1303 Beetle Vs Reynard 94D Formula 3000
- Wednesday, 5 March 2008
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CSP 1303 Bug up against a Reynard 94D Formula 3000
The challenger is Hermann Waldy. New to the drag scene, his Reynard 94D Formula 3000 car is more at home on hill climbs and circuits in Waldy's native Austria.
He faces Thomas Kemp, a veteran of the 1/4-mile track, who has been racing his '73 and championing the VW drag scene in Europe since he inherited the car from his father 24 years ago. Naturally, as he has the backing of Custom & Speed Parts (CSP) in Germany, his Beetle now is a little quicker than it was back in 1983. His latest and best time was 10.68 seconds, crossing the line at 198kph (123mph), making his one of the fastest cars in its class.
The adversary also has an impressive CV. He piloted his F3000 to first place in the Austrian Mountain Championships (Staatsmeister) in 2004, 2005 and 2007 as 18 times race winner in the state championships (Facher Gesamtsieger). Inside the car is a throbbing 3.5-litre V8 injection engine with twin radiator water cooling system. Weighing in at 560kg, it propels itself to over 200kph (125mph) in just six seconds and reaches up to 251kph (155.96mph) on the flat. Originally constructed in 1995, Waldy and his mechanic's team have maintained the car in perfect race condition for just that reason - to race. On a test run in the morning he achieved the impressive time of 10.653secs, hitting 243.01kph (150.99mph). Not bad for a first attempt, and an indication that this was going to be an interesting match.
Thomas's '73 Bug is much more than a family heirloom. This once modest run-around, used by Thomas's father to pick him up from school, has been kitted out with the best from the CSP warehouse, and now produces a massive 304bhp. It does this without injection or a turbo or nitrous oxide, and, as can be seen from the air inlets incorporated into the rear windows, it is strictly air-cooled. The 1303 weighs 720kg, considerably more than the F3000 but considerably lighter than the 890kg it weighed when it was in original trim.
There was plenty to see at the one-on-one motor sports event organised by Silke Beer in Bitburg, Germany. Over 100 sports and race cars turned up to pit themselves against one another. One amusing pairing was between a ratty but highly-tuned Opel (Vauxhall) Nova with front wheels considerably larger than the back (due to front-wheel drive) and a standard Audi TT. The Nova won.
For the full story check out the April 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 22 February and then available through back issues.
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