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History of the 240T FIA Evolution Cars

recently i stumbled on a YT presentation by Gale Banks. You know, from bankspower.com He mentioned that he once was commisioned by Volvo to develop the worlds first turbocharged car that used an oxygen sensor. He never mentioned the type of car but it has to be the B21ET/B23ET, right? I'm curious if he was also involved in the WTCC Volvo racing effort during the 1980's. Anybody know?
 
Lambda Sond was introduced by Volvo in 1977. There were turbo projects done for 240s well before the 240 Turbo came out or was homologated for racing. I recall one that iPD was involved with also circa 1978. So Banks involvement may have occurred in the 1970s.
Dave B

Janspeed said:
recently i stumbled on a YT presentation by Gale Banks. You know, from bankspower.com He mentioned that he once was commisioned by Volvo to develop the worlds first turbocharged car that used an oxygen sensor. He never mentioned the type of car but it has to be the B21ET/B23ET, right? I'm curious if he was also involved in the WTCC Volvo racing effort during the 1980's. Anybody know?
Click to expand...
 
I just stumbled upon this thread (having myself been inactive during the time it was active), and wanted to add some info about the Dan Theil/Wayne Baldwin car.

I've know the car in question since about '91, when I first met Dan Theil. Over time, I figure my parents and I have paid for both of Dan's kid's college education. :-) . Kurt's Garage (his shop) is my go-to place when I have a Volvo problem that I can't solve.

Back in a decade or more ago, when I was still writing the competition column for Rolling, I had a chance to talk to Wayne Baldwin and one other VP at VCNA whose name escapes me. I asked about them about the history of the Rally GrpA car that Dan Theil has.

The car was built from the spare GrpA parts as a way of showing what could be done with the competition parts. It's first and only public appearance as a Volvo built vehicle was at the NY Car show of that year (1981?). One of the head officials of VCNA (or maybe Volvo) saw the car sitting in the Volvo Stand, turned to Wayne and his friend and said "Volvo does not build race cars. I don't ever want to see this car again."

Wayne and the VP competed in the SCCA Pro Rally series a few times. It was rolled once. Eventually the car was shopped around for a buyer. Bill Maher, a local Rochester racer at the time (who last I know owns one of the original IPD race cars), was given the option to buy the 16V beast. He passed and I remember Bill saying it has some problems running because it was running factory fuel and/or ignition systems.

Eventually, Dan Theil bought the car. He ran the SCCA Pro Rally series first in it competing in the Open class. Eventually a friend (Gail McGuire) came across the Group A homologation papers for it, at which point Dan Theil went to Group A. In '91 (or was it '92) Dan and his navigator (another name I can't think of) finished 2nd in Group A to a factory backed Subaru Legacy GT. Dan's was a privateer effort (which I am sure I well funded at his shop -- we never got cars fixed at the shop just before or after an event. :-) ).

At the time he was running, the 16V head was gone and it was running a built 8V head with water (50% alcohol) injection and the correct Getrag 5speed.

About a decade ago, Dan restored the car and dropped in a B230FT motor with a "modern" FI system. Dan claims the car runs better with the stock motor then it ever did in full race trim
 
Hello,
Just now finding this topic but infected for life by the Group A 240 turbo since I saw (14 years old, my father raced in a Group H race in the same weekend) Per Stureson become 3rd at the Zolder "Bergische L?we" DTM race behind the TWR Rover. Funny thing I also remember is that TWR came with a fleet of trailers, hospitality and motor homes (modern racing which I hate) and IPS came with an old converted Volvo bus which loaded the 240 in the back and accommodated the team up front.
I searched for the book mentioned in this topic about the Group A 240's but cannot find it. Was it ever published?
Thanks!
Thom

360.jpg
 
MarkPetch said:
Hi Carl,

Goran, readily admits that the Evolution T3B Turbo, as used by the GpA cars, had way to much turbo lag to be sold for road use, an further more, as the majority of the 500 Evolution cars were fitted with Automatic transmissions, The ECU's at that point in time could not deal with the turbo lag and in his word's were basically dangerous to drive.

The American importers were adamant that they would only except the car if they put back to standard, except for the Intercooler, which as one poster has already mentioned was the standard intercooler found in the European 1983 760 Turbo, and not the GpA custom aluminium and expensive, German L?ngerer & Reich intercooler.

The importers were equally adamant that in their view the rear wing was just plain ugly and would only be offered as a dealer fitted option, they were thus left in the trunks of the car and most ended up gathering dust in dealers spare parts departments. It seem that the American buyer also though the rear wing was ugly as very few were ever fitted as far as I can ascertain anyway.
Click to expand...
Mark,

What was the actual turbo model used in the GpA car, was it a homologated item or free choice?

Thanks
Dana
 
jwernerny said:
I just stumbled upon this thread (having myself been inactive during the time it was active), and wanted to add some info about the Dan Theil/Wayne Baldwin car.

