Background
In 1983, Nissan announced the car that they hoped would take them to success in the World Rally Championship. The car they chose was a heavily modified Nissan Silvia designated the 240RS.
The power for the car came from the Nissan FJ24 engine, consisting of an iron cylinder block, topped with an aluminium cylinder head containing chain driven dual camshafts and running at 11.5:1 compression ratio. To run at these high compression ratios the engine was equipped with forged alloy pistons, a forged alloy crankshaft, and a wet sump oil pump. Nissan decided to use the normally aspirated engine rather than Turbo charged variant, even though this was available in their domestic market.
The power was transferred to the wheels through a lightweight competition flywheel, mounted with a twin plate clutch, before passing through a F5C71B (Nismo) transmission, and exiting via a triple joint reinforced prop shaft.
The bodywork of the car consisted of a mix of traditional steel and Fibre Reinforced Plastics. The FRB panels include front & rear bumpers, bonnet and boot lids, front & rear wide arches. The car’s glass was also replaced by polycarbonate windows, to both reduce weight and increase safety.
This Car
Is a genuine 240RS that was the very first Dealer Team Nissan car ever built, and remains in its original works colours. It was part of a three car team, in 1984 that was sent to Jordan in the Middle East, having been built to the strongest specifications developed by Blydenstein. The ‘Jordan’ spec had works spec running gear but with a heavier reinforced shell couple with a low power 235bhp engine.
The car was very successful and at the end of the season, was presented to the driver. The car then went to Indonesia, were it was sponsored by BASF and was again successful in the National Championship in 1985 and 1986. By 1987 it was not so competitive, so it went to Philippines to compete in the rear wheel drive class on the Philippines National Championship, again with very good results.
After the Philippines campaign it was returned to UK and stored for several years before the owner, still the original driver, restored the car and started to use it on Slowly Sideways events. Hence the car is unique in that it has only been driven by one driver the whole of its life, having competed in three different National Championships and is still 100% original.
Technical
Engine : Normally Aspirated, Twin Carburettors, 4 Cylinder, DOHC, 16V 2.3ltr,
Power : 265 BHP +
