I think I have, it was painted in Roadmarkers livery and had Hallidays on it did'nt it ?

I remember it in black with a yellow pinstripe and yes it did have the Hallidays with the centres painted yellow.

mmm, the Taylor brothers independant roadmarkers coupe...that was the first proper coupe I ever saw with an A14.
That was rocket science back then, A14's were still worth moonbeams, and still in production

I was running at a hillclimb in Opotiki in the early 90's, Greg Taylor turned up in the x Neil Allport Mazda GTR GroupA car, and Don Macintyre turned up in the BDA...

The Mazda was state of the art, and had won the NZrally champs the year before...

Guess who won the event...

Last time I talked to him was back when he was running a Tranz Am Mustang and he still had it. That was a really nice car...

what is the reason behind putting the engine THERE!, i mean thats a lot of effort and i dont really see why, its practiacally mid-mounting the engine, in that there is going to be a lot more weight over the rear wheels, rather than the standard approx 50/50 weight distribution, we all know mid-mounts dont handle as well dont we?

i mean moving the engine that far back you may aswell put it in the back, and why use a 1200 if you are gonna do that, surely this is a technique for front heavy cars like 120ys (hehe ) rather than nicely balenced 1200s

oh and i hope when people mention 1200s with escort steering racks they are not reffering to 1200s like these, cause thats a fair whack diffrent to putting an escort steering rack in a "normal" 1200

How many mid mount cars have you driven?All that I have driven are great, except for the ones on Grand Turismo, they are bitches to drive on the limit.!!! This car was an awesome handler and was the result of many years of building 1200s to race. This was at the time one of the quickest cars in it's class and it did'nt have the HP and dollar injection of many of the other runners. Here in NZ most of the Shellsport saloons of the 70's and 80's had engine setbacks. Even the BTCC Primeras had the engines lowered and setback as far as they could. The more weight between the axles means simply a sweeter handling car. A quick look at all your Aussie Sports Sedans will reveal massive set backs too. I recall looking at an XJS V12 and the front of the engine started at the firewall !!

He must have bought that after the Clyde Collins Commodore. Last that I heard was the I.R.D were after him for tax evasion and that he had done a runner across the Tasman....
But that little black coupe, man could that car fly, if my memory serves me correctly in one of the more well known hill clmbs in Wanganui, he blew away a record that had been held for years by Graham Lawrence in a Formula 5000 car- and that was crossing the finish line backwards ( BIG spin! ) and his exploits at Manfeild were literally 'giant killing'.
I can vividally remember him dealing to a Shellsport Mk 1 Escort with a full house 2litre BDA ( Cybil Lupps son I think ).

Ah the Escort would have been Kevin Simpson's with an alloy 1800 BDA. Danie did drive it on the odd occasion and they teamed up in a Group A Corolla as well. I helped crew on that car. Kevin too got in the crap and sold that car to Don McIntyre who still has it. I still have the seat and dry sump tank out of it. Don of course is current V8 racer John's dad. The Taylor brothers had a huge collection of cars including an ex Carlos Sainz Lancia Delta...