 1st place in every race that year.
They also continued their endurance
race tradition with a 1st saloon car finish in the 9 hour
event, and class win (9th overall P Porter/Burford) and excellent
Rally results by both factory sponsored entrants and local privateers.
This year brought South Africa an introduction of French Factory competition in
the form of a Renault Alpine at the 9 hour event. The Renault
Alpine, also rear engined, used a version of the newly introduced Renault R16 TS engine, which adapted easily onto the rear configurationed R8 and R8 Gordini 5
speed gearbox. The TS used a much more substantial engine of 1600cc, also
with crossflow head. It produced good power, but could not qualify for local R8 racing because the R8 did not come that way to the showroom floor. In the event, the Gordini
1300cc engine seems to still be the gold standard, and I have not heard of TS
equipped cars that could match it in outright performance or lap times.
A gauge of the sudden new French Renault Factory interest can also
be obtained from the fact that in addition to Alpine, Lotus released the Lotus
Europa Model, after an agreement with them, in which they used a slightly
higher performance Renault R16 (1500cc) engine and Renault drivetrain.
1968
Jody Scheckter arrived on the scene as a complete surprise. Here was a
youngster with enormous talent, who had already been through a few years of Go
Karting (school for underage potential race drivers, a la todays F1 pilots). He
had just started an apprenticeship, and being the son of an East London Renault Dealer gave
him a leg up financially with influence at Renault Africa, and lots of time on
his hands. Because of the connection, Scamp had been his hero as a kid.
Scamp encouraged and helped the keen youngster and gave him the complete
handling and performance package, so he was immediately up with the big
boys. An R8 already handled like a Go-Kart, and Jody spent his whole
apprenticeship year innocently drilling, carving, plasticising and lightening
his race car without a single thought to the weight limits imposed by the
regulations.
Suddenly the nicely laid plan of who wins which class was threatened by
a usurper! Most racing drivers increase cornering speed every lap until they are comfortably on the limit. Jody’s philosophy on driving fast, was that you first went too fast, skidded off the track, then slowly decreased speed every lap until you could just make it through and stay on the
road! Sideways Scheckter was really a simplification! Jody was
usually reappearing from the long grass or perimeter fence after each
corner. But it was not long before he posed a real threat to the Porter
winning ways. In his autobiography “Jody”, a lot of respect and credit is
given to Scamp in various references to his early racing years.
As a Competition Department, Scamp felt Rallying and Endurance racing was a team
effort, so every competitor had to have the same potential. It was impossible to prepare and compete in both, and, as Scamp enjoyed the racing side most, he found and employed good
Rally drivers. The Rally section was still enjoying many successes and a few overall wins, and quite a few privateers were assisted by the factory for most of these events.
For the endurance race season, he preferred a team of two cars, and
chose to drive the higher powered entry. His team strategy was to enter
one a little more powerful and the other slightly less modified car, to ensure at least
one car made it to the finish. But his meticulous preparation, foresight
on the demands of the race, pit preparation and parts at hand always seemed to
outdo other competitors, even the one or two faster sports cars makes to the extent that his
R8s always featured among the high powered sports cars, beating a good
number who were competing for overall victory. As the annual 9 hour race
became internationally more well known, more and more illustrious overseas
competitors entered, so it was quite an accomplishment to beat many of them
continuously. It was not only being the first saloon car home
that was so impressive. It was like the hare and the tortoise. The
old adage, “to finish first you have to first finish.” The 1968
endurance races again brought trophies for 1st and 2nd saloon
car home and impressive overall results. (S Porter/Swanepoel 9th overall,
P Porter/Burford 10th on the same lap) Chris
Swanepoel was his chosen factory Rally driver at the time, who had claimed a
number of wins and championships there as well.
1969.
Renault released the R12 1300cc, which utilized basically a stroked version
of the 1108cc engine. This did not alter the racing motors of
the Gordini engined sprint racing R8's. However, at the time Jody Scheckter was
interested in continuing the campaign with the Alconi developed supercharged engine, and
by fitting the longer stroke crankshaft to the 1300cc Gordini engine, capacity
would be upped into the 1400cc which he felt was allowed by supercharging. Jody did
pull off one or two impressive overall Sprint race wins, but the reliability of
this power-plant was still an unknown. Scamp and Geoff Mortimer continued
on their successful rounds with the usual class wins, Scamp mostly finishing 2nd,
3rd or occasionally 4th overall behind the Galaxy or BDA Escort and Auto-Delta. His Rally car preparation and results were still one highlight of his accomplishments, his sponsored rally driving pair Swanepoel and Crous achieving a third Renault overall victory in the 1969 Total LM rally, (the first two achieved by Phil and Scamp in 1962 & 64) - the premier Rally event of international importance on the South African calendar.
