Page 1 of 1 The great Gerry Marshall had dominated the British Super Saloon Championship in 1975 and 1976 with the wild V8 engined Vauxhall Firenza silhouette racer that was somewhat deceivingly nick named 'Baby Bertha'. The car was built and fielded by Bill Blydenstein's Dealer Team Vauxhall, which as the name suggests not so much had support from Vauxhall or General Motors but from the actual Vauxhall dealers. Chasing international success, Blydenstein decided to prepare a Firenza Magnum for the 1977 Spa 24 Hours.
To be eligible, the car was built to the much stricter Group 1 regulations, which allowed for only modest modifications. As base car, Blydenstein used the range-topping Firenza Magnum Coupe of which only 525 had been built between 1974 and 1975. Its 2.3-litre 'Slant Four' engine was tuned to produce around 170 bhp, breathing through a pair of Weber carburettors. It was mated to a Getrag five speed gearbox, which drove the rear wheels. Subtle modifications were made to the suspension and body, mainly to firm up the ride and strip the car of all unnecessary weight.
Finished in the familiar colours of silver with a red, white and green stripe, the new DTV Vauxhall Magnum was entered in the Spa 24 Hours for Marshall and Australian touring car ace Peter Brock. The hugely talented pairing averaged at over 100 mph, which was sufficient to finish second overall and first in class. They were beaten only by the much larger engined BMW 530i. With the Firenza and Magnum both out of production, this was the last hurrah for the model as DTV switched to rallying with the Chevette. Page 1 of 1