INGENIOUS EVOLUTION
Inventiveness is a badge Kiwis wear proudly on their chests. In motorsport circles, there’s not much more inventive than open saloon car racing, with a former star and shining example of do-it-yourself chic back on track for the first time in decades
Down here at the bottom of the planet, us Kiwis enjoy a bit of a reputation for resourcefulness. It sure as hell isn’t restricted to farming implements and makeshift structures though, with a solid helping of so-called Kiwi ingenuity filtering through to the motorsport fraternity, all in the name of shaving a few seconds off per lap, stage, or quarter mile.
Arguably one of the most visual manifestations of the attitude was the Open Saloon Car Association class (OSCA), originating in the South Island with a handful of simple rules. The cars needed to retain their basic production shape. The engines needed to remain roughly where they did in the road car. That was about it.
Naturally it led to a proliferation of thundering V8 weapons — the maximum capacity was a brutal 7.6 litres — but the smaller classes pulled no punches either. Scores of creatively engineered, small-bore solutions to shifting along rapidly were conceived. One of them just happened to be a vibrant yellow and orange Mark 1 Escort, its flanks emblazoned proudly with ‘Raycroft Auto Spares’, with only
