someselectedpicturesfromthe1979narra20stagesrally

Some selected pictures from the 1979 NARRA 20 Stages Rally

This is a Fiat 131 Abarth Alitalia-sponsored rally car that ran in the previous year's World Rally Championship.

Rear view of the Fiat 131 Abarth showing flared out fenders for extra tire clearance. Of particular note: The Abarth designation after the car's model number indicates it was a product of Fiat's high performance vehicle division. This division originated after Fiat purchased the Abarth high performance vehicle tuning and building firm based in Italy. This writer has learned that a Fiat 131 Abarth possessed significant design differences from a standard production 131, all in the interest of improved performance potential. While FIAT branded vehicles have not been sold in the US for many years (that is until their Spring, 2011 reemergence with the FIAT 500), they remain a major manufacturer marketing cars and trucks throughout much of the world.

Interior shot of the Fiat 131 Abarth showing that a fully prepared rally car is all business.

Fiat Alitalia car at home on gravel in the woods with Jim Walker driving and Joe Le Beau co-driving.

Hendrik Blok's always well turned-out and fast Plymouth Arrow: Driver - Hendrik Blok, co-driver - Damon Trimble.

An Olds Cutlass with experimental plastic resin wheels: Driver - Paul Lein, co-driver - Clark Bend.

DFH photos.

Added March 9, 2007: If the above photos are interesting there's a Website that has lots more rally stuff, including more pics such as these.

A gentleman named Mike Halley of Oklahoma, who runs the Real Auto Sport, LLC organization, stumbled upon the above pics and asked if I might have any more like them. It turns out that I do!

Mike offered to host my collection of old rally photos, taken during the period of time in which I "worked" a number of rallies in the '70s as a volunteer rally-helper (for lack of a better term), on his Website at: realautosport.com

After five years of strictly running the more traditional "time-speed-distance" rallies Mike started his career as a performance rally driver at the 1977 Sunriser 400 SCCA Pro Rally event, run in the woods of southern Ohio. In the it's-a-small-world department, I happen to have worked that rally. Mike's stumbling upon my photos from roughly the same era meshes with his celebrating in 2007 a thirty-year involvement with the world of performance rallying.

Thanks for giving my old rally pics an online home, Mike !!!

Back to Homepage Back to Motorsport Stuff page Back to Scott Harvey's 4wd Aspen