I've know the car in question since about '91, when I first met Dan Theil. Over time, I figure my parents and I have paid for both of Dan's kid's college education. :-) . Kurt's Garage (his shop) is my go-to place when I have a Volvo problem that I can't solve.

Back in a decade or more ago, when I was still writing the competition column for Rolling, I had a chance to talk to Wayne Baldwin and one other VP at VCNA whose name escapes me. I asked about them about the history of the Rally GrpA car that Dan Theil has.

The car was built from the spare GrpA parts as a way of showing what could be done with the competition parts. It's first and only public appearance as a Volvo built vehicle was at the NY Car show of that year (1981?). One of the head officials of VCNA (or maybe Volvo) saw the car sitting in the Volvo Stand, turned to Wayne and his friend and said "Volvo does not build race cars. I don't ever want to see this car again."

Wayne and the VP competed in the SCCA Pro Rally series a few times. It was rolled once. Eventually the car was shopped around for a buyer. Bill Maher, a local Rochester racer at the time (who last I know owns one of the original IPD race cars), was given the option to buy the 16V beast. He passed and I remember Bill saying it has some problems running because it was running factory fuel and/or ignition systems.

Eventually, Dan Theil bought the car. He ran the SCCA Pro Rally series first in it competing in the Open class. Eventually a friend (Gail McGuire) came across the Group A homologation papers for it, at which point Dan Theil went to Group A. In '91 (or was it '92) Dan and his navigator (another name I can't think of) finished 2nd in Group A to a factory backed Subaru Legacy GT. Dan's was a privateer effort (which I am sure I well funded at his shop -- we never got cars fixed at the shop just before or after an event. :-) ).

At the time he was running, the 16V head was gone and it was running a built 8V head with water (50% alcohol) injection and the correct Getrag 5speed.

About a decade ago, Dan restored the car and dropped in a B230FT motor with a "modern" FI system. Dan claims the car runs better with the stock motor then it ever did in full race trim
Click to expand...
Sorry to dig up an old thread but thanks for sharing that. My girlfriend is a longtime family friend of the Baldwins and when I met them last month we were talking about this. It’s nice to learn about the car. There was also a video that they made at the time that we were trying to find a copy of. Does anyone know if it’s online anywhere? We’ve had no luck searching for it.
 
Blueprint for Endurance? Good luck, I've searched for it online and haven't been able to find it anywhere.

A Volvo dealer that's been in business since the early '80's or longer might still have a copy but I doubt it.
 
FB wanted me to see this:


"Young Anders Lindberg 🇸🇪 was hired to race the 405-car in the Swedish Championship in Group-A 1989. Before racing the car Lindberg, with mates Dan Boström 🇸🇪 and Ulf Svensson 🇸🇪 as mechanics.

Anyhow as this car was restored by the trio in 1989 the Swedish Automobile Federation (SBF) had added a dispensation for the 240 in Group-A nationally in Sweden, this dispensation made so the 240 could use larger exhaust valves up to 40mm, the 940 turbo exhaust manifold, the minimum weight was set from 1045kg to 1020kg, the tire width was increased from 10" to 11", and the mounting points for the rear shocks could be moved in the lower control arm so the shocks could be straighten. Even the upper control arms mounting points could be moved upwards 20mm (more details was allowed but to many to mention here!).

This dispens for the 240 was added so the Volvo could stand a chance against the newer and stronger BMW E30 M3 and the Ford Sierra RS500. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Anders and his team finally perfected the Water Injection System that Volvo used in 1984-86, this made it possible for the team to increase the power in the engine to 400+hk! Making the 240 Turbo the strongest car of its time! Anders placed 2nd in the championship 1989 also by the way.

After the 1989 season the 405-car was sold to Åke Ernstsson ✝️ (Imser Motor-Sport) 🇸🇪, he went on to race the car in the Swedish Championship in Group-A 1990 with mediocre results and placed 13th overall that season.

The car was then sold abroad.

(📸 Anders Lindberg© 🇸🇪 & Conny Karlsson© 🇸🇪)
▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️
#240thelegend #volvo #volvo240 #Volvo242 #Volvo242GT #b21et #b21etal #240turbo #242turbo #volvo240turbo #volvo242turbo #240racing #volvo240racing #volvogroupa #groupa #volvorsport #rsport #volvomotorsport #volvoinsports #speedline #bbs #ronal #compomotive #volvoracecar #volvoracing #oldvolvosneverdie #oldvolvos #240gruppa #240gruppase
 
The 240T FIA Evolution Cars are such a fascinating piece of motorsport history! The engineering and design innovations they brought to rally racing were revolutionary. It’s incredible how these cars balanced power and agility, setting new standards for performance. Does anyone have insights into the specific modifications that made these cars stand out from their predecessors? Would love to hear more about the technical aspects and personal experiences from those who had the chance to drive or work on them!
 
Even now some information is held close to the chest like the kjet tuning. But overall you can get a great idea of the modifications allowed under the FIA papers. There used to be a link on turbobricks but I don't know where anymore.
 
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