A highlight of the year was the impressive 9 hour endurance race, once
again. This year another 1st saloon car overall, and a 4th place
on distance. (S Porter/Mortimer) The Kyalami 9 hour was
continuing to attract more and more illustrious overseas sports car entries,
and very many well prepared real racing breeds ended up behind them once
again. The public were no longer surprised to see a Renault R8 featured
in the results. It was a given, as if the car was built for racing and for
9 hour endurance events, and had the comparative power and weight
of the specifically designed sports racers!
When
cars were hairy and the stands packed. The start of the 1969 Nine-Hour.
(motorprint)
1970
The French Regie Renault thinking was moving to front engined larger
cars. The R16 and R16TS had no racing potential, though the TS engine did
show itself to be useful overseas with Renault Alpines. Renault Africa
brought out the new R12 front engined, somewhat larger and heavier vehicle,
with the same basic engine as the R10.. Naturally, they wanted to compete
and continue their run of successes with this new baby. It was ill suited
for track use, but Scamp agreed to try his hand at building it into a rally
car. It was starting from square one again, because no other country or developer had even
considered this car yet. Renault in France was happy with the Renault Alpine
rally prowess, but as these vehicles were not being offered for sale in South
Africa, the local factory saw little benefit. Gordini was also
developing a special GT version of the R12 with the R16TS 1600 or 1700cc
engine, but this would be in the future and would not be available locally. The local rally drivers,
who had been so successful with the R8s were willing to try their hands
on the new car, but engine performance, traction and too much weight bugged
them throughout the year. Scamp and Renault entered cars, but for
the first time since its introduction, the 9 hour Kyalami event did not include a factory prepared finisher. A private R8 still achieved a class win., but hey were somewhat down the list.
But 1970 was the twilight years of the rear engined Renault R8, and Renault
Racing was hard pressed to compete with the larger less competitive front engine
cars.
You can bet that, had the Renault R5 Gordini, with its
rear engine (The midi engined R5 Turbo, with 1527cc engine homologated in the 1980s and made for 'B' class rally work) come out a little earlier, South African Renaults would still
have been in the forefront of Saloon car Racing and Rallying, and probably
taken a large portion of the overseas production run for local sales!
Actual saloon car racing and rallying was not the only R8 forte.
Ever since its introduction it had been entered and featured in economy runs as well.
The most well-known was the Total Economy Run, where certain minimum speeds had
to be maintained over a planned route, and a careful check and scrutiny kept on the
competitors. The Renault R8s and Alconis seemed made for this, especially
with the knowledge and tinkering of Scamp. He had worked out all the
carburetter and ignition settings for optimal performance, even to the extent
of special adjustment of valve clearances! Coasting was allowed if you
could keep up to their minimum speed requirements (which were quite high,
usually 60 to 80 kph). And brother Phil was an absolute ace at driving in these events. Amazing consumption figures, usually in the high 50 and 60 mpg
range were achieved, usually with the R8 Alconi model, which had higher compression
and even better engine efficiency!
This exciting era in motor racing was also coming to an end.
Production cars still raced on mainly standard engine internals, and peak
engine rpm was approaching 9000. Electronic ignition was slowly
being introduced, but this was a very primitive type, where just the spark was
generated in a distributor without the use of contact points. Ignition advance was
still devised by the distributor, so an advantage was dubious, and the
electronics were not in any way reliable. Fuel injection was also just
being introduced. Formula One vehicles were not boosted and equipped with
a Lucas mechanical type injection, which was quite unreliable and certainly not precision, as their many retirements
from races in this times will attest. Cortinas and later, Ford
Escorts were available with the Lotus Twin Cam engines, and later with the
larger capacity 16 valve formula 2 engines, the size of which increased from 1600cc to 2000cc. Even in their final form the R8 Gordini 1300cc
was still a class winner, and would definitely have given them a good run for an overall win, had
its capacity been about 1500cc! The first of the 16 valve fours was a
Ford Escort with the Cosworth BDA, and these were already in use by competitors.
In the EFI department, injection vehicles were slowly being
introduced to the public towards the end of the 1960s, notably by VW and Volvo. This comprised electronically controlled fuel injector pulse and
a computer, which adjusted the fuel according to manifold pressure. Being
in its infancy, it was only notable for the unreliability of the electronics. This
is attested by the fact that, a few years later, many vehicles reverted to the
mechanical type Bosch K-tronic design. It is doubtful if these EFI
developments (4 valve per cylinder over-head camshaft engines excepted, as
these did offer tremendous breathing improvements - consequently far higher rpm)
of the early 1970s, even at their best, would have offered more than minimal
horsepower gains. Multi-camshaft profiles activating valves or cam
phasing was not even in some engineers infant dreams yet, and dry-sump lubrication was still
a somewhat unreliable single seat formula engine option. As it happens, Scamp
was already working on “Kugelfischer” (introduced on the Peugeot) and another
aftermarket injection system, to try and get that tiny extra bit from the engine!
