Racing Car Trailers and Transporters. |
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The Austin Cooper 'S's were carried on a purpose built trailer, by an Austin Countryman, providing a complete set of spares for the racing cars, as the Countryman had complete 'S' engine, suspension, and running gear. Even the head was called into play, on one occasion. The trailer was built byMike Cannon who builds the very stccessful Cannon trials cars. It has an over-run hitch and a Master cylinder on the handbrake which works the brakes hydraulically. It has MINI hubs and wheels so a spare wheel for it was not essential. It is very light in weight. |
First of the two Formula 3 cars being loaded into our transporter on the Ratcliffe hydraulic lift, just prior to leaving on a trip to Circuit Paul Ricard in France, where our transporter was wrongly accused of demolishing their brand new decorative wrought iron gates. Luckily some of the team had arrived before the transporter had arrived, and seen them down already. |
The transporter, which was hauled by a BMC Mastiff Tractor, bought second hand, and covered many thousands of miles to racing circuits around Europe, and never ever let us down,and it was later sold at a profit. |
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The transporter could carry 3 cars, two at the back, one above the other ,as can be seen. The whole space inside the trailer, consisted of four areas. From the back, Parking, Workshop & Stores, Living & Dining Area, Sleeping Area for six, in two tiers of three bunks. All the tools and spanners were mounted on the walls on shelves and shadow boards. When travelling, the workshop area carried all our tyres and spares, plus a third car, stripped down.This facillity allowed us to carry a car for someone else and helped to defray our costs a little. It had a clear roof for daylight, Honda powered 220v electricity, hydraulic and compressed air systems and hot and cold running water. There was a hoist through the floor, to lift engines to the workshop area. In 1975 I advertised the transporter in 'Autosport' and it was sold to MAKI Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Team. They ran an F1 car, testing in Europe. Then the whole lot was shipped out to Japan, in the transporter |
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