Car quickly repaired

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 72

Car quickly repaired

By JOHN HAWKINS After surveying the wreck of Graeme Coey’s Datsun 1600 after last Saturday’s Mainfreight 3ZM rally, few people would have given the car any chance of appearing again this season. Yet, in less than seven days, the hard-working team has repaired the car in time for the Dunlop Rallysprint this week-end. Early in the fourth stage of the Mainfreight rally, Coey lost control of the car on the Summit Road, between Okains Bay and the

Hilltop. The Big Softie-3ZB Datsun understeered off the road after sliding on moss which, according to Coey, was like hitting a patch of ice. The car plunged over the side of a cliff and rolled at least three times before coming to rest facing backwards in a gully. The strength of the car’s roll cage saved Coey and his fellow driver, Tony Morrison, from injury, but the car, which had to be winched back on to the road, was extensively damaged.

More than 100 man hours of work have been put in by the small team in an effort to ready the car for the rallysprint. Nearly all the panels had to be replaced, including the bonnet and guards. About the only things salvaged from the original body were the two back doors.

Although the results of the hard work will not be known until Coey has his timed runs today, the team will be more than happy if the car manages a place in the Top 12.