Successful Karmann Ghia Special Saloon to return to action

Enderby scored 85 class and overall wins in the car, which he last raced in 1991 and has not left his ownership.

The London anaesthetist, who started racing with an 850cc Mini in 1971, graduated through several Minis and Sunbeam Stiletto/Hillman Imp derivatives before repurposing the ex-Nick Adams/Richard Eyre Sports 2000 Tiga SC79 chassis within the Fibresports-mastered shell.

Following its transformation, designed by Enderby’s pal Clive Brown, the car was initially powered by one of Brown’s 1000cc Imp engines.

It wowed spectators on its debut at Brands Hatch in November 1982, but a week later was badly damaged in a first-corner shunt at the British Automobile Racing Club’s Thruxton TV meeting, in which Enderby broke his ankle.

Undeterred, the combo returned in 1983, Tiga Race Cars having repaired the monocoque.

It was lacking power but not handling in large fields, so Enderby installed a 1300cc Ford BDH engine for 1985, and from 1987 ran it with the current 1700cc BDA mated to the original Hewland Mk9 gearbox.

Inside the David Enderby’s VW Karmann Ghia

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Moving up a class enabled Enderby to reconfigure the aerodynamics and run a separate F3 wing within the regulations.

In this form, they won the BARC’s final Special Saloon title in 1990 and the BHL Silhouettes class in 1991.

“Delays exacerbated by COVID turned a one-year project into three, but it’s as close to original as current regs allow,” said Enderby, who has worked alongside experienced motorsport engineer Iain Swan of SMD Racing in Kent to get the Karmann Ghia back on track.

“I’m planning to compete in the Classic Sports Car Club’s Special Saloon and Modsports series.”

Cars from that category will have the opportunity to compete at next year’s Oulton Park Gold Cup as the CSCC series has been invited to race alongside a variety of other historic grids within a wholesale shake-up of the event.

Circuit operator MotorSport Vision’s “curation” of the meeting has also led to the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, Masters, Vintage Sports-Car Club and Historic Racing Drivers Club being invited to provide a broader range of action.

The Historic Sports Car Club-run event has moved from its traditional August Bank Holiday date to 29-31 July for next year to avoid clashing with the Silverstone Classic.