NEW ZEALAND'S MOST SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTION CAR
MJ1 goes racing
by Patrick Harlow
XR1 under construction. 
XR1 on display at the Rotorua lake front. |
Now that the MJ1 and the MJ 2+2 were effectively shelved, Ross decided to have a go at getting back into racing. His next car, which he started in 1988, would be a chance to have another go at stretching his engineering ability even further. Having built a steel monocoque car, the Heron Mk4 GT and a fibreglass monocoque car, the time seemed right to have a go at an aluminium monocoque car. Added to this was the fact that he was very fond of the Rover 3.5-litre V8 motor and even went as far as talking to the racing authorities about introducing a special Rover V8 class of racing sports cars. Ross being Ross he naturally put his skills where his mouth was and built a car to prove that it could be done. The resultant car had a very lightweight aluminium monocoque chassis with the top half of a heavily modified fibreglass Heron MJ1 body grafted on top of it. As the chassis was really stiff Ross decided to cut the roof off the MJ1 body. Paul McDiarmid made the rear body while Ross and Chris tackled the front half. As it was being built only for the track, it required none of the refinements of a roadgoing car. In this instance, the formula was, decrease the weight and add more power. It ran a modified Triumph Vitesse front suspension, a Rover V8 motor with 4 x 45mm Weber carbs, a five-speed Heron/Skoda gearbox and unequal length wishbones on the rear, similar to the Heron Mk1. Chris and Ross built this car in the evenings and whenever they had downtime. |
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Once they had the project underway, Ross was told that as there was very little interest in creating a Rover V8 class of racing and the only class he would be able to race it in was the sports car class where it would probably have to live with a time handicap. The time handicap curbed their enthusiasm a bit, so rather than taking months this little car took years to finish. When it was finished. It was a pretty little thing, weighing in at around 800Kgs and packing about 225kw to 260Kw (350hp). Its first race was at Pukekohe in 1992 where the car showed great potential, at least until the gearbox failed. Ross was able to modify the gearbox to ensure the problem would never happen again and took it back onto the track at Baypark in 1994. By now Ross was well into his fifties and for the first time became aware that he may have built a car that was too fast for his driving ability. The short wheelbase and the immense power from the mid-mounted engine to the rear wheels required extremely quick reactions. Ross would drive it again for a local hill climb but lacking the enthusiasm of years past decided enough was enough and the XR1 was parked at the back of the shed. The car was eventually sold and is now enjoying its twilight years on the North Shore in Auckland. |
The XR1 outside the Bakers Rotorua service station. |
The Heron XR1 with Ross returning down the hill at the Ngongotaha Hill climb Rotorua.