THIS IS THE ORIGINAL KASTNER-BROPHY RACING TRIUMPH VITESSE THAT WAS SPONSORED BY BRITISH LEYLAND AND PREPARED BY KAS KASTNER FOR THE 1971 TRANS-AM SERIES. With plans to import their new 6 cylinder Triumph Vitesse to the United States, British Leyland thought it was great when Kas Kastner approached them with his idea to build a car for the Trans-Am series to compete with the Datsun 510, Alfa’s and BMW’s. The Triumph factory helped with the purchase of a Vitesse in England and British Leyland paid to have the car flown over to the new Kastner-Brophy race shop in Southern California. The in-line six cylinder engine with three Weber carburetors gave the Triumph more than enough power to be competive. Carl Swanson who was a successful Triumph racer was drafted to drive the car. It made its Trans-am debut at Road America in July of 1971 where it qualified 6th and finished in 11th place. Unfortunately, that was the only finish credited. Three other Trans-Am races were entered, but Olathe Kansas, Riverside and Laguna Seca were all shown as DNF’s. The car was very fast and qualified well with a 1st at Riverside, but had problems with rear tire wear and engine failures. There was enough power to light up the rear tires and require a pit stop for a tire change. Playing catch-up after the pit stop helped along the engine failures. With less than impressive results and the decision not to import the Vitesse into the United States, the factory withdrew their support before the car could be fully sorted. That ended the Trans-Am effort for the Kastner-Brophy Vitesse which was also known as the “Candy Box” because of it’s colorful paint scheme. It was later sold to Rick Cline who took the car to Florida where he ran the car in SCCA races as a B sedan. It qualified for the National Championships in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976 with the best finish a 3rd place. It was successfully raced as a B Sedan in the Southeast from 1973 until 1986 by Kline and later Arno Frosh. In 1988 it was sold to Ralph Thomas from North Carolina, who ran it in Vintage events on the east coast. The car was returned to California when it was purchased by Butch Gilbert in 2009. Between 2009 and 2013 it was run at the Monterey Historic’s in 2010 and other races at Laguna Seca, Portland, Lime Rock, Road America and Coronado. The Vitesse currently has a fresh TR6 2.5 liter race engine with a forged crankshaft, Carrillo rods, JE pistons and a special gated oil pan installed. It also has a fresh Housman transmission and a Limited Slip Differential in the car. An upgraded Triumph front suspension and independent rear suspension help cure the cars past failures. There is a fuel cell with new foam, a fire system and new race seat. The windshield glass was replaced with a custom Lexan windshield after losing the new hard to find glass in the first session on the track. The carburetors are three impressive Weber 45DCOE’s which provide the memorable sound and once tuned resulted in a chassis dyno result of 211 HP to the rear wheels. Brakes are the period correct Jaguar Disks front and rear and wheels are 13 inch Panasports. The spares include a fresh GT6 2000cc race engine and a Triumph transmission with a Dolomite close ratio gear set. Also included is a second set of Panasport wheels. some body parts and other miscellaneous parts.
Price: Auction
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Location: Westley, California, United States
