Honda Civic: The $1000 Bathurst racer
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Honda Civic: The $1000 Bathurst racer

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By MarkOastler - 23 June 2014
The Honda Civic’s fourth and final Bathurst 1000 appearance was in 1976 when the diminutive Japanese cars finished second and third in Class A. This is the third-placed Civic RS shared by rally ace Roger Bonhomme and multiple AGP winner Doug Whiteford, with the Bridgestone racing slicks generating enough grip through Hell Corner to lift the inside rear wheel clear off the deck. This was a familiar pose for racing Civics being driven at their limit.

The original Honda Civic released in Australia in 1973 was the right car at the right time. Its fuel efficiency in an energy crisis, combined with state-of-the-art technical design, quality engineering and attractive styling, made it a global sales phenomenon. It also proved to be a robust and cheap class contender in touring car racing, competing at Bathurst with the V8 big guns for a fraction of the cost.

An article that appeared in Sports Car World in 1974 highlighted how easy and affordable it could be for a Honda Civic owner to turn their dream of competing at Bathurst and other endurance races into a reality. SCW claimed that for as little as $1000 you could race-prepare a Civic that could “compete on equal terms with the Class A front runners (the legal ones, anyway).”

The article attracted great interest and changed a widely held perception that touring car racing had become too expensive for all but works teams and wealthy privateers. The Honda Civic opened many eyes to the possibilities available - all they had to do was look towards the rear of the grid.

What the big-hearted little Honda lacked in physical size and engine capacity it more than made up for with its impressive reliability, agile sure-footed handling and spirited performance during four appearances on the Mountain from 1973 to 1976.

During that time the Civic competed in Class A for cars with engine capacities up to 1300cc. Even though these tiddlers were dismissed by some as little more than ‘mobile chicanes’ for faster cars, the annual clash for Class A honours at Bathurst was just as intense as any other class or outright battle.

The Civic entered by Sydney Honda dealer Rolls Motors for the 1973 Bathurst 1000 was driven with great zeal by F3 open-wheeler drivers Ian Cook and Terry Finnigan. Unfortunately the car retired early due to engine damage caused by a non-standard carburettor adaptor.

The Class A cars also enriched the colourful mix of makes and models competing at Bathurst each year, when the annual 1000 km race was still true to its original charter in showcasing the diversity of the Australian car market. A diversity, it must be said, that is sadly lacking in today’s race.

Against proven Bathurst performance yardsticks like the 1275cc Mini Cooper S, the new Honda measured up well. Like the Mini, it had a kerb weight of less than 700 kgs (approx. 650 kgs) and an inline four cylinder engine and front wheel drive four-speed manual transmission located east-west in its tiny engine bay.

The Civic’s cubic capacity of 1169cc was slightly less than the 1275cc Cooper S, but it was a more modern and efficient all-aluminium engine design boasting a belt-driven single overhead camshaft, cross-flow cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers, five-bearing crank and, in typical Honda tradition, a high rev tolerance.

Rated at 65 bhp (48.4kW) with a top speed of 92 mph (148km/h) in stock form, this engine responded well to increased freedoms allowed under the new Production Touring - Group C rules introduced in 1973.

The Civic’s widely acclaimed unitary body/chassis unit was also well credentialed for race track and forest rally duties with powerful front disc brakes, outstanding MacPherson strut front and rear suspension geometry which provided long wheel travel with minimal camber change and pin-sharp rack and pinion steering.

John Lord and Peter Janson teamed up for the 1973 Bathurst 1000 and finished fourth in Class A. The colourful ‘Captain’ Janson would become a popular character in touring car racing, scoring several outright podium finishes at Bathurst driving privately entered Holden Toranas in the late 1970s and Commodores in the early 1980s.

With a single fuel tank capacity of 38 litres it was 12 litres short of the Cooper S’s 50-litre twin-tank arrangement, meaning more laps between fuel stops for the Mini. However, the Civic’s cutting-edge engine design was more efficient and economical than the older but still very potent British pushrod engine, which helped to compensate for its smaller tank in endurance racing.

The other hot contenders in Class A at Bathurst during the mid-1970s were many and varied, including the Datsun 1200 coupe, Mini Clubman GT, Fiat 128 coupe, Mazda 1300, Alfa Junior, Ford Escort 1300 and Toyota Corolla. Against this eclectic mix of small-bore warriors, the Civic proved to be a consistent threat for Class A honours.