He was also contemplating the possibilities of a dry-sump lubrication
system, though electric pumps were notoriously unreliable, so he was toying with some mechanical drive. But, as stated earlier, the Renault
R8 was already obsolescent and production was being phased out in the final
year of the 1960 decade, which meant the end of factory promoted competition
for the Renault R8.
1971/1972
Phil Porter had moved on and joined Toyota South Africa. It was
not long after, that he enticed Scamp to join him, and run the new Competition Department there, which started with rally cars but had ideas about endurance
racing too, and a bigger budget. Their rally cars were Toyota Corollas that were highly modified
with special high performance imported engines that were far too powerful for
the traction offered. Race track Formula 1 cars were already brandishing
huge wings to help their roadholding, so it was but a small step for the agile Scamp mind to
be the first to adapt this idea on his Corollas. You would see these
rally cars with an oversized wing somewhere above the rear window trying to push
the rear end down for increased traction. Rally Champion Ove Anderson frequently came out and established a good rapport, respect and friendship with Scamp. Overseas Rally competitors came out to drive in all
the important events, so there were a number of cars to prepare and
service. At first there were a few retirements, but towards the end of the year good results began to accumulate.
For the 1972 9 hour Toyota decided to compete with an imported, race
prepared Toyota Celica 2000cc, equipped with their Japanese twin cam engine. Neither the
car, nor the drive train were sold in South Africa. When it appeared
for practice, the car was quite competitive, putting in lap times similar to
those of the 2 liter GTs that competed in the sprint events in South Africa
during the year.
But then, in the dark of the evening of official Thursday
night practice, two days before the event, that dreadful collision
occurred in a downpour on the fastest part of the main straight, between Scamp, piloting the
Celica, and the rear of a Mini Cooper S of Brian Ferreira.
The fuel tank is in the rear of the Cooper, and the vehicle immediately
burst into flames. By the time his vehicles stopped and Scamp had got over
with his extinguisher, and was able to free him from the seat belts, the driver was in a seriously burnt condition. A
sad, sad day. Brian Ferreira was a good track friend and competitor of Scamps,
having worked with the Meissner/Gough Ford Escort team for a number of
years. Unfortunately he did not survive the injuries.
The Celica was an absolute write off. No other similar car existed
in the Republic. Only Friday and race-day morning remained. But
racing personnel are an unusual breed. Phil Porter immediately went to
work, and through the ownership network, managed to find a Rhodesian owner of a
road version of the same car in the Transvaal at the time.
He somehow contacted the owner, did an immediate deal, and the newly purchased
Celica arrived at Toyota Competition workshops late the Friday afternoon!
By then the write-off had been fully stripped, and many of the broken parts
were already under repair or new ones in the process of
fabrication! It was an all-nighter for the drivers, pit crew and
most of the Toyota factory mechanics and reps. Sometime next morning a
straight, not quite shiny, but race-worthy vehicle appeared, aligned and
ready. The new car was able to lap at similar times to the one it
replaced, a great credit to the repair team and it would have been justice to the enthusiasm and dedication of
the staff, had it been able to finish. Internal damage to the original
special 5 speed gearbox from the collision car eventually sidelined it.
This accident deflated Scamps enthusiasm for racing, and he decided to
hang up his helmet thereafter. Shortly after this, Phil Porter
died. This, too, was a major blow, as the brothers were very close in all their life activities, and Scamp had looked up to him as a hero. He continued to
devote his time to the Toyota Rally Department for a number of years, before
moving out altogether.
However this is a story about Scamp Porter and the Renault R8 that
justly bore the two of them into the annals of racing history.
If the results of this short period of motor racing were tabulated and
the success ratio and statistics of all cars and drivers aggregated and
compared, I feel certain that Scamp would feature as one of the
winningest South African drivers ever. His trophy count for 1st places
is prodigious! Both from sprint and endurance races, especially when
compared to the number of starts he made. But specially endurance races.
IF anyone actually had successes even close to this, it could only have been David Piper.
Added to this, Scamp must also be given accolades for the wonderful
results achieved in Renaults by the P.Porter/Burford endurance team on vehicles
he prepared.
