Dunedin Street Races - revival meeting January 1984

[Roger Dowding]

"
FURI 3
This car was given a FURI number as the rolling chassis design and construction was supervised by me. A friend had acquired a burnt out Mazda 929 (rear drive) and a Mistral body. I sketched up a proposal for a backbone tube chassis similar to that used by TVR. For ease of construction the owner was encouraged to use a Vauxhall Viva front suspension as this has a lightweight sub-frame with good geometry and the steering rack is already mounted. He constructed a mock up wooden spaceframe around the mechanicals and had me approve this before duplicating it in steel tube.

A short test drive in this car showed it had a stiff chassis with no scuttle shake, reasonable ride and neutral handling.

FURI 4
A stillborn project. (rolling chassis)

The intention was to produce two similar cars along the lines of a Fiat X19. One car was to be fitted with an Austin 1800 engine and gearbox, mounted in the rear, the other with a 1750 Alfa Romeo engine grafted onto an 1800 gearbox. One monocoque chassis was constructed to my design by my brother Ivan in 10mm plywood. This was fitted with Herald front suspension and Honda Civic front struts in the rear. This project proceeded no further because of proposed Land Transport regulations for home made cars which gave some concern.

FURI 5 (registered1988)
Built for our Son, Warren, who had misfortune to write off his Mk2 Cortina.

After selling only the engine and gearbox enough "handy bits" had been accumulated so that it was decided that a simple "clubman" style sports car could be built using these.
A space frame chassis of light gauge tube was fabricated. At the front a Triumph Herald suspension was adapted, fitted with the Cortina hubs and brakes. At the rear the Cortina diff with a 5 link setup was used. An OHC Vauxhall Victor 2000 engine, which had been lying under the bench, was adapted to a Mustang 2 gearbox, also surplus to requirements from another road car. This was clothed in an alloy body with a forward hinged one piece bonnet and mudguards of fibreglass.
This car raced at several Classic Motor Racing Club events where it performed well and proved to have good handling. This was a satisfactory way of using up some of the parts around the place."



** New Photo of Furi 5 by David Clearwater with the Elin and Graeme Sausage Curries Buckler
Jim Bennett noted " FURI 5 built for son Warren. 2 Liter OHC Vauxhall " added 9 Aug 2019



This is Furi 5 - when owned by Russ Cunningham - now yellow like Furi 6 but not as different Rego number.



FURI 6. (registered1988)

" With the reduction in local content of the car industry D.C.Ross's toolmaking work had reduced. While plans were being put into place to diversify, the company decided, with my prodding, to introduce a make-work scheme to investigate the viability of a kitset sports car.

A prototype would be completed built along with a second - chassis kit. The prototype was intended as a demonstrator that would show how far this kit could be taken. The chassis, similar to a modern Lotus, were fabricated from folded sheet metal and mig welded in a jig. Simple form tools were made to press out suspension arms to allow various Ford running gear to be fitted.

Ford parts being chosen for the availability. The prototype was fitted with Sierra front uprights and brakes, Sierra differential with a purpose made multi link rear end. The 2.8 V6 engine left over from my Sierra wagon was adapted to a five speed Toyota Celica gearbox and squeezed into the chassis. Because this motor is so compact it is mounted a long way back in the chassis giving even weight distribution which undoubtedly assists in the handling.

Budget constraints led to the company using the moulds from FURI 5. This may not have been the best choice as I had always considered this body style to be something of a compromise.

The car has performed on the race track better than anticipated, being very competitive in South Island classic racing.

When Thelma left D.C.Ross in 1989 she was allowed to uplift the prototype as a redundancy settlement from which she has derived 10 years of pleasure giving a number of the guys a run for their money on the race track and improving her skills as a driver in the process..

FURI 6 was sold in 2001 and the new owner replaced the supercharged Ford engine with a Rover V8. Performance is about the same."

Some photos of Furi 6.
from Bennett family archives Jim Bennett and Warren Bennett



Here Furi 6 race #10 in a group with the single seater midget style racer of Jim Bennett - Furi 9 [ Impulse ] more about that car soon - and the model being made of it by " Chaindrive ".
Furi 6 has been modified as detailed by Jim in the notes;
This is a recent [ 2019 ] photo.