Building a replica of a famous rally car can be fraught with danger, but Victorian Nicola Testa has just about perfected it with his gorgeous Nissan 240RS.
As an active member of the Historic Rally Association, Nicola is a regular in competitor in HRA events, and will be a starter in November's Alpine Rally.
The Nissan 240RS is built to Group B specifications mirroring the car that contested the 1982 East African Safari Rally.
The build started in 2014, with the first version body fitted with a 2-litre engine built by Justin Snooks.
Nicola continues the tale:
"In 2017, enter Randy and Andy from NISSCO and as with all rally drivers, quick isn't quick enough, so after much discussion it was decided to convert the original engine from wet to dry sump, as Fj20s have limitations with the oil pump at high revs, and the journey began.
"Randy and Andy did their magic and a the new '240RS' version received extensive modification and further improvement in 2018.
"The 'dry sump upgrade' escalated very quickly into 'we've got it in bits, why don't we go bigger?' Needless to say things went south very quickly, with the cylinder head and sundries being the only original bit left after the rebuild.
"The result, however, was well worth the effort.
"Essentially all mechanical components have been rebuilt by Randy and a new car has emerged."
The result was more torque and power from an engine that has been stroked to 2.4-litres. It features a full dry sump system, new suspension, new modified diff with stronger axles and floater set-up, and many other modifications have made the car more reliable and competitive.
The retro Marlboro livery was expertly done by Paul "Golly" Mollison, with some technical assistance from the guys at Snooks Motorsport.
Nigel Walters as Nicola's regular co-driver, and since the rebuild they have never DNFd an event.
"We really don’t care where we end up at the end of the rallies, this is about having fun and sharing the sound, looks and experience of classic rallying with others," Nicola says.
"We compete in very few selected classic rallies a year, but we enjoy the camaraderie and opportunity to participate in this great sport and sharing our experience with like-minded people and the new generation.
"It’s a great fun to drive car with a power-to-weight ratio that provides an exciting driving experience.
"I have owned and rallied a Datsun Stanza, Silvia S12, Galant VR4 and a 1600 SSS in Kenya, but I find the 240RS to be most exiting car to drive – tail happy, always tempting you to do crazy things. And of course the sound of the FJ24(20) is second to none, with the greatest buzz being the throttle steer."
Let's take a closer look at the car .....
TECH SPEC
BODY:
1982 Nissan S110 fully restored from bare metal rebuild.
Seam welded and strengthened, welded-in roll cage with door bars and rear triangulation. Fibreglass flares front and rear, bonnet, boot, rear and front bumper.
Strengthened jacking points.
Resprayed in Marlboro Safari Rally 1983 Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes, red/white colour scheme.
Fibreglass all to original specifications
Faithfull replica of all period livery of the era and car
ENGINE:
Forged Pistons, spool crank and rods, balanced and blueprinted, imported custom big valve head with high lift cams
ATI harmonic balancer bolted to custom drive pulley.
Assembled, balanced blueprinted and built by Crankshaft Rebuilders, Dick Savy Motorsport dry sump pump with bespoke alloy mount bracket
Remanufactured oil tank mounted in boot to supply oil to the engine via braided hoses.
Cylinder head custom mods balanced and blue printed to spec, including custom cams
Extractor exhaust. Custom radiator, lubrication via dry sump system with remote oil tanks (3-stage)
2x Weber 48mm carburettors
Original Enkei 6” front and 7 “ rear wheels
TRANSMISSION:
Gear Box - Option 1, 5-speed close ration (1:1) final drive
Differential - 4.8 or 5.1 LSD
Rear axle - Full floater
Custom and balanced tail shaft
SUSPENSION
Front – MacPherson strut, Bilstein Heavy duty springs with Bilstein shock absorbers all round with remote canisters. Adjustable platforms and adjustable top mounts.
Rear – MCS rear with separate canister, 150lb spring
Rose joint and rubber isolators
Custom chrome moly rear lower control arms
BRAKES:
Front – Ventilated rotors, 4 piston Nissan callipers
2x electric fans, 2x electric fuel pumps, Electronic distributor re-graphed to suit.
4x 9” Cibie Super Oscar driving and spot lights
WHEELS & TYRES
Front– 15 x 6” original Enkei Datsun alloy rally wheels, 185x65 Dunlops
Rear – 15 x 7” original Enkei Datsun alloy rally wheels, 185x65 Dunlops
INTERIOR:
Marsh seats for driver and co-driver
Schroth 5-point harnesses
Geotrip (satellite) Pro distance recorder
RallySafe
Peltor intercom system
Switchgear separately fused and mounted in removable panel
No interior floor coverings or roof lining.
SAAS steering wheel, custom map light box
Photos: Nicola Testa, John Doutch, Paul Mollison
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Nicola continues the tale:
"In 2017, enter Randy and Andy from NISSCO and as with all rally drivers, quick isn't quick enough, so after much discussion it was decided to convert the original engine from wet to dry sump, as Fj20s have limitations with the oil pump at high revs, and the journey began.
"Randy and Andy did their magic and a the new '240RS' version received extensive modification and further improvement in 2018.
"The 'dry sump upgrade' escalated very quickly into 'we've got it in bits, why don't we go bigger?' Needless to say things went south very quickly, with the cylinder head and sundries being the only original bit left after the rebuild.
"The result, however, was well worth the effort.
"Essentially all mechanical components have been rebuilt by Randy and a new car has emerged."
The result was more torque and power from an engine that has been stroked to 2.4-litres. It features a full dry sump system, new suspension, new modified diff with stronger axles and floater set-up, and many other modifications have made the car more reliable and competitive.
The retro Marlboro livery was expertly done by Paul "Golly" Mollison, with some technical assistance from the guys at Snooks Motorsport.
Nigel Walters as Nicola's regular co-driver, and since the rebuild they have never DNFd an event.
"We really don’t care where we end up at the end of the rallies, this is about having fun and sharing the sound, looks and experience of classic rallying with others," Nicola says.
"We compete in very few selected classic rallies a year, but we enjoy the camaraderie and opportunity to participate in this great sport and sharing our experience with like-minded people and the new generation.
"It’s a great fun to drive car with a power-to-weight ratio that provides an exciting driving experience.
"I have owned and rallied a Datsun Stanza, Silvia S12, Galant VR4 and a 1600 SSS in Kenya, but I find the 240RS to be most exiting car to drive – tail happy, always tempting you to do crazy things. And of course the sound of the FJ24(20) is second to none, with the greatest buzz being the throttle steer."
Let's take a closer look at the car .....
