The Macau Racer was a special Spitfire built at Canley and first raced by Walter Sulke at the Macau Grand Prix in November 1965. The car featured the same front end as the Le Mans Spitfires, but the rear tub and wings were crafted from aluminium to the standard shape but with a fibreglass deck and a distinctive hump added behind the driver.
Morley did actually do some work on the original Macau Racer as he was given the task of preparing it for shipment to Kas Kastner’s USA Competitions Department after it had returned from its races in the Far East. Morley had already met Kas when the American tuning guru had come over to build a TR4 engine for the engine development section of the Experimental Department – when completed, that engine produced in excess of 150bhp, and this was with the original SU carburettors in place, which must have impressed Ted Silver the Engine Build foreman and Dougie West the Engine Build charge hand.
There was only ever one Macau Racer built by Triumph, but there have been a couple of faithful recreations around the world in more recent times, with probably the best known being that of Bernard Robinson, the stalwart editor of the Triumph Sports Six Club’s magazine. There is also Russell Pierce’s six-cylinder version in the USA. Russ investigated the history of the car and decided to go with Kas Kastner’s ultimate iteration when the car had the six-pot, highly tuned race engine installed. I have had the good fortune to meet with Kas several times, and the last time we got together was when Russ had his Macau Racer replica on display. This was naturally the perfect opportunity to ask Kas about his memories of the original car.
Denne historien er fra December 2019 - January 2020-utgaven av Triumph World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2019 - January 2020-utgaven av Triumph World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
ZIGGY'S NO BANGER!
Good friends Paul Herbert and Chris Harding bought this Mk2 Spitfire in 2014 to use on a Banger Rally. Six years on they’ve still got the Triumph, and it is running better than ever.
The right choice
In 1978 a Triumph Stag would have been a brave choice as your only car, but after 41 years and getting on for 200,000 miles together, it was clearly the perfect fit for Malcolm and Vera Whitehouse.
THE GREY LADY
In the mid-1930s the New Avon Coachbuilding Co started to build luxury saloons and no longer concentrated on building smaller open sports cars. Phil Homer introduces a luxury product of the era, a six-cylinder Avon on the Standard Flying 16 chassis, and explains why it wasn’t a success.
HAROLD THE HERALD
Over the last 20 years, Harold the Herald has been through five distinct phases of development. Now though, with owner Dale Barker going soft and transferring his favours to a big and comfortable saloon, Harold is looking for a new home.
APPRENTICE TR2
History repeats itself as RHP 552 is handed over to apprentices – 64 years after the last time!
A LASTING PASSION
Lee Godfrey has featured in these pages before, but his enthusiasm for the big Triumphs remains undiminished. Mike Taylor talks to him about the model, his latest example and how the passion started.
A flurry of activity ends 2019 season
H&H’s last sale of 2019 was at the Buxton Pavilion and offered 127 lots.
Herald Suspension Overhaul
Thorough investigation turns into a major overhaul and a future-proofed Triumph
Hotter Rockets Launched For 2020
The world’s largest-capacity volume production motorcycle just got bigger.
SPECIAL EDITION DOLOMITE 1500
Andrew Burford reckons that a 1500SE represents the epitome of Dolomite design. Mike Taylor meets the man who likes to champion the underdog, and his ultra-rare example of Triumph’s evergreen Dolomite saloon.