One also must bear in mind his rally successes and trophies, and brother
Phil’s and Chris Swanepoel’s rally successes in the cars prepared
by him, because the effort was not the product of a Factory Motor Sport
Department, like most Rally entries are today, but by his own work and imagination and that of
a few helpers.
In conclusion, it must be evident
that Renault Africa and Regie Renault were the ultimate benefactors.
Renault R8/10 sales penetration in Southern Africa had risen incredibly, in all probability due to their
performance models and racing successes with the performance mad public of
South Africa. Yet the rewards to the enthusiast race
driver/developer/competition manager of that time were actually quite
minimal. Phil Porter, Colin Burford, Geoff Mortimer, Arnold Chatz,
Dave Clapham, George Armstrong etc. did it merely for their love of racing!
In many instances it cost them plenty, too! (You know the adage:
Want to make a small fortune motor racing? Start with a large
fortune!) Most sponsors (like Shell oils, Ferodo Brake linings, Champion
Spark Plugs) only supplied free product. No sponsorship sheckels!
A successful racer was usually on a short list from the tire
manufacturers to BUY their latest arrivals of new rubber compounds!
Only the Formula 1 teams were offered money for using sponsored products, and not so much at that either. Large cigarette distributors started paying Formula 1 entrants towards the end of this decade. Scamp was certainly paid a fair wage for the job, and had a useful, if not
complete, budget from Renault. But it was definitely just a wage, and there was
no sitting around and waiting, or negotiating the big bucks with competitive
manufacturers for the following year! You just kept on working to pay the mortgage!
Finally
There are many a story of these carefree days. Adler &
Co losing control and rolling the trailer with sprint race car attached, en
route to Cape Town to compete on his behalf, when he was awaiting the birth of
a son. Another straightening job for the hard pressed Racing
Department! And finding the extra time to design/build another race car trailer, as
the written off old one had been discarded.
Trailering race cars to meetings was the worst! Usually they were
towed flat out, well above speed and safety limits, mostly by pit crew, the drivers being
innocent and inexperienced in this type of vehicle handling, with both tow-car and trailer road-holding
diabolical. Of all the tow cars I saw, none were ever vehicles designed with a
tow rating for anything near that required for the heavy load. Nor was any ever driven at a respectable speed! Scamp's tow car was first an R16
and later an R16TS, nowhere near heavy enough or suited to the job.
Every race driver from that period will tell you harrowing tales,
and that towing race cars to the meetings was by far the most dangerous and frightening
part of motor racing!
Every driver I know has at least one hair-raising story, mostly
ending in alarming destruction and injury of sort. .
Also, screaming down the back roads of Randburg in a race prepared car with open exhaust,
stopwatch in hand to compare some lately thought out midnight modification. The
closer the race date, the more frequent the trial.
Summary of 9
hour results with Overall
positions
Year Driver
Scamp Porter Driver
Phil Porter/Burford
1959 Fiat 1100 17th Fiat 1200 14th
1960 Fiat 2100….? Fiat Abarth 750 11th
1961 Fiat1100
5th-1st Prod car w. Conchie Dauphine Gordini 9th
1962 not entered Dauphine
Gordini-2nd in class
1963 Dauph Gordini
-7th w Chatz Renault 8-956cc 4th-1st Prod Car
1964 Renault 8 4th-1st Prod Car w Chatz Renault
8 11th
1965 Renault Alconi 13thw Schultze Renault 8
Gord 12th
1966 Renault Gord 5th-1stt Prod Car w Adler Renault 10 1300
6th & 2nd Prod Car
1967 Renault
Gord w Swanepoel ? Renault
Gord 1300 9th-
1st Prod Car
1968 Renault
Gord 10th-2 Prod Car w Mortimer Renault
Gord 9th-
1st Prod Car
1969 Renault
Gord 4th-1st Prod Car w Mortimer Renault
Gordini- P Porter/
Swanepoel ...crash
1970 Renault
Gordini w Mortimer ? no entry
From above, Scamp achieved
4 First Saloon Car home awards, 1 second.
Brother Phil managed 3
First Saloon car home and 1 second.
Between them 5 finishes in
the top 5
All this in 10 years of
racing for Renault. Obviously if one
counts up all the class wins, Index of performance results and Team results,
it’s a lot of silverware. And, there was an almost zero record of retirements
No other entrant has got
anywhere near these results.
Puddles Adler
As well, many conversion kits were sold through the dealership and aftermarket. Owners were for the most part very enthusiastic, and it was especially sought after by the young "road racer" genre. Road handling with the rear engine was quite good, but could be tricky at times, which is why the lower vehicle profile was utilised. However, suspect roadholding was never the case with the track prepared race cars, and they continued to establish the standard for saloon race car handling.
