EX VIANNA RACING 530MLE

[ClassicMan]

The plot thickens.....

Nick Sheward has spoken to an ex BMW Racing Mechanic who knows the cars. It seems that a third car was built for Paddy Driver!

Eddie Keizan's car has been sold to Peter Kaye-Eddie and is being restored. A second car was written off on the Tarlton Drag Strip and the whereabouts of the the third car is unknown.

[ZA Perana]

The plot thickens.....

Nick Sheward has spoken to an ex BMW Racing Mechanic who knows the cars. It seems that a third car was built for Paddy Driver!

Eddie Keizan's car has been sold to Peter Kaye-Eddie and is being restored. A second car was written off on the Tarlton Drag Strip and the whereabouts of the the third car is unknown.

I would need to go back and check but that does sound about right, though I think this car didnt race at the same time as Alan and Eddie did, could have been raced at endurance events.

[Hi-Fi]

Very interesting! I don't recall Paddy Driver being involved with a BMW. Has anyone got further info on this?

[Killarney Racer]

Yes, Driver in a 530 has a ring to it. I'm not sure I have any literature on this but will check it out.

[ZA Perana]

Am fairly sure he only drove one in endurance races.

[ClassicMan]

In my research on this while I was trying to find the missing car, I came across the following information from Alec at Evolution2 in Johannesburg. He was a BMW mechanic at the time.

The first car was built in Germany by the Schnitzer brothers and sent down to SA and this became Alain Lavoipierres car (BIC). The whereabouts of this car are unknown.

The Schnitzer brothers were then flown to SA and they helped to build the 2nd and 3rd cars for Eddie Keizan (Salora) and Paddy Driver (Castrol). Eddie Keizan's car was sold to Chris Clegg after it was retired from the "works" team. Peter Kaye-Eddie then bought the car in 1979 before it was sold off again. The car made an appearance at Tarlton where it was written off.

Paddy Driver's car was sold to Phillip Booysen in Pretoria and he has had it ever since. Apparently Phillip has passed away leaving the car to his son (or the son is Phillip, I"m not sure I can read my scribbly notes so well) Peter Kaye-Eddie is now involved in restoring the car with messr Booysen, but it seems that they have been offered some serious lolly from overseas for the car. This has halted the work as there seems to be a disagreement over who is to fund the restoration and what happens to the car afterwards.

SO, the Lavoipierre car is still missing.

[Hi-Fi]

I dug up some info. Quite correctly Paddy Driver did drive a 530 in 1978 with Eddie Keizan. This was the year that Mazda came out with their RX7 and soundly whacked the Beemers which caused the factory sponsorship to evaporate.

I found these pictures of Alain Lavoipierre's car from 1976.

[ClassicMan]

Thanks Hi-Fi. Interesting to see the two different front spoilers. Did you get the info from the firstfives website? I have seen their site and some of their information doesn't seem correct. They state that aluminium was used on the cars. Nowhere else has this information been written about.

[ClassicMan]

Am fairly sure he only drove one in endurance races.

This comes from the first fives website:

Success On the Track


The Republic Day Trophy race on 5 June 1976 saw the beginning of a S.A. racing legend with the first of many victories for the 530 MLE. With these racers, BMW gave us the real thing; genuine large capacity production line cars with race-bred pedigrees. The racing engines used produced an impressive 202 kw at 6750 r/min with 318 N.m peak torque at 5500 r/min, and a maximum fifth-gear speed of 235 km/h. To keep this beast on the track, Bilstein gas dampers were supplied all round, anti-roll bars were fitted front and rear, and tandem brake boosters with release valves prevented rear brake-lock. Low profile Dunlop tyres were fitted to 406 mm Chaparral wheels, 279 mm wide at the front and 305 mm wide at the rear, with 275/600 and 300/625 tyres fitted respectively. This powerful package was neatly tucked into an aggressive-looking E12 body with flared wheel arches and the brightly decorated BMW Motor Sport colours.



Sponsorship was received from, amongst others, BIC, Salora Television, and Castrol. The two BMWs were unchallenged, with Eddie Keizan and Alain Lavoipierre, the initial two drivers, achieving all-conquering success. Track records were broken at regular intervals, and the opposing Mazda and Ford Capri challenges were vanquished. To really stamp their authority on the competition, fifteen victories were achieved from fifteen consecutive starts, with Keizan eventually moaning that his only competition was his teammate.



Keizan got what he asked for in 1978, when Mazda released their Capella Rotary Coupe. Immensely powerful, and wickedly quick, the Capellas provided stiff opposition from their first race. As the season wore on, the Capellas got ever closer to Keizan and Paddy Driver, eventually eclipsing the BMWs, and effectively ending their factory-backed racing careers. However, BMWs’ goal had been achieved. Over a period of two and a half seasons, the 530 MLE had firmly established the marque in South African motor sport circles, and started a tradition that is still very much alive in this country.

[Hi-Fi]

I've had those pictures for a while and can't remember where I downloaded them. When I was looking for info on these cars I came across the Firstfive.org site and there the same pictures were.

I agree with you about the mild steel bit. I don't remember hearing any metal when I knocked the wheel spats on the 530 in the pits all those many years ago.

I would really like pictures of the Salora and Castrol cars. Are there any of those floating around?