The Scamp is entered by the livewire firm Bennett Honda Pty Ltd which operates in both NSW and Qld.
Adrian, his navigator Les Barron, and the Honda people, are together setting an example other competitors and sponsors could well emulate. Adrian never misses an opportunity to promote the firm's product, and relations are such that he recently left his position in a Myers display team and entered the employ of Bennett Honda. Adrian's flair for display has for some time been obvious in the new car showroom which continually catches the eye of the passing public.
Adrian's interest in motorsport caused him to join the Qld Motor Racing Officials Association in 1969 and his baptism into competition took the form of flag marshalling and gymkhana driving.
In November that year he teamed with younger bother Neil to run his Datsun 1000 in the Interclub Trial. They followed this up with a couple of off-road excursions in the 1970 McKluskey Ford 500, and at this point, Neil got out of the hot seat to make way for Les Barron in the Ashgrove Esso Rally which was the forth round of the 1970 QRC. Together, they set the established crews back a peg to take third outright.
At the end of June, 1971, Adrian took delivery of his Honda and after a quick but thorough preparation by Bennett Honda mechanics, competed in three rallies (BP Rally of Qld -- 6th: Ampol Warana -- 16th: Stones Corner Motors Trial -- 3rd) three race meetings (Surfers Paradise and Lakeside) and one hillclimb (Mt Cotton Aust. Hillclimb Championships) all this in just over three months. Now that is the way to get exposure for your sponsor.
Come 1972, and the car was going very well in the Byrt Ford 500 when
two bolts in the redesigned sump guard were pounded upwards causing a punctured
sump and their first DNF.
Bennett Honda now felt it would be worthwile to get some interstate
exposure so Adrian and Les joined the Newcastle MG Car Club and set out
to contest the Group Five series.
Their first event, saw them in trouble when the holder for the main fuse to the alternator melted, rendering itself and the lights useless. Roadside repairs were impossible and the car returned home.
Next up, the little beast entered Lakeside's Rally Point and engaged in a day-long David and Goliath battle with Lloyd Robertson's V8 Monaro, finally capturing second place after a truly impressive performance.
The second Qld State Round, the Gympie Golden 500, was run the following weekend and a deep washout in an early horror section damaged the Scamp's front suspension, causing it's retirement.
Repaired in record time and trailed to Newcastle, the car competed in the MG 300, a NSW Championship event. The vehicle never missed a beat but Les struck trouble converting to Kilometers for an average speed section and they dropped to 16th -- still a good result against the capacity field.
The car was entered for the Snowy Mountains Rally and, as Les was unavailable, the services of Rod Browning, Queensland's "Most Improved Navigator" in 1971, were secured. Although hampered by a lack of detailed maps for the area, the crew was running strongly when a broken engine mounting overloaded the clutch to breaking point.
When taken for a ride in the Scamp, I was most impressed with it's stability. Even under hard cornering, the suspension is unaffected by potholes and ruts and the car covers the rough terrain at a deceptively quick pace.
Inside the Bennett Honda Scamp is very close to standard. In front of the hot seat -- an Italia rally bucket -- is a Tripmaster not a Twin, as Les feels it unnecessary, and a spare inner drive cable is fixed to the dash where it can be easily reached. Other features include the usual Butler flexi-light, uncomplicated compass and a Jeco clock which fits snugly into the open glove compartment. A fire extinguisher is mounted on the firewall by the navigator's left foot. The white roof lining has been blacked out with Fablon, more easily removable than the matt black paint used in most cars.
Switches are also kept simple, the only extra one the navigator has to worry about, being for the screen washers. The right hand wiper blade has been bent slightly to give a better sweep of the screen. The standard manual washer pump has been replaced with the two speed, electric unit from the S800 Sports car and is linked to a one and a half gallon reservoir behind the seats. The driver's side can be summed up quickly with the standard instruments -- speedo, tenth trip meter, fuel gauge, and Tacho -- and two switches, one for the Cibie Oscar driving lights and the other for the Carellos, these latter being angled outwards for turns.
The tacho in the Honda 600 is redlined at 6000rpm although in competition Adrian uses 7500rpm in every gear -- first, 25mph; second, 50mph; third, 75mph; fourth, 95mph, and on occasion has seen 8500rpm without damage. The final interior item worth mentioning is the well engineered roll bar from Amos Engineering at Hemmant.
On the road the car is noisy -- all the soundproofing has been removed to save weight -- and it is obvious how willingly the 617cc (40 thou overbore) motor works. The car was originally fitted with a Lukey muffler with 1½" outlets which was torn off in the Byrt Ford 500 this year and has now been replaced with a standard unit.
Mud flaps are fitted fore and aft of the drive wheels but the back wheels are unprotected and even a short thrash in muddy conditions leaves the rear window opaque. The special 11.9 gallon fuel tank takes up almost all the boot space (spare wheels are bolted to the floor in the cabin), and when full, readily induces oversteer. The standard fuel tank and spare wheel casing have been removed.
A variety of wheels and tyres has been tried, with Bridgestone Wintertread radials being found too slippery and passed over in favour of of the Goodrich GT100 radials which gave good service. The car is at present shod with Ohtsu mud and snow cross-plies fitted to 10in X 4in Globe mags which Adrian is very pleased with.
While the rear suspension remains at the standard height, the front is varied slightly, being raised one inch for rallying and lowered half an inch for racing. A standard Scamp sits 5½ inches high at the front.
Future circuit appearances depend on the sorting out of the homologation
wrangle with the F.I.A. who have still to sight a certificate from Honda
verifying the sale of the required 5000 units. Until such time as this
is forthcoming, the Scamp is ineligible for the Series Production.
Lap times at Lakeside prior to it's closure were around 1:19, and at
Surfers Paradise, 1:48 -- very creditable for a 600cc.
One point on which both driver and sponsor are adamant is that the motor, apart from the recent overbore, is stock standard and will stay that way.
The company originally entered motor sport with the aim of proving that
the Honda is not merely a shopping cart for Mum, but an extremely versatile
motor car, and going on performances to date, we can be sure that the Scamp,
and any successor it may have (sorry classified information) will continue
to prove it's worth.
-- Trevor Garbett
