Hondas
'The ex-Gary Streat Honda CRX silhouette
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BUILT : circa 1990 by Tony Sinclair
CLASSIFICATION : Silhouette GT
ENGINE : Ford 4 cylinder Cosworth BDA 1760cc
RACED BY : Gary Streat ( 1991-99 )
CURRENTLY : alive and well in Kent
NOTES : Previously owned by Gary Streat, the monocoque is an aluminium honeycomb designed by Guy Evans and built by Tony Sinclair ( of Jade fame ). Initially ran with an Imp body and 1.3 BDH engine before being turned into a CRX clone for 1992 and later with 1760 alloy block BDA power. A F3 box was also added and the wheelbase lengthened .Gary and son Nick ran it through to the end of 1999 having been regulars in the Lydden Silhouette Championship.
The last 10 years has seen the car a regular in the CSCC 'Special saloons + Modsports' series.
'The ex-Rod Birley Thundersaloon Honda Prelude
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BUILT : 1992/93 by Jim Morgan ( JTM Racing )
CLASSIFICATION : Thundersaloon
ENGINE : Ford 4 cylinder Cosworth 2-litre turbo
( ex-Rouse Group A 530bhp @8000rpm 30 psi boost )
RACED BY : Rod Birley ( 1993-03 ), Richard Piper
( 1993 ), Ian Cantwell ( 1994 ), Peter Thurston ( 2004 ), David Beatty
CURRENTLY : alive and well
NOTES : High quality car from Jim Morgan that took 2500 man hours and reputed £100k to build. Ex-Andy Rouse turbo and suspension from a Spice GTP car. Previous season runner-up Rod Birley took the 1993 Thundersaloon title straight out of the box with 4 wins, assisted by Richard Piper, 3 wins. The pair beating Pete Stevens 247 points to 239. A genuine 175mph car Birley retained his title in 1994 with 7 wins plus Ian Cantwell doing some of the co-driving.
Birley continued in Formula Saloons ( 1998-03 ) which effectively took over from Thundersaloons in 1996 where it was most effective at Brands Hatch and Birley`s other happy hunting ground Lydden in the DJ Invicta Sihouette/Saloons.
Sold to Peter Thurston in October 2003 who raced her in Euro Saloons before going on to the current owner David Beatty who raced her in the CSCC Special Saloons from 2012 to 2017 and remains one of my favourite cars in the series.
