THE FAST
but fragile Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird turbo was a solitary sight at Bathurst 1984,
which emphasized the fact that Nissan in Australia is still very much alone in its quest
to pioneer the use of turbo-charging in Australian touring car racing. Since it was
introduced to the class in 1981 as the pet project of Nissan product development and
competitions boss, Howard Marsden, it has proved a problem child. The car rapidly got on
the pace, once respectable performance was found and handling sorted out by Bathurst 1982.
The following year and right up to Bathurst 1983, the car accumulated some impressive
results in both sprint and endurance racing, yet the `black art' of turbo technology left
a question mark over the car for 1984. The late 1983 range of concessions left the
Bluebird off the pace by early 1984, to such an extent that the Nissan team briefly
withdrew from competition to do some specific development work on the 1.7 litre fuel
injected four cylinder powerplant at their Dandenong, Melbourne competitions department.
The objective of the exercise on the dyno was to get a little more power from under the
bonnet without bumping up turbo pressure which they had been forced to do earlier in the
year to stay competitive. But of course it was a greater threat to reliability. The team
eventually found a little more power over a wider rev range from the exhaust manifold and
camshaft timing. For the turbo it meant turbine speed and operating temperature could be
brought down -to a reasonably safe level for the Castrol 500 and Bathurst 1984. George
Fury's No. 15 car for the event was the third and newest Bluebird built by the Nissan
team, and the car Fury had used exclusively since the Oran Park endurance race he won in
1983. A second, older training car was entered for Fury/Gary Scott for the race, to allow
both drivers to get in plenty of driving practice while the other driver was out in the
race car or if the Nissan team mechanics were working on No. 15.
VERY LITTLE was seen
of the little Nissan Motor Co EXA turbo after its debut in the Sandown Castrol 400 in
1983, but it was back again for Bathurst 1984. In fact, the race development programme had
not been halted at all on the wild looking Pulsar derivative, it was just that EXA driver
Christine Gibson had been punted off the track so many times at Amaroo Park, that the team
decided to do all the work on the car away from the race track. Like the Bluebird, the EXA
was a racing orphan developed by the team, under Howard Marsden's direction, and with
little if any output from Japan or anywhere else. And like the Bluebird the EXA was
breaking new ground, not just in turbocharging, but in the even more alien world of
front-wheel drive. In the turbo-charging area, the four cylinder EXA was at least being
towed along with developments on the Bluebird. FWD, previously anathema in racing, was
where Nissan team had been making major advances with the EXA. It was a deliberately quiet
development programme, after the car was withdrawn from the limelight at Amaroo, which was
the ideal track for developing the car. Away from Amaroo the team concentrated on making
the car easier to drive, particularly around corners. That was no easy task because the
car was reputed to be putting out almost as much power as the Bluebird and that was not
nice to contemplate in a small, FWD short-wheel-base vehicle. The expectation was that the
nimble, lightweight little rocket would be sensationally quick at Bathurst 1984,
especially down Conrod.
THE MOVE from stock
standard Group E to the new Group A category for Bathurst 1984 was a big step for the
Mitsubishi Starion. At the instigation of Kevin Bartlett, Mitsubishi Motors under the
Ralliart banner threw in its lots with the heavyweights in an attempt to develop a
competitive turbo car in the new class for 1985. The job of making the Starion competitive
was a big one for Bartlett, especially as it would have to be an all-Australian effort -
he had the factory door open to him in Japan via Tonsley Park in Adelaide, but the only
place Group A Starions were raced was in Europe, and that effort was no more advanced than
Bartlett's Bathurst 1984 exercise. Most of Mitsubishi's competition efforts have been
aimed at rallying, until then. Two of the smart Starions were at Bathurst - Bartlett's No.
66 works car and Greville Arnel's No. 68 vehicle. Bartlett's looked the same as his Group
E car, but was actually a brand new left hand drive car built to Bartlett's order in Japan
after Bartlett and Mitsubishi's John Grant visited the factory in Japan to discuss the
race project and what assistance was required. The car was ordered to LHD European
specifications partly because the brake ancillaries and turbo-charger are on opposite
sides (more accessibility for the turbo and cooler running for the braking system) and
partly because Bartlett got used to LHD with the big Camaro and open-wheelers before that.
When the road car arrived in rally man Bob Riley's workshop in Sydney in time enough
before Bathurst 1984 for Bartlett and his team to strip it and build it to full Group A
racing trim. Despite some supply delays, the racing bits sourced from Japan and Europe
were fitted, while Sydney's Steve Knott built Australia's first Group A Starion engine,
which was rated at 250 hp. Greville Arnel's Starion was his Group E car upgraded to Group
A specification but running very close to standard in most departments. The car was
re-built by Frank Lowndes of Miami Mitsubishi on the Gold Coast, with some advice provided
to Arnel by Mitsubishi in Adelaide and also from Bartlett's Ralliart team in Sydney. The
suspension was done by Jim Hunter in Sydney, but was kept at the normal rideheight rather
than dropping it to Group A level so early in the car's life. Brakes and a 1:1 five-speed
gearbox matched those of Bartlett's Starion. The re-built Group E engine was in mild trim
only and after being re-worked at Northern Tuning in Melbourne produced about 200 bhp.