Even though it failed to score a class win during its four years on the Mountain, it did finish an excellent runner-up in both the 1974 and 1976 Bathurst 1000s. It also came close to a clean-sweep of the 1976 Manufacturers Championship, with three class wins and one second place from the four rounds.

Class A was cancelled after the 1976 Bathurst 1000, largely due to safety concerns over the rapidly growing speed disparities between the slowest and fastest cars which by then was as much as 80 km/h on Conrod Straight. It was the end of a great era and, as history has shown, the start of a decline in brand and vehicle variety on the Mountain.

Being small, light and agile, the Civics were quick through the twisty sections of Mount Panorama, in particularly the steep downhill run from Skyline to Forrest’s Elbow. This is the Ken Brian/Noel Riley Civic up on three wheels through The Dipper, in its way to fifth place in Class A at Bathurst in 1973.

 

1973 Bathurst 1000

The new Honda Civic made its Bathurst debut in 1973, when the annual 500-mile (800 km) sedan car race was extended to a longer metric distance of 1000 kms.

1973 was also the first year the race was run to new Group C rules, which were hastily drafted in the wake of the 1972 ‘Supercar Scare’ that brought a swift end to the showroom stock rules that the race had been run to since its inception at Phillip Island in 1960.

Put simply, Group C eliminated the need for car manufacturers to produce small volumes of their Bathurst race cars to be sold to the public to comply. The new rules allowed instead for a range of modifications to be made to standard production cars by race teams, to improve their suitability for competition use.

The contrast in size and speed between tiny Class A cars and the big V8s in the outright division (Class D) was a spectacle in itself. The McGinley/Harrison Civic entered by Honda Australia is about to get gobbled up through The Dipper by the Richards/Coppins Torana L34 and Carter/Stillwell Falcon GT during the 1974 Bathurst 1000.

These freedoms mainly focused on engines, suspensions, brakes, wheels and tyres and resulted in what were effectively hotted-up road cars - lower, louder, fatter and faster than their showroom predecessors. This Group C era (1973-1984) produced some of the best touring car racing in the world.

For the 1973 Bathurst 1000, the bumper 58-car field was split into four classes based on engine capacities rather than the showroom retail prices of previous years. They were Class A (up to 1300cc), Class B (1301-2000cc), Class C (2001-3000cc) and Class D (over 3000cc).

The Bathurst 1000 was round three of the five-round Manufacturers Championship that year, which comprised a series of long distance races (250 to 500 kms) also held at Adelaide, Sandown, Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island.

The new Civics had run reliably in the first and second ManChamp events at Adelaide (sixth in class) and Sandown (fifth in class) so the Honda teams came to Bathurst’s third round confident of an even better result.

This wonderful shot of the McGinley/Harrison Honda Civic hounding the Bond/Skelton HDT Torana L34 down through The Esses, with minimal safety fencing, exposed grassy earth banks and huge crowd in the background, really captures the unique atmosphere of the Bathurst 1000 and the Mount Panorama circuit in 1974.

Class A attracted 14 entries including three of the new Civics. One was shared by John Lord and future Bathurst outright contender Peter Janson, with the others crewed by Ken Brian/Noel Riley and Formula Three open-wheeler racers Terry Finnigan and Ian Cook. Finnigan would later become a leading touring car privateer in Holden Commodores.

The Honda trio faced stiff competition from quality Datsun 1200, Fiat 128, Mini Cooper S and Renault R8 Gordini entries. On their first visit to the Mountain, the Civics were outgunned in qualifying and the race, with the fastest of the three (Cook/Finnigan) retiring on lap 56 with engine damage.

The surviving Civics of Lord/Janson and Brian/Riley finished fourth and fifth in class behind a Mini Cooper S, Fiat 128 coupe and the winning works-entered Datsun 1200 coupe. The Civic concluded its first year of touring car racing in fine style, finishing second in Class A to the works Datsun at Phillip Island’s final 500 km ManChamp round.

That’s one big hill for a little car! The Brian/Riley Civic powers through Hell Corner as it commences the long, steep climb to the top of Mount Panorama at Bathurst in 1974. This car pushed the Class A-winning Mini Cooper S hard all the way to the chequered flag.

 

1974 Bathurst 1000

The Civics returned to Mount Panorama with a sharper competitive edge after a year of testing and sorting. The four-class structure for the big race remained largely unchanged, with Class A still the domain of small-bore cars up to 1300cc.

