Volvo 244GL LWP873T
Car first registered in 1979 and run as a company car, acquired by the driver upon retirement and handed on to his son, Martin Roper, who set about preparing it for an entry in the 1996 Lombard RAC Rally, which unfortunately never materialised. Car was used once in 1997 on the Woodpecker Stages where it retired.
It was then stored until 2019, when I purchased it from Martin and set about restoring and re-preparing it from the ground up. That took about 12 months, and the car now runs with the correct B23E Red Block engine through the original M45 4 speed gearbox and 1031 type rear axle with LSD. Brakes are standard as per homologation with uprated pads, forest spec Bilstein suspension, fitted with new Custom Cages ROPS. The car is built to correct Historic specification; is FIA Homologated and has Motorsports UK Historic Rally Car recognition.
Current engine specification is: 2316cc B23E Red Block, original bore from 1984; lightened and balanced crankshaft/flywheel; modified and gas flowed 531 type cylinder head, planed to run at 11:1 CR; Kent VL7 stage rally camshaft with adjustable vernier pulley (not over impressed with this cam and it will be replaced at some point soon); Twin 45DCOE Weber carburettors on matched manifold; our own design and build 4 branch exhaust manifold running into 2.25” bore single box exhaust system.
Other than the usual teething issues, the car has run reliably and surprised a few with its overall performance and results. Importantly, the car is different from the crowd of Escorts running in Historics.
Due to the old roll cage being ineligible for stage rallies, the car was used in the 2022 BTRDA Targa Rally Championship finishing 10th overall, 1st class Historic, best result 8th overall Twyford Targa.
Since 2023, with ROPS replaced with a Custom Cages product, car has competed in selected stage rallies with modest success, and I continue to entertain the spectators to the best of my ability.
The in car video was taken on the Wyedean Rally in the Forest of Dean.
Our best result last year was on the Caledonian Rally based around Lockerbie and Carlisle, using classic RAC forest stages such as Twiglees, Castle O’er and Ae, where we finished 27th overall and 1st in class despite a puncture on the last stage.
This year didn’t start so well with a roll on the Agbo Stages at Weston Park….
For the remainder of 2025 we have entered the Pirelli Welsh Stage Rally Championship and currently are placed 2nd in our class.
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