A new member - Rotary fanatic or was!!

[Warninglight]

Was very involved in the sport during the 70,s and 80,s. The times when you could compete with minimal budget (none) and enjoy every moment of it without too much BS. Rallied/hillclimbed several RX3's and raced the ex Findlay RX3 in OSCA with sponsorship from DIC (almost never got caught- DIC that is). Pipped at the post for overall OSCA win in 79 by Johny Osbourne. I was pretty proud of an engine I built that officially surpassed 100MPH on water ( 107 from memory ) was arguably the first rotary in the world to do that. I was particularly happy I wasn't driving that boat !! I look forward to catching up with a number of you on this site. John

[seaqnmac27]

Welcome John.

[Rod Grimwood]

Welcome John, where did the Findlay RX3 go after you had it.

[spinner32]

Welcome John, where did the Findlay RX3 go after you had it.

The shell is sitting in the back of my shed, Rod. It needs a total rebuild, which will be a major project.
It is my intention to restore the car once rotaries are accepted into historics in the SI. e.g Skope

[spinner32]

The shell is sitting in the back of my shed, Rod. It needs a total rebuild, and will be a long project.

However, any photos and information would be appreciated.

[Warninglight]

Hi Rod, I sold it to Don Grindlay of Christchurch who used it for a short period before moving on to a RX7. As you know Rex had it built by Peter Bruin, Bill Shiells etc to race in Shellsport. However rotary's were subsequently ruled out by those in power so Rex traded it on to me. I competed very succesfully in OSCA for 3 seasons Winning B Class and led the outright points until the last race of the season when John Osbourne managed a win. It was an extremely reliable car whilst I had it. Only 1 DNF in that time, blew the apex seals in front of Leo Leonard in the PDL car towards the end of the straight at Wigram.

[spinner32]

Hi Rod, I sold it to Don Grindlay of Christchurch who used it for a short period before moving on to a RX7. As you know Rex had it built by Peter Bruin, Bill Shiells etc to race in Shellsport. However rotary's were subsequently ruled out by those in power so Rex traded it on to me. I competed very succesfully in OSCA for 3 seasons Winning B Class and led the outright points until the last race of the season when John Osbourne managed a win. It was an extremely reliable car whilst I had it. Only 1 DNF in that time, blew the apex seals in front of Leo Leonard in the PDL car towards the end of the straight at Wigram.

Don sold the car to Craig "The Wizard" Hool who successfully ran a 13B turbo in the car for some seasons. He made many changes over the car's career as is the norm. Somehow the late Dean Kirk obtained the car and made some unfortunate and radical body mods, which will be hard to remedy. A friend purchased the remains off Chris Blackwood about 10 years ago, just before it went to the dump. It is our long term aim to rebuild the car, although there has been no decision as to what paint scheme it will be in, Shellsport or OSCA

[Warninglight]

Don sold the car to Craig "The Wizard" Hool who successfully ran a 13B turbo in the car for some seasons. He made many changes over the car's career as is the norm. Somehow the late Dean Kirk obtained the car and made some unfortunate and radical body mods, which will be hard to remedy. A friend purchased the remains off Chris Blackwood about 10 years ago, just before it went to the dump. It is our long term aim to rebuild the car, although there has been no decision as to what paint scheme it will be in, Shellsport or OSCA

Without disrespect to Rex I would suggest that OSCA paint scheme would be most appropriate as it did not compete in Shellsport.

[seaqnmac27]

Without disrespect to Rex I would suggest that OSCA paint scheme would be most appropriate as it did not compete in Shellsport.

Sorry John, but, it was designed to run in the original 0-4200 class ShellSport class when the definition of ShellSport was essentially what became Sports Sedans, so therefore the color scheme as when you got it.

[Warninglight]

Sorry John, but, it was designed to run in the original 0-4200 class ShellSport class when the definition of ShellSport was essentially what became Sports Sedans, so therefore the color scheme as when you got it.

The way I understand it is that the car was built to run in Shellsport but due to new rule changes/interpretations the car was deemed ineligible and did not or ever race in the Shellsport Championship which was 0-2000cc with weight limits for various engine sizes ( from memory ).These changes came about prior to the season start in 1977 - which is when/because I bought it. Obviously with the 13b (1298cc) it would have cleaned up quite easily. The Shellsport season of 77/78 was the first of this series and ran through to approximately 1987 and then became Sport Sedans ( Thundersport Championship ) with totally different classes/rules. Others on this site may be more aware of the finite details than I. The car would have had a large number of OSCA races during it's career. Probably most of them would have been in DIC colors (approx 40 race meetings 3 races at each over 2.5 seasons) followed by Grindley Tyres ( 2 seasons ? ). I do not know what happened to it after Grindley.

[spinner32]

The way I understand it is that the car was built to run in Shellsport but due to new rule changes/interpretations the car was deemed ineligible and did not or ever race in the Shellsport Championship which was 0-2000cc with weight limits for various engine sizes ( from memory ).These changes came about prior to the season start in 1977 - which is when/because I bought it. Obviously with the 13b (1298cc) it would have cleaned up quite easily. The Shellsport season of 77/78 was the first of this series and ran through to approximately 1987 and then became Sport Sedans ( Thundersport Championship ) with totally different classes/rules. Others on this site may be more aware of the finite details than I. The car would have had a large number of OSCA races during it's career. Probably most of them would have been in DIC colors (approx 40 race meetings 3 races at each over 2.5 seasons) followed by Grindley Tyres ( 2 seasons ? ). I do not know what happened to it after Grindley.

Hi John. In my reply above, you will notice that Craig Hool ran the RX3 successfully for many seasons after purchasing it from Don Grindley. The car was eventually stripped of its running gear,as Craig was building a RX7, which to the best of my knowledge was never completed.
A minor point. I think that Rex Findlay built the car around 1973, in which case it raced in the old Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) series, as indicated, in the 0-4200 class. It was never a Shell Sport car. Shell Sport did not allow rotaries until towards the end, thinking here of Kieren Will's ex Gp C car, which became the Aztec RX8, which was entered last weekend at the Festival.
The OSCA reunion video that Evan Munt put together a couple of years ago featured the RX3 a lot in Don Grindley's colours

[seaqnmac27]

no, it was built in 75 first run early 76, very definitely ShellSport not BNSW, I think Rex's remembrance of the build is elsewhere on this site. I will find a pic of it from 76 and scan and post as soon as I am able to.

[seaqnmac27]

Having said that it was certainly raced more by both John and Don.