1981 Ralt RT4 Formula Atlantic Project
Ex-Dan Marvin. Ex-Riley Hopkins SCCA National Championship Car
$39,500
History
From analyzing the info with the car:
Riley Hopkins won the Runoffs in 1983 with this car. Between 1983 and June of 1989 the car ran 38 events.
Between January 1988 and June 1989 it got a new engine (4 bolt exhaust), new ring and pinion, new pinion bearing, all new gears and dog rings, new inner and outer track and chicklets, and new dog rings in August (again).
In September 1988 an engine was shipped to Hasselgren, apparently there were two engines. The engine in the car is the 4 bolt exhaust which was new in 1988,
and appears to be fresh because the piston tops are clean. Apparently the engine was just placed in the car for storage to allow the car to be able to roll around because installation is not complete. That is probably when the owner died.
The car has been sitting since June of 1989. It is complete except for the starter motor.
No extra parts came with the car but I have some stuff to go with it:
One pair of perfect front wings
Complete Stainless exhaust system with stepped headers and muffler
Two Jongbloed front wheels that have March centers but the Ralt centers are included
Several BBS rim halves (Wheels with the car are BBS)
Overall condition is really good except for the sitting for the past 33 years, but I consider this a good thing since it has not been cobbled together.
I have the Log books from 1983, bunches of receipts and race info, many period photos.
There is only the AM number on the front bulkhead, supposedly confirmed to be RT4-310. Riley Hopkins looked at the car and his logbook page from the Runoff’s and confirmed this is it. It is a replacement tub, believed to be Ralt not Bahner. Dan Marvin crashed it when Jon Norman ran him in the Atlantic series prior to 1983. I have the logbooks from 1983.
By the way, I pulled the cam cover and there is still assembly lube on the cam lobes!!
By the way there are no tires on the wheels, they would not hold air.
I checked and a picture I sent shows the nose and nose box, there is a complete set of good BBS wheels (also in the pictures) plus a couple extra rim halves plus a couple Jongbloed front wheels.
The only thing missing from the engine compartment is the fill bottle and I have one that goes with the car. I don’t think anything else is missing. This is a fairly early car.
There is a lot going for this car and should be a straight forward redo. There is, however, about six layers of paint on it. It is a very dark metallic blue.
Description
According to the records that come with the car, between January 1988 and June 1989 the Ralt received a new engine (4 bolt exhaust), new ring and pinion, new pinion bearing, all new gears and dog rings, new inner and outer track, and chicklets and new dog rings in August. This engine appears to be fresh because the piston tops are clean.
Apparently the engine was just placed in the chassis to allow the car to be rolled around because the installation is not complete. It is probably at this point when the prior owner passed away.
The car has now been sitting since June of 1989. It is complete except for the starter motor.
The car will come with one pair of perfect front wings. Also included will be a complete stainless exhaust system with stepped headers and muffler. There are also two Jongbloed front wheels that currently have March centers but the Ralt centers are included. Several Several BBS rim halves (the wheels with the car are currently BBS) will also come with the car.
The car’s overall condition is very good except that it has been sitting for the past 33 years. It will need a thorough going through, of course, but the core components are really good, and so is the history. So you can pay more for another car that will likely still need further investment before it is truly “race-ready,” or buy this one knowing that the expensive stuff has been done and that the rest is up to you to finish as you like and still be under market value for a front running Historic Formula Atlantic.