The rapid Cook/Finnigan Rolls Motors Civic from 1973 did not return, but the little Hondas were still well represented by Ken Brian and Noel Riley (fifth in class Bathurst 1973) with Max McGinley and Ray Harrison also fronting with a ‘works’ Civic entered by Honda Australia.

Class A competition was again very strong, with the works Datsun 1200 coupe and private Cooper S teams joined by Mazda 1300, Escort 1300 and Alfa Junior entries.

When the Datsun retired early in the race with clutch failure, the Cooper S became the car to beat. The Brian/Riley Civic posed the greatest threat to the leading Mini team throughout the 1000 km marathon, finishing on the same lap and just over a minute behind the class-winning Cooper S.

It was a mighty impressive result for the Honda in only its second year on the Mountain against such battle-hardened competition. McGinley and Harrison finished fifth in class resulting in two top five placings for the popular Japanese cars.

The Civic’s top-five performances in Class A during the five-round ManChamp endurance race series highlighted its well-rounded racing credentials, finishing second at Adelaide and fifth at Sandown with two third place finishes at Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island.

The 1975 Bathurst 1000 was not a good one for the Honda Civic after its excellent runner-up performance the previous year.  The McGinley/King Civic had a troubled run that left it classified as a non-finisher, having completed only 92 of the total 163 laps.

 

1975 Bathurst 1000

The four-class structure remained unchanged for the big race, with Class A attracting another strong entry of 15 cars.

The Civic teams maintained their momentum from the previous year’s tough ManChamp campaign. However, Bathurst proved a much tougher assignment than the previous year, with the Cooper S again taking the Class A win and the two Civics finishing well down the order.

Ian Wells and Neil West salvaged eighth place behind solid Datsun, Alfa and Mazda competition, while the troubled Max McGinley/Paul King Civic completed only 92 laps which were insufficient to be classified as a finisher.

The controversial five-speed works-entered Datsun 1200 coupe proved to be the Civic’s nemesis at Bathurst during the four years they raced together on the Mountain. Here the rapid Datsun driven by Bill Evans/Bruce Stewart hounds the Ian Wells/Neil West Civic through The Dipper during the 1975 Bathurst 1000. The Datsun finished second in class – the sole surviving Civic placed eighth.

 

1976 Bathurst 1000

This was the final year for Class A competitors at Bathurst and the Honda Civic was in sparkling form in its final year of endurance racing.

This was thanks largely to the efforts of race and rally veteran Roger Bonhomme in his Civic RS (a hotter version not sold here) who finished second to the venerable Datsun 1200 coupe in the first ManChamp round at Sandown before claiming three straight Class A wins at Adelaide, Surfers Paradise and Phillip Island.

The Civic also ended its four-year campaign at Mount Panorama in fine style, finishing second and third behind the ubiquitous works Datsun. Honda drivers Brian Reed and Ian Chilman took the chequered flag just ahead of Bonhomme and his evergreen co-driver, multiple AGP winner Doug Whiteford.

A great shot of the Roger Bonhomme/Doug Whiteford Civic RS hatchback three-wheeling through The Dipper on its way to third in Class A at Bathurst in 1976. Bonhomme had a brilliant season in this car, scoring three class wins and one second in the four ManChamp long distance races to finish the Civic’s touring car career on a winning note.

 

Case study: Rolls Motors Honda Civic

As mentioned earlier in this story, the Civic driven by F3 open wheelers aces Ian Cook and Terry Finnigan in the Bathurst 1000 in 1973 featured on the cover of Sports Car World in April 1974.

The image of a tiny Class A touring car (slightly blurred to create a speedy look) may not have got many pulses racing, but the magazine’s claim that you could race with the Moffats and Brocks of this world in a car that only cost $1000 to prepare certainly did!

Backed by enthusiastic Sydney Honda dealer Rolls Motors, it was typical of the quality entries that Class A attracted in those days and of the simple deals that were struck between dealers and drivers to get these low-cost cars onto the starting grid.

The Rolls Motors Honda Civic featured on the cover of Sports Car World in 1974. This story provided plenty of inspiration for enthusiasts to have a crack at touring car racing, given how cheaply it could be done in a Class A car.

Rolls Motors agreed to supply Ian Cook and Terry Finnigan with a Honda Civic for racing, provided they would oversee preparation and development of the car to ensure it was competitive. And of course drive it in the 1973 Manufacturers Championship long distance events, with a primary focus on Bathurst.

Cook and Finnigan weren’t paid to drive the car. They provided their time and expertise for free, just for the thrill of getting a drive in Australia’s greatest race. Rolls Motors agreed to pay only for parts and expenses. These were golden days for touring car racing.

