The Rally Sprint cars have black roll cages with a diagonal brace as detailed here on 23rd October 2011, 14:28:
Austin Rover "Rally Sprint" Rally Drivers v Grand Prix Drivers.
http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=11941
My 3 cars have the black roll cages but no diagonal brace on the rollcage's rear sector, and my cages appear to extend much further rearwards. They reach down to the rear arches and are visible by looking through the glass quarter panels, whereas the Rally Sprint cages are visible by looking through the rear door windows.
I have 1 theory as to why this might have come to pass. The roll cage fitted for the race might have been either a 'half-cage' or 'modular', and this was subsequently replaced with a more comprehensive cage when the cars were rebuilt for rallyschool use (e.g. bucket seats & hyd handbrake fitted, interior removed, repainted etc.).
The other thing I noticed is that photos of the Rally Sprint Maestros show that both front and rear doors had no rubbing strips on them (black plastic). My Maestros have no rubbing strips on the front doors (where they displayed a 'door number' when in MITHRIL RACING livery). This may be because either:
a) The cars were restored to road spec after the race (several had substantial panel damage)
b) The doors were replaced during the cars' time at MITHRIL (due to rust or damage). As detailed elsewhere in this thread, we know that several doors were definitely replaced with those from a later model of car.
If either of the white cars have evidence of a replacement front passenger door then this would indicate that it was Tony Ponds (his door was heavily damaged during the race). Equally, if the silver Maestro has evidence of a repaired front end then this would indicate that it was Stig Blomqvists' car.
Austin Rover "Rally Sprint" Rally Drivers v Grand Prix Drivers.
http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=11941
My 3 cars have the black roll cages but no diagonal brace on the rollcage's rear sector, and my cages appear to extend much further rearwards. They reach down to the rear arches and are visible by looking through the glass quarter panels, whereas the Rally Sprint cages are visible by looking through the rear door windows.
I have 1 theory as to why this might have come to pass. The roll cage fitted for the race might have been either a 'half-cage' or 'modular', and this was subsequently replaced with a more comprehensive cage when the cars were rebuilt for rallyschool use (e.g. bucket seats & hyd handbrake fitted, interior removed, repainted etc.).
The other thing I noticed is that photos of the Rally Sprint Maestros show that both front and rear doors had no rubbing strips on them (black plastic). My Maestros have no rubbing strips on the front doors (where they displayed a 'door number' when in MITHRIL RACING livery). This may be because either:
a) The cars were restored to road spec after the race (several had substantial panel damage)
b) The doors were replaced during the cars' time at MITHRIL (due to rust or damage). As detailed elsewhere in this thread, we know that several doors were definitely replaced with those from a later model of car.
If either of the white cars have evidence of a replacement front passenger door then this would indicate that it was Tony Ponds (his door was heavily damaged during the race). Equally, if the silver Maestro has evidence of a repaired front end then this would indicate that it was Stig Blomqvists' car.
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