Driving Colin McRae’s forgotten first ever rally car (that led a strange life!)

This humble Hillman Avenger GT above is a lesser known rally hero. Besides living in the shadows of countless Ford Escorts, the Avenger was arguably a better car in standard form. Why? Because crucially the rear axle was 4-linked as standard, and no leaf springs.

Thanks for stopping by The Late Brake Show.

This video follows the unusual rally Avenger that started life as a Dec 1973 Paris Motorshow stand car. It was then sent up to a flagship Chrysler dealership in Scotland called Maconochies, where as part of the 'dealer team' it was converted into a competitive rally car for 1974-75. The pro driver was Ian Gemmell. He won the Group 1 class in OKV 571M numerous times throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. 'On tarmac it was far superior to the RS2000 droop snoot that I switched to in 1976 (when Maconochies became a Ford franchise)’.

To read more about this video, Ian’s racing history and Jonny’s personal bio with Hillman Avengers (Marvel not allowed), then head over to our Patreon page: https://patreon.com/TheLateBrakeShow

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Many thanks to RedBull for granting us written permission to use some of their clips. To watch the original RedBull documentary, click this link:
https://www.redbull.com/int-en..../videos/colin-mcrae-

Special mention also to the Avenger Sunbeam Owners Club ( https://www.asoc.co.uk/ )for all their help arranging this feature.

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Filmed and edited by: Phil Vaughn Pritchard https://www.philvfilms.com/
Thumbnail by: Matt Tarrant https://www.matttarantdesign.com

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Jonny Smith
Creative content maker, car presenter & car pervert for hire since '98
Website: http://www.carpervert.com
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro

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