Getting the best out of a tiny Class A car, which was big on handling and braking but short on power, required drivers with smooth and precise car control that could keep a car flowing along without disrupting its momentum.

That’s why Class A entrants fancied drivers like Cook and Finnigan, as their experience driving small-bore (1300cc pushrod) open wheelers made them better suited than tin-top drivers used to brute V8 power.

After their excellent showing in 1974, the proven combination of Ken Brian and Noel Riley would have been disappointed with their Bathurst 1000 performance in 1976 – Class A’s last year. After a troubled run, they were classified as non-finishers after completing insufficient laps.

The Rolls Motors Honda Civic was prepared by Sydney’s Geoff McGragh who was well known in open wheeler circles for his potent F3 race engines.

The Civic’s 1169cc inline four was fully balanced and blueprinted and breathed through a big 42mm Weber twin-choke downdraught carburettor. Inlet manifolds had to remain standard under Group C rules, so an adaptor plate was made for the Weber which proved to be a source of terminal trouble at Bathurst.

The stock exhaust manifold also had to be retained, but was free after the first join in the system. The full-length muffled exhaust pipe was discarded and replaced with a raucous open pipe that exited just behind the left front wheel.

A hot Waggott camshaft allowed Honda’s little hemi to rev freely to 7000 rpm and beyond without complaint. Finnigan claimed that on Conrod Straight at Bathurst in 1973 he regularly saw 7500 rpm on the tacho, which in top gear translated to about 180 km/h (112 mph).

That was an impressive top speed from the smallest engine in the race, which was claimed to produce 58 bhp at the front wheels on the dyno. That was around 80-85 bhp at the flywheel, which was excellent but still short of the fastest S-type Mini Coopers.

Brian Reed and Ian Chilman were the best performing Honda team at the Civic’s final Bathurst appearance in 1976, finishing second in class to the Datsun 1200 coupe which ran away with the class lead.

The clutch and brakes were uprated with competition-grade friction materials, which resulted in heavier pedal actions for both. Suspension expert Alan Heasman fitted K-Mac anti-sway bars front and rear along with uprated shock absorbers and stiffer coil springs.

The standard 12-inch diameter wheels were also replaced with larger 13 x 5.5-inch rims from the previous Honda 1300/9 coupe. When fitted with Bridgestone’s low profile racing slicks, this resulted in the same rolling diameter and gearing as standard, but with much higher grip levels and sharper handling and steering response thanks to the narrower and stiffer sidewalls.

Inside, the only deviation from standard was a sturdy half-cabin roll cage made from lightweight aluminium tubing that was bolted in place. The addition of an aftermarket racing tacho, oil pressure/water temperature gauges and a four-point driver’s safety harness completed the package.

Unfortunately the Cook/Finnigan Civic, which qualified fastest of the three Civics entered, was an early retirement from the 1973 Bathurst 1000 due to bolts securing the (non-factory) Weber carburettor adapter plate vibrating loose.

This vibration enlarged the bolt holes in the water jacket inlet manifold, which ruptured the aluminium casting and allowed coolant to enter the engine. Sayonara.

The Rolls Motors Civic was a good example of how affordable and practical a Group C touring car could be. By removing the racing numbers and refitting the standard wheels, road tyres and exhaust system, this car could be legally driven on the street.

Even so, SCW was glowing in its praise of the little Japanese Class A racer when tested at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway, which no doubt provided plenty of inspiration for other budding Bathurst champions to follow suit:

There’s a lot less to tell you the car’s front wheel drive than you’d expect. The steering stays quite light under high cornering forces – not loading up as much as you’d expect, say, a Mini to do. When you go really hard it’ll pick up the inside front wheel and spin it.

The steering retains its precision too. The response to throttle-off in a corner is quick but quite mild and it really is loads of fun to circulate quickly, keeping wheel movements as economical as possible and leaving all small alterations of line and attitude to the right foot.

It’s near impossible to get the car into oversteer under neutral conditions. You keep cornering harder and harder to try and get the tail out until eventually it wants to stand up on two wheels – but it still won’t break away at the rear.

Driving the Honda quickly was an exercise in precise car control. Bear in mind that the Rolls Civic was driven this year by two experienced drivers, used to the speed and precision of open wheelers. They wouldn’t be putting so much of themselves into the car if it wasn’t livin’, breathin’, excitin’ motor sport!” 

Protect your Honda. Call Shannons Insurance on 13 46 46 to get a quote today.