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July 2001     

Team Harco 1975 Dodge Colt GT

75 Colt at '98 Lake Superior ProRally. Photo by Jerry Winker
1975 Colt at '98 Lake Superior ProRally
Photo © 1998 by Jerry Winker

by Scott Harvey, Jr.

This Dodge Colt GT was prepared by my father for the 1975 PRO Rally season. Dad took 2nd in the driver's championship that year, behind a guy named John Buffum. This was a car that my father did a significant amount of engine development work on as there were very few performance parts for the 2.0 liter engine from the Mitsubishi catalog. As a point of reference; my father was the first SCCA PRO Rally champion - in 1973 since that was the first year of the series - in a 1972 Dodge Colt.

The Colt came into my hands in 1981 - when I ran my first PRO Rally, a divisional rally in Indiana. With dad as my co-driver, I claimed 6th overall. At the end my father intimated that he had never had so many 'close-calls' and still finished. So my rally career started off with a bang.

Over the intervening years I have run about one ProRally (what we call it now - or more accurately, a ClubRally) every year or two. In 1997 my friend and navigator, Al Zifilippo, and I claimed 3rd overall and first in U2 (now Group 2) at the Lockwood Lake Divisional Pro Rally. We have run well within our class but as the other cars have gotten faster and more technologically advanced the poor little Colt could no longer compete at the top of the heap.

The last good run for the olde Colt was at the 1998 Lake Superior Pro Rally (photos below). Dave Watts was in contention to claim the national championship for navigators in the Group 2 class. His regular driver (Dave White) had already clinched his title and did not need to compete in the season finale (though he did anyway as a navigator). Dave Watts contacted me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He covered all expenses for the rally and it was my job to bring the car home for a finish. We took 3rd in class and gained Dave the points he needed to take the title. (There really is more to this story - but I want to keep it brief for now).

Surviving the Friday night stages. Gratiot Lake stage. Flying on Brockway Mountain.
1998 Lake Superior ProRally - Photos © 1998 by Jerry Winker

At the Press On Regardless What the olde Colt has really been good at is the Vintage class at the prestigious Press On Regardless (POR) rally. An icon of the North American rally scene, the POR has been run continuously since 1949. At one time it was an FIA sanctioned performance rally and attracted the best rally teams from Europe, as well as the US and Canada. Of late, the POR has returned to its roots as an endurance style TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) Road Rally. As such, POR places an equal amount of importance on the skill level of the navigator as on the driver. Not to be taken for granted is the rugged reliability of the car. The Team Harco Colt is built as strong as a tank. I have been fortunate to have claimed the Vintage class win at POR five times in the past nine years (since its return to the tough TSD format). Our biggest moment came in 1998 when Bryan Murphy and I took 2nd overall. That year was probably one of the toughest, meanest PORs on record. Many strong competitors, running computer equippment, suffered major problems and failed to place well, let alone finish.

This car has some significant history and still kicks major ass today. One other note in this car's history is an article that my dad wrote for 'Rallye' magazine (a now defunct publication). The article and cover photo made it to the December 1975 issue.

Rally Prep: Dodge Colt by Scott Harvey
Rallye Magazine, Dec 1975

Rallye magazine, Dec 1975

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A few technical details: The car is a 1975 Colt GT, 2.0 liter (non-silent shaft engine, ~175 bhp), twin side draft Mikuni-Solex carbs, tri-y header, 5-speed, 4.62 LSD, C2 rally suspension kit, Magnesium Minilight wheels, Cibie lights, total weight 2300 lbs. Performance additions to the engine: Ported/polished head, Hollman/Moody cam, Rootes (the British car manufacturing group) performance valve springs, lightened valvetrain (including titanium spring retainers), Venolia pistons with 10.5:1 compression ratio, lightened flywheel, full engine blueprinting and balancing.

The Colt in its heyday Scott, the Elder, at the wheel Three generations of Harveys today.

By the way, the photo of Dave Watts and myself - flying on Brockway Mountain at LSPR '98 - was on our first time through. We were twice as high off the ground the second time through! I had seen the road and knew where to go fast and when to brake. It was the only stage run twice in the same direction.



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